Empress Theodora and the Origin of Women’s Rights
By Douglas A. Burton
There are many
currents that flow into the story of women’s rights. Many cultures are
recognized for their egalitarian traditions and we have countless examples of
great women in power—from the pharaoh Hatsheput to Queen Victoria to Eleanor
Roosevelt. But one woman—Empress Theodora— achieved such a decisive victory for
women in her time that her relative obscurity is breathtaking.
More than fifteen hundred
years ago, Theodora helped influence massive legal reforms aimed at improving
the plight of women. During her reign,
she influenced parts of a legal codex known as the Corpus Juris Civilis, which included a wave of specific rights for
women. Historians credit this body of Roman law as central source material to the
legal tradition of Western civilization. Whoa.
Therefore, Theodora made direct contributions to a legal system that survived
into the American Constitution, English common law, and even international
public law. It’s rare to see such
lofty legalism in the early Medieval era, but rarer still to know the
individual woman behind the campaign.
But who the hell
is she? What laws did Empress Theodora change? And how could such an influential
woman be forgotten?
“Therefore,
Theodora made direct contributions
to a legal system that survived into the
American
Constitution, English common law, and even
international public law.”
Abandoned by most
Western thinkers throughout the centuries, Empress Theodora came off as a salacious
novelty, a Medieval prostitute-stripper who made it to the top through a lucky
marriage. The scandalous gossip[i] of
her past, which is handed down to us by a single male source, Procopius of
Caesarea, no doubt stirred the imaginations of Western historians through the
centuries. The general consensus throughout history is that prostitutes have
little historical value and make poor role models. But missing from this harsh
judgment is the fact that as a prostitute, Theodora was part of an
institutional system that marginalized women to an extreme. Her perspective was
necessary for addressing women’s
rights because she had firsthand knowledge and experience about the reality for
women. She dared to articulate the
specific problems women faced at a time when no one cared or listened. Even so, Theodora insisted on designing real-world
solutions, defined in legal terms, to fix the problems she knew existed.
Theodora’s
personal ideas and solutions became law[ii]. And
she didn’t eff around about it.
Under Empress
Theodora, rape was made punishable by death. This law extended to anyone present
during the rape, regardless of position or rank, and the rapist’s property was
even transferred to the rape victim[iii].
 |
| The Empress Theodora at the Colosseum, oil painting by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant: Wikipedia. |
Theodora also saw
to it that women could own and inherit property[i],
which is quite a breakthrough because it gave daughters and wives real social
power. A family’s wealth could now continue through a daughter, and should a
woman’s husband die, the wife could claim the property and fortune. This
greater legal right alone gave women throughout the empire real power in real
terms.
Unlike today,
professional outlets for women were severely restrictive. Besides the socially acceptable
“work-from-home-and-raise-a-family” jobs, such as weaving, innkeeping, or
baking, the very concept of ‘professional women’ as a large and recognizable
class did not exist with one exception. A large number of women worked in
theaters and brothels. So, although this professional class of women carried a
huge social stigma, their industry was one of the few places where women worked
publicly outside the traditional family structure and earned real income.
Therefore, laws
that addressed legal matters for this lowly and socially powerless group is
bold and unashamedly supportive of women in general. Theodora meant to treat
the professional women of her society, sex workers though they may be, as
professionals. She understood that these prostitutes, actresses, mimes, and
singers earned money and could technically sustain themselves independently. But
brothel keepers had legal authority over these women. So, Theodora shifted that
legal authority back to women.
“These reforms
should be regarded as revolutionary since they shattered the most powerful
class barriers.”
Under the new
laws, no woman could be forced into
prostitution[ii].
If a woman willingly chose prostitution, but later wished to leave the profession,
Theodora’s laws made it illegal for a brothel-keeper to stop her. And Theodora
followed up relentlessly to ensure enforcement of the laws. When Theodora discovered
that brothel keepers undermined the new regulations by making girls swear oaths
never to leave the brothels, she responded by rendering such oaths illegal[iii].
She mandated that the provincial governor and the head bishop had the responsibility to enforce this law, giving her
direct oversight over a manageable number of men in high positions. She chose
two men to enforce, because if the governor, himself, blocked a woman’s
departure from a brothel, then the bishop could override the governor. You see,
Theodora had once been a concubine in the service of one of these provincial
governors. She knew only too well the kind of power these men had over women.
