Theodora: An Empress in Competing Stories
100 Lives That Shaped the World · Episode 15
- Historical Biographies
- 42 min
- Ages 12–99
- 10 chapters
About this audiobook
A biography of the Byzantine empress Theodora that examines court power, the Nika revolt, religious patronage, law, imperial expansion, and the radically different portraits written by Procopius.
Why it's worth a listen
It makes source criticism central to a life whose reputation was shaped by gender, sexual scandal, imperial art, religious conflict, and the needs of later storytellers.
A question to keep
What can competing accounts reveal about Theodora's political power and the gendered construction of her reputation?
Chapters
- An Empress Made of Mosaic
- A Childhood Rewritten as Scandal
- Marriage Across a Legal Barrier
- The Nika Revolt
- Power Inside the Palace
- Law, Protection, and Imperial Control
- A Divided Christian Empire
- War, Tax, Building, and Plague
- Death and an Unfinished Partnership
- Three Books, Many Theodoras