For people familiar with Byzantine history, the name “Theodora” will elicit some recognition. That recognition typically brings with it the word “prostitute” to mind as well. Theodora is infamous for being, as many historical documents put it, a “whore,” the prostitute-turned-empress.

Theodora

Theodora was born to a poor family and had two younger sisters. At a young age, the girls were sent by their mother to act on stage in order to bring in enough money to put food on the table. Not much is known about Theodora’s sisters, but the soon-to-be empress’ career took off. In a time when actresses were synonymous with prostitutes, Theodora became well known for her vulgar acts on stage and the number of men she was able to seduce.

Sometime in her thirties, however, Theodora and Justinian met and fell in love. It is unclear whether this happened before or after Theodora retired from the stage, but it is certain that Justinian knew of her past. Before they could get married, Justinian had to change a law set by his uncle that prohibited nobility from marrying actresses and daughters of actresses.

As empress, Theodora was Justinian’s equal. She was protective of Miaphysite Christians, despite her husband and much of the empire being part of the opposing Monophysite Church. She established churches and other buildings for refuge, helped fleeing Miaphysites, and aided Miaphysite church leaders in attaining roles of power. She also never forgot her roots as an actress. Theodora passed laws protecting actresses and prostitutes from trafficking, built shelters for them, and stopped men who attempted to extort such women.

Unfortunately, large portions of this history are untrustworthy. Much of what we know of Theodora comes from the historian Procopius’ account of her in the Secret History, an account in which he referred to her and Justinian as blood-thirsty demons out of his desire to attack Justinian’s character.

Procopius

Not much is known about Procopius of Caesarea despite his role as a principal historian of the Byzantine Empire. Before writing the Secret History, Procopius spoke positively and almost fondly of Justinian’s work in the empire in his previously published texts. In fact, the Secret History was never published: it was discovered by historians centuries after Procopius’ death.

The title Secret History comes from the fact that Procopius wrote the text in private. He never meant for others to read it out of fear of the punishment he would face for his treasonous words. So, why did he write them at all?

A Double History

In writing his Secret History, Procopius wrote a historical double not only for Empress Theodora but for himself as well. Just as he preserved a sexual and demonic identity of her, he created an image of himself that contradicted his past actions.

With Theodora, we know more of what she was actually like because of other documents and historical evidence concerning her life and reign. With Procopius, however, we may never know which of his identities is to be believed. Little information exists on his personal life. Maybe neither side of his personality is true, or maybe both are. What we do know is that doubles in history certainly exist, and it is not always evident which one should really be considered “history.”