She curbed that power at the highest levels.
And Theodora
didn’t stop there. She helped to overhaul the
marriage laws of her time. These reforms should be regarded as
revolutionary since they shattered the most powerful class barriers.
For centuries, there
was a ban on intermarriage between the upper and lower classes[iv]. By
law, a prostitute could never marry a nobleman. Such a rigid class system was
characteristic of a Roman world view that regarded high title and rank as
self-evident. Secondly, even under the new Christian perspective, prostitution
was regarded as immoral and sinful. Therefore, when Theodora helped to
facilitate the removal of the marriage ban, she did so without the support of either the secular or religious
tradition. Her personal world view alone guided the legal reform. By removing the
marriage ban[v],
prostitutes could now marry into noble houses and gain legal status. Like it or
not, this represents unparalleled social mobility for women at the time. It
gave women access to power.
By having the
marriage ban removed, Theodora saw to it that her sister, her daughter, and
numerous other theater friends all married into noble houses. Just like that, several
women crossed an impossible barrier and gained incredible social power, and they achieved this change in fortune seemingly
overnight.
“Therefore,
when Theodora helped to facilitate the removal of the marriage ban, she did so
without the support of either the
secular or religious tradition.”
Once, Theodora arranged
a marriage between one of her theater friends (an ex-prostitute) and a nobleman
named Saturnitus[vi].
When Theodora heard that this Saturnitus complained that his prospective bride
wasn’t a virgin, she had the nobleman rolled in a blanket and flogged with a
cane. She asked Saturnitus just one question: why could he frequent the
brothels with impunity and dare demand virginity in his wife? Theodora didn’t
believe in double standards.
Other laws, too,
applied to all women regarding marriage. In Byzantium, there was a law of
‘mutual consent’ in divorce cases. A divorce was granted only if both the husband and the wife agreed to
void the marriage. By the way, this legal concept is still practiced in some
countries today. If the wife seeks a divorce,
but not the husband, she stays married against her will. You might point out
that this law works in both directions. However, if a man was forced to stay in
a marriage because his wife vetoed the divorce, especially back then, he could
easily visit a brothel, hippodrome, amphitheater, or tavern and enjoy a full
life outside the home. Wives did not have this luxury. (They weren’t even
allowed on the street without a male escort[vii]).
So, the law of mutual consent worked disproportionately against women.
So, Theodora had
the law of mutual consent struck down.
Secondly, women of
the time were expected to offer a dowry to their grooms. By Theodora’s time,
the custom had expanded to make it fashionable for men to offer something minor
in return. This minor offering was called an “antenupital.’ Under the new laws,
the antenupital had to be equal to the bride’s dowry. Equal to the bride. Theodora’s message is consistent and clear.
She also knew that
prospective brides could sometimes be pressured
into a marriage. A woman might give consent initially when put on the spot, but as the marriage date grew
near, she might think differently. Therefore, a new law came out that required
the prospective bride to give her consent twice—once at the original proposal,
and then again before the marriage
took place. This allowed women to change their minds before entering into
a lifelong commitment[viii].
 |
| Mosaic of Theodora: Wikipedia. |
Finally, in what I regard as a remarkable example of Theodora’s scope, sympathies, and real-world knowledge, she even dared to protect criminal women. In the Sixth Century, protection for male criminals wasn’t even a concern. That’s why I regard Theodora’s intervention on behalf of criminal women to be truly groundbreaking. If a woman required prison time, the new laws forbade her imprisonment in common jails where she had no protection from male guards who could abuse these women without recourse. She saw to it that criminal women were removed from common prisons and detained in a nunnery (that she constructed), under the supervision of other women.
Empress Theodora
was known to hold court in her opulent imperial bedchamber. There, surrounded
by a retinue of her most trusted women and eunuchs, she ruled over what has been
described as an almost “parallel government[i].”
Many women (and men) came directly to Theodora to plead for justice, and the
formidable empress meted out justice with purpose. The scene in Theodora’s
bedchambers must have mirrored the impressive throne room of the Byzantine
Empire, just a few hundred feet away. In the words of James Allan Evans in his
book about the empress, “In the eyes of the upper-class beholder, what Theodora
represented was revolutionary.”
