1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:18,319 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky Listener discretion advised. For two 3 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: and a half years, the Italian city of Revenna had 4 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:25,439 Speaker 1: been in a living hell, under siege by the king 5 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:30,319 Speaker 1: of the Visigoths, Theodoric the Great. Theodoric would hold the 6 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: city in siege for as long as it took. His 7 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: greatest enemy, Odoasser, the King of Italy, was hiding in 8 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: Revenna with what was left of his army. Theodoric had 9 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,519 Speaker 1: him surrounded. He had been surrounded for two and a 10 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: half years. It was only a matter of time, But 11 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: in the meantime, Revenna was suffering starvation, gripped the streets, 12 00:00:55,600 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: Plagues haunted whole neighborhoods. Even an earthquake erupted in the 13 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 1: middle of town, as though God himself were showing just 14 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: how folly it was to hope that the siege would end. 15 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 1: But on February twenty fifth, four hundred and ninety three, 16 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,679 Speaker 1: the citizens of Ravina finally saw a glimmer of hope. 17 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:23,680 Speaker 1: Oduasser finally emerged from his foxhole. He sent word to 18 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: Theodoric to begin negotiations. After a week, plenty of concessions 19 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: and even the begging of a bishop, the two men 20 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: came to an agreement they would rule Italy together. The 21 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:44,559 Speaker 1: crowds of Ravenna erupted in celebration. The siege was over. 22 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: Not all, hope was lost after all. Theodoric entered the 23 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: city at the head of a procession and the two 24 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: leaders finally met in person. The two men collaborated together 25 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: to determine what this knew Italy would look like in 26 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: Italy with co rulers in Italy of peace. Ten days 27 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,080 Speaker 1: after Theodoric entered the city, Oduaser was taking a stroll 28 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: outside one of his palaces. On his stroll, two beggars 29 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 1: approached him, and they implored their lord to offer a 30 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: blessing or alms. Before Oduaser could even respond, the two 31 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: beggars pulled aside their cloaks and seized Oduaser by his arms. 32 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: Soldiers poured out hidden among the street, and they cut 33 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: down Oduaser's bodyguards. Oduaser was surprised to find that none 34 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: of the attackers had specifically attacked him. His guards were dead, 35 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: but he wasn't yet. The men were keeping him alive 36 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:55,359 Speaker 1: for now, but why. The answer came quickly. Someone specific 37 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,399 Speaker 1: wanted to be the one to cut him down. Out 38 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,760 Speaker 1: of the darkness. A figure of approached wielding a sword. 39 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 1: Oduaser saw his own death written all over the face 40 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: of his assassin. He just didn't expect the face to 41 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: look so familiar. I'm Danish Schwartz and this is noble blood. 42 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: In five hundred and eleven, a few decades after Oduaser 43 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: was assassinated, an Italian monk took to compiling the memories 44 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: of his music master, Saint Severinus. Severinus was renowned as 45 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: a holy man in his lifetime, a devoted ascetic with 46 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: mysterious origins. When the Western Roman Empire collapsed in four 47 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy six, Severinus accepted refugees into his monastery. 48 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 1: He fed the poor and clothed the sick. The monk 49 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: Eugippius was resolved to document and commemorate those selfless acts. 50 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: But there was more to Severiz than his generosity. The 51 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: holy man, like other early saints, professed seeing visions of 52 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: the future. Eugippius wrote that sometime before the collapse of 53 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: the Western Roman Empire, Severihinus met with a ragtag band 54 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: of warriors who were crossing into Austria. They were led 55 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: by a skinny young man in shabby clothes who bore 56 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: the name Odoacer Gothic for he who maintains his property, 57 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: a stately name for such a poor traveler. Supposedly, according 