Potter, for instance, writes that Procopius' description of Theodora's erotic life "probably was composed as an exaggerated diatribe" and was "certainly not among the most accurate things he ever wrote.

[9] Given her father's profession, modern scholars thus argue that it is highly probable Theodora was a native of the capital[10] – this is furthered in Procopius' narrative.

[13] After her father's death, her mother remarried, but the family lacked a source of income because Acacius' position was given away by Asterius, a Green faction official who accepted a bribe in exchange.

When Theodora was four, her mother brought her children wearing garlands into the Hippodrome, presenting them as suppliants to the Green faction, but they rebuffed her efforts.

[14] According to Procopius' Secret History, written around 550 AD,[15] Theodora began her work as a prostitute before the onset of adolescence and later joined her older sister Comito as a performer on stage.

[16][17] Procopius wrote that Theodora made a name for herself with her pornographic portrayal of Leda and the Swan, where she would have birds eat seeds from her nude body.

One time when she [Theodora] went to the house of a notable to entertain during drinks, they say that when the eyes of all the diners were upon her she mounted the frame of the couch by their feet and unceremoniously lifted up her clothes right there and then, not caring in the least that she was making a spectacle of her shamelessness.

Even though she put three of her orifices to work she would impatiently reproach Nature for not making the holes in her nipples bigger than they were so that she could devise additional sexual positions involving them as well.

She was often pregnant, but by using almost all known techniques she could induce immediate abortions.Some contemporary authors such as John of Ephesus, also describe Theodora as having come "from the brothel", but this translation of pornae, which most commonly means "prostitutes" is used by John Ephesus to refer to actresses, suggesting that porneion which commonly means "brothel" in classical Greek was used to describe her past as an actress and not the place she came from.

[23] Nevertheless, the modern consensus about Theodora's sexual activity is that, as Potter states, underlying Procopius' inventions "there lies the semblance of fact.

"[24] Later, Theodora traveled to North Africa as the concubine of a Syrian official named Hecebolus, who became the governor of the Libyan Pentapolis.

Following Euphemia's death in 524, Justin passed a new law allowing reformed actresses to marry outside of their rank if the marriage was approved by the emperor.

According to Procopius' Secret History, she helped her husband make decisions, plans, and political strategies; participated in state councils; and had great influence over him.

Justinian sought her advice and called her his "partner in my deliberations" in Novel 8.1 (AD 535), anti-corruption legislation where provincial officials had to take an oath to the emperor and Theodora.

According to Procopius, Theodora was the one who persuaded Justinian and his court from fleeing and take the offensive instead,[22] speaking at a meeting of the government council and underlining the significance of someone who dies as a ruler instead of living as an exile or in hiding.

[35] According to Procopius, Theodora interrupted the emperor and his counselors, saying: My lords, the present occasion is too serious to allow me to follow the convention that a woman should not speak in a man's council.

[38][39] Following the Nika revolt, Justinian soon felt secure enough to reinstate John the Cappadocian and quaestor Tribonian, the two ministers that were dismissed to appease the factions.

But in the case of Justinian and Theodora, all the other members of the Senate and those as well who held the rank of Patricians, whenever they entered into their presence, would prostrate themselves to the floor, flat on their faces, and holding their hands and feet stretched far out they would touch with their lips one foot of each before rising.

[citation needed] The marriages of her sister Comito to general Sittas and her niece Sophia to Justinian's nephew Justin II, who would succeed to the throne, are suspected to have been engineered by Theodora.

On the other hand, chronicler John Malalas wrote positively about the convent, declaring that Theodora "freed the girls from the yoke of their wretched slavery.

[5] In Wars, Procopius mentioned that Theodora was naturally inclined to assist women in misfortune and, according to Secret History, she was accused of unfairly championing the wives' causes more so when they were charged with adultery (SH 17).

[48] Justinian worked to heal the divide between the supporters of different Christological doctrines by bringing the Monophysites (anti-Chalcedonians) under the Chalcedonian Church.

Theodora, reputed to be a Monophysite, worked against her husband's support of the Chalcedonian Christianity in the ongoing struggle for the dominance of each faction.

[49] John of Ephesus, a key figure within the Monophysite movement, wrote of the significant contributions of Theodora in assisting church building projects and supporting the poor.

Anthimus had been appointed Patriarch of Constantinople under her influence and, after the ex-communication order, he was hidden in Theodora's quarters until her death in twelve years.

Theodora persistently provided sanctuary for persecuted Miaphysites within the Palace, accommodating such a significant number of monks that, in one incident, several hundred gathered in a grand chamber, causing the floor to collapse.

The dedicatory inscription, which remains visible to this day, proudly proclaims: ‘May he [Sergius] increase the power of the God-crowned Theodora whose mind is adorned with piety, whose constant toil lies in unsparing efforts to nourish the destitute.’ [53] When Pope Timothy III of Alexandria died, Theodora enlisted the help of the Augustal Prefect and the Duke of Egypt to make Theodosius, a disciple of Severus, the new pope.

[64] Some modern historians argue that Procopius is not necessarily a reliable source for understanding Theodora, but he provides a glimpse into the changing values and norms of the period.

[68] Texts other than Procopius' Secret History confirm that she was involved in the downfall of Pope Silverius and the imperial secretary and comes excubitorum Priscus.

[3] Theodora and Justinian are represented in mosaics in the Basilica of San Vitale of Ravenna, Italy, which were completed a year before her death after 547 when the Byzantines retook the city.