Anastasia and Comitona (fl. 500s)
Anastasia and Comitona (fl. 500s)
Byzantine courtesans. Name variations: (for Comitona) Comito. Born on the island of Cyprus, or more likely in Syria, in about the year 500; daughters of Acacius (guardian of the bears for the Greens at the Hippodrome in Constantinople) and an unnamed actress; sisters of the Empress Theodora. Comitona married Sittas, around 528, and was the mother of Sophia (c. 525–after 600 ce).
Empress Theodora (c. 500–548) had two sisters, Anastasia and Comitona. Upon the death of their father when they were children, Theodora began to work on stage as a mime with her older sister Comitona. By her late teens, Anastasia was also a favorite both on the stage, where she "undraped the beauty of which she was so proud," and off, where she followed in the footsteps of Comitona as a prostitute or courtesan. In the context of the time, actress was synonymous with prostitute.