Athalaric (516-2 October 534) was King of the Ostrogoths from 526 to 534, succeeding Theoderic the Great and preceding Theodahad.
Biography[]
Athalaric was a son of Eutharic and Amalasuntha, and he was the maternal grandson of Theoderic the Great. He succeeded his grandfather as King of the Ostrogoths in 526, and his mother served as regent for her young son. Her mother attempted to educate him in the Roman tradition, but the Gothic nobles pressured her to allow for them to raise him as they saw fit. As a result, Athalaric drank heavily and indulged in vicious excesses, which ruined his constitution. He died in 534 at the young age of 18.