Theoderic the Great : king of Goths, ruler of Romans / Hans-Ulrich Wiemer ; translated by John Noël Dillon

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wiemer, Hans-Ulrich.

Contributor:

Dillon, John Noël, translator.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths, 454?-526.

Theodoric.

Ostogoths--Kings and rulers--Biography.

Ostogoths.

Ostogoths--Politics and government.

Ostrogoths--Italy--History.

Ostrogoths.

Rome--History--Germanic Invasions, 3rd-6th centuries.

Rome.

Italy--History--476-774.

Italy.

Rome (Empire).

Genre:

Biographies.

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxiv, 635 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 2023.

Language Note:

Translated from German.

Summary:

The first full-scale history of Theoderic and the Goths in more than seventy-five years, tracing the transformation of a divided kingdom into a great power In the year 493, the leader of a vast confederation of Gothic warriors, their wives, and children personally cut down Odoacer, the man famous for deposing the last Roman emperor in 476. That leader became Theoderic the Great (454–526). This engaging history of his life and reign immerses readers in the world of the warrior-king who ushered in decades of peace and stability in Italy as king of Goths and Romans. Theoderic transformed his roving “warrior nation” from the periphery of the Roman world into a standing army that protected his taxpaying Roman subjects with the support of the Roman elite. With a ruling strategy of “integration through separation,” Theoderic not only stabilized Italy but also extended his kingdom to the western Balkans, southern France, and the Iberian Peninsula. Using sources as diverse as letters, poetry, coins, and mosaics, Hans-Ulrich Wiemer brings readers into the world of Theoderic’s court, from Gothic warriors and their families to the notables, artisans, and shopkeepers of Rome and Ravenna to the peasants and enslaved people who tilled the soil on grand rural estates. This book offers a fascinating history of the leader who brought peace to Italy after the disintegration of the Roman Empire.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

List of Abbreviations

Foreword to the English Edition

Translator's Note

ONE: Approaching Theoderic the Great

TWO: Theoderic in the Eyes of Contemporaries

THREE: Who Were the Ostrogoths?

FOUR: From Attila to Theoderic: The Ostrogoths in the Balkans

FIVE: The Path West: The Conquest of Italy

SIX: The Consolidation of Power

SEVEN: Theoderic's Dual State

EIGHT: Reluctant Expansion? Theoderic's Foreign Policy

NINE: A "Golden Age"? Italy under Gothic Rule

TEN: A Heretic King: Religious Diversity and the Imperative of Orthodoxy

ELEVEN: From Cooperation to Conflict: Theoderic's Final Years

TWELVE: The Gothic Kingdom in Italy after Theoderic

THIRTEEN: Theoderic the Great: Metamorphoses of a Figure

Appendix

Notes

Annotated Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Originally published as Theoderich der Grosse, Verlag C.H. Beck oHG, München, 2018.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Other Format:

Print version: Wiemer, Hans-Ulrich. Theoderich der Große. English. Theoderic the Great.

ISBN:

0-300-27185-9

OCLC:

1388492576