Middle School History: Age of Empires—Semester A

Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 2.06: Empress Theodora, Justinian's Right Hand (Wo)man

This illustration of Empress Theodora's court already looks like it was chucked to the roadside. Sigh.
(Source)

We learned in Lesson 3 that what we know about women in ancient societies is largely based on narratives written by men. In many cases, the women's story is seldom told, often because they were considered to be of lesser importance than men. To end up in written history, then, a woman would have to have done something so out of the ordinary that she'd merit the attention of a male writer.

Usually it was something "bad," according to the male historian. In a society dominated by men, this could mean anything as scandalous as speaking her mind (good gracious!) to something pretty serious like committing murder.

Byzantine history books do include a small number of such notable women. Perhaps the best known of these is Empress Theodora, the wife and right-hand woman to Justinian I.

Most of what we know about Empress Theodora is derived from books written by a man (big surprise)—Procopius of Caesarea. Procopius, a member of the land-owning aristocracy, served as an adviser to Belisarius, one of Justinian's military commanders. He also held a second role as the court historian.

As the official historian, Procopius appeared less than thrilled with the Emperor and his crew. If you remember our earlier discussion on Justinian and how the nobility tended to turn up their noses on the Emperor's humble peasant background, you can begin to imagine how Procopius, himself a member of the upper class, may have felt about Justinian and his actress wife, Theodora.

We'll just say that to claim that he saw her in a "bad" light is a bit of an understatement.

In this lesson, we'll look at a sampling of his work, The Anecdota or The Secret History, before looking at what other historians have pieced together on the life and times of Theodora.

Then you can decide what part of Theodora's herstory is worth saving, and what should be chucked to the roadside.

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 2.2.06a: Theodora: "Fiend in Human Form"?

Procopius' work, The Anecdota or The Secret History, was published sometime after 565 CE after the emperor and empress' deaths. In these whopping seven volumes, Procopius makes known his attitude towards the court in his criticism of Justinian and Theodora as well as Belisarius and his wife, Antonina. The Secret History is in fact filled with repeated attacks on their characters.

Seems he had a major bone to pick with the imperials.

It was likely that Procopius looked down his Byzantine nose at Empress Theodora, whom he viewed as immoral and corrupt. With just a quick run through some of the chapter titles from his Secret History, we start to get the feeling that he wasn't her number one fan.

Chapter Four – "How Theodora Humiliated the Conqueror of Africa and Italy"
Chapter Nine – "How Theodora, Most Depraved of All Courtesans, Won His Love"

It wasn't like Justinian got off scot-free, either:

Chapter Twelve – "Proving that Justinian and Theodora Were Actually Fiends in Human Form"
Chapter Twenty-Nine – "Other Incidents Revealing Him as a Liar and a Hypocrite"

Ouch. Subtlety wasn't his strong point.

Scholars have in fact acknowledged that we need to take Procopius' works with a grain of salt, and that his narratives bear a closer resemblance to tabloid magazines than to actual histories.

Procopius clearly took issue with Theodora's lower class background and her desire not to keep it private. He also probably had his thing against Justinian, too, since the Emperor was also of lower-class origins and because—well, he did marry Theodora.

Here's an excerpt from Chapter 9, "How Theodora, Most Depraved of All Courtesans, Won His Love":

Thus was this woman born and reared and thus had she become infamous in the eyes both of many common women and of all mankind. But when she came back to Byzantium once more, Justinian conceived for her an overpowering love; and at first he knew her as a mistress, though he did advance her to the rank of the Patricians. Theodora accordingly succeeded at once in acquiring extraordinary influence and a fairly large fortune. For she seemed to the man the sweetest thing in the world, as is wont to happen with lovers who love extravagantly, and he was fain to bestow upon his beloved all favours and all money. And the State became fuel for this love. So with her help he ruined the people even more than before, and not in Byzantium alone, but throughout the whole Roman Empire…

(Source)

Still, Procopius' writings provide valuable information about the wars and Justinian's building projects.

After much scrutiny, historians have been able to carefully pick through the negative stuff to reveal the facts. And throughout his eight books on wars and the writings about Byzantine improvements, we find these golden kernels of information about Theodora.