58 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: to the writings of Eugyppius, Saint Severihinus took Odoacer aside 59 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: and proclaimed a vision that this unknown warrior would one 60 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:51,720 Speaker 1: day rule as king of Rome. We can't know what 61 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: impression this left on the young man, or even if 62 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: the interaction happened at all, but if it did, we 63 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: might get that Odoacer went on his way believing, probably 64 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:08,600 Speaker 1: like every other ambitious warrior of his age, that destiny 65 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: was on his side. Odoacer was born in four hundred 66 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: and thirty three. His exact origins are unknown, but we 67 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,599 Speaker 1: do know that he learned to fight and lead with 68 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:25,599 Speaker 1: the Hunnic army that sat menacingly on the Roman Empire's borders. 69 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: The Huns subjected many of the ethnic groups that the 70 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: Romans referred to as quote barbarians, and like other imperial overlords, 71 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:39,480 Speaker 1: they found a way of recruiting soldiers and even lieutenants 72 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: from those same subjugated populations. Oduwaser's father, Ettica, happened to 73 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: be one of those lieutenants. He was considered such a 74 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:52,839 Speaker 1: valuable ally to the Huns that he was eventually made 75 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: a member of Attila the Hun's prestigious personal bodyguard. When 76 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 1: the Roman emperor solicited Ata's support to assassinate Attila, Ettica 77 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 1: loyal soldier that he was alerted Attila of the conspiracy. 78 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,359 Speaker 1: Oduaser turned up in Italy by the time he was 79 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: twenty eight. The Italian peninsula had gone through some major 80 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 1: shifts in the last two hundred years, and it is 81 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: incredibly complicated, but to simplify for the sake of this podcast, 82 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:28,840 Speaker 1: the Italian peninsula had formerly been the beating heart of 83 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 1: a vast and dominant Roman Empire. But the Italy that 84 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:39,359 Speaker 1: Oduaser entered was one in perpetual crisis, where generals competed 85 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 1: against one another to prop up their own emperors as figureheads. 86 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 1: The armies that fought in these crises were the very 87 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: barbarian warriors that the Romans had demonized in centuries prior. 88 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: In the five years from four hundred seventy one to 89 00:06:56,200 --> 00:07:01,039 Speaker 1: four hundred seventy six, the Western Empire gained and lost 90 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: five emperors. I say Western Empire here because in three 91 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: hundred ninety five the Roman Empire was split into two 92 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 1: parts with two separate imperial courts to make it easier 93 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: to manage. People at the time wouldn't have called themselves 94 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: Eastern or Western. Those are only terms we use now 95 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 1: looking back anyway. In the summer of four hundred and 96 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 1: seventy five, the most recent general to win out in 97 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: the Western Empire was a Roman aristocrat named Arrestes. He 98 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: took control of the capital of the Western Empire, Ravenna. 99 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: Arrestes elected his own son, Romulus, who was not older 100 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: than fourteen, as emperor in the West. But Arrestes's army 101 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,320 Speaker 1: was only loyal as long as he was paying them, 102 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: and eventually, when Arrestes wasn't able to confiscate and dole 103 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: out land from Roman landowners, who he also relied on, 104 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 1: his army grew restless and decided to choose another general 105 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: to support. They chose Oduacer. On August twenty eighth, four 106 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy six, an army of defected warriors led 107 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: by Odoacer captured Arrestes and defeated his remaining troops Oduaser 108 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: swarmed the capital city of Ravenna and packed up the 109 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: fourteen year old Emperor Romulus so he could live out 110 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: the rest of his days in the countryside of southern Italy. 111 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:35,720 Speaker 1: Nothing up until this point was out of the ordinary. 