Actress, empress, saint david potters biography of the empress theodora brings to life a powerful woman previously much maligned by the writer procopius. Actress, empress, saint, renowned historian david potter provides a new account of the life and times of this important historical figure. By some accounts trained as a child acrobat, her father died mauled by one of. Financial timesroman historian procopius publicly praised theodora of constantinople for her pietywhile secretly detailing her salacious stage act and maligning her. Her intelligence and political acumen made her justinians most trusted adviser and enabled her to use. Theodora book las vegasclark county library district. Along with her husband, she is a saint in the orthodox church, commemorated on november 14 life. Ruthlessly criticized and reviled by her contemporaries, theodora, the beautiful wife of emperor justinian, began her life as the daughter of a bearkeeper and rose to be justinians partner in politics as well as in life, ruling from 527 to 548. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Theodora was an eastern roman empress by marriage to emperor justinian. Despite very humble beginnings, theodora rose to become empress of the byzantine.
If we could have asked theodora, would she have said whore or empress was the harder job. However, history has not been favourable to her because she has garnered much negative criticism because of procopius, a writer writing works about his times. Actress, empress, saint oxford university press, 2015, historian david potter. Empress theodora, who transformed the world by peter brown. Theodora actress, empress, saint david potter women in antiquity. Theodora became empress of the byzantine empire during the 6 th century ad. We sing thy praises as the gem and fairness of the church, and as a diadem and pattern of all christian queens, o alllauded and divinelycrowned theodora. Silverius was a subdeacon when the ostrogothic king theodahad. Justinian i ruled the byzantine empire from 527 to 565, and once married to him, theodora was in effect coruler and thus in a position help the downtrodden in various waysand. The righteous theodora was the wife of emperor theophilus the iconoclast during the middle of the ninth century. Theodora is said to have worked as a prostitute and performed on the stage in constantinople.
Read, highlight, and take notes, across web, tablet, and phone. Raised in a family of circus performers in constantinople, she later caught the attention of the future. She stayed with him for almost four years before returning to constantinople. She was a strong iconodule who after the death of her husband overrode his iconoclastic policies to finally restore veneration of icons in the eastern roman empire. More challenging, however, is the need to square procopiuss portrait of theodora with the shimmeringly jewelencrusted empress who would end up a saint of the orthodox church. Actress, empress, saint women in antiquity two of the most famous mosaics from the ancient world, in the church of san vitale in ravenna, depict the sixthcentury emperor justinian and, on the wall facing him, his wife, theodora 497548. A fascinating book which offers an intimate look into the life of saint theodora and byzantium. Theodora was the daughter of the sebastokrator john petraliphas, governor of thessaly and macedonia. In fact, theodora harbored a pretty questionable past.
An excellently readable biography of sixthcentury byzantine empress theodora, who began her life as the daughter of an actress and the bearmaster of one of byzantiums factions, became an actress herself, bore a daughter out of wedlock to a wealthy man, left or was abandoned by him. Duffys retelling of the true story of a woman 500548 who rose from lowly beginnings to become empress of the byzantine empire is lively and dramatic. Theodora book chicago public library bibliocommons. This fascinating portrait will intrigue all readers with an interest in ancient and womens history. With her glorification as a saint the church remembers her role in this restoration. Along with her spouse, theodora is a saint in the eastern orthodox church. He penetrates the highly biased writings of her contemporaries and takes advantage of the latest research on early byzantium to craft the most authoritative and engaging biography of theodora to date. Actress, empress, saint women in antiquity reprint by potter, david isbn. Theodora the empress greek orthodox archdiocese of america. Saint silverius, born, frosinone, campania italydied dec. Because i did not know much about her, it was fascinating how she rose up from humble beginnings to become an empress of the byzantine empire. Click download or read online button to get theodora empress of byzantium book now. When we consider the pious lives of saints, images of selfsacrificing martyrs come to mind, devout adherents passionately immolating themselves for a higher cause. When theodora was 16, she accompanied a syrian official called hecebolus to the libyan pentapolis, as he was appointed as governor of that province.
Publishers weekly aug 8, 2011 duffys seductive retelling of the story of the legendary empress theodora will delight historical fiction fans. Theodora was by no means born into power though she rose into it, which was an extremely rare phenomenon in ancient ruling classes. Actress, empress, saint by david potter, 2015 online. Holy monastery dormition of theotokos, parnitha commemorates on. To be an empress in byzantium was to understand where power really lay, and some. Potter penetrates the highly biased accounts of her found in the writings of her contemporaries and takes advantage of the latest research on early byzantium to craft a modern, wellrounded, and. The empress theodora at the colosseum by jeanjoseph benjaminconstant, 18451902 wikimedia. Procopius is the only primary source about theodora. Saint theodora the empress of byzantium aged byzantine. Actress, empress, saint by david stone potter goodreads.