What’s more about
this incredible woman is that she acted out her beliefs on equality. She
inspired an unprecedented partnership with her husband, Justinian. Far from a great woman who ruled in the absence of a
male ruler, Theodora ruled right alongside Justinian the Great, who is
considered one of the greatest emperors in Byzantine history. When he addressed
the Byzantine court in the throne room, Theodora sat exactly beside him, which
was not typical. Theodora was free to address whomever she pleased. The emperor
did not grow angry when she disagreed with him before the court. Instead, they actively debated the merits of
different policies openly. She and Justinian were also faithful to each other.
Their relationship was considered bizarre by their contemporaries, but I see it
as a shining example for any of us. Theodora insisted on being treated as an
equal, and Justinian unapologetically treated
her an equal.
“The
scene in Theodora’s bedchambers must have mirrored the impressive throne room
of the Byzantine Empire, just a few hundred feet away.”
Theodora’s mark on
history is a powerful, immovable example for us. The body of laws that came
into being during her reign is known as
the Corpus Juris Civilis and,
according to Wikipedia: “The Corpus continues to have a major influence on
public international law. Its four parts thus constitute the foundation
documents of the Western legal tradition[ii].”
Uh, wow. If this is true…if the corpus is at the heart of the Western legal
tradition, then Theodora stands front and center to the tradition of women’s
rights. Official credit goes to Justinian for the Corpus, and he deserves plenty of it. But no historian
can doubt Theodora’s presence in the laws that pertain to women. History, it
seems, remains uncomfortable with Theodora’s sexualized past. But it’s time to
recognize the crucial connection between her early life experiences and the
incredible legal reforms she oversaw as an empress.
Our culture is
taking a second look at history and rediscovering the many contributions of women throughout the ages. I
say, look further eastward, beyond Europe, and deeper into the past. In my view,
Theodora should finally take her place among the Pantheon of our greatest women
in history.
By Douglas A. Burton
Inspired by true events, Far Away Bird delves into the complex mind of Byzantine Empress Theodora. This intimate account deftly follows her rise from actress-prostitute in Constantinople's red-light district to the throne of the Byzantine Empire.
Her salacious past has left historians blushing and uncomfortable. Tales of her shamelessness have survived for centuries, and yet her accomplishments as an empress are unparalleled. Theodora goes on to influence sweeping reforms that result in some of the first ever Western laws granting women freedom and protection. More than a millennium before the women's rights movement, Theodora, alone, took on the world's greatest superpower and succeeded. Far Away Bird goes where history classrooms fear to tread in hopes that Theodora can finally take her seat among the greatest women in history.
Theodora seems impossible--yet her transcendence teaches us that society can't tell us who we are deep down. Before there was a legendary empress, there was a conflicted young woman from the lower classes.
And her name was Theodora.
The Coffee Pot Book Club
★★★★★
Highly Recommended
Read the full review HERE!
The Historical Fiction Book of the Year
2019
2019
The Early Medieval Period
Gold Medal
Debut Novel Book of the Year 2019
Bronze Medal
Pick up your copy of
Far Away Bird
Douglas A. Burton
Douglas Alan Burton is a speaker, author, and expert storyteller whose work depicts heroic figures and their deeper connection to the human experience. Doug blogs about heroes, heroines, and villains in pop culture with some unexpected and refreshing perspective. He grew up in what he describes as “the heroic boyhood culture of late Generation X” that has gone mainstream around the world. He also shares strategies with fellow writers for writing compelling heroic characters in fiction.
Douglas recently began outlining a breakthrough storytelling model that reveals a fascinating “heroine-centric” model for story structure he calls The Heroine’s Labyrinth. He believes a powerful new archetype is emerging for women in fiction. His forthcoming novel, Far Away Bird, which centers on the early life of Byzantine Empress Theodora, won the 2019 Manuscript Content for Historical Fiction from the Writers’ League of Texas.
References:
[i] The Secret History, Procopius [9. p15]
[ii] The Empress Theodora: Partner of Justinian p. 37
[iii] Codex Justinianus [Book IX Title 13]
[i] Novellae 5.2 cf. Evans (1996a), pp 209-10
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Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx