Hunnic Domination - Theodoric - The Kingdom of Italy

Hunnic Domination and its Aftermath

From the time of their conquest by the Huns until the death of Attila, nearly a hundred years later, little is known of the Ostrogoths. It is certain that the vast majority of them remained as loyal vassals of their Hunnic overlords. They formed a significant contingent of Attila's army, and at the Battle of Châlons in 451 found themselves on the opposite side to their Visigothic cousins, serving as allies of Aëtius, the Roman Patrician. The Huns were defeated but it was not until Attila's death two years later that the Hunnic Empire collapsed.

In the inevitable redistribution of power, the Ostrogoths found themselves in possession of Pannonia (roughly equating to modern Hungary) as Roman federates. But with hostile neighbours on all sides and an increasing dependence on subsidies from their new masters in Constantinople, the future did not look particularly bright. That was all to be changed by a man who spent much of his youth as a hostage of the East Romans, absorbing all the lessons that the Graeco-Roman civilisation had to offer - Theodoric.

Theodoric

Proving himself an able leader, both politically and militarily, Theodoric (the son of King Thiudimir), rose to become the leader of his people. He led them out of the unpromising lands in which they had settled and moved into Moesia, close to Constantinople itself. Their presence greatly worried the East Romans and when it became clear that he wanted to carve out a kingdom in the west, they did not try to discourage him, and he was able to claim that his subsequent invasion of Italy had Imperial sanction.

The host which Theodoric led into Italy may have totaled as many as 100,000 people - this was as much a migration as an invasion, and perhaps 80% of this number were non-combatants. Many were not Goths at all - there were certainly Rugi and even Romans amongst them.

The Western Empire had already fallen and Italy, at that time, was ruled by a barbarian king, Odovacar. The struggle between the two great men lasted between 489 and 493, and finally ended when Theodoric murdered his rival in cold blood at a banquet. Despite claims of Imperial patronage, Theodoric was not recognised as King of Italy by the Emperor Anastasius until 497.

The Kingdom of Italy

Recognised by Anastasius, Theodoric ruled Italy as the self-styled "King of the Goths and Romans" until his death in 526. Like the Visigoths, and like Odovacar before him, he was wise enough to rule by the employment of existing Roman institutions. And although Gothic Law applied only to Goths, and Roman Law only to Romans within Theodoric's kingdom, he was insistent that the rule of law should prevail.

Perhaps the Byzantines should have learned to appreciate the presence on their western borders of such a stable, and relatively friendly, state. Perhaps they should have ignored the heretical Arianism of the Goths, and swallowed their pride in the matter of their claim to Italy as part of the Empire. But when Justinian donned the Imperial Purple in 527, he was set on re-establishing Roman rule in the west, and imposing religious orthodoxy on its barbarian conquerors.

In Belisarius, Justinian had at his disposal the ablest soldier of the age and it was this great captain whom he sent, in 534, to conquer the Ostrogoths. The war which this triggered was to last, on and off, until 552, when first Belisarius and then Justinian's other great general, the eunuch Narses, succeeded in bringing down the Ostrogothic Kingdom, only after a recovery and inspirational fight-back by the last Ostrogothic leader of real substance, Totila.

Totila was killed at the Battle of Taginae, but still the Goths did not surrender. Proclaiming Teia - one of Totila's generals - as their new king, they attempted to forge an alliance with the Franks, who had by this time spread their dominion into northern Italy. But though the Frankish king, Theudibald, was happy to accept gifts from Teia, he made no attempt to help.

In the valley of the Draco (now known as the Sarno), Teia made his last stand. He fought heroically but was killed in the battle. The Romans displayed his severed head on a pole, but even then the embattled Goths fought on. Not until the end of the next day did they finally surrender; They were allowed to leave unmolested, and with all their movable possessions, so long as they agreed to leave Italy and never again make war on the Empire.

It was, to all intents and purposes, the end, and for a short time Italy reverted to Roman rule. But in truth, all Justinian had accomplished was to removed a stable barbarian kingdom and create a power vacuum, into which would step a far more dangerous and hostile power - the Lombards.

See also: Theodoric the Great, The Battle of Taginae

Mark Furnival, 1999