January 532 · Constantinople
Theodora in the Nika Riots
The setting
In January 532 the Blue and Green circus factions of Constantinople, united against the ministers of the emperor Justinian, rioted for days under the cry 'Nika!' ('Conquer!'), burning much of the city centre, the church of Hagia Sophia among it. When the crowd proclaimed Hypatius, a nephew of the late emperor Anastasius, emperor in his place, Justinian and his council debated whether to flee by sea. The empress Theodora spoke.
Key passage
For as for myself, I approve a certain ancient saying that royalty is a good burial-shroud.
Procopius, History of the Wars, I.24, tr. H. B. Dewing (1914). Procopius, then secretary to the general Belisarius, wrote the speech in the manner of the classical historians, and the words may be more his than hers.
The full speech
"As to the belief that a woman ought not to be daring among men or to assert herself boldly among those who are holding back from fear, I consider that the present crisis most certainly does not permit us to discuss whether the matter should be regarded in this or in some other way. For in the case of those whose interests have come into the greatest danger nothing else seems best except to settle the issue immediately before them in the best possible way. My opinion then is that the present time, above all others, is inopportune for flight, even though it bring safety. For while it is impossible for a man who has seen the light not also to die, for one who has been an emperor it is unendurable to be a fugitive. May I never be separated from this purple, and may I not live that day on which those who meet me shall not address me as mistress. If, now, it is your wish to save yourself, O Emperor, there is no difficulty. For we have much money, and there is the sea, here the boats. However consider whether it will not come about after you have been saved that you would gladly exchange that safety for death. For as for myself, I approve a certain ancient saying that royalty is a good burial-shroud."
Text: Wikisource, tr. H. B. Dewing (1914). The text is in the public domain; the Wikisource transcription is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
What followed
The court stayed. Belisarius and Mundus led their soldiers into the Hippodrome, where the crowd had gathered round Hypatius, and Procopius reports that more than thirty thousand were killed; Hypatius was put to death the next day. Justinian's hold on the throne was secured, and on the ruins he built the new Hagia Sophia, dedicated in 537.