Theoderic the Great Theoderic the Great ( ; ; ; , " Theuderikhos " ; ; ; 454 – August 30 , 526 ) , often referred to as Theodoric , was king of the Germanic Ostrogoths ( 471 – 526 ) , ruler of Italy ( 493 – 526 ) , regent of the Visigoths ( 511 – 526 ) , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire . His Gothic name " Þiudareiks " translates into " people - king " or " ruler of the people " . l Theoderic was born in Pannonia in 454 , after his people had defeated the Huns at the Battle of Nedao . His father was King Theodemir , a Germanic Amali nobleman , and his mother was Ereleuva . Theoderic grew up as a hostage in Constantinople , receiving a privileged education , and he succeeded his father as leader of the Pannonian Ostrogoths in 471 . Settling his people in lower Moesia , Theoderic came into conflict with Thracian Ostrogoths led by Theodoric Strabo , whom he eventually supplanted , uniting the peoples in 484 . Byzantine Emperor Zeno subsequently gave him the title of Patrician and the office of Magister militum ( master of the soldiers ) , and even appointed him as Roman Consul . Seeking further gains , Theoderic frequently ravaged the provinces of the Eastern Roman Empire , eventually threatening Constantinople itself . In 488 , Emperor Zeno ordered Theoderic to overthrow the German Foederatus Odoacer , who had likewise been made patrician and even King of Italy , but who had since betrayed Zeno , supporting the rebellious Leontius . After a victorious three - year war , Theoderic killed Odoacer with his own hands , settled his 100 , 000 to 200 , 000 people in Italy , and founded an Ostrogothic Kingdom based in Ravenna . While he promoted separation between the Arian Ostrogoths and the Roman population , Theoderic stressed the importance of racial harmony , though intermarriage was outlawed . Seeking to restore the glory of Ancient Rome , he ruled Italy in its most peaceful and prosperous period since Valentinian , until his death in 526 . Memories of his reign made him a hero of German legend as Dietrich von Bern . Youth . The man who would later rule under the name of Theoderic was born in 454 AD , on the banks of the Neusiedler See near Carnuntum . This was just a year after the Ostrogoths had thrown off nearly a century of domination by the Huns . The son of the King Theodemir and Ereleuva , Theoderic went to Constantinople as a young boy , as a hostage to secure the Ostrogoths ' compliance with a treaty Theodemir had concluded with the Byzantine Emperor Leo ( ruled 457 – 474 ) . He lived as a hostage at the court of Constantinople for many years and learned a great deal about Roman government and military tactics , which served him well when he became the Gothic ruler of a mixed but largely Romanized " barbarian people " . Treated with favor by the Emperors Leo I and Zeno ( ruled 474 – 475 and 476 – 491 ) , he became " magister militum " ( Master of Soldiers ) in 483 , and one year later he became consul . Afterwards , he returned to live among the Ostrogoths when he was 31 years old and became their king in 488 . Reign . At the time , the Ostrogoths were settled in Byzantine territory as " foederati " ( allies ) of the Romans , but were becoming restless and increasingly difficult for Zeno to manage . Not long after Theoderic became king , the two men worked out an arrangement beneficial to both sides . The Ostrogoths needed a place to live , and Zeno was having serious problems with Odoacer , the King of Italy who had come to power in 476 . Ostensibly a viceroy for Zeno , Odoacer was menacing Byzantine territory and not respecting the rights of Roman citizens in Italy . At Zeno ' s encouragement , Theoderic invaded Odoacer ' s kingdom . Theoderic came with his army to Italy in 488 , where he won the battles of Isonzo and Verona in 489 and at the Adda in 490 . In 493 he took Ravenna . On February 2 , 493 , Theoderic and Odoacer signed a treaty that assured both parties would rule over Italy . A banquet was organised in order to celebrate this treaty . It was at this banquet that Theoderic , after making a toast , killed Odoacer with his own hands . Like Odoacer , Theoderic was ostensibly only a viceroy for the emperor in Constantinople . In reality , he was able to avoid imperial supervision , and dealings between the emperor and Theoderic were as equals . Unlike Odoacer , however , Theoderic respected the agreement he had made and allowed Roman citizens within his kingdom to be subject to Roman law and the Roman judicial system . The Goths , meanwhile , lived under their own laws and customs . In 519 , when a mob had burned down the synagogues of Ravenna , Theoderic ordered the town to rebuild them at its own expense . Theoderic the Great sought alliances with , or hegemony over , the other Germanic kingdoms in the west . He allied with the Franks by his marriage to Audofleda , sister of Clovis I , and married his own female relatives to princes or kings of the Visigoths , Vandals and Burgundians . He stopped the Vandals from raiding his territories by threatening the weak Vandal king Thrasamund with invasion , and sent a guard of 5 , 000 troops with his sister Amalafrida when she married Thrasamund in 500 . For much of his reign , Theoderic was the " de facto " king of the Visigoths as well , becoming regent for the infant Visigothic king , his grandson Amalric , following the defeat of Alaric II by the Franks under Clovis in 507 . The Franks were able to wrest control of Aquitaine from the Visigoths , but otherwise Theoderic was able to defeat their incursions . Theoderic ' s achievements began to unravel even before his death . He had married off his daughter Amalasuntha to the Visigoth Eutharic , but Eutharic died in August 522 or 523 , so no lasting dynastic connection of Ostrogoths and Visigoths was established . In 522 , the Catholic Burgundian king Sigismund killed his own son , Theoderic ' s grandson , Sergeric . Theoderic retaliated by invading the Burgundian kingdom and then annexing its southern part , probably in 523 . The rest was ruled by Sigismund ' s Arian brother Godomar , under Gothic protection against the Franks who had captured Sigismund . This brought the territory ruled by Theoderic to its height ( see map ) , but in 523 or 524 the new Catholic Vandal king Hilderic imprisoned Amalafrida and killed her Gothic guard . Theoderic was planning an expedition to restore his power over the Vandal kingdom when he died in 526 . Family and progeny . Theoderic was married once . He had a concubine in Moesia , name unknown , and had two daughters : Married to Audofleda in 493 and had one daughter : After his death in Ravenna in 526 , Theoderic was succeeded by his grandson Athalaric . Athalaric was at first represented by his mother Amalasuntha , who was a regent queen from 526 until 534 . The kingdom of the Ostrogoths , however , began to wane and was conquered by Justinian I starting after the rebellion of 535 and finally ending in 553 with the Battle of Mons Lactarius . Religion . In about 520 the philosopher Boethius became his " magister officiorum " ( head of all the government and court services ) . Boethius was a man of science , a dedicated Hellenist bent on translating all the works of Aristotle into Latin and harmonizing them with the works of Plato . Eventually Boethius fell out of favor with Theoderic , perhaps out of a suspicion that he was in sympathy with Justinian , emperor of the East , for Arian Theoderic was always somewhat of an outsider among Nicaean Christians . Theoderic ordered Boethius executed in 525 . In the meantime Cassiodorus had succeeded Boethius as " magister " in 523 . The pliant historian and courtier could be counted on to provide refined touches to official correspondence . " To the monarch you [ Cassiodorus ] were a friendly judge and an honored intimate . For when he got free of his official cares he looked to your conversation for the precepts of the sages , that he might make himself a worthy equal to the great men of old . Ever curious , he wanted to hear about the courses of the stars , the tides of the sea , and legendary fountains , that his earnest study of natural science might make him seem to be a veritable philosopher in the purple " ( Cassiodorus ' letterbook , " Variae " 9 . 24 . 8 ) . The gulf was widening between the ancient senatorial aristocracy whose center was Rome and the adherents of Gothic rule at Ravenna : other distinguished public figures followed Boethius to the block . Theoderic in his final years was no longer the disengaged Arian patron of religious toleration that he had seemed earlier in his reign . " Indeed , his death cut short what could well have developed into a major persecution of Catholic churches in retaliation for measures taken by Justinian in Constantinople against Arians there " Theoderic was of Arian faith . At the end of his reign quarrels arose with his Roman subjects and the Byzantine emperor Justin I over the Arianism issue . Relations between the two nations deteriorated , although Theoderic ' s ability dissuaded the Byzantines from waging war against him . After his death , that reluctance faded quickly . Legacy . Mausoleum . Theoderic the Great was interred in Ravenna , but his bones were scattered and his mausoleum was converted to a church after Belisarius conquered the city in 540 . His mausoleum is one of the finest monuments in Ravenna , but his equestrian statue , the " Regisole " , which also once graced the city was later removed and ultimately destroyed during the French Revolution . Medieval reception . Theoderich as " Dietrich von Bern " is an important figure in Middle High German literature , and as Þiðrekr in Old Icelandic .