Antonina (Byzantium)
Antonina (* around 495; † after 565) was the wife of the Eastern Roman general Belisarius . She was the daughter of a charioteer and a hetaera and is described in the sources as beautiful and clever, but also as extravagant. She was also a friend and confidante of the Empress Theodora . Antonina helped Belisarius pave the way to his high position in the army and often stayed by his side. She was probably about ten years older than him, which means that she should have been born around 495. She already had several children and during her marriage to Belisarius had several relationships, including her adoptive son Theodosios, to whom she was absolutely addicted after Prokopios of Caesarea . Even if Prokop's anecdotal should be taken with caution, some of what was said may have been true.
One of her sons, Photios, who was considered a capable soldier and had served under Belisarius, told him about his mother's affair. Belisarius and Photios then had Theodosios taken away, but Theodora intervened and saved him; Photios himself, whom Belisarius did not help, had to go to the monastery. In the year 562 Antonina too suffered the consequences of the (and probably false) charges brought against Belisarius; after his death in 565 Antonina donated a monastery from the fortune that had fallen to her.
literature
- James AS Evans: Power Game in Byzantium: Antonina and the Empress Theodora . Continuum, London / New York 2011.
- John Martindale: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire IIIa . Cambridge 1992, pp. 91-93.
- Ludo Moritz Hartmann : Antoninus 19 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, Col. 2573 f.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Antonina |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Wife of the Eastern Roman general Belisarius |
| DATE OF BIRTH | at 495 |
| DATE OF DEATH | after 565 |