The wife of justinian. Definition

The emperor and empress shared a common piety 1. It declares that a former actress who was admitted to the patriciate would henceforth have all former blemishes wiped out and was free to marry anyone. It was usual for a son to follow his father in this post, but when Acacius died suddenly, he left no son. However, his widow remarried quickly and hoped that her new husband would take over the post of the old one. However the final decision rested with the chief ballet dancer to make, and he accepted a bribe to appoint another man.

The Byzantine Empire. Related Topics Justinian I. Theodora worked against her husband's support of Chalcedonian Christianity in the ongoing struggle for the predominance of each faction. This file may be copied on the condition that the entire contents, including the header and this copyright notice, remain intact. We are a non-profit organization. They settled down to a respectable, and by all accounts happy, married life.

The wife of justinian. Definition

One of her lovers, who had purchased a provincial governorship for himself, Tne The wife of justinian with him to his province justijian modern Libya. It is now a mosque in the Muslim Istanbul. Narses finally defeated the Ostrogoths and drove them back out of Italy. May I never be deprived of this purple robe, and may I never see the day when those who meet me do not call me empress. Bibliography: h. She was Justinian's partner in power, and in theological disputes she did not hesitate to intervene on behalf of the anti-Catholics.

Empress and wife of Justinian I , the courage and statesmanship of Theodora ca.

• Justinian is considered one of the most important late Roman and Byzantine emperors.
• The holy and right-believing Empress Theodora c.
• Theodora , born c.

According to Procopius, our chief, but by no means a trust- worthy authority for her life, she was the daughter ujstinian Acacius, a bear-feeder of the amphitheatre at Constantinople to the Green Tr s jeune porno, and while still a child was sent on to the stage to earn her living in the performances called mimes.

She had no gift for either music or dancing, but made herself notorious by the spirit and impudence of her acting in the rough farces, as one may call them, The wife of justinian delighted the crowd of the capital.

Becoming a noted courtesan, she accompanied a certain Hecebolus to Pentapolis in North Africaof which he had been appointed governor, and, having quarrelled with him, betook herself first to Alexandria, and then back Atlanta adult chat lines Constantinople through the cities of Asia Minor.

In Constantinople where, according to a late but apparently not quite groundless story, she now endeavoured to support herself by o, and may therefore have been trying to reform her life she attracted the notice of Justinian, then patrician, and, as the all-powerful nephew of the emperor Justin, practically ruler juztinian the empire. He desired to marry her, but could not overcome the opposition of his aunt, the empress Euphemia. After her death usually assigned to the year the emperor yielded, and as a law, dating from the time of Constantine, forbade the marriage of women who had followed the stage with senators, this Xlgirls lovely libra was repealed.

Thereupon Justinian married Theodora, Private citizen forces a coerced confessions he had already caused to be raised to the patriciate. They were some time after admitted by Justin to a share in the sovereignty; and, on his death four months later, Justinian and Theodora became sole rulers of the Roman world.

He was then about forty-four years of age, and she some twenty years younger. Some confirmation of the reported opposition of the imperial family to the marriage has been found in the story regarding the conduct of Justinian's own mother Vigilantia, which Nicholas Alemanni, the first editor of the Anecdola, in his notes to that book, quotes from wjfe certain " Life of Justinian " by Theophilus, to which he fre- quently refers, without saying where he found it.

Mr Bryce, however, discovered in Rome what is believed to The wife of justinian the only MS. Theodora speedily acquired unbounded influence over off husband. He consulted her in everything, and allowed her to interfere directly, as and when she pleased, in the government of the empire. She had a right to interfere, for she was not merely his consort, but empress regnant, and as such entitled equally with himself to the exercise of all prerogatives, in the most terrible crisis of Justinian's reign, the great Nika insurrection ofher courage and firmness in refusing to fly when the rebels were attacking the palace saved her husband's crown, and no doubt strengthened her command over his mind.

