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- Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal (Latin: Flāvius Theoderīcus, Greek: Θευδέριχος, Theuderichos), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493–526,[3] regent of the Visigoths (511–526), and a patrician of the East Roman Empire. As ruler of the combined Gothic realms, Theodoric controlled an empire stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Adriatic Sea. Though Theodoric himself only ever used the title 'king' (rex), some scholars characterize him as a Western Roman Emperor in all but name,[b] since he ruled large parts of the former Western Roman Empire, had received the former Western imperial regalia from Constantinople in 497, and was referred to by the title augustus by some of his subjects.
As a young child of an Ostrogothic nobleman, Theodoric was taken as a hostage in Constantinople, where he spent his formative years and received an east Roman education. Theodoric returned to Pannonia around 470, and throughout the 470s he campaigned against the Sarmatians and competed for influence among the Goths of the Roman Balkans. The emperor Zeno made him a commander of the Eastern Roman forces in AD 483, and in AD 484 he was named consul. Nevertheless, Theodoric remained in constant hostilities with the emperor and frequently raided East Roman lands.
At the behest of Zeno, in 489 Theodoric attacked Odoacer, the king of Italy, emerging victorious in 493. As the new ruler of Italy, he upheld a Roman legal administration and scholarly culture and promoted a major building program across Italy.[4] In 505 he expanded into the Balkans, and by 511 he had brought the Visigothic Kingdom of Spain under his direct control and established hegemony over the Burgundian and Vandal kingdoms. Theodoric died in 526 and was buried in a grand mausoleum in Ravenna. He lived on as the figure Dietrich von Bern in Germanic heroic legend. Theodoric was born in AD 454 in Pannonia on the banks of the Neusiedler See near Carnuntum, the son of king Theodemir, a Germanic Amali nobleman, and his concubine Ereleuva. This was just a year after the Ostrogoths had thrown off nearly a century of domination by the Huns. His Gothic name, which is reconstructed by linguists as *Þiudareiks, translates into "people-king" or "ruler of the people".[5]
In 461, when Theodoric was but seven or eight years of age, he was taken as a hostage in Constantinople to secure the Ostrogoths' compliance with a treaty Theodemir had concluded with the augustus Leo I (ruled 457–474). The treaty secured a payment to Constantinople of some 300 pounds' worth of gold each year.[6] Theodoric was well educated by Constantinople's best teachers.[7] His status made him valuable, since the Amal family from which he came (as told by Theodoric),[8] allegedly ruled half of all Goths since the third-century AD. Historian Peter Heather argues that Theodoric's claims were likely self-aggrandizing propaganda and that the Amal dynasty was more limited than modern commentators presume.[9] Until 469, Theodoric remained in Constantinople where he spent formative years "catching up on all the Romanitas" it had taken generations of Visigothic Balthi to acquire.[10] Theodoric was treated with favor by the emperor Leo I.[11] He learned to read, write, and perform arithmetic while in captivity in the Eastern Empire.[3]
When Leo heard that his imperial army was retreating from the Goths near Pannonia, he sent Theodoric home with gifts and no promises of any commitments.[12][c] On his return in 469/470, Theodoric assumed leadership over the Gothic regions previously ruled by his uncle, Valamir, while his father became king. Not long afterwards near Singidunum (modern Belgrade) in upper Moesia, the Tisza Sarmatian king Babai had extended his authority at Constantinople's expense. Legitimizing his position as a warrior, Theodoric crossed the Danube with six thousand warriors, defeated the Sarmatians and killed Babai; this moment likely crystallized his position and marked the beginning of his kingship, despite not actually having yet assumed the throne.[14] Perhaps to assert his authority as an Amali prince, Theodoric kept the conquered area of Singidunum for himself.[15]
Throughout the 470s, sometimes in the name of the empire itself, Theodoric launched campaigns against potential Gothic rivals and other enemies of the Eastern Empire, which made him an important military and political figure. One of his chief rivals was the chieftain of the Thracian Goths Theodoric Strabo (Strabo means "the Squinter"), who had led a major revolt against the emperor Zeno. Finding common ground with the emperor, Theodoric was rewarded by Zeno and made commander of East Roman forces, while his people became foederati or federates of the Roman army.[16]
Zeno attempted to play one Germanic chieftain against another and take advantage of an opportunity sometime in 476/477 when—after hearing demands from Theodoric for new lands since his people were facing a famine—he offered Theodoric Strabo the command once belonging to Theodoric. Enraged by this betrayal, Theodoric sought his wrath against the communities in the Rhodope Mountains, where his forces commandeered livestock and slaughtered peasants, sacked and burned Stobi in Macedonia and requisitioned supplies from the archbishop at Heraclea.[17] Gothic plundering finally elicited a settlement from Zeno, but Theodoric initially refused any compromise. Theodoric sent one of his confidants, Sidimund, forward to Epidaurum for negotiations with Zeno.[18] While the Roman envoy and Theodoric were negotiating, Zeno sent troops against some of Theodoric's wagons, which were under the protection of his able general Theodimund. Unaware of this treachery, Theodoric's Goths lost around 2,000 wagons and 5,000 of his people were taken captive.[19]
He settled his people in Epirus in 479 with the help of his relative Sidimund. In 482, he raided Greece and sacked Larissa. Bad luck, rebellions, and poor decisions left Zeno in an unfortunate position,[d] which subsequently led him to seek another agreement with Theodoric. In 483, Zeno made Theodoric magister militum praesentalis[21] and consul designate in 484, whereby he commanded the Danubian provinces of Dacia Ripensis and Moesia Inferior as well as the adjacent regions.[22]
Theodoric was married once.
