# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/theodora
# Generated: 2026-08-31T15:42:30.155Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/theodora"
name: "Theodora"
slug: "theodora"
description: "A circus keeper's daughter who rose from actress and courtesan to Eastern Roman empress, Theodora wielded power beside Justinian I with a sharpness that saved his throne during the Nika riots and shaped an empire — while the historian who recorded her life couldn't decide if she was savior or monster."
tagline: "Byzantine empress from 527 to 548"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Meister_von_San_Vitale_in_Ravenna_008.jpg"
gender: "female"
country:
  name: "Turkey"
  isoCode: "TR"
category:
  name: "Historical Figures"
  slug: "historical-figures"
profileType:
  name: "Historical Figure"
  slug: "historical-figure"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2798645"
birthDate: "500"
deathDate: "0548-06-28"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           57.32
  momentum:             0.0728976828950794
  historical:           25.253556
  currentAttention:     9.857142857142858
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Business Professionals"
    slug: "business-professionals"
  - name: "Comedian"
    slug: "comedian"
  - name: "Comedy"
    slug: "comedy"
  - name: "Royalty"
    slug: "royalty"
  - name: "Medieval Era"
    slug: "medieval-era"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q230001"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q204843"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Theodora"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AA%D8%A6%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A7_(%D8%B3%D8%AF%D9%87_%DB%B6_%D9%85%DB%8C%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AF%DB%8C)"
    title: "تئودورا (سده ۶ میلادی)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teodora_(I_Yustinian%C4%B1n_h%C9%99yat_yolda%C5%9F%C4%B1)"
    title: "Teodora (I Yustinianın həyat yoldaşı)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bcl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(Ika-_6_na_siglo)"
    title: "Theodora (Ika- 6 na siglo)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B5%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0"
    title: "Феадора"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A2%D0%B5%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0_(%D1%81%D1%8A%D0%BF%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B3%D0%B0_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%AE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BD_I)"
    title: "Теодора (съпруга на Юстиниан I)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora%2C_pried_Justinian"
    title: "Theodora, pried Justinian"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teodora_(muller_de_Justini%C3%A0_I)"
    title: "Teodora (muller de Justinià I)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_I."
    title: "Theodora I."
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cv.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B5%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0"
    title: "Феодора"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora"
    title: "Theodora"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_I."
    title: "Theodora I."
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%98%CE%B5%CE%BF%CE%B4%CF%8E%CF%81%CE%B1_(%CE%B1%CF%85%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BA%CF%81%CE%AC%CF%84%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%81%CE%B1)"
    title: "Θεοδώρα (αυτοκράτειρα)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(wife_of_Justinian_I)"
    title: "Theodora (wife of Justinian I)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teodora_la_1-a"
    title: "Teodora la 1-a"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teodora"
    title: "Teodora"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teodora"
    title: "Teodora"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AA%D8%A6%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A7_(%D9%87%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%B1_%DA%98%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%86_%DB%8C%DA%A9%D9%85)"
    title: "تئودورا (همسر ژوستینین یکم)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(500-luku)"
    title: "Theodora (500-luku)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9odora_(imp%C3%A9ratrice%2C_%C3%A9pouse_de_Justinien_Ier)"
    title: "Théodora (impératrice, épouse de Justinien Ier)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teodora_I"
    title: "Teodora I"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%AA%D7%90%D7%95%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94%2C_%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%94%D7%90%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%94_%D7%94%D7%91%D7%99%D7%96%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%99%D7%AA_(%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%94_%D7%94-6)"
    title: "תאודורה, קיסרית האימפריה הביזנטית (המאה ה-6)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teodora%2C_bizantska_carica"
    title: "Teodora, bizantska carica"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9odora_(imp%C3%A9ratrice%2C_%C3%A9pouse_de_Justinien_Ier)"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Teodora_(moglie_di_Giustiniano)"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://pl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Teodora"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://an.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teodora_II"
    title: "Teodora II"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born around 490 or 500 in Constantinople to a circus keeper, Theodora worked as a courtesan and actress before meeting Justinian sometime before 524. They married, and when he became emperor in 527, she was crowned beside him. In 532, as the Nika riots nearly toppled Justinian, Theodora's resolve kept him from fleeing — her intervention crushed the uprising and secured the throne. She and Justinian commissioned the Hagia Sophia and other grand works, while she pushed to end prostitution and maneuvered through court intrigues, engineering the exile of John the Cappadocian and the removal of Pope Silverius. Though Justinian held to Chalcedonian Christianity, Theodora supported the Miaphysites, and her influence occasionally tempered his orthodoxy. She died of cancer on 28 June 548, leaving behind a legacy filtered through Procopius, whose public praise and secret venom have kept historians guessing ever since.