Antonina (wife of Belisarius)

Antonina (Greek: Ἀντωνίνα, c. 484 – after 565) was a Byzantine patrikia and wife of the general Belisarius. Her influence of her husband was great. Procopius features her as dominating Belisarius.

Procopius records that both the father and the grandfather of Antonina were charioteers. They had performed for audiences in Constantinople and Thessalonica. Procopius fails to mention their names. The unnamed mother of Antonina was an actress. Procopius mentions her in contemptuous terms: "Her mother was one of the prostitutes attached to the theatre." The term used for "theatre" in the primary source is "thymele" (Greek: θυμέλη), equivalent to the term orchestra (Greek: ορχήστρα). That was a position in the theatre reserved for performers less prestigious than the actors, such as acrobats, dancers, jugglers, etc. The term "thymelic performers" was almost always used in a negative sense.

Procopius alleges that Antonina herself had led a dissolute life, having many children prior to her marriage. She met Theodora during this time, with whom she would become lifelong friends. About Antonina, Procopius said: "This woman, having in her early years lived a lewd sort of a life and having become dissolute in character, not only having consorted much with the cheap sorcerers who surrounded her parents, but also having thus acquired the knowledge of what she needed to know, later became the wedded wife of Belisarius, after having already been the mother of many children."

He names Photius as a son of Antonina. But describes him as a son from a previous marriage, not as an illegitimate. "But the general in supreme command over all was Belisarius, and he had with him many notable men as spearmen and guards. And he was accompanied also by Photius, the son of his wife Antonina by a previous marriage; he was still a young man wearing his first beard, but possessed the greatest discretion and shewed a strength of character beyond his years." ... "There Valentinus, the groom of Photius, the son of Antonina, made a remarkable exhibition of valour." "For Photius was by nature prone to be vexed if anyone had more influence than he with any person, and in the case of Theodosius and his associates he chanced to have a just cause to be sorely aggrieved, in that he himself, though a son, was made of no account, while Theodosius enjoyed great power and was acquiring great wealth." Photius is also mentioned by Liberatus of Carthage and John of Ephesus.

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