Feb 16, 2021

Research for Purple is the Noblest Shroud

💡 Originally published on the Purple is the Noblest Shroud website.

I read a lot of books and articles related to the period, so I was lucky to be a university student while writing my book — Purple is the Noblest Shroud. I had access to most of the material I needed through the university's library, but if you don't have that same access, you can always check out some of the popular resources I have.

I'm focusing this post on how I learned about who Theodora was. The next few posts will discuss religion, daily life, foreign relations, circus factions, spatial details, etc. I don't know how many parts there will be, but I'll keep updating!

Theodora-specific

• The Empress Theodora: Partner of Justinian by James Allan Evans
• Theodora: Empress of Byzantium by Paolo Cesaretti
• Theodora: Actress, Empress, Saint by David Potter

I started off reading these books that focused on Theodora. One thing that stood out repeatedly was that the primary sources on her were mostly from a contemporary historian, Procopius.

He was General Belisarius's chronicler and wrote a spicy book called Anecdota about Theodora and Justinian. It was never published but painted the couple in a terrible light.

Procopius claimed:

• Justinian mother conceived him after having sex with a demon
• Justinian's head separated itself from his body so it could wander the palace at night
• A monk who came to see Justinian refused to enter the throne room because he saw himself confronted by the ‘King of Demons’

So, when he claims that Theodora committed many inappropriate acts in that same book, it is a little hard to believe.

What was the status of women?

• Women in Late Antiquity: Pagan and Christian Lifestyles by Gillian Clark
• The Legal Definition of Prostitute by Thomas McGinn
• The Marriage Revolution in Late Antiquity: The Theodosian Code and Later Roman Marriage Law by David Daube
• Women, Law, and Social Realities in Late Antiquity: A Review Article by Roger Bagnall

I read these four books and articles to fill in the gaps and make historically plausible guesses about what Theodora's early life might have been like. They cover sources and silences surrounding women, including marriage, inheritance, laws, and social conventions regarding women. Specifically, Thomas McGinn's piece looks at how people might have viewed Theodora as an actress during the time and what would have separated her from being a prostitute.

What was it like being an actress?

• Demons and Dancers: Performance in Late Antiquity by Ruth Webb

But Theodora wasn't just any woman. She was an actress by trade and I wanted to explore what the trajectory of her life, if she actually became one. This book explained the typical performances during the period and their evolution over the years. I particularly loved the detail on specific plays performed! I felt like I could imagine the training and life Theodora might have led as an actress.

What kind of empress was Theodora?

• Unrivalled Influence: Women and Empire in Byzantium by Judith Herrin.

Next was contextualising Theodora's reign. I started this book by exploring how she became this admirable figure, but greatness is relative. I needed to understand the norm before her to know why Theodora stood out from other empresses during her time. This book provides fantastic context, especially about notable empresses like Eudocia, Pulcheria and Helena, who came before her, and Zoe and (the other) Theodora, who came after. But more than that, it gives a comprehensive view of being a woman in all strata of society.

I highly recommend it to learn about women's status during this time!

What kind of a mother was Theodora?

• Children and everyday life in the Roman and Late Antique World by Christian Laes and VIlle Vuolanto

This question was much harder to answer and required a lot of guesswork. We know that she most likely had a daughter while she was with Hecebolus, and some say she might have also had a son, but that argument is more tenuous. I went with just the single daughter, and I used this book to form the basis for the kind of relationship Theodora might have had with her daughter.

Romans were touchy people, and they loved their children as much as people do today. The most significant difference is how quickly their children mature and become ready to marry or work. Reading this book will give you a good idea of what childhood would have been like for all the characters in my novel!

Lucky Conversations!

I was extremely fortunate to speak to:

• David Potter, Professor of Greek & Roman History
• Bertrand Lançon, Professor Emeritus of Roman History at the University of Limoges
• Amélie Belleli, Doctorate in Ancient History at Université de Limoges

about Theodora early on in the writing process.

Prof Lançon showed me the contrast between Rome and Constantinople and gave incredible insights into what daily living would have been like for Theodora. He also introduced me to Dr Belleli!

Dr Belleli wrote her thesis about female figures of power in Late Antiquity and blew my mind about its power structures. She gave me a new way to think about how women had power given and taken away from them over the centuries due to church politics and gendered power struggles. I only wish I could read French so I could have read her work!

David Potter wrote an entire book about Theodora, so there was no better person to talk to! One especially interesting fact he shared with me was that people used to compare Theodora to Helen of Troy, which could either mean she was actually blonde or that she was just extremely beautiful. I've never thought of Theodora as a blonde, but imagine that!

After speaking to these three amazing individuals, I rewrote the whole book (I'd written half of it by then). I can't thank them enough for the opportunity to speak to them!

Writing Theodora

I loved the way Madeline Miller portrayed Circe in her book. She was a powerful, complex, and awe-inspiring woman. Much like Theodora, Circe's story was not done justice in its retelling. Circe was cast as a witch who seduced and lured men to their deaths (sound familiar?), but that's partially because of how her story is read.

Procopius twists Theodora in such a way that I felt compelled to construct a version of her that casts her as the complex woman that she was based on all that I read. She was not a saint. She had regrets. She was sometimes wrong. But she was also loyal, determined and brilliant in the same way all people (not just women) are.

I only hope I've done justice to her story!

I Wish I Read These!

• Theodosian Empress: Women and Imperial Dominion in Late Antiquity by Kenneth G. Holum
• Emotions and Gender in Byzantine Culture by Stavroula Constantinou & Mati Meyer

Alas, I don't have unlimited access to books through my university library! These books seemed extremely interesting, and they helped me understand Theodora's (and really all other characters') thought process. I only hope I haven't missed the mark too much because of it.

Final Words

Constructing my idea of Theodora was quite challenging. It took a lot of reading, but more than that, it required me to link together all that was being said and not said about her. Historians during Theodora's time and historians today have many different ideas of who she was. But what I was most interested in was what she was like.

I wanted to know her as a person—as if she were living and breathing beside me. Building that person was difficult because of the presentist views and personal biases imposed on Theodora, often subconsciously. I needed to be extremely aware of what characteristics I was giving her because I wanted her to be versus who she actually was.

Of course, we will never know the True answer, but it was really important to me while writing this book that Theodora was as historically accurate as possible. I truly enjoyed the months I've spent with her and wish I could've met her in reality.