Download or read book Theodora written by Paolo Cesaretti and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Theodora Actress Empress Whore written by Stella Duffy and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-09-27 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A bravura performance: a witty, moving, sexy book that bursts with as much color and excitement as the city of Constantinople itself." -Financial Times Roman historian Procopius publicly praised Theodora of Constantinople for her piety-while secretly detailing her salacious stage act and maligning her as ruthless and power hungry. So who was this woman who rose from humble beginnings as a dancer to become the empress of Rome and a saint in the Orthodox Church? Award-winning novelist Stella Duffy vividly recreates the life and times of a woman who left her mark on one of the ancient world's most powerful empires. Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore is a sexy, captivating novel that resurrects an extraordinary, little-known figure from the dusty pages of history.
Download or read book The Secret History written by Procopius and published by Cosimo, Inc.. This book was released on 2007-06-01 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Power Game in Byzantium written by James Allan Evans and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2011-12-22 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: >
Download or read book Theodora written by David Potter and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-10-07 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two of the most famous mosaics from the ancient world, in the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, depict the sixth-century emperor Justinian and, on the wall facing him, his wife, Theodora (497-548). This majestic portrait gives no inkling of Theodora's very humble beginnings or her improbable rise to fame and power. Raised in a family of circus performers near Constantinople's Hippodrome, she abandoned a successful acting career in her late teens to follow a lover whom she was legally forbidden to marry. When he left her, she was a single mother who built a new life for herself as a secret agent, in which role she met the heir to the throne. To the shock of the ruling elite, the two were married, and when Justinian assumed power in 527, they ruled the Eastern Roman Empire together. Their reign was the most celebrated in Byzantine history, bringing wealth, prestige, and even Rome itself back to the Empire. Theodora was one of the dominant political figures of her era, helping shape imperial foreign and domestic policy and twice saving her husband from threatened deposition. She played a central role trying to solve the religious disputes of her era and proactively assisted women who were being trafficked. An extraordinarily able politician, she excited admiration and hatred from those around her. Enemies wrote extensively and imaginatively about her presumed early career as a prostitute, while supporters elevated her, quite literally, to sainthood. Theodora's is a tale of a woman of exceptional talent who overcame immense obstacles to achieve incredible power, which she exercised without ever forgetting where she had come from. In Theodora: Actress, Empress, Saint, David Potter penetrates the highly biased accounts of her found in the writings of her contemporaries and takes advantage of the latest research on early Byzantium to craft a modern, well-rounded, and engaging narrative of Theodora's life. This fascinating portrait will intrigue all readers with an interest in ancient and women's history.
Download or read book The Empresses of Constantinople written by Joseph McCabe and published by . This book was released on 1913 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Empresses of Constantinople by Joseph McCabe, first published in 1913, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.
Download or read book The Secret History written by Stephanie Thornton and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-07-02 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Where Theodora went, trouble followed…. In sixth-century Constantinople, one woman, Theodora, defied every convention and all the odds and rose from common theater tart to empress of a great kingdom, the most powerful woman the Roman Empire would ever know. The woman whose image was later immortalized in glittering mosaic was a scrappy, clever, conniving, flesh-and-blood woman full of sensuality and spirit whose real story is as surprising as any ever told…. After her father dies suddenly, Theodora and her sisters face starvation and a life on the streets. Determined to survive, Theodora makes a living any way she can—first on her back with every man who will have her, then on the stage in a scandalous dramatization of her own invention. When her daring performance grants her a backdoor entry into the halls of power, she seizes the chance to win a wealthy protector—only to face heartbreak and betrayal. Ever resilient, Theodora rises above such trials and, by a twist of fate, meets her most passionate admirer yet: the emperor’s nephew. She thrives as his confidant and courtesan, but many challenges lie ahead. For one day this man will hand her a crown. And all the empire will wonder—is she bold enough, shrewd enough, and strong enough to keep it? READERS GUIDE INCLUDED
Download or read book The Empress Theodora written by James Allan Evans and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2003-10-01 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a biography of the burlesqe actress who became the trusted partner of Byzantine emperor Justinian in both marriage and government affairs.
Download or read book Justinian and Theodora written by Robert Browning and published by Gorgias PressLlc. This book was released on 2003 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the peasant's son who became an emperor and the dissolute actress who resided beside him on the throne is one of the greatest and most controversial romances of history. United, they presided over a key epoch in the formation of Europe.
Download or read book Fortune s Child written by James Conroyd Martin and published by . This book was released on 2019-10-22 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theodora: actress, prostitute, mistress. And Byzantine Empress of the civilized world. Stephen: handsome Syrian boy, wizard's apprentice, palace eunuch. And Secretary to the Empress. How does this unlikely pair become such allies that one day Empress Theodora asks Stephen to write her biography? From a very young age, Theodora, daughter of a circus bearkeeper in Constantinople, sets her sights well above her station in life. Her exquisite beauty sets her apart on stages and in the eyes of men. Stephen, a Syrian lad of striking good looks, is sold by his parents to a Persian wizard, who teaches him a skill in languages that will serve him well. By the time Destiny brings them together in Antioch, Theodora has undergone heartrending trials and a transformation, while Stephen has been sold again . . . and castrated. Discover the enduring bond that, however imperfect, prompts Theodora--as Empress--to request palace eunuch Stephen to write her biography.
