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Vitiges
Vitiges or Vitigis or Witiges (died 542) was king of Ostrogothic Kingdom, Ostrogothic Italy from 536 to 540. He succeeded to the throne of Italy in the early stages of the Gothic War (535–554), Gothic War of 535–554, as Belisarius had quickly captured Sicily the previous year and was currently in southern Italy at the head of the forces of Justinian I, the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Emperor. Vitiges was the husband of Queen Amalasuntha's only surviving child, Matasuntha; therefore, his royal legitimacy was based on this marriage. The panegyric upon the wedding in 536 was delivered by Cassiodorus, the Praetorian prefecture of Italy, praetorian prefect, and survives, a traditionally Roman form of rhetoric that set the Gothic dynasty in a flatteringly Roman light. Soon after he was made king, Vitiges had his predecessor Theodahad murdered. Theodahad had enraged the Goths because he failed to send any assistance to Naples when it was besieged by the Byzantines, led by B ...
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Belisarius
Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean territory belonging to the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century prior. One of the defining features of Belisarius' career was his success despite varying levels of available resources. His name is frequently given as one of the so-called "Last of the Romans". He conquered the Vandal Kingdom of North Africa in the Vandalic War in nine months and conquered much of Italy during the Gothic War. He also defeated the Vandal armies in the battle of Ad Decimum and played an important role at Tricamarum, compelling the Vandal king, Gelimer, to surrender. During the Gothic War, despite being significantly outnumbered, he and his troops recaptured the city of Rome and then held out against great odds during the sieg ...
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Gothic War (535–554)
The Gothic War between the Eastern Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Justinian I and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy took place from 535 to 554 in the Italian Peninsula, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica. It was one of the last of the many Gothic Wars against the Roman Empire. The war had its roots in the ambition of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Emperor Justinian I to recover the provinces of the former Western Roman Empire, which the Romans had lost to invading barbarian tribes in the previous century, during the Migration Period. The war followed the Eastern Roman reconquest of the province of Africa from the Vandals. Historians commonly divide the war into two phases: * From 535 to 540: ending with the fall of the Ostrogothic capital Ravenna and the apparent reconquest of Italy by the Byzantines. * From 540/541 to 553: a Gothic revival under Totila, suppressed only after a long struggle by the Byzantine general Narses, who also repelled an invasion ...
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Matasuntha
Mataswintha, also spelled Matasuintha, Matasuentha, Mathesuentha, Matasvintha, or Matasuntha, (fl. 550), was a daughter of Eutharic and Amalasuintha. She was a sister of Athalaric, King of the Ostrogoths. Their maternal grandparents were Theodoric the Great and Audofleda. According to the '' Getica'' by Jordanes, "Eutharic, who married Amalasuentha...begat Athalaric and Mathesuentha. Athalaric died in the years of his childhood, and Mathesuentha married Vitiges, to whom she bore no child. Both of them were taken together by Belisarius to Constantinople. When Vitiges passed from human affairs, Germanus the patrician, a cousin of the Emperor Justinian, took Mathesuentha in marriage and made her a Patrician Ordinary. And of her he begat a son, also called Germanus. But upon the death of Germanus, she determined to remain a widow." According to Patrick Amory, she was forced to marry Witigis after the murder of her mother, and her cousin Theodahadus. Her son Germanus was born f ...
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Kampf Um Rom
''Kampf um Rom'' (English language title: ''The Last Roman'') is a West German-Italian historical drama film starring Laurence Harvey, Orson Welles, Sylva Koscina and Honor Blackman. It was produced by Artur Brauner and was the last film to be directed by Robert Siodmak. It was originally released in two parts (''Kampf um Rom 1. Teil'' and ''Kampf um Rom 2. Teil: Der Verrat'') in 1968 and 1969 as a late installment of the sword-and-sandal genre. ''Kampf um Rom'' shows the 6th-century power struggle between Byzantine emperor Justinian, the descendants of the Western Roman Empire and the Ostrogoths. The film is based on a novel by Felix Dahn. Plot In the 6th century AD, the Roman Empire has been shattered by Germanic invasions. Italy is ruled as an independent kingdom by the Ostrogoths, while the surviving, eastern remnant of Roman civilization is fast taking on a new identity as the Byzantine Empire. The aristocracy of Rome, led by the crafty and arrogant Cethegus Caesarius, ...
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Theodahad
Theodahad, also known as Thiudahad ( la, Flavius Theodahatus , Theodahadus, Theodatus; 480 – December 536) was king of the Ostrogoths from 534 to 536. Early life Born at in Tauresium, Theodahad was a nephew of Theodoric the Great through his mother Amalafrida. He is probably the son of Amalafrida's first husband because her second marriage was about 500 AD. His sister was Amalaberga. His father's identity remains unknown. He may have arrived in Italy with Theodoric and was elderly at the time of his accession. Massimiliano Vitiello states the name "Theodahad" is a compound of 'people' and 'conflict'. Before becoming king, his kinswoman Amalaswintha ruled. During her rule, potential enemies were murdered or humiliated. Theodahad was accused of land grabbing and forced to return land he had supposedly stolen. Letters written in the name of King Theodoric to Theodahad imply that the land was taken by force. King After the death of Theodahad's nephew Athalaric, the q ...
