Flavia Maximiana Theodora

Who is Flavia Maximiana Theodora?

Flavia Maximiana Theodora, also known as Theodora, was an Roman Empress, wife of Constantius Chlorus.

She is often referred to as a stepdaugher of Emperor Maximian by ancient sources, leading to claims by historians Otto Seeck and Ernest Stein that she was born from an earlier marriage between Eutropia, wife of Maximian, and Afranius Hannibalianus. According to this theory, Theodora's father would have been consul in 292 and praetorian prefect under Diocletian.

Timothy Barnes challenges this view stating that all "stepdaughter sources" derive their information from the partially unreliable work Kaisergeschichte, while more reliable sources refer Theodora as Maximian's natural daughter. He concludes that she was born no later than c. 275 to an unnamed earlier wife of Maximian, possibly one of Hannibalianus' daughters.

In 293, Theodora married Flavius Valerius Julius Constantius, after he had divorced from his first wife, Helena, to strengthen his political position. The couple had six children:

⁕Flavius Dalmatius;

⁕Julius Constantius, father of Roman Emperor Julian and of the unnamed wife of Constantius II;

⁕Hannibalianus;