Theodora greatly influenced the Church in doctrinal disputes, often attempting to arrange bishops and install new ones who were Monotosites, and there are numerous letters among the Goths who had seized power in the West, often speaking of their great influence. Her influence was mainly through unofficial channels, although Procopius mentions that Justinian and Theodora never did anything apart from each other regarding imperial policies and there was mutual cooperation, John the Lydian describes it as sharing the empire. Teodora seems to be the dominant partner in her relationship and Justiniano allows it due to her great love for her, so much so that Procopio claims that Teodora used her witchcraft to make Justiniano fall in love with her.

Theodora advances in status with her friends and favorites, regularly participates in Senate politics, and even takes sides on political issues. Procopius says that if someone did something without Theodora’s consent, that man meets a very unfortunate end. Theodora attempted to control every part of public affairs in general and she has mentioned attempts to persuade to put bishops in power and remove bishops, but she is also involved in selecting juries to punish generals and torture her enemies.

Theodora influenced the government of the Roman Empire by influencing Justinian to pass laws that would give women more status and rights in the empire. The first law that Theodora influenced was the law that prohibited senators from marrying courtesans, since Theodora was a courtesan it meant that Justinian could not marry her, so he changed the law that allowed them to marry. Clearly many laws passed concerned prostitutes trying to give them a better start in life and also trying to stop the practice altogether, even setting up a building to house young prostitutes who had fallen victim to the trade for various reasons including poverty. Much of Justinian’s laws tried to protect women and promote equality between men and women, especially in the lower classes.

The best known of her influence is in the Nika riots where Justinian is said to have packed up and was ready to leave as the crowd at the hippodrome called for him to defend and rioted, however Theodora could not bear the thought of losing her empress status and the purple which convinced Justinian to stay and stay. She called on the military to eliminate the rioters and around thirty thousand were killed.

Theodora according to Procopio was the daughter of Acacio, who was a bear keeper at the hippodrome and was part of the Green faction. She had died naturally, leaving behind three daughters, one of whom was Theodora. At a young age, Theodora was involved in helping her sisters in the prostitution trade in Constantinople and often helped carry the stool on which her sister would perform on stage. Teodora did not entertain with the flute or with musical instruments, but she sold her youthful beauty to those who accompanied her; she later she began to get involved in theatrical acts on stage as a kind of jester performing buffoonish acts just to make the audience laugh.

Procopius says that Teodora was shameless and often showed herself naked from the front and from behind and she would go to a dinner with many young people and she would sleep with all of them at the banquet and when they were tired she would start having sexual relations with the other attendees. Procopius tells of a specific act that she Theodora would perform in the theater, where she would lie down naked and the slaves would place barley in her groins and then have some geese pick them off with their beaks and eat them. Procopius extensively portrays Theodora as a whore who couldn’t get enough of sex, shameless and never hesitating to show off her debauchery. She was also portrayed as a vengeful person, plotting to remove people from power and even kill them. According to Procopio, she had planned to have Justiniano’s financial advisor removed from office and even assassinated. This was because he would simply go against her wishes, and often convinced Justinian to do the same. It took her nine years to plot against him and she finally managed to catch him.