15-10. The Expanse of Theodoric’s Kingdom
The foreign policy of Theodoric was conducted in the same masterly manner as his home government, or his dealings with the Church. He appears to have exercised a kind of protectorate over the barbarian tribes upon his frontiers, especially over those of the Arian persuasion, nor did he hesitate to impose his will upon them, if necessary, by force of arms. As he had only daughters he was obliged to consider the question of his successor; and the marriages which he arranged for his children, or other relations, were accordingly planned with a view to procuring political alliances. Of his daughters the eldest, Arevagni, Wiis married to Alaric, king of the Visigoths; the second, Theudegotha, became the wife of Sigismund, son of Gundobad, king of the Burgun- dians; and the third, Amalasuntha, was given in marriage to one of Thcodorio's own race, the Ainal Eutharic. Other alliances were formed by the marriage of his sister Amalafrida to Thrasamund, king of the Vandals, and of another sister, Amalaberga, to Hermanfred, king of the Thuringians; while Theodoric himself wedded Childeric's daughter Audefleda, the sister of Clovis.
These alliances were all made with the definite object of extending Theodoric's sphere of action (sic, per circuitum placuit omnibus gentibus, says the Anonymus; but when, as for example in the case of the Franks, they failed to attain the end desired by the king, they wore never permitted to hamper schemes of an entirely contrary nature.
A simple enumeration of Theodoric's wars is alone sufficient to prove the firmness of his will. When he found that Noricum and Pannonia, two provinces on the Italian frontier, were not to be trusted, he attacked and killed a chieftain of freebooters, named Mundo, in the former province. As the Emperor Anastasius was supporting Mundo, and had recently despatched a fleet to plunder on the coasts of Calabria and Apulia, such an attack gave Theodoric an opportunity of asserting his independence. Moreover, in order to render his demonstration even more effective, he collected a fleet of his own, which he sent to cruise in the Adriatic. At the same time, he took Pannonia from the Gepid chief Trasaric, and thus effectually secured his northeastern frontiers. Those on the northwest next engaged his attention, and here he protected the Alemauni from the attacks of Clovis, and eventually settled them in the province of Rhaetia. Finally he took advantage of the wars between the Franks and the Burgundians to claim the passes of the Graian Alps.
Theodoric had striven to prevent hostilities from breaking out ween the Franks and the Visigoths; but after Alaric's death at the battle of Vouille (507), he found himself obliged to take the latter people under his own protection. In the war that ensued, one of his generals, defeated the eldest son of Clovis near Aries (511); took possession of Provence; secured Septimania for the Visigoths; and established them in Spain. Among more distant nations we find the Esmians on the shores of the Baltic paying him a tribute of amber, and a deposed prince of Scandinavia found a refuge at his Court.
History, as may be seen from these events, fully corroborates the legends which Theodoric is represented as a protector of barbarian interests and chief patron of the Teutonic races In the Nibelungenlied, for instance, we find him occupying a distinguished place under the name of Dietrich of Bern (Theodoric of Verona). At the time of his death his dominions included Italy, Sicily, Dalmatia, Noricum, the greater part of hat is now Hungary, the two Rhaetias (Tyrol and the Grisons), Lower Germany as far north as Ulm, and Provence. Indeed, if his supremacy per the Goths in Spain be also taken into account, it will be seen that he had succeeded in reestablishing the ancient Western Empire for his own benefit, with the exceptions of Africa, Britain, and two-thirds of Gaul.
So far as we have examined it, Theodoric's government has been found invariably broad-minded and liberal, but it was destined to undergo a complete change during the latter years of his reign. Whether this change was the consequence of a relapse into barbarism, or whether, as seems more probable, it must be attributed to the persecution under which the Arians were suffering in every part of the Empire, is not easy to determine, for no definite information on this point is to be found in any of the texts. In any case, however, there an be no doubt that it was the religious question that produced this complete change of policy. On this point the Anonymus is perfectly clear; and if we disregard the severity and the cruelty of his punishments, and at the same time make due allowance for intrigues of the Byzantine Court, and of the Church itself, the precise nature of which cannot be determined, it does not appear that the king was himself to blame.
During his reign we find the Jews enjoying an extraordinary amount of protection; and, in one of his edicts, he testifies with what obedience this people had accepted the legal position assigned to them by the Roman law. His son-in-law Eutharic, however, appears to have been addicted to persecution; and during his consulship the Christians of Ravenna made an attempt to force all the Jews in their city to submit to the rite of baptism. As the Jews refused to comply, the Christians flung them into the water, and in spite of the king's decrees, and the orders of Bishop Peter, attacked and set fire to the synagogues.
Upon this, the Jews complained to the king at Verona, who ordered the Christians to rebuild the synagogues at their own expense. This command was carried out, but not before a certain amount of disturbance had aroused Theodoric's suspicions; and in consequence the inhabitants of Ravenna were forbidden to carry arms of any kind, even the smallest knife being prohibited.
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Quite a lot of typos in the text, is that because the scanner misread the original?