997 



TIIEODORIC. 



THEODORIC. 



c. < 



work, which was a history of heresies (AlptTtKrj 



speaks of his former friend Nestorius in the harshest terms. 



After the council of Chalcedon, Theodoret returned to his diocece, 

 where he devoted the rest of his life to literary labours. He died in 

 the year 457. Even after his death he was looked upon as a formi- 

 dable enemy by the Monophysites and the Origenists, who procured 

 the condemnation of his writings against Cyril by the council of Con- 

 stantinople in 553. 



His works were 1, 'A History of the Church/ in five books, from 

 325 to the death of Theodore of Mopsuestia in 429. Qennadius, a 

 Latin writer, at the end of the 5th century, says that Theodoret's 

 history consisted of ten books, and came down to the year 457, but no 

 other writer mentions more than five books. It is a work of great 

 learning and impartiality. 2, $i\60fos Icrropla, an account of the lives 

 of thirty celebrated hermits, ten of whom were his contemporaries and 

 in some degree personally known to him. 3, The work against the 

 Eutychians, already mentioned. 4, ' The History of Heresies,' also 

 mentioned above. It is sometimes entitled, ' Against all Heresies, or 

 a discrimination of falsehood and truth.' It consists of five books, and 

 relates almost exclusively to the heresies respecting the person of 

 Christ. 5, ' Ten Orations against the Heathen ; ' an ' Apology for 

 Christianity;' besides 146 letters and commentaries on most of the 

 books of the Old Testament and on all the epistles of Paul. The best 

 edition of his works is that of Schulze, in 5 vols. 8vo, Halle, 1768-74. 



(Mosheim, Ecclesiastical History, by Murdock and Soames, L, p. 443 ; 

 Neander, Geschichte der Ckristl. Relig. und Kirch., ii., passim ; Schb'll, 

 Geschichte der Griech. Lift., iii., 318. 



THEODORIC or THEODERIC L, King of the Visigoths, was the 

 elected successor, but not the son, of King Wallia, who died A.D. 419. 

 During the latter years of the reign of the Emperor Theodosius II., 

 Theodoric invaded Gaul, and in 425, just after the accession of 

 Valentinian III., he laid siege to the city of Aries. Aetius however 

 relieved this town, and made peace with the Goths, who were obliged 

 to come to terms because they were threatened by the Vandals, and 

 they marched against the Vandals together with the Romans. After 

 a peace of ten years a new war arose between the Romans and 

 Theodoric, who in 436 besieged the city of Narbonne, which was only 

 relieved in the following year, 437. The issue of this war proved 

 unfortunate for the Romans, the inhabitants of their provinces in 

 Gaul being reduced to despair by heavy taxes and other kinds of 

 oppression, and the Goths being superior to the Romans in courage. 

 Aetius therefore' enlisted several thousand Huns, in order to employ 

 them against the Goths ; but these auxiliaries were more destructive 

 to the inhabitants than their enemies. A body of the Romans, 

 together with these Huns, commanded by Litorius, the best of the 

 generals of Aetius, having made some progress, laid siege to Toulouse 

 in 439. Theodoric proposed to conclude a peace, but Litorius, remem- 

 bering his former victories over the Armoricans, refused all terms. 

 Upon this the Goths made a sally ; the Romans were entirely beaten, 

 and Litorius himself was made a prisoner, and carried in triumph 

 through the streets of Toulouse. 



The whole country as far as the Rhone was now open to the Goths, 

 and the inhabitants being well disposed, Theodoric made fresh con- 

 quests. The remainder of the Roman army was disorganised and in 

 the greatest consternation. Nevertheless Avitus, who was then Prse- 

 fectus Prsetorio in Gaul, found means to make peace, which was 

 certainly favourable to the Goths, though the conditions are not 

 known. In 450 Gaul was invaded by Attila with his Huns and a 

 numerous body of Teutonic auxiliaries. Attila pretended that his 

 object was only to attack the Visigoths, but the Romans also took 

 arms, and tbe united forces of Aetius and Theodoric met the Huns at 

 Chalons-sur-Marne (451). Theodoric commanded his army in person, 

 and he was accompanied by his two sons, Thorismund and Theodoric. 

