Theodora is integral in turning Constantinople into a beacon of art, of ideas.  They built over 25 churches. Hagia Sophia is constructed under her watch. They really turned Constantinople into a civilization in the true meaning of civilized. 

 

The way that she learnt how to gauge what people want and gave it to them really served her later as the most powerful empress that the Roman Empire ever saw. 

 

Theodora's story is remarkable, to come from beyond humble, meagre beginning, and to literally sleep her way to the top. What she did was beyond any scope of imagination. 

 

 

1. These days, Constantinople is known as Istanbul, and prostitution remains legal. 2. A sex-slave- turned-empress, Theodora was the only woman in the Roman Empire to reign with equal power as her husband. 3. One of her many accomplishments, the Hagia Sophia is considered one of the great architectural wonders of the world.