Theodoric (who must not be confounded with his namesake, the Visigoth king, who fell in conquering Attila) was a man of great natural ability, which had been well developed by his education in Constantinople. He accepted the appointment of General and Governor from the Emperor, yet the preparations he made for the expedition to Italy show that he intended to remain and establish his own kingdom there. It was not a military march, but the migration of a people, which he headed. The Ostrogoths and their allies took with them their wives and children, their herds and household goods: they moved so slowly up the Danube and across the Alps, now halting to rest and recruit, now fighting a passage through some hostile tribe, that several years elapsed before they reached Italy.

Odoaker had reigned fourteen years, with more justice and discretion than was common in those times, and was able to raise a large force, in 489, to meet the advance of Theodoric. After three severe battles had been fought, he was forced to take shelter within the strong walls of Ravenna; but he again sallied forth and attacked the Ostrogoths with such bravery that he came near defeating them. Finally, in 493, after a siege of three years, he capitulated, and was soon afterwards treacherously murdered, by order of Theodoric, at a banquet to which the latter had invited him.

Having the power in his own hands, Theodoric now threw off his assumed subjection to the Eastern Empire, put on the Roman purple, and proclaimed himself king. All Italy, including Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, fell at once into his hands; and, having left a portion of the Ostrogoths behind him, on the Danube, he also claimed all the region between, in order to preserve a communication with them. He was soon so strongly settled in his new realm that he had nothing to fear from the Emperor Zeno and his successors. The latter did not venture to show any direct signs of hostility towards him, but remained quiet; while, on his part, beyond seizing a portion of Pannonia, he refrained from interfering with their rule in the East.

In the West, however, the case was different. Five years before Theodoric's arrival in Italy, the last relic of Roman power disappeared forever from Gaul. A general named Syagrius had succeeded to the command, after the murder of Aëtius, and had formed the central provinces into a Roman state, which was so completely cut off from all connection with the Empire that it became practically independent. The Franks, who now held all Northern Gaul and Belgium, from the Rhine to the Atlantic, with Paris as their capital, were by this time so strong and well organized, that their king, Chlodwig, boldly challenged Syagrius to battle. The challenge was accepted: a battle was fought near Soissons, in the year 486, the Romans were cut to pieces, and the river Loire became the southern boundary of the Frank kingdom. The territory between that river and the Pyrenees still belonged to the Visigoths.

507. CHLODWIG CONQUERS GAUL.

While Theodoric was engaged in giving peace, order, and a new prosperity to the war-worn and desolated lands of Italy, his Frank rival, Chlodwig, defeated the Alemanni, conquered the Celts of Brittany—then called Armorica—and thus greatly increased his power. We must return to him and the history of his dynasty in a later chapter, and will now only briefly mention those incidents of his reign which brought him into conflict with Theodoric.

In the year 500, Chlodwig defeated the Burgundians and for a time rendered them tributary to him. He then turned to the Visigoths and made the fact of their being Arian Christians a pretext for declaring war against them. Their king was Alaric II., who had married the daughter of Theodoric. A battle was fought in 507: the two kings met, and, fighting hand to hand, Alaric II. was slain by Chlodwig. The latter soon afterwards took and plundered Toulouse, the Visigoth capital, and claimed the territory between the Loire and the Garonne.

Theodoric, whose grandson Amalaric (son of Alaric II.) was now king of the Visigoths, immediately hastened to the relief of the latter. His military strength was probably too great for Chlodwig to resist, for there is no report of any great battle having been fought. Theodoric took possession of Provence, re-established the Loire as the southern boundary of the Franks, and secured the kingdom of his grandson. The capital of the Visigoths, however, was changed to Toledo, in Spain. The Emperor Anastasius, to keep up the pretence of retaining his power in Gaul, appointed Chlodwig Roman Consul, and sent him a royal diadem and purple mantle. So much respect was still attached to the name of the Empire that Chlodwig accepted the title, and was solemnly invested by a Christian Bishop with the crown and mantle. In the year 511 he died, having founded the kingdom of France.

511.

The power of Theodoric was not again assailed. As the king of the Ostrogoths, he ruled over Italy and the islands, and the lands between the Adriatic and the Danube; as the guardian of the young Amalaric, his sway extended over Southern France and all of Spain. He was peaceful, prudent and wise, and his reign, by contrast with the convulsions which preceded it, was called "a golden age" by his Italian subjects. Although he and his people were Germanic in blood and Arians in faith, while the Italians were Roman and Athanasian, he guarded the interests and subdued the prejudices of both, and the respect which his abilities inspired preserved peace between them. The murder of Odoaker is a lasting stain upon his memory: the execution of the philosopher Boëthius is another, scarcely less dark; but, with the exception of these two acts, his reign was marked by wisdom, justice and tolerance. The surname of "The Great" was given to him by his contemporaries, not so much to distinguish him from the Theodoric of the Visigoths, as on account of his eminent qualities as a ruler. From the year 500 to 526, when he died, he was the most powerful and important monarch of the civilized world.