Certain texts have been revealed to me that express criticisms of my person and that of my beloved husband, the Emperor. These criticisms have been concerning to me, and have caused me to question my own actions both as a ruler to the people and as a partner to my husband. So, on behalf of all of you, particularly to those who are made unhappy by my rule, I issue this apology.
I apologize for being born to a family of low birth, and for being the daughter of a bear keeper. I alone must shoulder the blame for being offered to the hippodrome as a suppliant along with my sisters, for despite my youth, I alone must exact control over my life. I apologize for being put on the stage by my mother, for despite my youth, I knew exactly how filthy and disgusting were the behaviors of my chosen occupation. Because of course I chose it.
I must also apologize for the corruption and destruction my beloved husband and I have exacted upon the Empire due to our demonic natures. For, of course, a woman who has turned to the carnal corruptions of the flesh out of necessity and to follow the examples of her sisters must have demonic qualities. By association the man who takes this woman for a wife must also be a demon, nay, the lord of the demons. What man would want to take as his wife the “common stain of all mankind?” What man, who had the opportunity to take a noble, pure, well-born Roman wife, would lower himself to marry me? Only a man whose character is no better, as my detractors have claimed of my husband, the emperor Justinian.
I also apologize on behalf of my husband and I for, as my detractors would say, turning two factions of Christians against each other. I created one theory and my beloved husband created another theory, from our own imaginings. We then engineered both those theories to separate all the Christians under our control, to drive a wedge through them, simply for our own enjoyment. Because it is not enough to pollute an empire together, we must also pollute the realm of faith by our divisive, demonic behavior.
I also apologize for the Convent of Repentance, a place where I forced many a whore to give up a life that I once led. Despite my personal experiences with the realm of prostitution, degradation, of defiling myself, I as empress had no right, no duty, to try to help these women. I had no right to attempt to bring them into the service of God; I had no right to try to deliver them from the outrageous life that I once knew as my own. I had no right to use the power that I had been given by my illustrious marriage that raised me high, to elevate the status of women in the Empire. Because I am no better, is that correct?
I apologize for being born to a family of low birth, and for being the daughter of a bear keeper. I alone must shoulder the blame for being offered to the hippodrome as a suppliant along with my sisters, for despite my youth, I alone must exact control over my life. I apologize for being put on the stage by my mother, for despite my youth, I knew exactly how filthy and disgusting were the behaviors of my chosen occupation. Because of course I chose it.
I must also apologize for the corruption and destruction my beloved husband and I have exacted upon the Empire due to our demonic natures. For, of course, a woman who has turned to the carnal corruptions of the flesh out of necessity and to follow the examples of her sisters must have demonic qualities. By association the man who takes this woman for a wife must also be a demon, nay, the lord of the demons. What man would want to take as his wife the “common stain of all mankind?” What man, who had the opportunity to take a noble, pure, well-born Roman wife, would lower himself to marry me? Only a man whose character is no better, as my detractors have claimed of my husband, the emperor Justinian.
I also apologize on behalf of my husband and I for, as my detractors would say, turning two factions of Christians against each other. I created one theory and my beloved husband created another theory, from our own imaginings. We then engineered both those theories to separate all the Christians under our control, to drive a wedge through them, simply for our own enjoyment. Because it is not enough to pollute an empire together, we must also pollute the realm of faith by our divisive, demonic behavior.
I also apologize for the Convent of Repentance, a place where I forced many a whore to give up a life that I once led. Despite my personal experiences with the realm of prostitution, degradation, of defiling myself, I as empress had no right, no duty, to try to help these women. I had no right to attempt to bring them into the service of God; I had no right to try to deliver them from the outrageous life that I once knew as my own. I had no right to use the power that I had been given by my illustrious marriage that raised me high, to elevate the status of women in the Empire. Because I am no better, is that correct?
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