Download or read book Theodora of Constantinople written by Elizabeth Elson and published by Joyce Moore. This book was released on 2012-04-15 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Theodora Empress of Byzantium written by Charles Diehl and published by Frederick Ungar. This book was released on 1972 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Purple Shroud written by Stella Duffy and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-09-25 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore, Stella Duffy's chronicle of this amazing woman's early years, delighted readers with its exquisite blend of historical detail and vivid storytelling. Now, The Purple Shroud chronicles Theodora at the height of her power, bringing the ancient world alive in another unforgettable, epic saga. Theodora and Justinian have been crowned Emperor and Empress, but ruling an empire is no easy task. The two factions of Christianity are still battling for dogmatic supremacy, the Empire's borders are not secure, and Theodora worries about the ambitions of Justinian's two best generals. But the most pressing concern is close to home: Constantinople's two factions, the Blues and the Greens, are beginning to unite in their unhappiness with rising taxes. When that unhappiness spills over into all-out violence, thousands are killed (including someone very close to Theodora) and many of the City's landmarks are destroyed, including Theodora's beloved Hagia Sophia. In the aftermath of the riots, Theodora guides Justinian in gaining back the love and trust of the people, her unerring instinct for what the people want proving invaluable. Justinian promises to rebuild the Hagia Sophia to be even more spectacular than before. Theodora comes to realize that being the Augusta is simply another role she must play, though the stakes are much higher and there is no offstage. It's a role she was born to play.
Download or read book Theodora written by David Stone Potter and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An authoritative portrait of one of the ancient world's most intriguing and powerful women.Despite very humble beginnings, Theodora rose to become empress of the Byzantine Empire at the acme of its power and influence. Raised in a family of circus performers in Constantinople, she later caught the attention of the future emperor Justinian while performing as a courtesan. The two weremarried soon thereafter, to the shock of the ruling elite. When Justinian assumed power in AD 527, they ruled the Empire together until her death twenty years later.Their reign was the most celebrated in Byzantine history, bringing wealth, prestige, and even much of the Italian peninsula back to the Empire. As Justinian's most trusted advisor, she discernibly influenced his rule. Her interest in social causes, for example, is seen in added legal protections forwomen and the lower classes. Theodora's most lasting impact was her unwavering support for the Christian sect of Monophysitism. Although her husband was orthodox, Theodora maintained her religious independence at considerable risk to herself. In Syria today, where the sect still thrives, she isrevered as a saint.In Theodora: Actress, Empress, Saint, renowned historian David Potter provides a fresh new account of her fascinating life and times. He penetrates the highly biased writings of her contemporaries and takes advantage of the latest research on early Byzantium to craft the most authoritative andengaging biography of Theodora to date. It will be of interest to all readers of women's history and ancient history.
Download or read book Byzantine Intersectionality written by Roland Betancourt and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Intersectionality, a term coined in 1989, is rapidly increasing in importance within the academy, as well as in broader civic conversations. It describes the study of overlapping or intersecting social identities such as race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, and sexual orientation alongside related systems of oppression, domination, and discrimination. Together, these frameworks are used to understand how systematic injustice or social inequality occurs. In this book, Roland Betancourt examines the presence of marginalized identities and intersectionality in the medieval era. He reveals the fascinating, little-examined conversations in medieval thought and visual culture around matters of sexual and reproductive consent, bullying, non-monogamous marriages, homosocial and homoerotic relationships, trans and non-binary gender identifications, representations of disability, and the oppression of minorities. In contrast to contemporary expectations of the medieval world, this book looks at these problems from the Byzantine Empire and its neighbors in the eastern mediterranean through sources ranging from late antiquity and early Christianity up to the early modern period. In each of five chapters, Betancourt provides short, carefully scaled narratives used to illuminate nuanced and surprising takes on now-familiar subjects by medieval thinkers and artists. For example, Betancourt examines depictions of sexual consent in images of the Virgin; the origins of sexual shaming and bullying in the story of Empress Theodora; early beginnings of trans history as told in the lives of saints who lived portions of their lives within different genders; and the ways in which medieval authors understood and depicted disabilities. Deeply researched, this is a groundbreaking new look at medieval culture for a new generation of scholars"--
Download or read book The Emperor Justinian and the Byzantine Empire written by James Allan Stewart Evans and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 2005-01-30 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This survey of the reign of the Emperor Justinian and the Byzantine Empire dissects the complicated political and military environment surrounding Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire in the 6th Century CE, and discusses the ambitions and achievements of the Emperor Justinian.
Download or read book Women in Purple written by Judith Herrin and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2004-01-25 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the eighth and ninth centuries, three Byzantine empresses—Irene, Euphrosyne, and Theodora—changed history. Their combined efforts restored the veneration of icons, saving Byzantium from a purely symbolic and decorative art and ensuring its influence for centuries to come. In this exhilarating and highly entertaining account, one of the foremost historians of the medieval period tells the story of how these fascinating women exercised imperial sovereignty with consummate skill and sometimes ruthless tactics. Though they gained access to the all-pervasive authority of the Byzantine ruling dynasty through marriage, all three continued to wear the imperial purple and wield tremendous power as widows. From Constantinople, their own Queen City, the empresses undermined competitors and governed like men. They conducted diplomacy across the known world, negotiating with the likes of Charlemagne, Roman popes, and the great Arab caliph Harun al Rashid. Vehemently rejecting the ban on holy images instituted by their male relatives, Irene and Theodora used craft and power to reverse the official iconoclasm and restore icons to their place of adoration in the Eastern Church. In so doing, they profoundly altered the course of history. The art—and not only the art—of Byzantium, of Islam, and of the West would have been very different without them. As Judith Herrin traces the surviving evidence, she evokes the complex and deeply religious world of Constantinople in the aftermath of Arab conquest. She brings to life its monuments and palaces, its court ceremonies and rituals, the role of eunuchs (the "third sex"), bride shows, and the influence of warring monks and patriarchs. Based on new research and written for a general audience, Women in Purple reshapes our understanding of an empire that lasted a thousand years and splashes fresh light on the relationship of women to power.