112 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: As usual, a barbarian warrior led a coalition of troops, 113 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:44,960 Speaker 1: deposed the emperor and captured the capital city. All that 114 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 1: was left to do for Oduaser was for him to 115 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: nominate his own puppet emperor or assume the title himself. 116 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,280 Speaker 1: It would be difficult for the Roman senate at the 117 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: time to stomach Oduaser as the emperor, being an illiterate northerner, 118 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: but surprisingly it never came to that. Odoacer's men hailed 119 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: him as King of Italy, and he happily accepted that title. 120 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:15,840 Speaker 1: The title king was a convenient way of justifying his 121 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: rule over Italy without alienating a potential ally in the East. 122 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 1: Oduaser styled himself as a vassal of the Eastern Roman 123 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: Emperor Zeno. A king, after all, was supposed to be 124 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: less powerful than an emperor. But as much as Odoaser 125 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: wanted to retain the status quo, there was no getting 126 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: around the fact that something significant, unprecedented had just occurred. 127 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: Italy had never been ruled by a king, a vassal 128 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 1: of the Eastern Roman Emperor. After four hundred and fifty years, 129 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:57,319 Speaker 1: the Western Roman Empire had been formally swept away by 130 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:01,680 Speaker 1: a little known, illiterate man from the north. The year 131 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: four hundred and seventy six has been treated by scholars 132 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: as the end of a chapter in Roman history. In 133 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: many traditional Western histories, it's treated as the end of 134 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:15,800 Speaker 1: the classical era and the beginning of the Medieval era, 135 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: the fall of the Roman Empire, But in fact the 136 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:23,920 Speaker 1: abolition of the Western Empire didn't really change much in 137 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: the everyday lives of peasants, merchants, or even elites. Italy 138 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 1: certainly wasn't any more stable after this slight political shift. 139 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: Oduwaser ruled on shaky foundations. He led a multi ethnic 140 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,960 Speaker 1: confederation of soldiers that were only loyal to him so 141 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: long as he provided them land. He had no remarkable 142 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: reputation as a warrior in his own right. Some upstarts 143 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 1: in his army thought themselves better and launched mutinies in 144 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,440 Speaker 1: four hundred and seventy seven and four hundred seventy eight 145 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: Zeno understood better than anyone that Odoacer didn't really intend 146 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 1: to obey the Eastern Empire. Zeno Eggdon, a nearby Germanic king, 147 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 1: to launch an attack against Odoacer. The attack failed, but 148 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 1: rather than retaliating against Zeno, Odoacer sent a portion of 149 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 1: his spoils to Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Empire, 150 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: in a show of peace. It didn't matter. If Zeno 151 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: couldn't assert control over Italy this way, he would surely 152 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: find another way. There is another version of the Saint 153 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: Severinus prophecy story, one with an additional prediction that, even 154 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,280 Speaker 1: if it were true, he probably wouldn't have told the 155 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: young Odoacer. In that version, Severihinus predicted that the future 156 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:58,160 Speaker 1: king wouldn't rule Italy longer than fourteen years, either by 157 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 1: coincidence or by intelligent design, or by most likely fake 158 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 1: sources changed after the fact. Odoacer lost the throne in 159 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:13,679 Speaker 1: exactly the fourteenth year of his rule to a man 160 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:16,600 Speaker 1: who had the support of a prophecy of his own. 161 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:23,359 Speaker 1: Before they even ever met. Odoacer's story was strangely intermingled 162 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:28,559 Speaker 1: with theodoricx Odowasser's father, Edica, eventually left the Huntic army 163 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 1: to lead his own band of warriors. So did Theodoric's uncle, 164 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: an Ostrogoth ruler, who settled in Pannonia or what is 165 00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 1: now the North Balkans after the death of Attila the Hunt. 166 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,360 Speaker 1: Theodoric was born on the banks of a small sea 167 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:49,680 Speaker 1: in what is now the easternmost part of Austria. His father, Twidemir, 168 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: was a royal, but his mother was a concubine, though 169 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:57,480 Speaker 1: that mixed lineage never posed a problem for the Ostrogoths. 