Theodoric the Great grew up a hostage and ruled Italy like an emperor
At seven or eight, Theodoric was handed to Constantinople as a royal hostage to guarantee a treaty. A decade of Roman schooling later, he returned to lead the Ostrogoths, conquered Italy, and ruled lands from the Atlantic to the Adriatic, calling himself only king while wielding imperial powers.
Theodoric was born about 454, around the time the Ostrogoths threw off Hunnic rule after Attila's death, to Theodemir of the Amal dynasty and his concubine Ereleuva. His Gothic name meant ruler of the people. In 461 a treaty between his father and Emperor Leo I required a royal hostage, along with an annual payment of some 300 pounds of gold from Constantinople, and the boy went east. He stayed ten years, taught by the city's finest tutors and favoured by Leo.
Back home around 470, he crossed the Danube with 6,000 warriors, defeated the Sarmatians and killed their king Babai near Singidunum, modern Belgrade, keeping the town for himself. In 471 the Goths recognised him as king. Through the 470s he fought rival Goths, notably Theodoric Strabo, the Squinter, and alternately served and raided the empire of Zeno, who in 476 or 477 offered Strabo Theodoric's command; the betrayal provoked a destructive campaign. Zeno made him commander of eastern forces in 483 and consul in 484.
In 489, urged on by Zeno, he invaded Italy against its king Odoacer and prevailed in 493. He kept Roman law and learning, launched building works across Italy, and in 497 received the western imperial regalia from Constantinople. Italian nobles addressed him as princeps, and he even named consuls. By 511 he held the Visigothic kingdom of Spain directly and dominated the Burgundians and Vandals.
He died on 30 August 526 and was laid to rest in a grand mausoleum at Ravenna. German heroic legend remembered him as Dietrich von Bern. Historian Peter Heather suspects his claims about the Amal family's ancient grandeur were largely propaganda.
Source: Theodoric the Great
