The Empress’s New Clothes — Making Fashion AND Political Statements

Detail of the Empress Theodora mosaic from the church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy

Image is everything. Hate to break it to you, but whoever said “don’t judge a book by its cover” never had a job interview. We are making first impressions all the time, and nowadays with the prevalence of the internet it’s important to cultivate a clean public image if one wishes to promote oneself in the best light possible. Who you are on the inside matters too, but image is the thing people will judge first.

This isn't a new concept, though. Actually, constructed public images have existed for thousands of years. Roman emperors would disseminate portrait busts throughout the empire in order to show citizens of the Empire what their ruler looked like and remind everyone that they were under the leadership of a very important individual. Busts didn’t always physically resemble the rulers they were meant to be; portrait busts of Augustus, for example, showed him as eternally youthful even though he ruled until he was in his seventies. Other rulers preferred veristic portraits that emphasized their flaws and wrinkles since they believed those traits showed wisdom and experience. We think that people only started to alter their images when Photoshop came around, but to be truthful, people in the public eye have been manipulating their image in order to emphasize certain traits and leadership qualities for ages.

Another example of a public figure who fashioned their image to their advantage: Byzantine Emperor Justinian and his wife, Empress Theodora.

In classic rags to riches fashion, Theodora began life as a performer in the Byzantine Empire. According to Procopius’s Secret History (the main source we have on the lives of Justinian and Theodora, the Beyoncé and Jay-Z of the Byzantine Empire, basically) she was also a prostitute before she met Justinian and became the Empress (it should be noted, however, that it was assumed that all actresses were also prostitutes; Procopius may only be calling Theodora a prostitute because of her legitimate title of actress. Nevertheless, the point is that she came from humble beginnings). Though we don't know for certain, it is believed that a fellow dancer who worked in the court of Justinian introduced Theodora to the emperor, and at once they were smitten. She lived with Justinian as his mistress for two years before finally getting married, having jumped through many obstacles to get to that point (a soon-to-be emperor marrying a possible courtesan was definitely not the norm). 

Theodora is remembered as being a co-ruler to Justinian as much as she was his wife. Justinian respected her opinion and valued her upbringing as a commoner, for she provided a different point of view on political issues.

The most popular image of Theodora comes from a mosaic panel in the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. She is depicted in a religious procession holding a box of offerings and surrounded by both religious and state attendants. She is presented in full body, with her face turned frontally towards the viewer.

It is unclear what Theodora’s signature headdress actually looked like in real life—the only remaining Byzantine crowns we have were for males—but in her mosaic representations it is truly a sight to behold. Her image, done up in saturated colors and surrounded by a halo of gold plated mosaic pieces, is one of wealth and power. Her elaborate adornments emphasize the economic prosperity of the empire, and the depiction of her giving offerings to the church demonstrates her piety and religious importance.

The Empress Theodora at the Coliseum, c. 1889 by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant

Images like the one at San Vitale existed throughout the empire, including in the capital city of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) but many of the images of Justinian and Theodora were destroyed and replaced with Islamic imagery when the Ottoman Turks conquered the city in the fifteenth century. A processional image of the emperor and empress most likely also existed in the massive Hagia Sofia church in Constantinople, but now the San Vitale mosaics are the main images of the emperor and his wife that we have to work with. Still, it is safe to assume that Theodora wore similar outfits in different portraits throughout the empire.

Her purple robe with gold embroidery trim detail is a symbol of royalty and wealth, as it was costly to obtain purple dye (the exact color is known as Tyrian purple and comes from the mucous of a sea snail). She wears a crown of many different jewels—emeralds, rubies, sapphires—and it is dotted with large pearls and lined with gold. The neck of her robe is similarly adorned with jewels, and she wears matching earrings and a necklace of precious stones.

Even in its mosaic representation the San Vitale mosaic uses mother of pearl pieces to depict the pearl decoration and gold foil tiles to indicate the physical gold Theodora wears as well as the golden background. Thus, the mosaic represents the luxurious clothes and accessories of the Empress while also using precious materials to represent those items of wealth, making the argument of the prosperity of the Byzantine Empire two-fold: the Empress wears items of wealth and the Empire has the resources to create large-scale portraits of Theodora and her husband using precious materials. 

Why would it be so important for the Emperor and Empress to promote an image of economic prosperity and religious devotion? As the rulers of a large empire there are bound to be ups and downs, and Justinian and Theodora certainly had their share. In fact, there was a huge political rebellion against the empire called the Nika rebellion, and it almost ended the lives of Justinian and Theodora. First it was the two main political parties, the Blues and the Greens, that fought against one another. However, they soon united to face a common enemy: Justinian. The rioters destroyed the city of Constantinople and demanded a new emperor be crowned. Justinian even considered fleeing, but with the support of Theodora he remained in the city and eventually crushed the revolts.  

So you can see why spreading a positive public image might be a good PR strategy. After the revolts the Byzantine Empire was peaceful, but Theodora never forgot the power of cultivating a good image with the people. Theodora’s fashionable purple and elaborate crown weren’t just fashion statements—they were a means of emphasizing a certain image of the Empress and the Byzantine Empire as a whole.

See! What we wear has greater importance than we think! You don't have to let your clothes control you, but the next time you're getting dressed, ask yourself: what image am I projecting with this outfit? Empress Theodora would do the same!

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Interested in reading more on the Empress Theodora? Check out the book Empress Theodora: Partner of Justinian by James Allan Evans (University of Texas Press, 2002).