170 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: For Theodoric's family, all that mattered and a king was 171 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:04,679 Speaker 1: that he had some claim to royal lineage and that 172 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 1: he could fight. Theodomir and his brother Valimir almost certainly 173 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 1: fought in their own battles, a compelling symbol of their 174 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:17,520 Speaker 1: right to rule. In contrast to Roman emperors at the time, 175 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: who deferred to their generals from the comfort of their 176 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 1: seaside palaces, the brothers Valimir and Theodomir had more than 177 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:32,359 Speaker 1: just cultural reasons to detest their more powerful Roman neighbors. 178 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 1: According to a new treaty, the Ostrogoths would be allowed 179 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: to settle on Roman land and would be given three 180 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 1: hundred pounds of gold per year, but in return they 181 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,400 Speaker 1: would need to send a male hostage of royal descent, 182 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: someone who the Romans could use as leverage in case 183 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:54,520 Speaker 1: future negotiations ever went south. Valimir didn't have a son, 184 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: so he called upon his brother to make the sacrifice. 185 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: The seven year old Theotre Doric was chosen to live 186 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: in Constantinople for what would end up being a decade. 187 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: Constantinople in the fifth century was the most cosmopolitan city 188 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 1: in the Mediterranean, home to hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, 189 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 1: dozens of languages, and several creeds. In Theodoric's youth, he 190 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 1: learned to read and write not only in Latin, but 191 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:30,200 Speaker 1: also in Greek. He attended the imperial court, witnessed Roman ceremonies, 192 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: and learned to keep his heretical faith secret. Roman citizens 193 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: couldn't quite decide what to make of Theodoric. He was 194 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: a Gothic boy from a barbarian family of war lords 195 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:48,400 Speaker 1: who could also recite prose in Latin. Though while Theodoric 196 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: was making an impression in the imperial capital, his uncle 197 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:56,280 Speaker 1: and father existed in a constant state of warfare. It 198 00:14:56,360 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 1: was Roman imperial policy to pit the Germanic tribes of 199 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: Pannonia against one another. In the most recent cycle of violence, 200 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: the Shii conducted raids against the Ostrogoths in the mid 201 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: four hundred and sixties. It was during one such trade 202 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 1: that Theodoric's uncle Valimir reportedly fell from his horse and died. 203 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: Theodoric's father, Theodomir, took the throne and in four hundred 204 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 1: and sixty nine, in revenge, besieged the Sharian stronghold of Bolia, 205 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: winning despite opposition from the Eastern Roman emperor. In a 206 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: twist of fate, at the same time, it was Oduaser's father, Edica, 207 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,560 Speaker 1: who was leading the Shii, while Theodoric's father obviously was 208 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: leading the Ostrogoths. Edica, Oduaser's father, was killed in that battle, and, 209 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 1: according to some sources and sources that I'm sure would 210 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 1: make an excellent scene in a biopic, Oduwasser witnessed the 211 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 1: death of his father on the battle field. Theodomir won 212 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: Pannonia for the Ostrogoths, but that victory was tainted by 213 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:10,160 Speaker 1: the fact that Pannonia didn't have much fertile land for 214 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: his people to settle on. He left in four hundred 215 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:16,880 Speaker 1: and seventy to conduct raids in the north. When he 216 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 1: returned a year later, he was surprised to find his son, Theodoric, 217 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: released from captivity. At seventeen years old. Theodoric was no 218 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: longer a scrawny boy, but the spitting image of a young, 219 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:36,840 Speaker 1: capable leader. Without his father's knowledge, Theodoric raised a force 220 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: of six thousand warriors and single handedly crushed the nearby 221 