THEODOLITE. 195 THEODORET. 6S6t. hodos, way + Xit6s, litos, smooth, even ; lianUy from Gk. ftdatfai, ihcasthai, to see + SoXix*!, (lolicltos, long). An instrument used in surveying especially in geodetic work for tlio measurement of horizontal ami vertical angles. It is larger than the transit and, having larger and more carefully graduated circles, is employed in measuring angles where the highest accuracy is demanded. In its main features it is similar to this instrument, but differs chiefly in that its telescope does not revolve completely or 'transit' in its horizontal axis. The description and il- lustration under Engineering Instruments will convey an idea of its essential characteristics. wliile reference should also be made to the article Geodesy, where the method of measuring angles is discussed. THE'ODO'RA (c.508-48). A Byzantine Em- press, wife of Justinian. She was the daugh- ter of Acacius.. the keeper of the wild beasts at the circus of Constantinople, and after his death was for a time a favorite on the stage and a com- mon prostitute. She fascinated Justinian, nephew of the Emperor .Justin I., by her great beauty, and about 525 he married her. Thereafter she led an exemplary domestic life. In 527 Justinian be- came Emperor, and Theodora henceforth exerted a commanding influence upon public affairs. She was extremely cruel, and her numerous spies ferreted out all who were opposed to their royal mistress. At the time of the Nika Riot (532) she prevented Justinian from fleeing and brought about the suppression of the insurrection. Most of our information concerning Theodora is de- rived from Procopius's Anecdota. Consult: Marrast, La vie byzantine au Vlime siecle (Paris. I8SI) ; JIallet, "The Empress Theodora," in the English Historical Review, vol. ii. (Lon- don, 1886) ; Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ed. by Bury, vols. iv. and v. (ib., 1898). THEODORA (?-867). Byzantine Empress. She was born in Paphlagonia and in 829 married the Emperor Theophilus (died 842), whom she succeeded in the government as Regent for her four-year-old son Michael III. While her hus- band was a violent iconoclast, she was attached to the worship of images, and consequently expelled the iconoclasts from office and recalled the ban- ished image-wor.shipers. She also convoked the Constantinople sjTiod of 842 which restored the images to the churches, a triumph annually cele- brated in the Greek (Dhurch by the Sunday of Orthodoxy (the first Sunday in Lent). Her rule was on the whole wise, but some of her wars were unfortunate. When Michael came to the throne in 856 he deprived his mother of her po- sition and she died in a convent. THEODORA. A member of the Roman no- bility, who lived in the tenth century. She was very beautiful, of unknown parentage, wife of the Consul Theophylact. She ruled Rome and controlled the Papacy for a long term of years, calling herself by the title of Senatrix. She was the mother of Marozia and Theodora II., who were equally licentious and unscrupulous. She placed several of her creatures on the Papal chair, among whom .Tohn X. may be specially mentioned. Consult Orcgorovius. Bixtory of the City of Rome During the Middle Aqes, trans- lated by Hamilton (London, 1895-1902). THEODORE, King of Abyssinia. See Abys- SIN1.. THEODORE I., King of Corsica. See Neu- iiOF, Theodor von. THE'ODORE OF MOP'STJES'TIA (c.350- 428). The most noted biblical scholar and the- ologian of the school of Antioch. lie was born in Antioch, was educated under the rhetorician Libanius, and studied theology with Diodorus. At the age of thirty-two he was made presbyter of the Antiochian Church, and in .'!92 he became Bishop of Mopsuestia, a little village in Cilieia. about 40 miles from Tarsus. In fame and influ- ence he surpassed all the other Christian teach- ers and writers of the East. His biblical scholar- ship seems almost modern. His commentaries have in many eases perished, but enough remains to show his historical spirit, and the simple, literal method of interpretation which character- ized the school of Antioch, as against the mys- tical, allegorical method of Alexandria. Theodore expounded almost all the books of the Bible. He also wrote on the Incarnation and various other theological topics. Soon after his death, charges of doctrinal error began to be brought against him, yet no word of censure was spoken by the Council of Ephesus (431). He had no doubt fa- vored the Pelagians, and the fact that he had been the teacher of Nestorius was afterwards remembered against him. Opposition to his the- ology continued and increased until the fifth general council ( Constantinople, 553 ) , when he was explicitly condemned, in connection with the 'Three Chapter Controversy.' Yet Theodore remains one of the truly great teachers of the ancient Church, worthy to be compared with Origen, whom he equaled in knowledge of the Bible, and surpassed in soundness of its inter- pretation. Part of the remains of Theodore's works are printed in Migne, Patrologia Grceca, vol. Ixvi. The Latin version of his commentary on the minor Pauline Epistles has been edited by Swete (Cambridge, 1880-82), and the Syriao version of his commentary on John by Chabot (Paris, 1897). The best general account of Theodore in English is the article by Swete in Smith and Wace's Dictionary of Christian Biog- raphy, vol. iv. Consult also, Moeller, History of the Christian Church, vol. i. (London, 1892) ; Bardenhewer, Patrologie (Freiburg, I90I). THEODORE OF TAR'STTS (c. 602 690). Archbishop of Canterbury. He was born at Tarsus ; studied at Athens ; became a monk ; early distinguished himself as a scholar and was fa- miliar with Greek and Latin literature; was con- secrated at Rome as Archbishop of Canterbury by Pope Vitalian and arrived at his see May 27. 669. He did a great work for the Church in England, which at the time of his coming had sunk to a low state. He divided his large dioceses into more manageable ones ; ajipointed worthy bishops; promoted learning and clerical disci- pline; increased the monasteries: held progres- sive synods ; and so left the Church a compact and enlightened body. See England, Church op. THEOD'ORET (Gk. eeoSdpvroi, Theodoretos) (c.39.3-457). A Greek Church historian and biblical scholar. He was born at Antioch, of Christian parents, and studied theology under Theodore of Mopsuestia (q.v. ). Theodoret is to be classed with the Antiochian school, as opposed
