The Ostrogothic ruler at that time, Witiges, could not defend successfully and was finally captured when the capital Ravenna fell. [25], Thus, for a time, Theoderic could count on their support. After executing Orestes and putting the teenage usurper in internal exile, Odoacer paid nominal allegiance to Nepos (now in Dalmatia) while effectively operating autonomously, having been raised to the rank of patrician by Zeno. Theoderic and his Goths were now masters of Italy. [...] There is moreover that noble sentiment, love for the city of Rome, from which two princes, both of whom govern in her name, should never be disjoined. The Goths were settled mostly in northern Italy, and kept themselves largely apart from the Roman population, a tendency reinforced by their different faiths: the Goths were mostly Arians, while the people they ruled over were following Chalcedonian Christianity. Eutharic, Theoderic's son-in-law and designated successor, was appointed consul for the year 519, while in 522, to celebrate the healing of the Acacian schism, Justin allowed both consuls to be appointed by Theoderic. Parts of Moesia and Dacia ripensis were ceded to the Goths, and Theoderic was named magister militum praesentalis and consul for 484. Well-educated and also from a distinguished family, he wrote works on mathematics, music and philosophy. In Italy the Ostrogoths, led by Theoderic the Great, killed and replaced Odoacer, a Germanic soldier, erstwhile-leader of the foederati in northern Italy, and the de facto ruler of Italy, who had deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus Augustulus, in 476. After Theodoric's death in 526 AD, the network of alliances that surrounded the Ostrogothic state began to disintegrate, and the Goths rose up against their queen Amalasuntha for intending to raise her son as a Roman. [14], On the other hand, the army and all military offices remained the exclusive preserve of the Goths. Especially during the reign of Anastasius, these led to several collisions, none of which however escalated into general warfare. The Ostrogoths rallied around a new leader, Totila, and largely managed to reverse the conquest, but were eventually defeated. The Ostrogothic Kingdom has succeeded where the Romans failed. But he was unmindful of their kinship and, after a little time, had her taken from the palace at Ravenna to an island of the. Domestically, the Acacian schism between the patriarchates of Rome and Constantinople, caused by imperial support for the Henotikon, as well as Anastasius' Monophysite beliefs, played into Theoderic's hands, since the clergy and the Roman aristocracy of Italy, headed by Pope Symmachus, vigorously opposed them. In reality, he acted as an independent ruler, although unlike Odoacer, he meticulously preserved the outward forms of his subordinate position. "At this time, Odovacar overcame and killed Odiva in Dalmatia", De origine actibusque Getarum ("The Origin and Deeds of the Goths"), Former states of the Italian Peninsula, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and Malta, Patria del Friuli (Patriarchate of Aquileia), https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Ostrogothic_Kingdom&oldid=1540859, States and territories established in 493, States and territories disestablished in the 550s, Pages using infobox former country with unknown parameters, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2007, Former countries on the Italian Peninsula, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, About Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core, "... Theoderic was a man of great distinction and of good-will towards all men, and he ruled for thirty-three years. ^ a: The exact date and circumstances surrounding Amalasuntha's execution remain a mystery. The Amalungs were one of the prominent Germanic Gothic ruling dynasties, and in 454 AD, the head of the dynasty, King Theodemir, had a son. In its place was the Kingdom of Italy, helmed by the victorious Germanic general, Flavius Odoacer. This even led to the dispatch of a fleet by Anastasius in 508, which ravaged the coasts of Apulia. In his Secret History, Procopius proposes that Empress Theodora might have had a hand in the affair, wishing to get rid of a potential rival. Since Eutharic had died in 523, Theoderic was succeeded by his infant grandson Athalaric, supervised by his mother, Amalasuntha, as regent. Most of the social institutions of the late Western Roman Empire were preserved during his rule. This resulted in the arrest and execution of the magister officiorum Boethius and his father-in-law, Symmachus, in 524. It was then that the thought occurred to Zeno and his advisors to kill two birds with one stone, and direct Theoderic against another troublesome neighbor of the Empire - the Italian kingdom of Odoacer. Now Theoderic had a common border with the Visigothic kingdom, where, after Alaric's death, he also ruled as regent of his infant grandson Amalaric.[22]. To that end, she actively courted the support of the Senate and the newly ascended Emperor Justinian I, even providing him with bases in Sicily during the Vandalic War. Cassiodorus, hailing from a distinguished background, and himself entrusted with high offices (consul and magister officiorum) represents the Roman ruling class. