In the story each character is stranger than the other. Some are immortalized in books and statues, or are famous for some war or something similar. But there are others that are not mentioned much and there is much that they have to tell.
There was, in ancient Constantinople, a racecourse that was the largest public place of entertainment in the world: there were horse and elephant races, to death fights between gladiators, or against bears, lions, and other wild animals. One of the combat bear trainers, he had a daughter named Teodora who was sometimes an actress, and who, as a beauty, later specialized in renting her body to anyone who wanted to pay for it.
Procopius, the chronicler of fifteen hundred years ago, described Theodora as an insatiable beast of lust that, in one night, and night after night, left exhausted and humiliated thirty strong young men in their unspeakable parties.
But something happened in Theodora's soul: she suddenly abandoned her life of lasciviousness, rented a small room not far from Emperor Justinian's palace, and dedicated the hours to weave relentlessly, at the door, as the most humble and demure woman. One day the emperor saw her and fell in love with her. Then changed all the laws that prevented the emperor's marriage to a former actress, granted the title of "Augusta Patricia" and married her.
But not only was his wife. At first, Theodora was the power behind power, and then it became total power. When her husband Justiniano took a series of measures that bothered the population, his opponents met at the racecourse and an uprising began. Justinian, seeing himself lost, ordered his ministers and friends to organize everything for the flight and the abandonment of power. Theodora, then, took command of the army and led the repression: in the end more than thirty thousand people died at the racecourse, and Justinian retained power. It was the largest massacre of civilians in history, before the Crusades and the Hiroshima bomb.
Theodora later legislated on behalf of women and children, created a monastery called Metanoia, (ie, Repentance), which served as a refuge for retired prostitutes who wanted to leave the trade, granted rights to divorced women, created the penalty of death for rapists, and eliminated the death penalty for adulterous women. Upon his death, Justinian and Theodora were converted into saints of the Christian church.
In chess, too, there are ladies who know how to do everything their way:
