Empress Theodora was not your everyday woman who lived in the Byzantine Empire. In fact, she was the most powerful empress of the Byzantine Empire. She had everything it took to lead, but instead ruled as regent next to her husband, Justinian. Theodora had beauty, intelligence, charm, and was very amusing. Empress Theodoras intelligence helped advance the empire in many ways. In her early years, Theodora lived a very humble life. Both of her parents worked at the Hippodrome of Constantinople. The Hippodrome was a huge stadium that held circus-like events. It could hold up to 30,00 people. Theodoras father was a bear keeper, and her mother was a dancer and also an actress. Theodora worked as a mime along side her father in the circus. After the death of her father, at the age of 5, Theodoras mother got her a job as an entertainer in the Hippodrome. Theodora was forced to become an entertainer, because her stepfather could not support her family. An entertainer was equivalent to a modern-day Vegas showgirl.
Theodora became very popular in these circus-like events. By the age of fifteen, she was the star of the circus. Theodora was no longer an entertainer, but an actress in the Hippodrome. Back in these times acting did not have the same meaning as it does today. If you were an actress then it was equivalent to being a prostitute. Her crude acts on stage are what made her famous. Theodora soon realized that there was a career path outside of the Hippodrome. She then became the Mistress to the Syrian official Hecebolus. She was sixteen when she became his mistress and remained with him for four years. After being mistreated and abandoned by Hecebolus she returned back to Constantinople. She then went back to her humble way of life and became a wool spinner.
When she was a wool spinner she worked near the royal palace. Her humble lifestyle, intelligence, and striking beauty caught the attention of a young man named Justinian.
The Byzantine Empire was one of the leading civilizations in the world. ... It became the capital of the Byzantines after the Roman Empire was divided. ... Empress Theodora, his wife, ruled with him until her death in 548. ... Byzantine art if the Eastern Christian art that flourished during the time of the Byzantine Empire. ... However, Byzantine leaders still managed to protect their empire. ...
This accomplishment can be traced back in the early A.D. 500s when an ambitious Byzantine Empress named Theodora used her power and influence to improve the social standing of women. Theodora, the beautiful wife of the Emperor Justinian, was considered the earliest individual to fight for women's rights. ... Not only did Theodora help improve women's right, but also used her power to build hospitals and homes for the women. Her great ambition paid off when the status of women in the empire climbed above women in Europe and the Middle East. ... The brave prophet Muhammad, the ambiti...
During the Byzantine period between 726 and 843 , a struggle brewed between the faithful icon lovers, iconophiles, and the icon-destroying iconomaches.1 Despite the magnificent workmanship and sacred tradition that icons provide to the pious worshipers, opposing iconomaches argue that they contradict the Biblical scriptures as being a form of idolatry. Finally, in March of 8431, in the name of her son Michael III, empress Theodora decisively restored the veneration of images to the Byzantine Empire. ...
