Empress Theodora; the Femme Fatale archetype and my distaste for G. A. Williamson

‘About the beauty, intellectual gifts, and the imperious will of Theodora there can be no doubt. She was evidently an extraordinary person, born to shine in any station of life.’

Before I can even start I have to acknowledge that it is impossible to plaster modern ideas of sexuality and morality onto ancient societies, however, that is exactly what I’m going to do. This also may just turn into a character assassination of my current nemesis G. A Williamson translator of Procopius’ ‘The Secret History’ and evident hater of all women… Essentially, I adore Theodora of Byzantium and believe that everyone else should too, however, there is a challenge created by the source material that surrounds her. The majority of sources are basically salacious gossip, and male contemporary historians tended not to enjoy having an Empress of equal standing to her husband, and thus dismiss all of her achievements by questioning her sexual purity.

Theodora became the Empress of Byzantium in 525 BCE after she married her longtime lover Justinian. She is lorded as having ‘great generosity’ for the impoverished as well as advocating for ‘anti-rape legislation’ and ‘women’s marriage and dowry rights’. But classicists like G. A. Williamson (👎) have entirely diminished even the potential that she had positive impacts on Byzantine society by presenting her as a villainous femme fatale. Accusations of promiscuity have entirely undermined the radical achievements of Theodora, and I question why can she not be both promiscuous as well a successful leader?

I’m going to pause quickly and discuss the idea of the Femme Fatale which is one of my other greatest nemeses. According to Mariam Webster a Femme Fatale is either; ‘a seductive woman who lures men into dangerous or compromising situations’ or ‘a woman who attracts men by an aura of charm and mystery.’ Both absolutely charming descriptions in which men hold absolutely no accountability. Because if a man can't control his own actions it is inherently the fault of the alluring and dangerous woman. Therefore, by presenting Theodora as an unmitigable sexual force, G. A Williamson, expects his readers to pity the hard-done by Justinian who was henpecked by his domineering wife.

Therefore instead of receiving admiration for her power as empress, the spotlight remains on Justinian who is described as the ‘helpless slave’ of a ‘heartless woman’ and she was dubbed ‘Theodora-from-the brothel’. Procopius’ tale goes on to say that at a young age due to her dire financial situation Theodora, and her sisters were forced into prostitution, and to quote the delightful G. A. Williamson ‘her vulgarity was appalling’. Because clearly, the girl pushed into becoming a ‘prostitute of the lowest type’ at ‘a very early age’ is clearly the sexual degenerate and not the men taking advantage of her.

I am now fed up with G. A. Williamson’s antiquated views and am ready to slander Procopius’ ‘Secret History’. To quote Mark Cartwright;

‘It is perhaps important to consider, too, that our knowledge of Theodora

only comes from male authors and a woman performing any other role

than the traditionally submissive one in Byzantine society was bound to be, at best, disapproved of and, at worst, outright demonised.’

Thus it is unlikely that all of Procopius’ hyperbolised accusations are true, however it is still likely that Theodora did have a background in sex work, but not quite as laviciously as Procopius claimed. Even G. A. Williamson admits that as an Empress Theodora’s reputation was expunged of gossip; ‘from the time of their marriage no more imputations were made against the propriety of her personal behavior’.

Yet, this raises an additional question, as to whether Theodora’s background actually matters. It is clear from G. A. Williamson’s admission, Theodora received no more accusations once she became Empress, this may have been because of her social position, or the fact that the accusations made by her male contemporaries intended to undermine her authority. Her position of influence was anomalous in Byzantine society, and the easiest way to drown a woman’s reputation is through accusations of promiscuity and impurity. This is a reflection of wider purity culture rather than solely Byzantium, yet still, Theodora’s legacy is besmirched by the words of insecure men.

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Bibliography

Procopius, G. A. Williamson,. The Secret History. Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd, 1966.

Cartwright, Mark,. World History Encyclopedia. “Empress Theodora.” 2018. Accessed July, 2023. https://www.worldhistory.org/Empress_Theodora/

Duffy, Stella., The Guardian. “Theodora; the Empress from the Brothel.” 2010. Accessed July 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/10/theodora-empress-from-the-brothel