Actress, empress, whore is a sexy, captivating novel that resurrects an extraordinary, littleknown figure from the dusty pages of history. Actress, empress, saint women in antiquity theodora. Thanks to the writings of procopius and other detractors, the byzantine empress theodora c. The first that i ever came across empress theodora was when i was a sophomore in high school, and we read her speech from procopiuss history of the wars, where she is said to persuade her husband to stay rather than fleeing by saying, purple is a noble shroud. Actress, empress, saint, david potter penetrates the highly biased accounts of her found in the writings of her contemporaries and takes advantage of the latest research on early byzantium to craft a modern, wellrounded, and engaging narrative of theodoras life. Kirkus duffys passion for her heroine, the charismatic theodora, is evident on every page. The depiction of empress theodora in our john, lord chamberlain mysteries is based on her character as described in contemporary historian procopius secret history. A fascinating portrait of a woman who rose from professional courtesan to influential advisor and empress. Theodora was born into the lowest class of byzantine society, the daughter of a bearkeeper for the circus. Theodora paperback david potter oxford university press. Theodora, famously an actress and concubine, married the emperor justinian, and had a profound effect on the politics and laws of early byzantium. Empress theodora was one of the most powerful women in the byzantine empire. She was the wife of justinian i, one of the most notable byzantine emperors. Along with her spouse, theodora is a saint in the eastern orthodox church, commemorated on 14 november.
Rising from a humble background and overcoming the prejudices of her somewhat disreputable early career as an actress, theodora would marry justinian r. At constantinople later the turkish istanbul, under the rule of the emperor anastasius, the extremes of. Their reign was the most celebrated in byzantine history, bringing wealth, prestige. Empress of byzantium is a very comprehensive biography of empress theodora. Saint theodora the empress of byzantium byzantine icon. Kontakion of empress theodora plagal of the fourth tone. David potter is to be warmly congratulated on having written a book that offers a. Actress, empress, saint, david potter penetrates the highly biased accounts of her found in the writings of her contemporaries and takes advantage of the latest research on early byzantium to craft a modern, wellrounded, and engaging narrative of theodora\s life. Read the fulltext online edition of the empress theodora. Partner of justinian ebook written by james allan evans. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want.
In this book, james allan evans provides a scholarly, yet highly accessible. Her intelligence and political acumen made her justinians most trusted adviser and enabled her to use the power and influence of. This fascinating portrait will intrigue all readers with an interest. Theodora was the daughter of a bear trainer and a dancer and an actress. Penetrates the highly biased accounts of her found in the writings of her contemporaries. Actress, empress, saint by david potter oxford university press, 2015. She became empress upon justinians accession in 527 and was one of his chief advisers. November 15 as for the renowned empress theodora, she was from paphlagonia and was the daughter of a certain marinus, the commander of a military regiment.
Because of her intelligence and political savvy, she was justinians most trusted adviser and used her influence to promote religious and social policies in line with her interests. She was born at servia sometime between 1210 and 1216, and married michael ii komnenos doukas, the ruler of epirus and thessaly shortly after his accession in 1231, while still a. This book is a gripping, longoverdue biography of one of the most intriguing and powerful female figures of western history. Theodora empress of byzantium download ebook pdf, epub. So it may come as something of a surprise that joining the haloed ranks is the ambitious, resolute, and oftentimes controversial, byzantine empress theodora c 497548. D s potter two of the most famous mosaics from the ancient world, in the church of san vitale in ravenna, depict the sixthcentury emperor justinian and, on the wall facing him, his wife, theodora 497548. Actress, empress, saint, renowned historian david potter provides a fresh new account of her fascinating life and times.
Actress, empress, saint, david potter penetrates the highly. Hormisdas before hormisdas had entered the priesthood. Actress, empress, saint, david potter penetrates the highly biased accounts of her found in the writings of her contemporaries and takes advantage of the latest research on early byzantium to craft a modern, wellrounded, and engaging narrative of theodora s life. Takes advantage of the latest research on early byzantium. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. How a poverty stricken prostitute became an empress. Books go search best sellers gift ideas new releases deals store. Theodora reigned as empress of the byzantine empire alongside her husband, emperor justinian i, from 527 ce until her death in 548 ce.
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