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. By means of marriage alliances, he sought to establish a central position among the barbarian states of the West. They settled and established a powerful state in Dacia, but during the late 4th century, they came under the dominion of the Huns. Theoderic perceived this as a threat and intended to campaign against him, but the Franks acted first and invaded Burgundy in 523, quickly subduing it. By the end of the conflict Italy was devastated and considerably depopulated. As Jordanes states: "...there was no race left in the western realms which Theoderic had not befriended or brought into subjection during his lifetime. Peter Heather, in contrast, has written that: Peace was concluded in 461, whereby the young Theoderic Amal, son of Theodemir of the Amals, was sent as a hostage to Constantinople, where he received a Roman education. Like many others of his background, he served Theoderic and his heirs loyally and well, something expressed in the writings of the period. The Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, its baptistry, and the Archiepiscopal Chapel follow the typical late Roman architectural and decorative motifs, but the Mausoleum of Theoderic displays purely Gothic elements, such as its construction not from the usual brick, but of massive slabs of Istrian limestone, or the 300-ton single-piece roof stone. [32], Amalasuntha then turned for support to her only relative, her cousin Theodahad, while at the same time sending ambassadors to Justinian and proposing to cede Italy to him. "[17], It is in his foreign policy rather than domestic affairs that Theoderic appeared and acted as an independent ruler. The Kingdom established by the Ostrogoths in Italy and neighbouring areas lasted from 493 to 553.In Italy the Ostrogoths replaced Odoacer, the de facto ruler of Italy who had deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 476. Indeed, as a subordinate ruler, Theoderic did not possess the right to issue his own laws (leges) in the system of Roman law, but merely edicts (edicta), or clarifications on certain details. [26], With the ascension of Justin I in 518, a more harmonious relationship seemed to be restored. Theodoric sought to be a leader for both the Goths and the Romans, styling himself as "King of the Goths and Romans", serving as the de jure Byzantine viceroy of Italy, consulting the Roman Senate on civic appointments, and staffing administrative positions exclusively with Romans. From 541 to 553, Gothic resistance was reinvigorated under Totila, but Justinian's general Narses crushed the Goths at Taginae in 552 and repelled an invasion by the Franks and Alemanni in 553. That same year, the last Ostrogothic king, Teia, was killed at Mons Lactarius, and the Ostrogothic Kingdom collapsed. By using this site you consent to this use in our, https://wiki.totalwar.com/index.php?title=Ostrogothic_Kingdom_(TWA_faction)&oldid=23274. At that point, however, the Visigoths intervened, the siege of Ticinum was lifted, and Odoacer was decisively defeated at the river Adda on 11 August 490. After the collapse of the Hunnic empire in 454, large numbers of Ostrogoths were settled by Emperor Marcian in the Roman province of Pannonia as foederati. These events further stirred popular sentiment against the Goths.[29]. However, Theoderic's death in 526 CE destabilised the Ostrogothic Kingdom, as his grandson - still a child - ascended to the throne under the regency of his mother, Amalasuntha. The effects of this appeared six months later, when, with the mediation of the city's bishop, negotiations started between the two parties. [...] Our royalty is an imitation of yours, modelled on your good purpose, a copy of the only Empire; and insofar as we follow you do we excel all other nations. Amalasuntha was Roman-educated and intended to continue her father's policies of conciliation between Goths and Romans. [13] The close cooperation between Theoderic and the Roman elite began to break down in later years, especially after the healing of the ecclesiastical rift between Rome and Constantinople (see below), as leading senators conspired with the Emperor. The Ostrogothic Kingdom has succeeded where the Romans failed. History; Background; Conquest of Italy by the Goths (488–493) Reign of Theodoric the Great (493–526) Death of Theodoric and dynastic disputes (526–535) XVIII, pp. As such, by 488 CE the Ostrogothic king, Theoderic, had been contracted to depose and supplant him as the Emperor's man in Italy. The first phase lasted from 535 to 540 and ended with the fall of Ravenna and the apparent reconquest of Italy by the Byzantines. He evicted the Vandals from Sicily in 477, and in 480 he occupied Dalmatia after the murder of Julius Nepos. Theoderic then sent Tufa and his men against Odoacer, but he changed his allegiance again and returned to Odoacer. In Ravenna, new churches and monumental buildings were erected, several of which survive. It was the year of the death of Attila the Hun , an… In 504-505, Theoderic's forces launched a campaign to recover Pannonia and the strategically important town of Sirmium, formerly parts of the praetorian prefecture of Italy, which were now occupied by the Gepids. [1], In previous years, a large number of Goths, first under Aspar and then under Theodoric Strabo, had entered service in the Roman army and were a significant political and military power in the court of Constantinople. "[18] This was in part meant as a defensive measure, and in part as a counterbalance to the influence of the Empire. The nature of the divisions of the Goths before the arrival of the Huns is uncertain, but throughout all their history the Ostrogoths are only mentioned by that name very rarely, and normally in very uncertain contexts. In the event she managed to execute the three leading conspirators, and her position remained relatively secure until, in 533, Athalaric's health began to seriously decline. [10], Like Odoacer, Theoderic was ostensibly a patricius and subject of the emperor in Constantinople, acting as his viceroy for Italy, a position recognized by the new Emperor Anastasius in 497. His most famous work, Consolatio philosophiae, was written while imprisoned on charges of treason. In this conflict, alliances shifted regularly, and large parts of the Balkans were devastated by it.[2]. However, starting in 508, Theoderic's generals campaigned in Gaul, and were successful in saving Septimania for the Visigoths, as well as extending Ostrogothic rule into southern Gaul (Provence) at the expense of the Burgundians. The Ostrogothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of Italy (Latin: Regnum Italiae), [5] was established by the Ostrogoths in Italy and neighbouring areas from 493 to 553.. Justinian decided to retaliate by invading Italy from North Africa, where his forces had just conquered the Vandals.