Theodora

Empress of Byzantium

Paolo Cesaretti

• Publisher: Vendome Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9780865652378
• eBook ISBN:
  9780865652804
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

An Italian historian's prize-winning biography of the sixth-century Byzantine empress.
Theodora of Byzantium rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most powerful women of the ancient world. As the wife of Emperor Justinian, she was more than a mere figurehead, acting as Justinian's partner in both politics and life.
Though she was ruthlessly criticized by her contemporaries, historian and biographer Paolo Cesaretti shows her to be an ambitious woman and brilliant ruler whose cunning saved the empire time and again. She defied the conventions of her time and triumphed over those who sought to defame and destroy her. This meticulously researched and richly detailed biography won Italy's prestigious Ginzano Cavour Prize.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Map of Constantinople
• Family of Theodora
• Introduction
• One: “ Keeper of the Bears”
• Two: “He Removed These Persons from That Office. … They Conferred This Position … upon Them”
• Three: “As Each One Seemed to Her to Be Ripe for This Calling”
• Four: “She Immediately Became Admired for This Sort of Thing”
• Five: “Contriver of Shameless Deeds Above All Others”
• Six: “She Was at a Loss for the Necessities of Life”
• Seven: “The Pious … the Saintly … the Devout”
• Eight: “I, Consul”
• Nine: “They Received Imperial Power”
• Ten: “Harmonious Movement”
• Eleven: “Royalty Is a Good Burial-Shroud”
• Twelve: “The Victories That Heaven Has Granted Us”
• Thirteen: “Our Most Pious Consort Given Us by God”
• Fourteen: “Inhuman Cruelty”
• Fifteen: “Solomon, I Have Conquered You!”
• Sixteen: “God … Entrusted These Lands to the Demons of Violence”
• Seventeen: “Loyal to Her Family”
• Eighteen: “Her Next Stage”
• Epilogue
• Notes
• Glossary
• About the Sources
• Selected Bibliography
• Photo Credits
• Acknowledgments
• Index