 The battle was short, but bloody and disastrous for Attila, who fled 

 on the following day, and thus escaped total destruction. King 

 Theodoric was killed at the beginning of the battle. Prince Thoris- 

 mund was proclaimed king in the camp of bis father, whom he caused 

 to be interred on the field of battle with great pomp. [ATTILA.] 



(Mascov, History of the Anticnt Germans, ix., 11, 14, 27, 28.) 



THEODORIC, or, more correctly, THEODERIK, surnamed 'the 

 Great,' king of the Ostro-Goths, was the son of King Theodemir by 

 his concubine Eralieva (Ehrlieb). He was born in 455, and he was 

 seven years old when he was sent to Constantinople to the court of 

 the emperor Leo Magnus (457-474) as a hostage, peace having just 

 been concluded between this emperor and Theodemir, who had 

 engaged to assist the Romans for an annual payment of two thousand 

 pounds of gold. Theodoric received his education at Constantinople, 

 and returned to his father in 472. 



Without any orders from his father, he attacked and subjugated 

 some Slavonian tribes on the Danube, and he afterwards accompanied 

 Theodemir in his expedition to Thessaly, which was undertaken for 

 the purpose of obtaining a larger territory for the Goths. This 

 happened at the same time as the death of Leo (January 474) ; and 

 Zeno Isauricus the elder, who became emperor in the month of 

 February, hastily made peace with the Goths, and ceded to them the 

 country of Pautalia, that is, the south part of Pannonia and the south- 

 west part of Dacia (474). Theodemir died in 475, and Theodoric 

 became king of the Ostro-Goth?. 



Zeuo having been deposed by another Theodoric, the son of Triariui, 

 a Gothic prince who had great influence in the Byzantine empire, King 

 Theodoric marched to his assistance, and by hia aid Zeno was again 

 acknowledged as emperor (476-477). It seems that Zeno did not show 

 himself so grateful as he ought, for serious differences broke out 

 between him and the Goths. Theodoric, on tho contrary, was loyal 

 and generous, and he continued to be a faithful ally when the 

 emperor had satisfied hia just claims. He proved so serviceable, that 

 Zeno created him Patricius and Magieter Militise Prescntis in 483, and 

 subsequently promoted him to the consulship in 484, a year which is 

 still distinguished in the annals by bis name. Jornandes affirms that 

 Zeno adopted him as his son, and caused an equestrian statue to be 

 erected in honour of him before the imperial palace. (' De Rebus 

 Gothicis,' c. 57.) 



Notwithstanding the honours which Zeno conferred upon the King 

 of the Goths, Zeno showed his insincerity wherever he saw an oppor- 

 tunity. To avenge himself, Theodoric invaded Thrace in 488, dispersed 

 the imperial troops, and besieged Zeno in Constantinople. It is said 

 that Zeno saved himself by ceding to his adversary Italy, or bis right 

 to Italy, which was then in the hands of Odoacer, the chief of the 

 Rugians. Perhaps he ceded only his claims on this country, hoping 

 thus to get rid of a neighbour and friend whom he had changed by 

 his own misconduct into a dangerous enemy. However this may be, 

 the conditions of agreement are obscurely known. The Greeks after- 

 wards pretended that Zeuo had sent the Goths to Italy to re-annex 

 that country to the empire : the Goths, on the contrary, affirmed that 

 he surrendered Italy to their king. (Procopius, ' De Bello Gothico,' 

 i. 1.) Theodoric had certainly formed the plan of conquering Italy, 

 and he was bent on carrying it into execution. If therefore he found 

 it advisable to use the name of Zeno, he probably did so for the pur- 

 pose of gaining those among the Romans who, although they detested 

 foreigners, would submit to any conqueror whom they could consider 

 as a delegate of the ancient legitimate authority. 



