Pulcheria

Pulcheria is represented in the linked historical fiction through court politics and dynastic power, family, marriage and personal loyalty, and empire, conquest and resistance. These works approach the figure through the surrounding events, relationships and political conflicts rather than through a standalone biography.

In Faith L. Justice’s Dawn Empress, his elder sister Pulcheria grows from imperial child into the dominant woman of the court, using piety, public ceremony and an oath of virginity to protect her siblings from ministers, soldiers and marriage schemes seeking control of the dynasty. In Faith L. Justice’s Rebel Empress, her education and literary talent distinguish her at a court dominated by the emperor’s sister Pulcheria, where access to the ruler, religious orthodoxy and the production of heirs are political instruments. Other novels featuring Pulcheria include Faith L. Justice’s The Theodosian Women Omnibus.