The couple had seven children and Theodora was a loyal participant in imperial affairs and ceremonies, but she continued to secretly venerate icons throughout her husband's reign.

The reintroduction of icon veneration was made without much issue, though the Paulician heretics in eastern Anatolia were ruthlessly suppressed on Theodora's orders.

As Michael III grew older, he feared that Theodora meant to follow in the footsteps of Empress Irene and depose him in order to rule alone.

Angered by Theodora's refusal to allow him to choose his own wife, Michael recalled her brother Bardas from exile, and with him assassinated Theoktistos in November 855.

He was an iconoclast (against the veneration of icons), given that the empire had returned to Iconoclasm under his father's predecessor, Leo V.[12] Theophilos was eager for a bride and made the affair into a spectacle, assembling the women in a newly erected and splendid hall in the imperial palace.

[18] According to the later chronicler Symeon Logothete, Theophilos had at first been struck by the beauty of another girl, Kassia (later a prominent poet and composer), and cynically said to her that "through a woman, evils came to man" (referring to Eve).

[19][20] This comment, deemed by Judith Herrin to have been an "unfortunate way to engage a future wife's affections",[20] prompted Kassia to reply "through a woman, better things began" (referring to the Virgin Mary).

[35][36] On his deathbed, Theophilos had delivered an eloquent speech to his courtiers and officials, imploring them to defend the rights of his wife and their two-year-old son Michael III.

Unlike Leo IV's wife Irene, who later ended up deposing her son Constantine VI and ruling as empress in her own right, Theodora was not as ruthless and did not need to use as drastic methods to retain power.

Among Theodora's most prominent advisors and supporters were her brothers Bardas and Petronas, her close relative Sergios Niketiates, as well as the logothete and eunuch Theoktistos.

[27] Shortly after becoming senior ruler, Theodora was criticized by an ascetic holy man by the name of Symeon, to whom she is said to have responded "Since you have reached this conclusion, depart from me.

The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (1991) recognizes her as empress regnant 842–856 but also states that Theoktistos held effective power throughout Theodora's reign.

[41][42] According to Lynda Garland, it is difficult to determine whether Theodora or Theoktistos was primarily responsible for running the empire during Michael's minority, but that one or both should be considered "remarkably successful in government".

Regardless of whether he was the effective power behind the throne, or simply an advisor, it is clear that Theoktistos, a senior government official with a long and loyal history of service, contributed to and influenced imperial policy during Theodora's reign.

[10] As she had considerable support, Theodora restored the veneration of icons in March 843 at the Council of Constantinople,[1][e] just fourteen months after Theophilos's death,[49] ending the second Byzantine Iconoclasm (814–843).

[37] The entire process was conducted in relative peace, though John at first refused to leave the patriarch's residence and showed wounds on his stomach that he claimed had been inflicted by imperial guards, though they were more likely self-inflicted.

[56] In order to demonstrate that Orthodoxy, just as well as Iconoclasm, could win victories for the empire, Theodora later in 853 organized an expedition to retake the island of Crete, lost some decades prior to Arab conquerors.

However, Theoktistos became concerned when he heard rumors that Theodora intended to name a new emperor, possibly her brother Bardas, and abandoned the campaign to return to Constantinople.

Though these rumors were false, and Theodora very much intended to hold onto power herself, Theoktistos was unable to return to Crete since news arrived of an invasion of Asia Minor by Umar al-Aqta of Malatya.

The Byzantines had lost at Mauropotamos partly due to desertions to the Arabs, which Theoktistos blamed upon Bardas, and convinced Theodora to expel her brother from the court.

In the summers of 851 to 854, Ali ibn Yahya al-Armani, emir of Tarsus, raided imperial territory,[60] perhaps viewing the empire being governed by a young widow and her child as a sign of weakness.

[61] Shortly after the sack of Anazarbus, Boris I of Bulgaria began making threats towards the empire as the Bulgarian treaty was once more about to expire, however, he was convinced to renew it without the need for military action.

Simeon's neutrality is disputed, and other contemporary sources do not speak of this conspiracy, leading several prominent Byzantists, such as Ostrogorsky and Adontz to dismiss this narrative.

[63] Whatever the case, although Theodora's reign had been highly successful, both she and Theoktistos were dissatisfied with Michael III, who neglected matters of state in preference of chariot racing, drinking and spending time with his alleged mistress Eudokia Ingerina.

These rumors, started by Bardas, further detailed that Theodora planned to retain power, elevate someone else to the throne and blind and depose Michael, following in Irene's footsteps.

[57][62] The conspiracy, which was also supported by Kalomaria (one of Theodora's sisters) and Theophanes (the chief of the wardrobe), may not originally have been intended to kill Theoktistos, and instead just to humiliate him and force him into exile.

[64] Unable to placate his mother,[62] Michael proclaimed himself sole emperor on 15 March 856,[1] formally deposing her as empress and stripping her of the rank of Augusta.

[62] Theodora continued to live in the imperial palace until 857[67] or 858,[1] when she and Michael's sisters were expelled and confined to a convent in Gastria,[67][68] despite Patriarch Ignatios refusing to tonsure them since they were not becoming nuns willingly.

[72] Theodora was highly regarded by later generations[12] and she was remembered as a formidable leader, both because of her bringing an end to Iconoclasm and her successful dealings with foreign powers.

[39][68] Lynda Garland assessed Theodora as "a woman of character, who was able to exclude her brother from power without difficulty, who was not afraid to speak her mind when necessary, and who was fully capable of governing the empire".