Theodoric the Great

Theodoric
Medallion (or triple solidus) featuring Theodoric, c. AD 491–501[a]
King of the Ostrogoths
Reign	471 – 30 August 526
Predecessor	Theodemir
Successor	Athalaric
King of Italy
Reign	15 March 493 – 30 August 526
Predecessor	Odoacer
Successor	Athalaric
King of the Visigoths
Reign	511 – 30 August 526
Predecessor	Gesalec
Successor	Amalaric
Born	454 near Carnuntum (now in Lower Austria), Western Roman Empire
Died	30 August 526(526-08-30) (aged 71–72) Ravenna, Ostrogothic Kingdom
Spouse	Audofleda
Issue	Amalasuintha Theodegotha Ostrogotho
Dynasty	Amali
Father	Theodemir
Mother	Ereleuva
Religion	Arianism

Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal (Gothic: *𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃, romanized: *Þiudareiks; Greek: Θευδέριχος, romanized: Theuderikhos; Latin: Theoderīcus), was king of the Ostrogoths (475–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493 and 526,^[3] regent of the Visigoths (511–526), and a patrician of the Eastern 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 used the title 'king' (rex), some scholars characterize him as a Western Roman Emperor in all but name,^[b] since he ruled a large part of the former Western Roman Empire described as a Res Publica, had received the former Western imperial regalia from Constantinople in 497 which he used, was referred to by the imperial title princeps by the Italian aristocracy and exercised imperial powers recognized in the East, such as naming consuls.

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As a young child of an Ostrogothic nobleman, Theodoric was taken as a hostage to Constantinople, where he spent his formative years and received an East Roman education (paideia). 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, gaining recognition as King in 471. The emperor Zeno made him a commander of the Eastern Roman forces in 483 and consul in 484. 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 while promoting 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.

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