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Cassiodorus
Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Roman statesman, renowned scholar of antiquity, and writer serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senator'' was part of his surname; not his rank. He also founded a monastery, Vivarium, where he spent the last years of his life. Life Cassiodorus was born at Scylletium, near Catanzaro in Calabria, Italy. Some modern historians speculate that his family was of Syrian origin based on his Greek name. His ancestry included some of the most prominent ministers of the state extending back several generations. His great-grandfather held a command in the defense of the coasts of southern Italy from Vandal sea-raiders in the middle of the fifth century; his grandfather appears in a Roman embassy to Attila the Hun, and his father (who bore the same name) served as '' comes sacrarum largitionum'' and '' comes rerum privatarum'' to Odovacer and as ...
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Amalasuntha
Amalasuintha (495 – 30 April 534/535) was a ruler of Ostrogothic Kingdom from 526 to 535. She ruled first as regent for her son and thereafter as queen on throne. A regent is "a person who governs a kingdom in the minority, absence, or disability of the sovereign." In Amalasuintha’s case it was the minority of her son Athalaric who was only 10 at the time of her father and King Theodoric’s death. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Ostrogothic Kingdom’s borders stretched a little farther than modern-day Italy’s borders. Amalasuintha was highly educated, especially as a woman in the 6th century, a time where education for any human was extremely rare. In fact, she was praised by both Cassiodorus, and Procopius for her wisdom and her ability to speak three languages, (Greek, Gothic, Latin). Along with being wise, she was known for her Roman virtues and values, which became an issue amongst her inner circle of people during her regency. Of all the things to have ...
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Lest Darkness Fall
''Lest Darkness Fall'' is an alternate history science fiction novel written in 1939 by American author L. Sprague de Camp. Alternate history author Harry Turtledove has said it sparked his interest in the genre as well as his desire to study Byzantine Empire, Byzantine history. ''Lest Darkness Fall'' is similar in concept to Mark Twain's ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court''. Publication history A short story version was first published in ''Unknown (magazine), Unknown'' #10, December 1939. The complete novel was published by Henry Holt and Company on the 24th of February 1941 and reprinted by both Galaxy novels, Galaxy Publishing and Prime Press in 1949. The first British edition was published in hardcover by Heinemann (publisher), Heinemann in 1955. The first paperback edition was published by Pyramid Books in February 1963 and reprinted in August 1969. A later paperback edition was issued by Ballantine Books in August 1974 and reprinted in 1975, 1979 and 1983; th ...
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Florin Piersic
Florin Piersic (; born 27 January 1936) is a well-known Romanian actor and TV personality. He is particularly famous for his leading roles in ''The White Moor'' and the ''Margelatu'' series films. He has a reputation, often parodied in popular culture, as a raconteur. In 2006 and 2011 the actor was chosen by Disney Pixar to provide the Romanian voice of Mack in the animated movie ''Cars''. Biography Piersic's parents were from Bucovina, his mother was born in Valea Seacă, and his father, Ștefan Piersic, a veterinary physician, was originally from Corlata. Piersic spent his childhood years in Corlata, Pojorâta and Cajvana, later, in Cernăuţi, and then his family moved to Cluj, where Florin graduated from the High School for Boys No. 3. Piersic attended the Caragiale Academy of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography in Bucharest. He joined the regular cast of the Romanian National Theater at 1959 and performed in numerous productions until his retirement in 1989. His firs ...
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Ostrogothic Kings
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who had settled in the Balkans in the 4th century, having crossed the Lower Danube. While the Visigoths had formed under the leadership of Alaric I, the new Ostrogothic political entity which came to rule Italy was formed in the Balkans under the influence of the Amal dynasty, the family of Theodoric the Great. After the death of Attila and collapse of the Hunnic empire represented by the Battle of Nedao in 453, the Amal family began to form their kingdom in Pannonia. Byzantine Emperor Zeno played these Pannonian Goths off against the Thracian Goths, but instead the two groups united after the death of the Thracian leader Theoderic Strabo and his son Recitach. Zeno then backed Theodoric to invade Italy and replace Odoacer there, whom ...
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King Of The Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who had settled in the Balkans in the 4th century, having crossed the Lower Danube. While the Visigoths had formed under the leadership of Alaric I, the new Ostrogothic political entity which came to rule Italy was formed in the Balkans under the influence of the Amal dynasty, the family of Theodoric the Great. After the death of Attila and collapse of the Hunnic empire represented by the Battle of Nedao in 453, the Amal family began to form their kingdom in Pannonia. Byzantine Emperor Zeno played these Pannonian Goths off against the Thracian Goths, but instead the two groups united after the death of the Thracian leader Theoderic Strabo and his son Recitach. Zeno then backed Theodoric to invade Italy and replace Odoacer there, whom he had p ...
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Germanus Justinus
Germanus ( el, Γερμανός; died 550) was an East Roman (Byzantine) general, one of the leading commanders of Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565). Germanus was Emperor Justinian's cousin, and a member of the ruling dynasty. He held commands in Thrace, North Africa, and the East against Persia, and was slated to command the final Byzantine expedition against the Ostrogoths. Having married into the Gothic Amal royal line through his second wife Matasuntha and a distinguished service record, at the time of his sudden death, he was considered the probable heir to Emperor Justinian. Biography Origins and early career Germanus was born before 505, the nephew of Emperor Justin I (r. 518–527) and thus cousin of Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565), and not his nephew, as is often erroneously stated... According to a statement in Jordanes's ''Getica'', Germanus was a descendant of the noble Roman clan of the Anicii. The exact nature of his connection, however, if indeed it is anythin ...
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