Theodoric the Great

Theodoric the Great was an Ostrogothic king who ruled Italy from 493 to 526. He established a kingdom centered on Ravenna while preserving many Roman institutions.

Ostrogothic Kingdom: A kingdom ruled by the Ostrogoths in Italy and parts of neighboring regions from 493 to 553. This was the state Theodoric built and governed from Ravenna.
Ostrogoths: An East Germanic people whose kingdom in Italy lasted from 493 to 553. Theodoric ruled as their king and led their settlement in Italy.
Amalasuntha: The daughter of Theodoric who ruled the Ostrogothic kingdom as regent and queen after his death. Her contested succession exposed the fragility of Theodoric’s settlement.
Byzantine Empire: The continuation of the Roman Empire in the eastern Mediterranean after the western imperial court disappeared. Theodoric ruled Italy independently while acknowledging the Eastern Roman emperor’s formal authority.
Roman Senate: The governing body of Rome, which continued to meet under the emperors and later rulers. Theodoric retained the Senate as a functioning institution in his Italian kingdom.
Theodoric Strabo: A fifth-century Gothic leader in the Eastern Roman Empire, distinct from Theodoric the Great. Theodoric the Great’s early career unfolded amid rivalry with this Gothic leader.
Gothic War (535–554): A prolonged war in which the Eastern Roman Empire conquered the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy. The conflict ended the kingdom Theodoric had established.
Justinian's reconquest: The sixth-century campaigns by Justinian’s empire to recover territories formerly governed by Rome in the West. The reconquest reversed Theodoric’s arrangement of Gothic kingship and Roman administration.
Cassiodorus: A Roman statesman and scholar who served the Ostrogothic kings and later founded a monastery at Vivarium. As Theodoric’s senior official, he helped conduct Roman-style government.
Zeno (emperor): The Eastern Roman emperor who ruled from 474 to 491, with interruptions. Zeno sent Theodoric toward Italy, where he overthrew Odoacer.

Linked from 17 pages