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Interpretations
While Procopius’s books are the main source of information about Antonina, historians have interpreted his works in different ways. When his personal prejudices are examined a clearer picture of Antonina is revealed. Even if she did everything Procopius said that she did, that does not reflect on her as much as Procopius’ interpretations of her actions does. Historians have analyzed The Secret History and Procopius’s other books to get a better image of what Antonina’s actions meant in the social and political climate of 6th century Byzantium, and how the cultural norms of the time period shaped her and the man who wrote about her. Leslie Brubaker believes that The Secret History should not be considered an entirely factual source, but rather “a successful piece of fiction…[that can] tell us a great deal about how gender was constructed.” She claims that by reading The Secret History, historians can discover what the traditional view of femininity was in the Byzantine Empire, and how women like Antonina and Theodora aroused opposition by subverting it. In her opinion, Antonina was portrayed negatively because she stepped out of traditional gender roles, not because of her actual actions. Procopius included the scandalous details about Antonina to undermine Belisarius and make him seem like less of a man to his contemporaries because he let his wife dominate him. Another historian, Lynda Garland, believes that The Secret History can be relied on for biographical facts because Procopius did intend for people to read it, and contemporaries would have known about Theodora’s, and by extension Antonina’s, pasts. If he had made up them entirely, he would have lost credibility. Garland also points out that “one of the few criticisms which the Secret History does not make against Theodora…is licentious behavior and unfaithfulness to Justinian, unlike her friend Antonina.” If Procopius did not invent affairs for Theodora, whom he also hated, then there is no reason suppose he might have invented lovers for Antonina. In "Goddess, Whore, Wife or Slave: Will the Real Byzantine Empress Please Stand Up?" Liz James discusses the kinds of power that Byzantine Empresses, and by extension other Byzantine noblewomen, could have outside of their husbands. James believes that favorable circumstances and the personalities of the women themselves were the keys to holding power. Certainly it was not unheard of in Antonina’s lifetime for a woman to hold significant power as empress. Besides Theodora, at least twelve other Eastern Roman/Byzantine empresses held significant power between the 4th and 6th centuries. With this in mind, Antonina’s actions can be put into context. As the wife of one of the most men in the empire and a friend of the empress, she could do things that most other women could not and it would still be somewhat acceptable, or at least not unheard of. In his book Empress Theodora, James Allen Evans	stresses Antonina’s competence and strength of personality. She was the one who made sure that the water on Belisarius’ ship did not go bad, she was her husband’s envoy to Naples, and when Theodora needed the Pope deposed Antonina “carried out her mission…with ruthless efficiency.” Evans also highlights Antonina’s ruthlessness when it came to power. She was instrumental in disposing of John the Cappadocian, who was a rival of her husband. He was arrested, beaten and sent into exile, and Belisarius became more influential at court.