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... she declares that she, at least, will not flee the capital city3. The Anekdota is full of scurrilous details about Theodora's early life as an actress and courtesan, and her intrigues at court. In the De Aedificiis, however, the picture is uniformly flattering. The emperor and empress shared a common piety4, he claims, and her loveliness was such that it was impossible to convey it in words or portray it by a statue5 (Even in the Anekdota, he concedes that she was attractive, though short and rather sallow in complexion6). Procopius' viewpoint differs in these three works, understandably in the De Aedificiis, which was an encomium and intended to please the emperor, but they do not actually contradict each other. The lurid details of Theodora's early life find corroboration of sorts in an unexpected source: the Syriac historian John of Amida, better known as John of Ephesus for he became ...