Theodoric the Great

Timeline

1. c. 461–471Constantinople · Byzantine EmpireSent to Constantinople around age seven as an Ostrogothic diplomatic hostage, he received Greek culture and Roman military education at the Byzantine court for about a decade. This experience profoundly shaped his later respect for Roman traditions and his governing philosophy of Roman-barbarian fusion.
2. 471–488Balkan Peninsula · Balkan PeninsulaAfter returning he succeeded his father Theodemir as king of the Ostrogoths. He maneuvered against the Byzantine Empire in the Balkans, repeatedly raiding Thrace and Macedonia. In 488, entrusted by Emperor Zeno, he led his people westward into Italy to replace Odoacer.
3. 489–493Italy · Italian PeninsulaIn 489 he led his army across the Alps into Italy, defeating Odoacer successively at the Isonzo, Verona, and the Adda River. Odoacer withdrew to Ravenna and surrendered in 493 after a long siege. Theodoric personally killed Odoacer at a banquet and gained control of all Italy.
4. 493–526Ravenna · Emilia-RomagnaRuled Italy from Ravenna for over thirty years, upholding the Roman legal system and the authority of the Senate, and implementing a 'dual governance' system in which Germans commanded the military and Romans handled administration. He recruited Cassiodorus to head state affairs, protected the philosopher Boethius, repaired Roman public facilities, and built a diplomatic network among the western barbarian kingdoms through marriage alliances. In his later years, religious tensions (conflict between Arians and the orthodox) and political suspicion led him to order the executions of Boethius and Symmachus; he died of dysentery on August 30, 526.