The former circus performer and prostitute Theodora became the head of Byzantium!
Before becoming emperor, Justinian worked for many years, taking care of the prosperity of the state. But he never met his wife. Young rich girls were busy with themselves, and the poor were interested only in his position and money, and not in himself. But one fine day, he suddenly saw a beauty spinning thread in the window. He looked at the damsel for a long time, and then he spoke to her, pretending to be interested in her work. The imperial successor was amazed that a beautiful girl was not trying to flirt with a rich man. In addition, in a conversation with her, he realized that she was smart, witty, and thought: "This is the kind of wife I need."
Justinian I is known as one of the greatest Byzantine emperors. However, at a critical moment, he showed cowardice.
Illiterate emperor
The light on these events was shed by the witness of those years Procopius of Caesarea: "I told as best I could about everything that … fell to the lot of the Roman people during the wars." From now on, however, my narration will take a different path, for now I will describe everything that happened … ".
This story began with the emperor Justin I. According to Niccolo Alemanni, he was born in the village of Verdyane, near the town of Sredets in present-day Bulgaria. According to other sources - in Serbia, next to Fort Bederian.
At the age of 20, he traveled with two brothers to Constantinople. Due to their great height and strength, the brothers entered the military service. Having made a dizzying career, Justin became emperor.
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He was a good warrior, but he didn't even know the alphabet, which the Romans never had. On a special plaque, the outlines of the Latin letters "Read" were cut, and the emperor filled these slots with ink. All affairs were run by his nephew, whom he gave an excellent education.
All his life, Justin I lived with Luppikina, whom he once ransomed from captivity.
After becoming emperor, he made her empress under the name of Euphemia. They had no children of their own, and they adopted a nephew, whom some call Upravda, and others - Peter. But they began to call him Justinian.
When Justinian met the beautiful Theodora, he fell in love and wanted to marry. The emperor did not mind, but Euphemia categorically refused and did not give her consent until her death. Why did the former slave girl so dislike the modest toiler?
Hippodrome mistress
The most important place in Constantinople was the circus, called the hippodrome. Its width reached 180 meters, and its length - 370 meters, the capacity was 40 thousand people. The circus was decorated with statues of Hercules, Nika, Elena the Beautiful and obelisks. On one side there was a large building where the rulers' box was located. The musicians were located under the box, and at the very bottom were the stables, from where the chariots left. Gladiator fights between people were prohibited, fights with wild animals remained. Also acrobats and clowns in masquerade costumes performed.
The visit to the hippodrome was free. Moreover, since the performance was divided into morning and evening, at lunchtime the audience was handed out bread, fish, vegetables and fruits at public expense. The hippodrome contained two parties of fans - "blue" and "green". Father Theodora was given the position of animal caretaker by the “greens”. But when he died, his daughters, as circus actresses, were given jobs by the "gay" ones.
Procopius wrote that Theodora knew how to make the audience laugh and did not lose her humor, even when she was hit on the head. He also noted the amazing flexibility of the girl. Often she took off her dress and remained only with a narrow strip in shameful places, because she was not allowed to appear completely naked in public.
The historian Charles Diehl, who studied Byzantium, also wrote about her: "Above all else, she had an extremely passionate temperament and quickly achieved success, and not only on stage … In the city, she soon became famous for the insane luxury of her dinners, courage of speeches and many lovers." But she made a noise not by being a heterosexual. She just didn’t refuse anyone or anything. She could, for example, first tire a dozen warriors, and then have fun with 30 of their slaves. Procopius wrote that Theodora “used three holes in her craft and reproached nature, annoyed that there was no other place that would allow a different way of intercourse … Those who came into close proximity with her, by this themselves clearly showed that their intercourse was not the laws of nature. Therefore, when one of the more decent people happened to meet her in the market,they turned away and hastily moved away from her, so as not to touch the clothes of this woman and thus not to smear themselves with this evil. " She interrupted pregnancies with miscarriages, and left unwanted children to their fathers, if they agreed.
When her body was exhausted as a result of monstrous debauchery, she came to Cyprus and there was going to sacrifice herself to the goddess of love Aphrodite. But then the case brought Feodora together with the prefect of the province of Guekebol. At first, Theodora was drowning in luxury, wealth and pleasure. But the official, distraught with her caresses, forgot all his duties, which is why he very soon lost his position and kicked out his mistress.
So she ended up in Alexandria, entertaining soldiers and others. But Alexandria from the IV century was one of the capitals of Christianity. Here Theodora fell under the influence of Saint Timothy IV of Alexandria and the future Saint Severus of Antioch, who preached to fallen women. So when she returned to Constantinople, she was already a mature woman, tired of wandering life and crazy adventures.
She soon met Justinian. After the death of Euphemia, he married Theodora. For this, old Justin canceled the law of Constantine I, which forbade senators to marry harlots and make them august persons.
Successful pogrom
Emperor Justin I died on August 1, 527, and his nephew Justinian and Theodora inherited power. Coming from the bottom, they held tight to power, especially Theodore. Fearing losing the throne, she encouraged denunciations and hyped lawsuits. It was rumored that she herself tortured the suspects. Well, her famous phrase “Bring me his head. I want to see her! did not surprise anyone.
But she made her true contribution to history during the riot at the racetrack. Representatives of the people, mainly artisans and peasants, turned to the emperor with a complaint about bribery of officials and oppression. But Justinian I refused to resolve their issue. The angry crowd went outside the walls of the circus and began to smash everything. The emperor took refuge in the palace. Ships filled with gold awaited him on the shore. But Theodora made her famous speech: “You can leave, the ships are waiting for you. But can you come back? She herself refused to run. Justinian I pondered and sent to the hippodrome, where a huge number of people gathered, the mercenary troops of the barbarians, who killed everyone. As a result of the riot, more than 50 thousand people died.
This event prompted Justinian I to write a new code of laws. Under the influence of Theodora, he banned the trafficking of women, made women equal in rights with men, and introduced women's rights in divorce.
Calling for cleansing, Theodora gathered more than 500 harlots who traded themselves, and imprisoned them in the so-called monastery of repentance. But some of them threw themselves from a height at night and in this way got rid of the unwanted change.
During the 21 years of her reign, Theodora participated in all state and church affairs: she appointed and removed popes, patriarchs, ministers and generals. She not only openly opposed the will of Justinian I, but even replaced his orders with her own. Sometimes this turned into sad consequences, but mostly she correctly assessed the interests of the state. Therefore, during the reign of Justinian the Great and Theodora, the Byzantine Empire reached its peak.
Magazine: Mysteries of History No. 19, Yulia Kravchenko