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Underrated Female Ruler

• Empress Theodora of the Byzantine Empire

Theodora,empress, and wife of the emperor Justinian I, was probably the most powerful woman in Byzantine history. Her intelligence and political strategy made her Justinian’s most trusted adviser and enabled her to use the power and influence of her office to promote religious and social policies that favoured her interests.

Theodora is remembered as one of the first rulers to recognize the rights of women, passing strict laws to prohibit the traffic in young girls and altering the divorce laws to give greater benefits to women.This represented unparalleled social mobility for women at the time. It gave many women access to power.

Before becoming empress, she had once been a concubine in the service of one of these provincial governors. She knew only too well the kind of power these men had over women.

That's why she spent much of her reign trying to mitigate the laws against the miaphysites. She saw to it that women could own and inherit property, which was quite a breakthrough because it gave daughters and wives real social power.

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marianikolaides

3 years ago

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“Now your hair, I don’t know what it is like! It’s as bright as copper and gold, as red as burnt copper, and it has gold threads where the sun shines on it.”

— D. H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers

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marianikolaides

4 years ago

💙

“…Θὰ φύγουμε κάποτε ἀθόρυβα καὶ θὰ πλανηθοῦμε Μὲς στὶς πολύβοες πολιτεῖες καὶ στὶς ἔρημες θάλασσες Μὲ μιὰν ἐπιθυμία φλογισμένη στὰ χείλια μας…” Μανόλης Αναγνωστάκης

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marianikolaides

2 years ago

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Όσο περνά ο καιρός συνειδητοποιώ πως αυτό που με πονά πιο πολύ στο εμεις δεν είναι το παρόν ή το παρελθόν, αλλά το ουτοπικό μας μέλλον.

Που και που, όταν με κουράζει η δυστοπία κρύβομαι στην ουτοπία μας και για μια στιγμή μονάχα μετανιώνω.

Έπειτα φεύγω όλο και μακρύτερα από εμάς κι εσύ -σαν την ειμαρμένη, με ακολουθείς όπου κι αν πάω.

Αλήθεια, δεν κουράστηκες;

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marianikolaides

5 years ago

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Female Awesome Meme: 2/10 Ladies In A Film ♡ Rose Dawson (titanic)

female awesome meme: 2/10 ladies in a film ♡ rose dawson (titanic)

Look, I know what you must be thinking. Poor little rich girl. What does she know about misery? No. No, that’s not what I was thinking. What I was thinking was what could have happened to this girl to make her think she had no way out? Well, it was everything. It was my whole world and all the people in it and the inertia of my life plunging ahead and me, powerless to stop it … and all the while I feel I’m standing in the middle of a crowded room screaming at the top of my lungs and no one even looks up.

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marianikolaides

2 years ago

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Daily dose of love quotes here

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marianikolaides

4 years ago

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“Γιατί μας άφησαν όλοι; Γιατί μας άφησαν όλοι; Κι έσφιγγα τα χέρια σου. Δεν είχε τίποτα τ’ αλλόκοτο η κραυγή μου.”

— Μανόλης Αναγνωστάκης

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marianikolaides

4 years ago

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i hope there are days when your coffee tastes like magic / your playlist makes u dance / strangers make u smile / and the night sky touches your soul.

i hope u fall in love with being alive again.

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marianikolaides

5 years ago

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“Οτι αγαπώ γεννιέται αδιάκοπα. Οτι αγαπώ βρίσκεται στην αρχή του πάντα.”

—

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marianikolaides

4 years ago

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