Theodora and Justinian are the dream couple of late antiquity. Justinian reestablishes the power of Rome from the Bosphorus in the 6th century. He succeeded in bringing large parts of the Western Roman Empire back under control and defeating the barbarians who had spread there. The mighty Hagia Sophia was built under the imperial couple. The legal system was consolidated and much more.
But almost more amazing than the actions of the emperor is the role of his empress. Both came from the humblest circumstances. Justinian was bound in 482 as a farmer’s son in the village of Tauresium. Theodora’s father is said to have been a bear keeper in the circus. She herself has struggled through as an actress and prostitute. Theodora lived a wild life and was known for her partying. When they both met, Theodora’s wild youth was already over. Justinian was then an imperial official. The love between the two must have been great. They married despite a law prohibiting officials from marrying an actress.
Later, the couple temporarily ruled the world. But at the beginning of his reign Justinian was by no means firmly in the saddle. Defeats in war and financial difficulties meant that the upstart was unpopular. The powerful disliked Justinian’s idea that he was answerable only to God. They were even less pleased that under his rule the upper classes should also pay taxes. At the same time, the emperor made himself unpopular with the common people because he scrimped on the chariot races and no longer supported them as generously as usual.
The chariot races were of immense importance in Ostrom, the football fanaticism of today is only a faint reflection of the cult of that time. All the people of Constantinople belonged to the various parties named after the colors of the racing stables. The Emperor wanted to smother the unrest that was beginning with a heavy fist. His soldiers seized troublemakers, but when they were about to be executed, a “miracle” happened. The cord broke for two convicts. For the common people, and even more so for their partisans, this was a divine sign. They asked for a pardon.
The Emperor refused. That was clumsy, because that’s how he united the warring circus factions. In January 532 there was an uprising, first the house of the prefect was attacked, then the facilities of the imperial house. The predecessor church of Hagia Sophia and individual districts went up in flames. The guards in the city do not support the Emperor. At times it seemed as if only his Goten bodyguard would protect him. Procopius reports that Justinian was said to have been in despair and ready to give up everything, but the empress Theodora convinced him that he, the emperor, must confront the rebellion. In a big speech, Theodora stepped out of the traditional role of wife for the first time.
“Gentlemen, the present occasion is too grave to follow the convention that a woman should not speak in the council of men. Those who face extreme danger should think only of wisest course of action, and not of convention hold.
In my opinion, fleeing is not the right way, even if it should bring us to safety. It is impossible for a person born into this world not to die. But for one who has ruled, being a fugitive is unbearable. May I never be stripped of the purple robe, and may I never see the day when those who see me will not call me Empress.
If you want to save yourselves, sir, there is no problem. We are rich; yonder is the sea, and yonder are the ships. But now think for a moment if, once you’ve fled to a safe place, you wouldn’t gladly trade that safety for death later. I agree with the saying that the royal purple is the finest shroud.”
The emperor and his advisors then took new courage. Troops loyal to the Emperor were transferred to the city. Justinian called the people to the hippodrome and promised impunity. But the rebels believed that he had already fled and that another emperor was being summoned. But they were wrong, the generals Belisar and Mundus, who were loyal to the imperial couple, marched into the hippodrome with their troops and massacred the rebels. “In the end, none of the citizens, green or blue, who were in the hippodrome survived,” reports Theopanes. Over 30,000 supporters of the circus parties died.
The imperial couple had consolidated their power. Together, and with the faithful who had stood by them in the hour of peril, they were able to rebuild Rome to its former greatness. Ultimately, the Eastern Roman Empire could not hold the western territories for long. But the liberation of the imperial couple made it possible for Byzantium to resist all attempts to conquer the city until 1453.
