Kingdom of Italy Regnum Italiae (Latin) | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
493–553 | |||||||||||||||||||
Ostrogoth coin depicting Theodoric the Great
| |||||||||||||||||||
![]() The Ostrogothic Kingdom at its greatest extent | |||||||||||||||||||
Capital | |||||||||||||||||||
Common languages | Gothic, Vulgar Latin, Pannonian Latin | ||||||||||||||||||
Religion |
| ||||||||||||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||||||
King | |||||||||||||||||||
• 493–526 | Theodoric (first) | ||||||||||||||||||
• 552–553 | Teia (last) | ||||||||||||||||||
Historical era | Late antiquity | ||||||||||||||||||
• Battles of Isonzo and Verona | 489 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Fall of Ravenna | 493 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Start of the Gothic War | 535 | ||||||||||||||||||
553 | |||||||||||||||||||
|
History of Italy |
---|
![]() |
![]() |
The Ostrogothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of Italy (Latin: Regnum Italiae),[5] was a barbarian kingdom established by the Germanic Ostrogoths that controlled Italy and neighbouring areas between 493 and 553. Led by Theodoric the Great, the Ostrogoths killed Odoacer, a Germanic soldier and erstwhile leader of the foederati. Odoacer had previously become the de facto ruler of Italy following his deposition of Romulus Augustulus, the final emperor of the Western Roman Empire, in 476. Under Theodoric, the Ostrogothic kingdom reached its zenith, stretching from modern southern France in the west to the modern western Serbia in the southeast. Most of the social institutions of the late Western Roman Empire were preserved during his rule. Theodoric called himself Gothorum Romanorumque rex 'King of the Goths and Romans', demonstrating his desire to be a leader for both peoples.
Under Justinian I, the Byzantine Empire embarked on a campaign to reconquer Italy in 535. Witiges, who was the Ostrogothic ruler at that time, could not defend the kingdom successfully and was finally captured when the capital Ravenna fell. The Ostrogoths rallied around a new leader, Totila, and largely managed to reverse the conquest, but were eventually defeated. The last king of the Ostrogothic Kingdom was Teia.