Although we capture just bits and pieces on her life, what we do read reveals a pretty powerful woman who was able to keep Justinian's court on track, especially during the the Nika Revolt, when the Emperor's control was at a dangerous low.

If we can sort through Procopius disdainful coverage of Theodora's less-than-stellar beginnings as a burlesque queen and courtesan, a woman who sold herself for sexual favors to wealthy customers, we can see that Theodora exhibited unusual strength, character, and power for a women of late antiquity.

So Procopius found her to be pretty uppity. But what was she really?

Let's read some of Theodora's history pieced together from Procopius' work as well as other official records to see how her early background is just a small footnote compared to her impressive actions as empress.

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 2.2.06b: Theodora TMZ

There's little doubt that Theodora's early life as a prostitute makes for a great story. Those parts of the court history are hard to pass up—sort of like when we're online and little windows throwing us tempting little tidbits of celebrity gossip pop up: "Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez: On, Off, and On Again?" or "Kim and Kanye Crash Middle School Dance!" It's sometimes hard to resist clicking on them.

But once we get past all of that tabloid matter to the stuff that really matters, we can see how Theodora really rocked Byzantium's world.

In today's reading, we're looking beyond Theodora's past and seeing how she took control of her position as empress and made notable contributions to Byzantine history.

Read through this overview of the life and times of Theodora.

As you read through the article, consider the following:

• How important are Theodora's younger days to her time as empress?
• Should her colorful past overshadow her imperial accomplishments?
• What is the chronology of events during her reign?
• What exactly did Theodora achieve as empress? Jot down at least five things you think are important to remember.

Your notes on these questions may help you in the very near future. Just sayin'.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 2.06a: Theodora's Top Five Countdown

Theodora accomplished many things during her reign. If you were to pick just five of these achievements, which ones would you include?

Write down a list of her greatest achievements, for a total of 50 – 100 words. Rank them from highest to lowest, with number one being her shining moment.

For example, we might list her top accomplishment (#1) as helping Justinian restore his faltering imperial authority during the Nika Revolt by advising him to stand his ground. Her fifth accomplishment (#5) might be her work in women's rights, securing a prohibition on forced prostitution and giving women more rights in the event of divorce.

When you've completed your list, upload it below.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 2.06b: Herstory

With such an intriguing beginning and perhaps even more fascinating middle and end, Theodora's life is really the stuff that interesting histories are made of. It's really a shame that she was relegated to the tiny side notes of Procopius' Secret History. Even there, in the margins (literal and figurative), she was subject to the heavy hand of his clear bias against her and her husband.

We think it's time to set things straight. For this activity, you'll be writing a history of Theodora—or rather, a herstory of Theodora. But this won't be a run-of-the-mill history book. This will be a unique, colorful picture herstory book, in line with her own colorful and varied life.

(Okay, we admittedly don't have the time to write a full-on history book. But just roll with it, will you?)

This is a book in images, and it'll just be five pages in length, so make every page count.

Here's what you'll do:

Step One

The first page will be the cover of your book. Your cover should include a creative title and a corresponding image that'll encourage people to read your work. For example, we're naming our picture book Theodora's Herstory.

Step Two

Each of the remaining four pages should highlight a notable aspect of Theodora's married life, based on the list you created in the previous activity.

Yep, we're not dwelling on Theodora's past, because we're trying to keep this focused on her contributions to history as an empress. Let's keep it G-rated, 'kay?

On the top half of each page, you'll draw a picture or insert an electronic image that represents the page's topic. On the bottom half of the page, write 50 – 80 words on Theodora's accomplishment and how it specifically affected the Byzantine Empire or her personal life.

For example, our fifth page might look something like this:

Theodora's greatest accomplishment was helping Justinian restore his faltering imperial authority during the Nika Revolt by advising him to stand his ground. Although tens of thousands of people were slain in the Hippodrome and much of the city lay in ruins, Justinian's position as Emperor was solidified, and he went on to rebuild Constantinople.
(Source)

Use your reading for the content and the internet to find appropriate pictures. Be sure to include the URL for the pictures you use as well.

Your picture book can either be a Word document or a handmade creation decorated with colored pencils and/or markers. You choose how you want to represent Theodora's life.

Step Three

When you're finished with your masterpiece, upload it below.