Theodoric assembled his nation (489), that is, that part of the 

 Ostro-Goths which obeyed the kings of the house of the ' Amali,' of 

 which Theodoric was a descendant. Some Gothic tribes only remained 

 in Thrace and in the Tauric Chersonese. A whole nation, men, 

 women, and children, carrying all their moveable property with them, 

 left their homes and took the road to Italy, following the Danube as 

 far as the tract which lies between that river and the Lake of Balaton 

 in Western Hungary. Trapstila, the king of the Gepidae, appeared 

 with an army to prevent them from passing through his dominions ; 

 but he was routed by Theodoric on the river Ulca (the present Szala), 

 which flows into the western corner of the Lake of Balaton. Enduring 

 hardships of all kinds, and fighting their way through the armed 

 inhabitants, the Goths traversed the western part of Pannonia, 

 crossed the Julian Alps, and reached Isonzo, where they met with 

 the army of Odoacer, who was beaten in three battles on the Isou/.o, 

 at Verona, and on the Adda (490). Odoacer, who fled to Ravenna, 

 was forsaken by his best general, Tufa, and Frederik, a prince of the 

 Rugians, and Epiphanias, bishop of Pavia, also came to Milan to pay 

 homage to the king of the Goths. Odoacer was blocked up in 

 Ravenna by one part of the Goths, and Theodoric, with another part, 

 took possession of the whole peninsula of Italy, leaving Sicily, Sar- 

 dinia, and Corsica to the Vandals. The siege of Ravenna lasted three 

 years ; but at last Odoacer surrendered to Theodoric, who, notwith- 

 standing his oath to spare the life of his prisoner, ordered him to be 

 put to death in his own palace (493). Odoacer's son and his whole 

 family shared the same fate. 



Theodoric was now acknowledged as king of Italy by the Emperor 

 Anastasius, the successor of Zeno, who gave him the furniture of the 

 palace at Ravenna, which Odoacer had sent to Constantinople. 

 Theodoric did not assume the imperial title although he adopted 

 the name of Flavius. In 500 he went to Rome and celebrated a 

 triumph ; he convened the senate ' ad palmam auream,' confirmed the 

 immunities of the Romans, and gained the affection of the lower 

 classes by his liberality and by the exhibition of magnificent 

 spectacles. 



Theodoric had already confirmed his power by alliances with the 

 neighbouring kings. Gundobald and Godegisel, the kings of the Bur- 

 gundians, having made an invasion into Italy and carried away many 

 of the inhabitants, Theodoric sent Epiphanias, bishop of Pavia, and 

 Victor, bishop of Turin, as ambassadors to Burgundy. They suc- 

 ceeded in delivering the captives, and concluded an alliance between 

 these kings and Theodoric, who gave his daughter Ostrogotha in 

 marriage to Sigismund, the son of Gundobald. He likewise kept 

 peace with the Vandals, and gave his sister Amalfrida, then the widow 

 of a noble Goth, in marriage to their king Thrasimund. His eldest 

 daughter, Theodichusa, was married to Alaric II., king of the Visi- 

 Goths ; and his niece, Amalaberga, became the wife of Hennanfrid, 

 the last king of the Thuringians. Theodoric himself took for his 

 second wife Andoflcda, the sister of Clovis, king of the Franks. 



In 504 Theodoric was at war with Trasaric, king of the Gepidrc, 

 who, after many defeats, ceded his southern provinces as far as 

 Sirmium, now Mitrowicz on the Save, near its junction with the 

 Danube. The inhabitants of the eastern part of the Alemanuian 

 kingdom, which had been destroyed by Clovis, acknowledged Theodoric 

 as their protector, who summoned Clovis to desist from any further 



