[61] See the plate facing page 198.
[62] See page 146.
[63] See page 177.
CHAPTER XIII
WESTERN EUROPE DURING THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES, 476-962 A.D. [1]
102. THE OSTROGOTHS IN ITALY, 488-553 A.D.
TRANSITION TO THE MIDDLE AGES
We are not to suppose that the settlement of Germans within the Roman Empire ended with the deposition of Romulus Augustulus, near the close of the fifth century. The following centuries witnessed fresh invasions and the establishment of new Germanic states. The study of these troubled times leads us from the classical world to the world of medieval Europe, from the history of antiquity to the history of the Middle Ages.
THE OSTROGOTHS UNDER THEODORIC
The kingdom which Odoacer established on Italian soil did not long endure. It was soon overthrown by the Ostrogoths. At the time of the "fall" of Rome in 476 A.D. they occupied a district south of the middle Danube, which the government at Constantinople had hired them to defend. The Ostrogoths proved to be expensive and dangerous allies. When, therefore, their chieftain, Theodoric, offered to lead his people into Italy and against Odoacer, the Roman emperor gladly sanctioned the undertaking.