The Secret History: A Novel of Empress Theodora - Paperbackby Stephanie Thornton (Author) Where Theodora went, trouble followed. In sixth century Constantinople, one woman, Theodora, defied every convention and all the odds and rose from common theater tart to empress of a great kingdom, the most powerful woman the Roman Empire would ever know. The woman whose image was later immortalized in glittering mosaic was a scrappy, clever, conniving, flesh and blood woman full of sensuality and spirit whose real