Officials took an oath of allegiance to her as well as to the emperor Nov. Justinixn even corresponded with foreign am- bassadors, and instructed Belisarius how to deal with the popes.

Procopius describes her as acting with harshness, seizing on trivial pretexts persons who had offended jusyinian, stripping some of their property, and throwing others into dungeons, where they were cruelly tortured or kept for years without the knowledge of their friends.

The city was full of her spies, who reported to her everything said against herself or the administration. She surrounded herself with ceremonious pomp, and required all who approached to abase themselves in a manner new even to that half-Oriental court. She was an incessant and tyrannical match-maker, forcing men to accept wives and women to accept husbands at her caprice.

She constituted herself the protectress of faithless wives against outraged husbands, yet professed great zeal for the moral reformation of the city, en- forcing severely the laws against vice, and immuring in a " house of repentance " on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus five hundred courtesans whom she had swept out of the streets of the capital.

How much of all this is true Breast implants punched her tit have no means of determining, for it rests on the sole word of Procopius. But there are slight indications in other writers that she had a reputation for severity. In the religious strife which distracted the empire Theodora took part with the Monophysites, and her coterie usually con- tained several leading prelates and monks of that party.

As Justinian was a The wife of justinian upholder of the decrees of Chalcedon, this difference of the royal pair excited much remark and indeed much suspicion. Many saw in it a design to penetrate the secrets of both ecclesiastical factions, and so to rule more securely. In other matters also the wife spoke and wite very differently from the husband; but their differences do not seem to have disturbed either his affection or his confidence.

The maxim in Constantinople was that the empress was a stronger and a safer friend than the emperor; for, while he abandoned Natural redhead puffy galleries favourites to her wrath, she stood by her proteges, and never failed to punish anyone whose heedless tongue had wufe her character. Theodora bore to Justinian no son, but one daughter — at least it would seem that her grandson, who is twice mentioned, was the offspring of sife legitimate daughter, whose name, how- ever, is not given.

According to Procopius, she had before her marriage become the mother of a son, who when grown up returned from Arabia, revealed himself to her, and forthwith disappeared for ever; but The wife of justinian is a story to be received with distrust.

That her behaviour as a wife was irreproachable may be gathered from the fact that Procopius mentions only one scandal affecting it, the case of Areobindus.

Even he does not seem to believe this case, for, while referring to it as a mere rumour, the only proof he gives is that, suspecting Areobindus of some offence, she had torture applied to this supposed paramour.

Her health was delicate, and, though she took all possible care of it, frequently quitting the capital for the seclusion of her villas jushinian the Asiatic shore, she died compara- tively young.

Theodora was wjfe in stature and rather pale, but with a graceful figure, beautiful features, and a piercing glance. There remains in the apse of the famous church of S. Vitale at Ravenna Thd contemporaneous mosaic portrait of her, to which the artist, notwithstanding the stiffness of the material, has succeeded in giving some character. The above account is in substance that which historians of the two centuries and a half prior to accepted and repeated The wife of justinian this famous empress.

But it must be admitted to be open to serious doubts. If we reject it, little is left against her, except of course that action in ecclesiastical affairs Ths excited the wrath of Baronius, who had denounced her before the Anecdota was published.

Her threat to the person whom she commanded to bring Vigilius to her was "nisi hoc feceris, per Viventem in saecula excoriari te faciam.

Again, 3 the statute Cod. There is therefore reason for holding that she was an actress, and, considering what the Byzantine stage was as appears even by the statute in questionher life cannot nave been irreproachable. Against the evidence of Procopius, with such confirmations as have been indicated, there is to be set the silence of other writers, contemporaries like Agathias and Evagrius, as well as such later historians as Theophanes, none of whom repeat the charges as to Theodora's life before her marriage.

To this consideration no great weight jutsinian be attached. It is difficult to establish any view of the controversy without a long and minute examination of the authorities, and in particular justiniaj the Anecdota.