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 1: Sarmatian people, personally killing their king. Whether or not we 222 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 1: can trust that exaggerated account, what's clear is that Theodoric 223 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,040 Speaker 1: was eager to prove himself in the eyes of his 224 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: Gothic family. Clearly, ten years in the imperial capital did 225 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: not dampen his resolve to lead his own people, even 226 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:05,640 Speaker 1: if that meant, or perhaps especially if it meant spilling 227 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: blood with his own hands. Decades later, Theodoric would trace 228 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 1: the start of his own reign to that victory over 229 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: the Sarmatians. It's no small feat that Theodoric assumed leadership 230 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: over the Ostrogoths unopposed when his father died in four 231 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:27,720 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy four. It's even more remarkable that Theodoric 232 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: held his position despite the constant poverty and insecurity his 233 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:37,160 Speaker 1: people faced. There was never enough fertile land in Pannonia 234 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:41,199 Speaker 1: or Macedonia for them to grow crops or feed livestock. 235 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:46,440 Speaker 1: The situation was so bad that Theodoric's uncle Vidimir had 236 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 1: taken his own tribe westward in hopes of greener pastures. 237 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 1: If Theodoric was to feed and clothe his army of 238 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: ten thousand warriors, he would need to win imperial favor. 239 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: That would prove a difficult task, especially because there was 240 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,720 Speaker 1: another Gothic king, a man named Strabo, who was in 241 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:12,400 Speaker 1: the picture. Some years earlier. Strabo won an annual shipment 242 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: of two thousand pounds of gold after intimidating Constantinople, almost 243 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,440 Speaker 1: as much as Attila the hun had once received in tribute. 244 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: The Eastern emperor also bequeathed Strabo with the title Supreme 245 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: Commander of the Goths, which Theodoric did not take particularly well. 246 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:36,639 Speaker 1: An opportunity presented itself to Theodoric in four hundred and 247 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:40,720 Speaker 1: seventy four, when the sitting emperor died and a succession 248 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:46,400 Speaker 1: crisis unfolded between two upstarts. Strabo had thrown his support 249 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:51,399 Speaker 1: behind the losing party, and Theodoric, either by luck or prophecy, 250 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:55,120 Speaker 1: happened to choose the winning one, a man we've already 251 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: met Zeno. When Zeno took control of the Eastern Empire 252 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 1: in fours one hundred and seventy six, Zeno immediately deposed 253 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:08,120 Speaker 1: Strabo and elevated Theodoric to the position of supreme commander 254 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,800 Speaker 1: of the Goths, and even adopted Theodoric as his quote 255 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,679 Speaker 1: son in arms. But nice as they were, none of 256 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: those tokens of support meant that the Ostrogoths were free 257 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:25,680 Speaker 1: from want. Around four hundred and seventy seven, Zeno ordered 258 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,159 Speaker 1: Theodoric to crush Strabo, who was holed up in a 259 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 1: mountain pass, and in return, Zeno would give Theodoric enough 260 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 1: grain for his people to last the winter. Zeno promised 261 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:41,800 Speaker 1: the Ostrogoths Roman soldiers, but when Theodoric came to the 262 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,920 Speaker 1: field of battle, the imperial forces were nowhere to be found. 263 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: Zeno had lied, but Theodoric was intent on continuing the fight. Strabo, 264 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:56,160 Speaker 1: on the other hand, offered terms of peace, and Theodoric's 265 00:19:56,200 --> 00:20:00,160 Speaker 1: followers implored their leader not to engage in battle again 266 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: people they considered their kin. Theodoric's forty thousand troops laid 267 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:09,959 Speaker 1: down their arms, and the two Gothic leaders issued joint 268 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 1: demands against Zeno for grain and status. Zeno was furious 269 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:20,159 Speaker 1: and frightened at the possibility of a united enemy. He 270 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: sent messengers promising one thousand pounds of gold and ten 271 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:27,440 Speaker 1: thousand pounds of silver in addition to his daughter's hand 272 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: in marriage, if Theodoric could defeat Strabo. Theodoric refused, but 273 