Athalaric (; 5162 October 534) was the king of the Ostrogoths in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

between 526 and 534. He was a son of

Eutharic Eutharic Cilliga (Latin: ''Eutharicus Cillica'') was an Ostrogothic prince from Iberia who, during the early 6th century, served as Roman Consul and "son in weapons" (''filius per arma'') alongside the Byzantine emperor Justin I. He was the son-in- ...

and

Amalasuintha Amalasuintha (495 – 30 April 535) was a ruler of the Ostrogothic Kingdom from 526 to 535. Initially serving as regent for her son Athalaric, she became queen regnant after his premature death. Highly educated, Amalasuintha was praised by both ...

, the youngest daughter of

Theoderic the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal, was king of the Ostrogoths (475–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493 and 526, regent of the Visigoths (511–526 ...

, whom Athalaric succeeded as king in 526. Athalaric was described to live a hedonistic lifestyle by

Procopius of Caesarea Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Emperor Justinian's wars, Procopius became the pr ...

. His mother managed the kingdom during his reign, and he died as a teenager.

Life

The grandfather of Athalaric was Theodoric the Great (470-526). His area of rule encompassed Italy, southern Spain, southern France, and the western Balkans. Theodoric died in 526, when Athalaric became his successor. Athalaric was about ten years old, so his mother,

, held all the real power. This power was to make decisions about the kingdom's politics and negotiate with foreign rulers like Justinian I, at least within the 530s. For example, around 533, she had Emperor Justinian protect the Gothic kingdom. Amalasuintha also controlled the type of education Athalaric would undergo. According to Procopius, the Goth aristocracy desired Athalaric to be raised in Gothic, but Amalasuintha wanted him to resemble the Roman rulers. Amalasuintha adhered to Roman learning and customs that were especially objectionable to other Goths, as they saw it as cowardly and submissive. Eventually, Amalasuintha was forced to accept the will of her fellow Goths by allowing Athalaric to spend time with other boys around his age. It is not clear how effective his Roman education was. It is also unknown who his Gothic teacher was, but generally, the Gothic aristocracy in the palace exerted fierce pressure on the monarchy and focused on military education instead of grammar and rhetoric, which would be done in Roman education. Athalaric drank heavily and indulged in vicious excesses, which ruined his constitution. After a large party in 533, rumors spread that Athalaric was ill. Athalaric condition would worsen, and he died later in October of 534, probably from a combination of excessive drinking and disease, probably diabetes.Frye, David (1995). "Athalaric's Health and the Ostrogothic Character"

References

Sources

* *VITIELLO, MASSIMILIANO. Amalasuintha: The Transformation of Queenship in the Post-Roman World. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16t6dq4.

Life

References

Sources

Further reading