The Roman Empire :: essays research papers

The remains of the Western Roman state had been ruled since 476 by Odovacar, as supposed viceroy in the West to Eastern Emperor Zeno. The latter was uncomfortable with this arrangement, as Odovacar had presented him with a fait accompli. At the same time, in the mid 480s, Zeno was facing repeated invasions into Eastern Roman lands by the Ostrogoths under Theodoric. After the uprising against and defeat of the Huns in the 450s, the Ostrogoths had settled on the Byzantine side of the Danube en masse through foederati agreements by Byzantine Emperor Leo I. At his death in 474, they left their reservations based on hospitalitas, criss-crossing Thrace and the Balkans in search of food and in general warfare. By the late 470s, Theodoric had gained prominence as an Ostrogothic leader. Alternately supporting Leo II against rebels such as the general Illus and the Germanic-roman officer Theodoric Strabo, and revolting in search of food and better office in the Roman system, the Ostrogoths sp ent the greater part of the 480s raiding up and down the Balkans. At the same time, Odovacar in the West had heard of Zeno's plans to oust him, so launched a preemptive strike into Pannonia, the Western Balkans, hitting the Rugians hard. In 488, Zeno thus offered Theodoric the position of Master of Soldiers in Italy, in return for unseating Odovacar. Tired of a seventeen-year trek through Byzantine lands, Theodoric agreed. Passing through Pannonia, he acquired Rugian and Gepid troops through 489, then moved into Northern Italy, attracting Burgundians and Visigoths to the fight. He quickly reduced Odovacar to Ravenna, which was put under siege until 493. Then, in a banquet called to signal reconciliation, Theodoric and his servants murdered their opponent. Thus from 493, Theodoric established the first post-Roman kingdom in the West. By the 510s his lands included all of Italy, stretching past Milan in the north to the Alpine regions, where the kingdom abutted the Franks as well as the Burgundians in the northwest. Provence was also included in southeastern France, after Frankish defeats of the Visigoths in the region. Finally, Pannonian and Dalmatian lands along the Adriatic were incorporated into Ostrogothic dominions. Legally, he presented himself to Italian Latins as the Emperor Zeno's Master of Soldiers for the region, and maintained as thoroughly as possible Roman urban and rural administration, including the Senate. To the Germanics, however, he was a king. In