Theodoric the Goth

Theodoric the Goth, by Thomas
Hodgkin

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Theodoric the Goth, by Thomas
Hodgkin This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Theodoric the Goth Barbarian Champion of Civilisation
Author: Thomas Hodgkin
Release Date: December 9, 2006 [EBook #20063]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
THEODORIC THE GOTH ***

Produced by R. Cedron, Rénald Lévesque and the Online Distributed
Proofreaders Europe at http://dp.rastko.net. This file was produced
from images generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale
de France (BnF/Gallica)

HEROES OF THE NATIONS

EDITED BY
EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A. FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE,
OXFORD
FACTA CUCIS VIVENT OPEROSAQUE GLORIA RERUM--OVID,
IN LIVIAM, 255
THE HERO'S DEEDS AND HARD-WON FAME SHALL LIVE

[Illustration]
THEODORIC THE GOTH
THE BARBARIAN CHAMPION OF CIVILISATION
BY THOMAS HODGKIN, D.C.L.
FELLOW OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON; AUTHOR OF
"ITALY AND HER INVADERS, A.D. 376-553", ETC., ETC.

G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK.
27 W. TWENTY-THIRD STREET LONDON.
24 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND THE KNICKERBOCKER PRESS.
1897
COPYRIGHT, 1891, BY
Entered at Stationers' Hall, London By G. P. Putnam's Sons.
Electrotyped, Printed, and Bound by The Knickerbocker Press, New
York G.P. Putnam's Sons.

[Illustration]

PREFACE
In the following pages I have endeavoured to portray the life and
character of one of the most striking figures in the history of the Early
Middle Ages, Theodoric the Ostrogoth. The plan of the series, for
which this volume has been prepared, does not admit of minute
discussion of the authorities on which the history rests. In my case the
omission is of the less consequence, as I have treated the subject more
fully in my larger work, "Italy and her Invaders", and as also the chief
authorities are fully enumerated in that book which is or ought to be in
the library of every educated Englishman and American, Gibbon's
"History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire".
The fifth and sixth centuries do not supply us with many materials for
pictorial illustrations, and I do not know where to look for authentic
and contemporary representations of the civil or military life of
Theodoric and his subjects. We have, however, a large and interesting
store of nearly contemporary works of art at Ravenna, illustrating the
ecclesiastical life of the period, and of these the engraver has made
considerable use. The statue of Theodoric at Innsbruck, a representation
of which is included with the illustrations, possesses, of course, no
historical value, but is interesting as showing how deeply the memory
of Theodoric's great deeds had impressed itself on the mind of the
Middle Ages.
And here I will venture on a word of personal reminiscence. The figure
of Theodoric the Ostrogoth has been an interesting and attractive one to
me from the days of my boyhood. I well remember walking with a
friend on a little hill (then silent and lonely, now covered with houses),
looking down on London, and discussing European politics with the
earnest interest which young debaters bring to such a theme. The time
was in those dark days which followed the revolutions of 1848, when it
seemed as if the life of the European nations would be crushed out
under the heel of returned and triumphant despotism. For Italy

especially, after the defeat of Novara, there seemed no hope. We talked
of Mazzini, Cavour, Garibaldi, and discussed the possibility--which
then seemed so infinitely remote--that there might one day be a free
and united Italy. We both agreed that the vision was a beautiful one,
but was there any hope of it ever becoming a reality? My friend thought
there was not, and argued from the fact of Italy's divided condition in
the past, that she must always be divided in the future. I, who was on
the side of hope, felt the weakness of my position, and was driven
backward through the centuries, till at length I took refuge in the reign
of Theodoric. Surely, under the Ostrogothic king, Italy had been united,
strong, and prosperous. My precedent was a remote one, but it was
admitted, and it did a little help my cause.
Since that conversation more than forty years have passed. The
beautiful land is now united, free, and mighty; and a new generation
has arisen, which, though aware of the fact that she was not always thus,
has but a faint conception how much blood and how many tears, what
thousands of broken hearts and broken lives went to the winning of
Italy's freedom. I, too, with fuller knowledge of her early history, am
bound to confess