OSTROGOTHS. Italy. Theoderic the Great (AD 493-526). AV solidus (20mm, 4.47 gm, 6h). NGC Choice AU 4/5 - 2/5, wrinkled, marks. Struck under Theoderic as King of the Goths (474/5-493), in the name of Zeno, uncertain mint in Italy, possibly Rome, 9th officina, ca. AD 488-491. D N ZENO-PERP AVC, pearl-diademed, helmeted, and cuirassed bust of Zeno facing, head slightly right, spear in right hand over shoulder, shield decorated with horseman motif in left / VICTOR-I-A AVCCC Θ, Victory standing facing, head left, long jeweled cross in right hand; star in right field, CONOR in exergue. Lacam Class I, 2. MEC I, -. An interesting piece of fifth-century history. From the Historical Scholar Collection The Ostrogoths arrived at the borders of the Roman Empire on the banks of the lower Danube, the same place their Visigothic cousins had a century earlier. Theoderic, the ruler that would lift the Ostrogoths to greatness, spent his childhood as a diplomatic hostage in Constantinople, where he received an excellent Roman-style education. In the splendid imperial capital, he not only learned of the classical philosophers but also the power of the Roman state and the emperor, a position he began to covet. Recognizing that becoming emperor of the East might be too difficult, Theoderic set his eyes on the weaker West, which was now fully in barbarian hands. In this endeavor, he had the tacit support of the Eastern emperor, Zeno, who had determined that the Germanic ruler of Italy, Odoacer, was no longer sufficiently subordinate to him. If he believed that Theoderic would be more obedient, he gravely miscalculated. Thus, in AD 488, Theoderic and his whole people invaded Italy, for five years sharing power with Odoacer until Theoderic had him slain at a banquet. Theoderic ruled Italy for the next 33 years, developing what was without doubt the most sophisticated and organized of the post-Roman Germanic states. He retained many of the Roman institutions of administration, like many other Germanic kings, but he differed in his desire to form a fusion between his Gothic and Roman subjects; he styled himself as "Gothorum Romanorumque Rex" (King of the Goths and Romans) and adopted the old Roman titles of patrician and consul. Thus, the native population viewed Theoderic as legitimate, almost as a true Roman emperor, and he was accepted to a far greater extent by the Romans than any Visigothic or Vandal king ever was in Spain or Africa. He encouraged intellectual work of a quality that rivaled Constantinople - the trivium and quadrivium, the basis of high medieval education, were developed at the Ostrogothic court at Theoderic's urging. The period of his rule saw the last flourishing of the Classical world in Western Europe, with imperial officials from old Roman families such as Boethius, Cassiodorus, and others contributing to a vibrant milieu of philosophers, historians, and theologians. There even developed a distinct Ostrogothic style of architecture, with its most notable incarnation being Theoderic's own mausoleum in Ravenna. His military exploits extended the kingdom's borders from southern Spain to Serbia, the largest empire Western Europe would see until Charlemagne. The AD 6th-century Gothic historian Jordanes awarded him the highest praise: "Theoderic was a man of great distinction and good-will towards all men... for whatever he did was good. He governed two races at the same time, Romans and Goths, and he gave games in the circus and the amphitheater, so that even by the Romans he was called a Trajan or Valentinian, whose times he took as a model." Despite his nominal independence, throughout his reign Theoderic still had to pay lip service to the emperor in Constantinople. This is reflected in an important symbol of power: coinage. Like this example, nearly all of Theoderic's gold coinage bore the name and portrait of the eastern emperors Zeno or Anastasius, a reminder that though in practice he exercised full independence, he was always technically the vassal of Constantinople.

HID09801242017

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