Theoderic the Great (454-526) was King of the Ostrogoths from 475 to 526, succeeding Theodemir and preceding Athalaric. Theoderic was one of the most successful post-Roman Germanic conquerors, and he overthrew Odoacer in order to conquer Italy for the Ostrogoths.
Biography[]
A statue of Theoderic
Theoderic the Great was born in 454 AD in Pannonia, the son of Theodemir and Ereleuva. He was sent to Constantinople as a hostage by his father in order to secure good relations between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantine Empire, and in 473 he would succeed his father as the ruler of the Ostrogoth people. In 484, he defeated Theodoric Strabo and united his Moesian Ostrogoths with Theodoric Strabo's Thracian Ostrogoths, forming a solid front. The united Ostrogoths became very powerful, and Emperor Zeno of Byzantium appointed Theoderic Magister Militum and a Roman consul. However, Theoderic was ungrateful, and he ravaged the lands of the Byzantine Empire in Greece and even threatened Constantinople itself. His hatred was diverted in 488 when Emperor Zeno dispatched him to overthrow King Odoacer of Italy, a Heruli barbarian who had seized power in the former Western Roman Empire for himself and betrayed Zeno. Theoderic invaded Italy and took the capital of Ravenna, and he killed Odoacer at a reconciliation banquet. He became the new ruler of Italy, promoting racial harmony but forbidding intermarriage between the 250,000 Ostrogoth settlers and the native Roman populace. Theoderic also allowed for the Romans to continue their old traditions, including the Roman Senate and adhering to Catholicism instead of the Goths' Arianism; just as political offices were held exclusively by Romans, only Goths could serve in the military or hold high military ranks. Theoderic ruled Italy peacefully until his death in 526, the first peaceful period in Italian history since the reign of Valentinian. His death ushered in a period of chaos which would result in a Byzantine invasion in 535, 21 years of war, and, ultimately, the invasion of the Lombards in 568 AD.