"Theodoric the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also spelled Theoderic or called Theodoric the Amal (/θiˈɒdərɪk/; Latin: Flāvius Theodorīcus, Greek: Θευδέριχος, Theuderichos), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493–526, regent of the Visigoths (511–526), and a patrician of the East Roman Empire. As ruler of the combined Gothic realms, Theodoric controlled an empire stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Adriatic Sea.
As a young child of an Ostrogothic nobleman, Theodoric was taken as a hostage in Constantinople, where he spent his formative years and received an east Roman education. Theodoric returned to Pannonia around 470, and throughout the 470s he campaigned against the Sarmatians and competed for influence among the Goths of the Roman Balkans. The emperor Zeno made him a commander of the Eastern Roman forces in 483, and in 484 he was named consul. Nevertheless, Theodoric remained in constant hostilities with the emperor and frequently raided East Roman lands." - (en.wikipedia.org 24.11.2020)
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