THEODORA AND THE EMPEROR (336 pp.) Harold LambDoubleday ($4.50).
The only surprising thing about Theodora and the Emperor is that it took Harold Lamb so long to get around to it. Subject and author could hardly be more naturally joined: little is known for sure about the private life of Emperor Justinian, even less about his wife Theodora, but Harold Lamb is an old hand at bridging historical gaps. He once wrote a whole book about so shadowy a figure as Poet Omar Khayyam, and made it sound plausible at that. Now, working his imagination overtime, and with a large assist from...