Comito


Comito was a Byzantine stage performer, the daughter of Acacius "the bear-keeper", an elder sister to Theodora and Anastasia. Through Theodora, Comito was a sister-in-law of Justinian I. The Secret History of Procopius is a main source about her. Comito is also mentioned by John Malalas, Theophanes the Confessor and Georgios Kedrenos

Life

Her father, Acacius, was a bear trainer of the hippodrome's Green faction in Constantinople. Her mother, whose name is not recorded, was a dancer and an actress. After her father's death, her mother brought her children wearing garlands into the hippodrome and presented them as suppliants to the crowd. Most of the information from this earliest part of her life comes from the Secret History of Procopius, published posthumously. Critics of Procopius have dismissed his work as a severely biased source, vitriolic and pornographic, but have been unable to discredit some of its facts.
Procopius narrates:
James Allan Evans, a modern historian, notes that animal acts appeared as entr'actes between chariot races. The post of animal trainer for the various factions often passed from father to son. But Acacius left no son and the second husband of his widow had a weaker claim to the position.
Evans notes that Theodora would later favor the Blues as an empress, which could point to them having earned her loyalty through saving her family from the threat of unemployment and poverty. "Theodora, the second sister, dressed in a little tunic with sleeves, like a slave girl, waited on Comito and used to follow her about carrying on her shoulders the bench on which her favored sister was wont to sit at public gatherings.

Marriage

John Malalas records that Comito married general Sittas in 528. The marriage is also recorded by Theophanes and Cedrenus. Sittas and Comito may be the parents of Sophia, who would succeed Theodora as the Byzantine Empress. Sophia is recorded as a niece to Theodora. Whether Anastasia ever married is unknown.