Theodora

Mosaic of Theodora and her Retinue

Theodora, daughter of a bear-keeper, was a 6th-century Roman Empress and a former prostitute. She married Justinian and became the wife of Justinian I, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. Theodora advocated women's rights and she influenced her husband. She supported the miaphysite heresy (stating that Christ's two human and divine natures was united).