Theodoric, << thee OD uh rihk >> (A.D. 455?-526), was an Ostrogoth (East Goth) king who governed Italy from A.D. 493 until his death.
Theodoric was born in Pannonia, which included parts of what are now Austria, Hungary, and Slovenia. As a youth, he spent several years in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), which was the capital of the East Roman (later Byzantine) Empire. Theodoric succeeded his father, the Ostrogoth king Theodemir, in 471.
Theodoric alternately found himself an ally, then an enemy, of the East Roman emperors. In 488, Emperor Zeno commissioned Theodoric to attack Odoacer, the Germanic king of Italy. Theodoric invaded Italy in 489. he defeated Odoacer in 493, then murdered him.
In Constantinople, Theodoric had come to appreciate Greco-Roman civilization and methods of administration. In Italy, he maintained a Roman form of government and Roman law. His rule was considered something of a Golden Age (period of prosperity and high achievement), and he won the praise of both Germans and Romans. Theodoric let Romans hold high public office and respected the senatorial class. He employed such prominent Romans as Boethius and Cassiodorus as his advisers and ministers of state. He believed in Arianism, a variety of Christianity that denied the doctrine of the Holy Trinity (see Trinity). However, he permitted his subjects to practice orthodox Christianity.
Theodoric died on Aug. 30, 526. Germanic peoples remembered him in their legends as the heroic Dietrich of Bern.
