Theodoric's Successes

Odoacer was a Germanic soldier who overthrew the Western Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus (who was only a pre-teen) and declared himself King of Italy. The Eastern Roman Emperor, Zeno, asked Theodoric of the Ostrogoths to deal with the Odoacer situation. The two leaders battled for a couple years before finally negotiating a treaty to share the rule of the Western Empire and ignore Zeno's demands.

Theodoric went to Ravenna, where a feast was planned for 15 March 493 to celebrate their treaty. Theodoric made a toast to honor his co-ruler, drew his sword, and sliced Odoacer from collarbone to thigh. His men killed Odoacer's retainers, and Theodoric proclaimed himself King of Italy.

He was now King of the Ostrogoths (since 471), and King of Italy, so he had room in which his people could settle. He realized the danger of spreading some tens of thousands over too wide an area, rendering them less able to defend themselves and more difficult to gather together if he needed an army. He concentrated the Ostrogoths in Ravenna (his capital), Pavia, and Picenum. Theodoric ruled Italy from 493 until his death in 526.

Of all the "barbarian" groups that overtook Rome, Theodoric and the Ostrogoths were the ones who most wanted to maintain Roman culture. Theodoric issued his own coins (see illustration), he made laws that ensured fairness for Goths and Romans, and he mandated religious tolerance. Romans were Trinitarian Christians (literally "Roman" Catholics), while Theodoric and the Goths were Arians. He also promoted rebuilding of Roman cities, especially in Ravenna, where he rebuilt walls, aqueducts, churches, baths, and other structures and amenities.

One of his enduring buildings is his mausoleum, one of those ancient edifices that causes modern architects to ask "How did they do that?" I'll talk more about Theodoric's end tomorrow.

Theodoric's Troubles

After Theodoric (454 - 526) was made commander of the Eastern Roman Empire's forces by Emperor Zeno, you might have thought that his future was assured. Zeno, however, was annoyed when Theodoric dealt with a famine by asking—not conquering, asking—Zeno for permission to expand into new land where they might produce more food. Zeno's retaliation was to offer command of the forces to Theodoric "The Squinter" Strabo, the person whose defeat by our Theodoric earned him the command in the first place!

Theodoric was not going to suffer this insult quietly or let his people starve, so he invaded communities in the Rhodope Mountains in southeastern Europe (Bulgaria), slaughtering peasants and taking supplies. Their savagery drew an attempt from Zeno to make a truce, but Theodoric was not satisfied. He sent an emissary to Zeno, who was in Epidaurum at the time.* Meanwhile, Zeno sent soldiers to attack Theodoric's people, stealing (supposedly) 2000 wagons of supplies and capturing 5000 Ostrogoths.

Zeno made many bad political decisions—including losing the Western Roman Empire—and in 483 he offered Theodoric the position of absolute top military commander and made him consul in 484. Consuls were the chief magistrates of the Roman Republic. This position did not mean hostilities ended between Theodoric and Zeno. Theodoric continued to plunder Eastern Empire territories, approaching Constantinople itself.

Zeno engaged the Bulgars to attack Theodoric; the Bulgars were defeated. Theodoric besieged Constantinople, hoping to pressure Zeno into giving him land for the Ostrogoths. Zeno was having trouble with Odoacer, the Germanic ruler who was king of Italy, and offered Theodoric to defeat Odoacer and take Italy. Theodoric initially lost against Odoacer in 490; the two rulers spent the next few years fighting across Italy, finally negotiating a co-ruler treaty to stop the hostilities.

One of the two never intended to honor the treaty. I'll tell you which one next time.

*Epidaurum would be devastated two centuries later by Avar and Slavic invaders; citizens would flee north several miles and found a new city, Ragusa.

The Ostrogoths, Finally

To be fair, I have mentioned one Ostrogoth before: King Theodoric was talked about here and here. The larger culture of the Goths has been mentioned many times in this blog, but this particular group has been wanting attention. The "Ostrogoths" part of the name comes from Germanic auster meaning "eastern." Before descending on Italy, these "Eastern Goths" built an empire in the 3rd century stretching east to what is now Belarus and Ukraine; "many Ostrogothic graves have been excavated south and southeast of Kiev" [Britannica] It is believed that the difference between Ostrogoths and Visigoths is based on geography, with "Visi-" being tacked on by the Roman scholar/statesman Cassiodorus (mentioned in the first Theodoric link above).

Little is known of the Ostrogoths and Visigoths except through records from the cultures with whom they came in contact, mostly Roman. They left us no literature of their own, although we know they had their own spoken language: a Goth Christian Bishop named Wulfila (or a team working under him) designed a Goth alphabet based on Greek and used it to translate the Bible; I showed their alphabet here. A few additional Goth religious fragments exist. Other Gothic documents such as statements from Theodoric are in Latin.

Isidore of Seville wrote a history of the Goths, in which he tells us that, when they asked the Roman Emperor Valens to send them teachers to instruct them in the Christian faith, Valens (because he had strayed from the truth) sent them heretical priests who instructed them in the Arian heresy. Salvian of Marseilles, a 5th century writer in Gaul concerned with the decline of the Roman Empire, writes in his De gubernatione Dei ("On the government of God") about the vices of the Romans versus the virtues of the "barbarian" Goths. The Arian Goths are praised for the chastity, tolerance toward Catholics.

Sometimes a charismatic ruler is necessary to hold a nation together. When Attila the Hun died and his empire began to fall apart, the Ostrogoths grew in strength, especially under Theodoric, and expanded, eventually into Italy. But after Theodoric died in 526, the Ostrogoth control of Italy started to disintegrate, and the Emperor Justinian in the Eastern Empire saw his chance. He declared war on the Ostrogoths in 535. In the following two decades, much of Italy was damaged in the battles between the two armies. What is certain is that, after 554CE, no more Gothic texts are produced in Italy; the Ostrogoths seem to have lost their national identity.

Although I said I would touch on the Ostrogoths only before taking on the first Duke of Milan, I can hardly pass up the opportunity at this point in modern history to seize the opportunity given me by the Ostrogothic link to Kyiv.