Theodoricus

or Theodericus I., king of the Visigoths from A. D. 418 * His accession was not in A.D. 419, as is stated by Gibbon and most writers. See Clinton, Fasti Rom. ad ann. 418. to 451, was the successor of Wallia, but appears to have been the son of the great Alaric. (Gibbon, Decline and Fall, c. xxxv. note 10.) Not content with the limits of his dominions, Theodoric broke the peace which existed between the Visigoths and the Romans, took several places in Gaul, and laid siege to Arles in A. D. 425. He was, however, obliged to retire on the approach of Aetius, with whom he concluded a peace; and he then turned his arms against the Vandals in Spain, upon receiving a sufficient subsidy from the Roman general. Theodoric however was only waiting for a favourable opportunity to attack the Romans again; and accordingly, while the Burgundians invaded the Belgic provinces, Theodoric laid siege to Narbonne in A. D. 436. Aetius displayed his usual activity ; he defeated the Burgundians in battle, and sent Litorius to oppose Theodoric. The inhabitants of Narbonne had resisted many months all the efforts of Theodoric to take the town; but they were reduced to the last extremities of famine, when Litorius, in the following year (A. D. 437) cut his way through the entrenchments of the besiegers. The siege was immediately raised; and Aetius, who arrived shortly afterwards, defeated Theodoric with great slaughter, and obliged him to retire into his own dominions. The Gothic king was now obliged to act on the defensive; and Aetius, on his return to Italy, left Litorius at the head of an army, chiefly consisting of Huns, to prosecute the war. Unable to resist the Romans in the field, Theodoric retired to Toulouse, where he was besieged by Litorius in A. D. 439. Despairing of success, Theodoric now endeavoured to obtain a peace by the mediation of his Christian bishops ; but Litorius, confident of success, and relying upon the predictions of the pagan augurs, that he should enter the Gothic capital in triumph, refused all the proposals which were repeatedly made him. The presumption of Litorius appears to have made him careless. The Goths availed themselves of a favourable opportunity, sallied out of their city, and, after a long and obstinate battle, defeated the Roman army, made their general prisoner, and conducted him in triumph through the streets of Toulouse. This victory turned the fortune of the war; and the whole of the country as far as the Rhone lay exposed to the ravages of the barbarians. Avitus, who was then praefectus praetorio in Gaul, had no army to resist the Visigoths, and accordingly entered into negotiations with Theodoric, which ended in a peace, the terms of which are not related, but which must have been in favour of the barbarians. This last peace between Theodoric and the Romans does not appear to have been interrupted. Theodoric had sought to strengthen his power by giving one of his daughters in marriage to the eldest son of Genseric, king of the Vandals in Africa; but Genseric, who suspected that his son's wife had conspired to poison him, ignominiously deprived her of her nose and ears, and sent her back in this mutilated condition to her father at Toulouse. To revenge this unpardonable outrage, Theodoric made formidable preparations for an invasion of Africa; and the Romans, who always encouraged the discords of the barbarians, readily offered to supply him with men and arms. But Genseric averted the threatening danger by persuading Attila to attack both the Romans and the Goths. With an enormous army composed of various nations, Attila crossed the Rhine at Strasburg, and marched into Gaul. Aetius collected a powerful force to oppose him, and Theodoric, at the head of his Visigoths, and accompanied by his two sons Thorismond and Theodoric, joined the Roman general. On the approach of Aetius, Attila, who had laid siege to Orleans, retreated to the plains of Champagne. Aetius followed close upon his rear. The hostile armies at length met in the neighbourhood of Châlons on the Marne, and in a short but most bloody engagement, Attila was defeated with great loss. The victory was mainly owing to the courage of the Visigoths and of the youthful Thorismond; but their king Theodoric fell at the commencement of the engagement, as he was riding along the ranks to animate his troops (A. D. 451). He was succeeded by his son Thorismond. Theodoric was a wise and prudent monarch; and by his courage in war, and his just administration at home, he earned the love of his subjects and the respect of his enemies. He introduced among his subjects a love of Latin literature, and his sons were carefully trained in the study of the writers and the jurisprudence of Rome. (Jornandes, de Reb. Get. 34, 36-41 ; Sidon. Apoll. Panegyricus Avito ; the Chronicles of Idatius and the two Prospers; Gibbon, Decline and Fall, c. xxxv.; Tillemont, Histoire, des Empereurs, vol. vi.)

