Syria; Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos names Theodora a native of Cyprus, while the "Patria", attributed to George Codinus, claims Theodora came from Paphlagonia. She was born c. 500 AD. 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. Her parents had two more daughters, the eldest named Comito and the youngest Anastasia. After her father's death, when Theodora was four, her mother brought her children wearing garlands into the hippodrome and presented them as suppliants to the Blue faction. From then on, Theodora would be their supporter.