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There were three notable women that broke through the role of male-dominated dynasties. Irene of Athens, Byzantine basilissa, is comparable to Egyptian queen Hatshepsut, and Russian empress Catherine the Great. Each of these women’s stories is a great one, wrought with controversy and struggle, but Irene’s story is one that is most commonly forgotten. Irene was born in roughly 752 A.D. to a distinguished Athenian family. It is believed that her beauty alone gained her a marriage to Leo IV in 769. There is no proof that Irene’s role of empress was anything but normal for the first few years of her marriage. In 770 the two had a son, Constantine VI (Gale). Irene continued the role of steadfast wife and mother, but things changed when Leo died in 780. Upon the death of her husband, Irene became regent for Constantine (then ten-years old). It is my belief that this is when the power began to infiltrate Irene’s demeanor. Soon after her appointment, Irene betrothed her son to the daughter of Charlemagne, deciding his future for him. She also designed a new currency with customary pictures of Leo III, Constantine V and Leo IV on one side and herself and the young emperor on the other (Garland). Yet, at second glance, t