or Theodericus II., king of the Visigoths A. D. 452-466, was the second son of Theodoric I. He was present with his father at the battle of Châlons in 451, and succeeded to the throne by the murder of his brother Thorismond at the close of the following year (452). [Thorismond.] In A. D. 455 Avitus, who had been well acquainted with the elder Theodoric, was sent as ambassador to the court of Toulouse, to renew the alliance between the Visigoths and the Romans. While staying with Theodoric, he received intelligence of the death of Maximus, and of the sack of Rome by the Vandals. His royal host pressed him to mount the vacant throne, and promised him his powerful assistance. Avitus could not resist the temptation, and the senate was obliged to receive a master from the king of the Visigoths. Theodoric soon showed that he was an able and willing ally of the emperor whom he had placed upon the throne. The Suevi, who had settled in Gallicia in Spain, threatened to extinguish the last remains of Roman independence in that country. The inhabitants of Carthagena and Tarragona implored the assistance of Avitus ; and when Rechiarius, the king of the Suevi, refused to listen to the proposals of peace and alliance which were made by the emperor, Theodoric, at the head of a formidable army, crossed the Pyrenees. This expedition was followed with the most complete success. The Suevi were defeated with great slaughter about twelve miles from Astorga, their capital Braga fell into the hands of Theodoric, and their unfortunate monarch, who had attempted to escape, was taken prisoner and put to death. These events happened towards the close of 456. Theodoric now carried his victorious arms into Lusitania, and took Merida the capital of the country. But early in the following year (457), before he had time to provide for the security of his conquests, he was obliged to return in haste to his own dominions, probably fearing evil consequences from the fall of Avitus. [Avitus.] Although Theodoric had professed to invade Spain as the servant of Avitus, he had made a secret stipulation that all the conquests he effected should belong to himself. He was therefore unwilling to relinquish the advantages he had already gained in that country; and accordingly we find that he sent an army into Spain in 458, under the command of Cyrila, and again in the following year (459) fresh troops under Suniericus. In the course of the latter year he had a more formidable enemy to cope with; for the emperor Majorian marched into Gaul, defeated Theodoric in battle, and concluded a peace with him. The death of Majorian in 461, and the conquests of the Vandals in Italy released Theodoric from all fear; he violated his recent treaty with the Romans, and appears to have designed to make himself master of the whole of the Roman dominions in Gaul. He succeeded in uniting the territory of Narbonne to his own; but his victorious career was checked by the defeat and death of his brother Frederic, who was slain in battle near Orleans by Aegidius, the Roman commander in Gaul. A great part of Spain apparently owned the authority of Theodoric; but the Chronicles merely tell us of embassies that constantly passed between the king of the Visigoths and the king of the Suevi, and give us little or no information of the relative power of the two parties. Theodoric lost his crown by the same crime by which he had gained it. He was assassinated in 466 by his brother Euric, who succeeded him on the throne. Theodoric II. was, like his father, a patron of letters and learned men; and the poet Sidonius Apollinaris, who resided for some time at his court, has given us an interesting account, in a letter to a friend (Ep. 1.2), of the personal appearance, manners and habits, of the king of the Visigoths. (Jornandes, de Reb. Get. 43, 44 ; Sidon. Apoll. Panegyr. Avito ; the Chronicles of Idatius, Marius, and Victor ; Greg. Tur. 2.11; Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, vol. vi.)

(Θευδέριχος), or Theodericus, surnamed the GREAT, king of the Ostrogoths, was the son of Theodemir by his favourite concubine Eralieva. He was born in the neighbourhood of Vienna in A. D. 455, two years after the death of Attila. His father, and his father's brothers, Walamir and Widimir, had secured the independence of the Ostrogoths by the defeat of the Huns, and ruled their people as the acknowledged descendants of the royal race of the Am ;ali. In the eighth year of his age Theodoric was sent as a hostage to the emperor Leo, who had purchased the assistance of the Ostrogoths by an annual subsidy. Theodoric received his education at Constantinople, and was restored to his father in 473, when he had reached the age of eighteen, as the emperor hoped to gain the favour of the Ostrogoths by this mark of confidence. During his absence Theodemir had become sole ruler of the nation, since Walamir had fallen in battle, and Widimir, the younger of the brothers, had marcher into Italy and Gaul at the head of an army of barbarians. Theodoric had been carefully trained at Constantinople in all martial exercises, and had not lost, amidst the effeminacy of the Greek court, any of the ferocious valour of his people. Soon after his return he gathered around him a body of volunteers, and, without the knowledge of his father, descended the Danube, and conquered and slew in battle a Sarmatian king. Theodoric afterwards accompanied his father and the Ostrogoths, when they quitted their settlements in order to obtain a more fertile territory at the expense of the Byzantine empire. This was in the last year of the reign of the emperor Leo; and Zeno the Isaurian, who succeeded him in 474, hastened to make peace with the Ostrogoths, ceded to them the southern part of Pannonia and Dacia, and entrusted them with the defence of the lower Danube. They had scarcely time to take possession of their new territory, when the death of Theodemir, in 475, placed Theodoric on the throne of the Ostrogoths.

