Theodoric the Great
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Gold medallion of Theodoric, discovered at Sinigaglia, Italy in the 19th century. Inscribed THEODERICUS PIUS PRINCIS. |
Theodoric the Great (
454 -
August 30,
526), known to the Romans as
Flavius Theodoricus, was king of the
Ostrogoths (
488-526), ruler of
Italy (
493-526), and regent of the
Visigoths (
511-526).
The man who ruled under the name of Theodoric (
Gothic Þiudareiks, meaning "King of the
People") was born in 454 on the banks of the
Neusiedler See near
Carnuntum, a year after the Ostrogoths had thrown off nearly a century of domination by the
Huns. The son of the King
Theodemir, Theodoric went to
Constantinople as a young boy, as a
hostage to secure the Ostrogoths' compliance with a treaty Theodemir had concluded with the
Byzantine Emperor
Leo.
He lived at the court of Constantinople for many years and learned a great deal about Roman government and military tactics, which served him well when he became the Goth ruler of a mixed but largely Romanized people. Treated with favor by the Emperors
Leo I and
Zeno, he became
Magister militum (or Master of Soldiers) in 483, and one year later he became
consul. He afterwards returned to live among the Ostrogoths when he was 20 years old, and became their king in 488.
At the time, the Ostrogoths were settled in Byzantine territory as
foederati (allies) of the Romans, but were becoming restless and increasingly difficult for Zeno to manage. Not long after Theodoric became king, the two men worked out an arrangement beneficial to both sides. The Ostrogoths needed a place to live, and Zeno was having serious problems with
Odoacer, the King of Italy who had overthrown the western
Roman Empire in
476. Ostensibly a viceroy for Zeno, Odoacer was menacing Byzantine territory and not respecting the rights of Roman citizens in Italy. At Zeno's encouragement, Theodoric invaded Odoacer's kingdom.
Theodoric came with his army to Italy in 488, where he won the
Battle of Isonzo (489) and at the
Battle of Milan (489) and at the
Adda in 490. In 493 he took
Ravenna. Odoacer surrendered and was killed by Theodoric himself.
Like Odoacer, Theodoric was ostensibly only a viceroy for the emperor in Constantinople. In reality, he was able to avoid imperial supervision, and dealings between the emperor and Theodoric were as equals. However, unlike Odoacer, Theodoric respected the agreement he had made and allowed Roman citizens within his kingdom to be subject to Roman law and the Roman judicial system. The Goths, meanwhile, lived under their own laws and customs.
Theodoric the Great was allied with the
Franks by his marriage to Audofleda, sister of
Clovis I, and with the
Visigoths,
Vandals and
Burgundian kings.
Clovis I's ambitions to also rule over the Goths brought on intermittent warfare between 506 and 523. For much of his reign, Theodoric was the
de facto king of the Visigoths as well, becoming regent for the infant Visigothic king, his grand-son
Amalric, around 505. The Franks under Clovis were able to wrest control of
Aquitaine from the Visigoths in
507, defeating
Alaric II, but otherwise, Theodoric was able to defeat their incursions. In 515, Theodorich married his daughter Amalasuntha to
Eutharic, but Eutharic died shortly after this, so no lasting dynastic connection of Ostrogoths and Visigoths was established.
Theodoric also stopped the
Vandals from raiding his territories by threatening the weak Vandal king
Thrasamund with invasion. In
519, when a mob had burned down the
synagogues of Ravenna, Theodoric ordered the town to rebuild them at its own expense.
Theodoric the Goth was no Frank or Hun. He had great respect for the Roman culture he saw himself as representing. He had an eye for outstanding talent. In about 520 the philosopher
Boethius became his
magister officiorum, (head of all the government and court services). Boethius was a man of science, a dedicated Hellenist bent on translating all the works of Aristotle into Latin and harmonizing them with the works of Plato, not an easy task. Eventually Boethius fell out of favor with Theodoric, perhaps out of a suspicion that he was in sympathy with Justinian, emperor of the East, for Arian Theodoric was always somewhat of an outsider among these Christians. Theodoric ordered Boethius executed in 525. In the meantime
Cassiodorus had succeeded Boethius as
magister in 523. The pliant historian and courtier could be counted on to provide refined touches to official correspondence. "To the monarch you [Cassiodorus] were a friendly judge and an honored intimate. For when he got free of his official cares he looked to your conversation for the precepts of the sages, that he might make himself a worthy equal to the great men of old. Ever curious, he wanted to hear about the courses of the stars, the tides of the sea, and legendary fountains, that his earnest study of natural science might make him seem to be a veritable philosopher in the purple" (Cassiodorus' letterbook,
Variae 9.24.8). The gulf was widening between the ancient senatorial aristocracy whose center was
Rome and the adherents of Gothic rule at Ravenna: other distinguished public figures followed Boethius to the block. Theodoric in his final years was no longer the disengaged Arian patron of religious toleration that he had seemed earlier in his reign. "Indeed, his death cut short what could well have developed into a major persecution of Catholic churches in retaliation for measures taken by Justin in Constantinople against Arians there"
O'Donnell 1979, ch. 1.
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The Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna. |
Theodoric was of
Arian faith. At the end of his reign quarrels arose with his Roman subjects and the Byzantine emperor
Justin I over the
Arianism issue. Relations between the two nations deteriorated, although Theodoric's ability dissuaded the Byzantines from waging war against him. After his death, that reluctance faded quickly.Theodoric the Great was interred in Ravenna. His
mausoleum is one of the finest monuments in
Ravenna.
Theodoric was born in
454 as the child of king
Theodemir, and
Erelieva. He was married twice. It is not known who his first wife was, but he had two children with her:
Arevagni and
Theodegotho. His second wife was
Audofleda with whom he had
Amalasuntha.
After his death in Ravenna in 526, Theodoric was succeeded by his grandson
Athalaric. Athalaric was at first represented by his mother,
Amalasuntha, who was a regent queen from 526 till 534. The kingdom of the Ostrogoths however began to wane, and was conquered by
Justinian I from 535, finally ending in 553 with the
Battle of Mons Lactarius.
Theodoric's
afterlife was described in
epic poetry.
Dietrich von Bern in the
German epic
Nibelungenlied is based on Theodoric the Great. He is also mentioned on the
Rök Stone, carved in
Sweden in the
800s, and in the
Old English Deor and
Widsith poems.
A fictionalized, but impressively researched, version of Theodoric's career is presented in
Raptor, a novel by
Gary Jennings.
The German historian
Felix Dahn wrote a fictional treatment on the end of the Ostrogoth kingdom that was influential in spreading a 'völkische' view on the
Early Middle Ages and glorified heroism in the face of certain defeat.
*John Moorhead, 1992.
Theoderic in Italy (Oxford: Oxford University Press) ISBN 0-19-814781-3
*O'Donnell, James J. 1979,
Cassiodorus. (University of California Press) [
1]
*
Theodoric the Great at MiddleAges.net* http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14576a.htm