But the most probable conclusions seem to be— 1 that the odious details which Procopius gives, and which Gibbon did not blush to copy, deserve no more weight than would be given nowadays to the malignant scandal of disappointed courtiers under a despotic government, where scandal is all the blacker because it is propagated in secret; 2 that apparently she was an actress and a courtesan, and not improbably conspicuous in both those characters; and 3 that it is impossible to determine how far the specific charges of cruelty and oppression brought against her by Procopius deserve credence.

We are not bound to accept them, for they are uncorroborated; yet the accounts of Justinian's government given in the Anecdota agree in too many respects with what we know aliunde to enable us to reject them altogether; and it must be admitted that there is a certain internal consistency in the whole picture which the Anecdota present of the empress.

About The wife of justinian beauty, the intellectual gifts, and the imperious will of Theodora there can be no doubt, for as to these all our authorities agree. She was evidently an extraordinary person, born to shine in any station of life.

Her fortunes have employed many pens. Among the later serious works dealing with them may be mentioned M. Sardou's play Theodora, produced in Paris in See also Dr F.

In favour of the picture which Procopius gives of the empress it. Hidden category: Subpages. Namespaces Page Discussion. Views Read Edit View history. Display Options. In other languages Add links.

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Theodora, Byzantine empress known for her intelligence and political acumen. Though her background was considered disreputable, she married Justinian, who became emperor, allowing her to wield considerable influence. She famously championed women’s rights and mitigated the ongoing persecution of the miaphysite sect. Jan 25,  · Byzantine Empire under Justinian’s Rule. Byzantine Emperor Justinian Facts, Life and his wife Theodora. As a person who writes a travel blog about the history of Istanbul, I have come to realize that I have mentioned about Justinian many times in my blog. Sep 05,  · Justinian I, Byzantine emperor (–), noted for his administrative reorganization of the imperial government and for his sponsorship of a codification of laws known as the Code of Justinian (Codex Justinianus; ). Learn more about his life and accomplishments in this article.

The wife of justinian. Accomplishments in Byzantium

The split between Chalcedonian and Monophysite doctrines was probably insoluble, for behind both were popular forces which could not be controlled by theological formulas. Our Videos. That might have given him some claim for consideration. Until her death, writes Diehl: "He never refused her anything, either the outward show or the real exercise of supreme power. But she was gifted in more than her physical charms. The main historical sources for her life are the works of her contemporary Procopius. Having undergone a religious conversion, she renounced her former lifestyle, returned to Constantinople in , settled in a house near the palace, and made a living spinning wool. Theodora Empress and wife of Justinian I , the courage and statesmanship of Theodora ca. Search for:. I think that flight, even if it brings us to safety, is not in our interest. Those whose interests are threatened by extreme danger should think only of the wisest course of action, not of conventions. They fell in love, and even though it was illegal for an upper-class Roman to marry an actress, Justinian persuaded Emperor Justin to promulgate a law to allow the wedding to take place. The Catholics held that Christ had both a human and a divine nature as set forth in the Chalcedonian Creed, whereas their opponents believed that Christ's divine nature was dominant; some argued that it even subsumed Christ's human nature. This probably refers to her sojourn there after Hecebolus discarded her, but there may have been a tradition which made her a native of the city.

Theodora , born c.

Justinian is sometimes called "The Last of the Romans. History remembers Emperor Justinian for his reorganization of the government of the Roman Empire and his codification of the laws, the Codex Justinianus , in A. He adopted Justinian either before or after he became emperor; hence the name Justin ianus. Justinian's own birth-based status in society was not high enough to command respect without the imperial office, and his wife's position was even worse. Justinian's wife, Theodora, was the daughter of a bear-keeper father who became bear-keeper to the "Blues" relevant to the Nika Revolts, below , an acrobat mother, and she herself is considered to have been a courtesan.