Theodoric was for some time a faithful ally of Zeno. He was of great assistance to the emperor in restoring him to the throne, when he was expelled in 476 [Zeno]; and he carried on war, on behalf of Zeno, with another Gothic prince, Theodoric, the son of Triarius; but the treachery of Zeno, who neglected to supply him with the provisions and the reinforcements of troops he had promised, led the son of Theodemir to conclude a peace with the son of Triarius. To punish the emperor, and, still more, to satisfy the appetite of his subjects for plunder, Theodoric, the son of Theodemir, now ravaged the Byzantine dominions, and laid waste the whole of Macedonia and Thessaly. At length, in 483, Zeno appeased his resentment by conferring upon him the titles of Patrician and Praefectus militiae, by liberal donatives, by adopting him as his son, by erecting his statue in front of the imperial palace, and, finally, by raising him to the consulship in the following year, 484. But these honours did not long retain Theodoric in his allegiance; the restless spirit of his countrymen would not allow him to remain quiet if he had desired it; and accordingly lie again took up arms in 487, and marched upon Constantinople. To save himself and his capital, Zeno gave Theodoric permission to invade Italy, and expel the usurper Odoacer from the country. The proposal was gladly accepted by the king of the Ostrogoths ; but the terms on which the conquered country was to be held seem to have been purposely left in ambiguity. The Greeks afterwards asserted that Theodoric had promised to conquer the country for the emperor; while the Ostrogoths, on the other hand, alleged that Zeno had expressly ceded Italy to their king.

Theodoric commenced his march towards Italy in 488. The reputation of the leader, and the wealth and beauty of Italy, attracted to his standard a vast host of Goths. They were accompanied by their wives and children, and they carried with them all their moveable property. It was, in fact, an emigration of the whole nation. After encountering numerous obstacles and dangers, and fighting his way through various tribes of Bulgarians, Gepidae, and Sarmatians, Theodoric at length entered Italy in the summer of 489. Odoacer had collected a powerful army to oppose him, and the first battle was fought on the banks of the Sontius or Isontius, not far from Aquileia (28th of August, 489). Odoacer was defeated with great loss, but he again collected his troops in the neighbourhood of Verona, and offered battle a second time to Theodoric (27th of September, 489). This second battle was still more disastrous than the former one, and Odoacer was compelled to relinquish the open country to the invaders, and to shut himself up within the strong fortifications of Ravenna. In the following year (490) he sallied out of the town, and at first gained some advantages over the troops of Theodoric in the neighbourhood of Pavia ; but the Gothic king soon rallied his forces, and defeated Odoacer in a third and decisive victory on the banks of the Adda (August, 490). Odoacer again took refuge in Ravenna, where he sustained a siege of three years, while the generals of Theodoric gradually subdued the whole of Italy. At length, in 493, Odoacer agreed to admit the Ostrogoths into Ravenna, on condition that he and Theodoric should rule jointly over Italy. The treaty was confirmed by an oath, but after a few days Odoacer, in the midst of a banquet, was stabbed by the hands or command of his more fortunate rival (5th of March, 493).

Theodoric was now the undisturbed master of Italy, which he ruled for thirty-three years, till his death in 526. The history of his long and prosperous reign does not fall within the plan of the present work. A few particulars only can be mentioned, and the reader must refer for further information to the glowing description of Gibbon. As soon as Theodoric was firmly seated on the throne, he turned his attention to the improvement of the country, which had sunk into the most miserable condition from the long and devastating wars it had gone through. The third part of the lands, which had been previously seized by Odoacer, were assigned to his Gothic warriors, who were thus scattered over the whole country, and formed the standing army of his kingdom. The Italians were secured in the possession of the remaining two thirds of the lands; they were debarred from the use of arms, but they retained all the other rights and privileges which they had previously enjoyed. Theodoric also gradually introduced among his rude warriors a strict discipline, and taught them to respect the lives and property of their Italian neighbours. Although an Arian himself, the most complete toleration was given to the Catholic religion, and Theodoric rather discouraged than promoted conversion to the Arian faith among his Italian subjects. Under his mild and beneficent rule agriculture and commerce flourished, and Italy again became one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Theodoric's relations with foreign nations were marked by principles of justice and integrity, and lie showed no desire to extend his dominions at the expense of his neighbours. Unlike other barbarians, he had sufficient penetration to see that the extension of his dominions would not bring an extension of power, and thus most of the wars in which he engaged were purely defensive. The various Germanic nations looked up to him as their chief, and he cemented his connection with them by intermarriages with most of their royal families. Thus he married his two daughters Theodichusa and Ostrogotha, the former to Alaric II., king of the Visigoths, and the latter to Sigismund, the son of Gundobald, king of the Burgundians; his sister Amalfrida, the widow of a noble Goth, he gave in marriage to Thrasimund, king of the Vandals; and his niece Amalaberga to Hermanfried, the last king of the Thuringians. So widely extended was Theodoric's name that the most distant nations courted his alliance and his friendship, and embassies from the rude people on the shores of the Baltic came to Ravenna to present to him their gifts. He became ruler of the Visigoths on the death of his son-in-law Alaric II. The only legitimate son of Alaric was a child named Amalaric, whom he had by the daughter of Theodoric; and to protect the rights of his grandson against the Franks, he sent an army into Gaul, by which he established his power in that country.

