Antonina

Antonina (, c. 495 – after 565) was a Byzantine patrikia and wife of the general Belisarius. Her influence over her husband was great; Procopius features her as dominating Belisarius. The historian Paolo Cesaretti mentions her as a controversial figure and the "right arm" of the empress Theodora in the exercise of influence and power. Family Procopius records that both the father and the grandfather of Antonina were charioteers. They had performed for audiences in Constantinople and Thessalonica. Procopius fails to mention their names. The unnamed mother of Antonina was an actress. Procopius mentions her in contemptuous terms: "Her mother was one of the prostitutes attached to the theatre." The term used for "theatre" in the primary source is "thymele", equivalent to the term orchestra. That was a position in the theatre reserved for performers less prestigious than the actors, such as acrobats, dancers, jugglers, etc. The term "thymelic performers" was almost always used in a negative sense. Early life Procopius alleges that Antonina herself had led a dissolute life, having many children prior to her marriage. She was reportedly an actress prior to her marriage. She met Theodora during this time, with whom she would become lifelong friends. About Antonina, Procopius said: "This woman, having in her early years lived a lewd sort of a life and having become dissolute in character, not only having consorted much with the cheap sorcerers who surrounded her parents, but also having thus acquired the knowledge of what she needed to know, later became the wedded wife of Belisarius, after having already been the mother of many children."