I think it’s an omission when listing Justinian I, not to include his wife and by some accounts, coregent Theodora and her influence. She was according to contemporary accounts, responsible for persuading Justinian not to flee the city during the Nica Riots thus saving his rule.
Theodora participated in Justinian’s legal and spiritual reforms, and her involvement in the increase of the rights of women was substantial. She had laws passed that prohibited forced prostitution “and was known for buying girls who had been sold into prostitution, freeing them, and providing for their future.”[22] She closed brothels and made pimping a criminal offense. She created a convent on the Asian side of the Dardanelles called the Metanoia (Repentance), where the ex-prostitutes could support themselves.[12] She also expanded the rights of women in divorce and property ownership, instituted the death penalty for rape, forbade exposure of unwanted infants, gave mothers some guardianship rights over their children, and forbade the killing of a wife who committed adultery. Procopius wrote that she was naturally inclined to assist women in misfortune.[23] After Theodora’s death, “little effective legislation was passed by Justinian.”[24]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(6th_century)
I think Theodora did more harm than good, honestly. She seemed to work behind the scenes to further her own agenda, often at the expense of her husband’s. Her vendetta against John of Cappadocia was ultimately counter-productive, as was her interfering with the career of Belisarius — all to protect her own power.