Theodoric usually resided at Ravenna, but he removed his court to Verona, whenever his kingdom was threatened by the neighbouring barbarians. On one occasion (A. D. 500), he visited Rome, where he convened the senate, and assured them of his intention to govern with justice. Although ignorant of literature himself, Theodoric encouraged learned men; and among his ministers were Cassiodorus and Boethins, the two last writers who can claim a place in the literature of ancient Rome. Prosperous as had been the reign of Theodoric, his last days were darkened by disputes with the Catholics, and by the condemnation and execution of Boethius and Symmachus, whom he accused of a conspiracy to overthrow the Gothic dominion in Italy. [Boethius; Symmachus.] Theodoric died in 526. His death is said to have been hastened by remorse. It is related that one evening, when a large fish was served on the table, he fancied that he beheld the head of Symmachus, and was so terrified that he took to his bed, and died three days afterwards. Theodoric was buried at Ravenna, and a monument was erected to his memory by his daughter Amalasuntha. His ashes were deposited in a porphyry vase, which is still to be seen at Ravenna.

Theodoric left no male issue. He bequeathed his dominions to his two grandsons, Athalaric, the son of his daughter Amalasuntha by a prince of the royal race of the Amali, and Amalaric, the son of Alaric II. and Theodichusa. The Rhone was declared to be the boundary of their dominions : Athalaric was to possess Italy and the conquests of the Ostrogoths, while Amalaric was to succeed to the sovereignty of the Visigoths in Gaul and Spain. The great monarch of the Ostrogoths was long celebrated in the old Teutonic songs. He appears in the " Niebelungen-Lied" under the title of Dietrich of Bern, that is, Verona. (Jornandes, de Reb. Get. ; Procopius, de Bell. Goth. ; Ennodius, Panegyricus Theodoric. ; Cassiodorus, Chron. and Variar. ; Cochlaeus, Vit. Theodoric., ed. Peringskjöld, Stockholm, 1699, 4to; Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, vol. vi.; Gibbon, Decline and Fall, c. xxxix.; Manso, Geschichte des Ost Gothischen Reiches in Italien, Breslan, 1824.)

or Theoderīcus. (1) King of the Visigoths from A.D. 418 to 451. He was the successor of Wallia, but appears to have been the son of the great Alaric. He fell fighting on the side of Aëtius and the Romans at the great battle of Châlons, in which Attila was defeated, 451.

(2) A king of the Visigoths A.D. 452-466, second son of Theodoric I. He succeeded to the throne by the murder of his brother Thorismond. He ruled over the greater part of Gaul and Spain. He was assassinated in 466 by his brother Euric, who succeeded him on the throne. Theodoric II. was a patron of letters and learned men. The poet Sidonius Apollinaris resided for some time at his court.

(3) Surnamed The Great, king of the Ostrogoths, succeeding his father Theodemir in 475. He was at first an ally of Zeno, the emperor of Constantinople, but was afterwards involved in hostilities with the emperor. In order to get rid of Theodoric, Zeno gave him permission to invade Italy, and expel the usurper Odoacer from the country. Theodoric entered Italy in 489, and, after defeating Odoacer in three great battles, laid siege to Ravenna, in which Odoacer took refuge. After a siege of three years Odoacer capitulated on condition that he and Theodoric should rule jointly over Italy; but Odoacer was soon afterwards murdered by his more fortunate rival (493). Theodoric thus became master of Italy, which he ruled for thirty-three years, till his death in 526. His long reign was prosperous and beneficent, and under his sway Italy recovered from the ravages to which it had been exposed for so many years. Theodoric was also a patron of literature: and among his ministers were Cassiodorus and Boëthius, the two last writers who can claim a place in the literature of ancient Rome. But prosperous as had been the reign of Theodoric, his last days were darkened by disputes with the Catholics, and by the condemnation and execution of Boëthius and Symmachus, whom he accused of a conspiracy to overthrow the Gothic dominion in Italy. His death is said to have been hastened by remorse. It his related that one evening, when a large fish was served on the table, he fancied that he beheld the head of Symmachus, and was so terrified that he took to his bed, and died three days afterwards. Theodoric was buried at Ravenna, and a monument was erected to his memory by his daughter Amalasuntha. His ashes were deposited in a porphyry vase, which is still to be seen at Ravenna. See Hodgkin, Theodoric the Goth (1891).