Secret History

Loeb Classical Library 290
The most famous woman of late antiquity, the empress Theodora, is portrayed with a very sharp pen in Procopius’ Secret History. The 6th century historian here sets out to tell "what manner of persons Justinian and Theodora were and the method by which they ruined the Roman Empire"--in an account that he apparently meant to publish after their deaths. He tells of Theodora’s early years as a stage performer and prostitute; the duplicitous means and intrigue she employed to achieve her goals when in power; her cruelty and spite, vanity and pride. Not a fair and balanced picture perhaps, but a striking and vivid one.