April
06
/ 2022
The hooded gaze of an inscrutable Theodora (c.497- 548 AD) greets hundreds of thousands of visitors each year as they pay their respects to her mosaic at the Basilica of Saint Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. Encircled in glittering gold and bedecked in crown jewels, her visage befits the powerful Byzantine Roman empress she once was. More partner than figurehead, Theodora is considered to have been one of the most powerful and influential of all empresses. Yet while her image on the mosaic is discernible, due to the incoherent misogynist and classist ramblings of an ancient chronicler the image she presents to history is somewhat less so. Alas, much of what is known about Theodora comes from the poisonous pen of