He had a concubine in Moesia, name unknown, with whom he had two daughters:
Theodegotha (ca. 473 – ?). In 494, she was married to Alaric II as a part of her father's alliance with the Visigoths.
Ostrogotho (ca. 475 – ?).[57] In 494 or 496, she was married to the king Sigismund of Burgundy as a part of her father's alliance with the Burgundians.
By his marriage to Audofleda in 493 he had one daughter:
Amalasuintha, Queen of the Goths. She was married to Eutharic and had two children: Athalaric and Matasuntha (the latter being married to Witiges first, then, after Witiges' death, married to Germanus Justinus; neither had children). Any hope for a reconciliation between the Goths and the Romans in the person of a Gotho-Roman Emperor from this family lineage was shattered.
After his death in Ravenna in 526, Theodoric was succeeded by his grandson Athalaric. Athalaric was at first represented by his mother Amalasuintha, who served as regent from 526 until 534. The kingdom of the Ostrogoths, however, began to wane and was conquered by Justinian I in 553 after the Battle of Mons Lactarius.
Seeking further gains, Theodoric frequently ravaged the provinces of the Eastern Roman Empire, eventually threatening Constantinople itself. By 486, there was little disputing the open hostilities between Theodoric and Zeno. The emperor sought the assistance of the Bulgarians, who were likewise defeated by Theodoric.[23] In 487, Theodoric began his aggressive campaign against Constantinople, blockading the city, occupying strategically important suburbs, and cutting off its water supply; although it seems Theodoric never intended to occupy the city but instead, to use the assault as a means of gaining power and prestige from the Eastern Empire.[24]
The Ostrogoths needed a place to live, and Zeno was having serious problems with Odoacer, the Germanic foederatus and King of Italy, who although ostensibly viceroy for Zeno, was menacing Byzantine territory and not respecting the rights of Roman citizens in Italy. In 488, Zeno ordered Theodoric to overthrow Odoacer. For this task, he received support from Rugian king Frideric, the son of Theodoric's cousin Giso. Theodoric moved with his people towards Italy in the autumn of 488.[25] On the way he was opposed by the Gepids, whom he defeated at Sirmium in August 489.[25] Arriving in Italy, Theodoric won the battles of Isonzo and Verona in 489.[26]
Once again, Theodoric was pressed by Zeno in 490 to attack Odoacer.[27] Theodoric's army was defeated by Odoacer's forces at Faenza in 490, but regained the upper hand after securing victory in the Battle of the Adda River on 11 August 490.[28] For several years, the armies of Odoacer and Theodoric vied for supremacy across the Italian peninsula.[29] In 493, Theodoric took Ravenna. On 2 February 493, Theodoric and Odoacer signed a treaty that assured both parties would rule over Italy.[28] Then on 5 March 493, Theodoric entered the city of Ravenna.[30] A banquet was organised on 15 March 493 in order to celebrate this treaty.[28] At this feast, Theodoric, after making a toast, killed Odoacer. Theodoric drew his sword and struck him on the collarbone.[28] Along with Odoacer, Theodoric had the betrayed king's most loyal followers slaughtered as well, an event which left him as the master of Italy.[31]
With Odoacer dead and his forces dispersed, Theodoric now faced the problem of settlement for his people.[32] Concerned about thinning out the Amal line too much, Theodoric believed he could not afford to spread some 40,000 of his tribesmen across
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413 - 471 (58 years)
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