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:38,960 Speaker 1: Zeno made a similar offer to Strabo in secret, which was, 274 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:46,720 Speaker 1: unfortunately for Theodoric accepted. From four hundred and seventy seven 275 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: to four hundred and eighty, Theodoric had lost his title 276 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:54,520 Speaker 1: as a supreme commander, he lost his ability to feed 277 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:57,960 Speaker 1: his people, and he lost his lucrative alliance with the 278 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: Eastern Roman Empire. His people were on the run, traveling 279 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:07,480 Speaker 1: in baggage trains that allegedly stretched for miles, pillaging cities 280 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:11,200 Speaker 1: for survival along their trail. In four hundred and eighty, 281 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: a Roman general successfully raided Theodoric's baggage train, capturing some 282 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 1: two thousand wagons and five thousand prisoners, nearly abducting Theodoric's 283 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:29,399 Speaker 1: own mother and brother. But the following year, Theodoric's fortunes reversed. 284 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 1: Strabo accidentally fell from his horse and impaled himself on 285 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: a lance while riding. Suddenly, his Gothic coalition descended into chaos, 286 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 1: and even though Strabo's son won some control over what remained, 287 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 1: there was no doubt that theodoricx Ostrogoths were the most 288 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: powerful players in the region. Again, Zeno had no option 289 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:59,160 Speaker 1: but to court Theodoric's favor. He once again granted Theodoric 290 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 1: the title of Supreme Commander in four hundred and eighty three, 291 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: and even elevated him to the prestigious position of Roman 292 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:10,040 Speaker 1: Consul in four hundred and eighty four, which was the 293 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 1: highest possible distinction that a Goth could receive from the Empire, 294 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: but just to make his status secure, just in case, 295 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 1: Theodoric also murdered Strabo's son in broad daylight. Theodoric's people 296 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,280 Speaker 1: won permission to settle the fertile land to the west 297 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: of Constantinople, and to top it all off, Xeno erected 298 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:36,920 Speaker 1: a statue of Theodoric atop a battle horse right in 299 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,399 Speaker 1: the center of the imperial castle. But as expected, the 300 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 1: fickle Zeno once again changed his mind, worried that Theodoric 301 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 1: might betray him, and he sent an army against Theodoric 302 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: in four hundred and eighty five. Theodoric responded by pillaging 303 00:22:55,000 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 1: nearby towns and even besieging Constantinople, going so far as 304 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 1: cutting off the city's drinking water. In four hundred and 305 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,640 Speaker 1: eighty eight, the two leaders finally came together and recognized 306 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: that they could not both occupy the same territory in peace. 307 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: It would be better for everyone if Theodoric took his 308 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 1: roaming Gothic army out west. Zeno had wanted to depose 309 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,639 Speaker 1: Oduasser for some time, and who better to do the 310 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:30,680 Speaker 1: job than the unrelenting Ostrogoth Theodoric. Two birds with one stone. 311 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:35,919 Speaker 1: If Theodoric successfully defeated Oduaser, Zeno would grant him the 312 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:40,919 Speaker 1: illustrious title of Patricius, a status normally reserved for the 313 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:46,160 Speaker 1: most elite Roman citizens. In truth, Theodoric didn't need all 314 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,760 Speaker 1: that much convincing to leave. Even when times were good, 315 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: the emperor's payments only came irregularly. His people continued to 316 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:58,919 Speaker 1: go hungry in infertile pastures. Many of them were uprooted 317 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:03,399 Speaker 1: from these sedentary lives of their forefathers. Theodoric knew better 318 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: than any leader that the only thing worse than a 319 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 1: hungry population was a hungry population with no one to 320 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:14,600 Speaker 1: fight and nowhere to go. According to the Chronicles, which 321 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:17,959 Speaker 1: should always be taken with a grain of salt, Theodoric 322 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: set out from Macedonia at the head of one hundred 323 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:25,879 Speaker 1: thousand people. While we refer to all of them as Ostrogoths, 324 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:29,719 Speaker 1: they were in fact a motley mix of displaced people, 325 00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: many Germanic who scraped by to survive in times of 326 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:38,199 Speaker 1: nearly constant crisis. Some of them may have been lured 327 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:41,720 Speaker 1: by the growing legend of Theodoric, the man who had 328 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: slayed a king as a teenager and brought the city 329 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:50,480 Speaker 1: of Constantinople to its knees. To contemporaries, Theodoric was a 330 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: fairly unique leader, not quite a Barbarian king and not 331 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: quite a Roman prince. We can imagine that Theodoric r 332 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 1: his renown. He marched the thousand kilometers into Italy, intent 333 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:11,880 Speaker 1: on fulfilling his destiny. In the dead of winter four 334 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:16,280 Speaker 1: hundred and eighty eight, Oduasser, king of Italy, received a 335 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:19,959 Speaker 1: message that sent a shiver down his spine. To the 336 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,760 Speaker 1: northeast of Italy, a Germanic people known as the Gepids 337 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:28,680 Speaker 1: ruled an independent kingdom, which they proudly defended after decades 338 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:33,400 Speaker 1: of Hunnik rule and Roman incursions. Unfortunately for the Gepids, 339 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:37,639 Speaker 1: they lived on the road to Italy. Oduaser got a 340 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:42,760 Speaker 1: message that an army of about twenty thousand warriors commissioned 341 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: by the Emperor Zeno crushed the once proud Gepid people 342 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:52,400 Speaker 1: and killed their king. Odoacer knew what was coming next. 343 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: Zeno would certainly be sending an army to dethrone him. 344 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:01,320 Speaker 1: That much was clear when the emperor refined used Odoacer's 345 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:06,040 Speaker 1: white flags, which came to Constantinople in the form of 346 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:10,800 Speaker 1: chests of gold. But what Odoacer could not have predicted 347 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:15,640 Speaker 1: was that the famed warmonger Theodoric was at the army's 348 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:19,119 Speaker 1: helm at the battle against the Gepids in four hundred 349 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,399 Speaker 1: and eighty eight. When it seemed like the Goths might lose, 350 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:27,879 Speaker 1: Theodoric heroically led the charge that turned the tides. The 351 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:32,040 Speaker 1: fifth century bishop Inodius wrote an embellished account of the 352 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:37,600 Speaker 1: battle addressed directly to Theodoric. As a torrent devastates crops, 353 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:42,439 Speaker 1: as a lion devastates flocks, So did you devastate no 354 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,520 Speaker 1: one who met you could resist or escape your pursuit. 355 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,760 Speaker 1: You were transported everywhere as the spears ran out, Yet 356 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:53,960 Speaker 1: your rage still grew for you, venerable one who has 357 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:58,960 Speaker 1: sought out the savior of battle, unaccompanied, drove forward, Fortified 358 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:04,840 Speaker 1: by thousands, Oduacer wasted no time preparing for what he 359 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 1: knew was an incoming invasion. He fortified a bridge over 360 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,119 Speaker 1: the river Isonzo, which Theodoric would need to pass in 361 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:15,360 Speaker 1: order to reach Italy proper, but that didn't do much 362 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:20,400 Speaker 1: to slow the invaders. Oduaser retreated to the city of Verona, 363 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:26,119 Speaker 1: but there too, the Ostrogoths overwhelmed Odoaser's forces. One of 364 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:29,800 Speaker 1: our few sources for an account of the battle comes 365 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,680 Speaker 1: from that bishop and Odius, but his text is particularly 366 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: problematic because not only was he not an eyewitness to 367 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:41,159 Speaker 1: the events, but his intention for writing at all was 368 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: to make Theodoric fit the mold of Greek and Roman 369 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 1: heroes from legends past, like Achilles in the Iliad. Before 370 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 1: the Battle of Verona, Theodoric turns to his mother and 371 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:57,400 Speaker 1: sister to bid them farewell, where he presents himself as 372 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:01,199 Speaker 1: a selfless hero duty bound to make good on his 373 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,960 Speaker 1: family's royal name. It looks like the battle might be 374 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:10,240 Speaker 1: won by Odoaser's forces, but Theodoric's arrival once again personally 375 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 1: turned the tide. But Odoacer managed to wriggle free from 376 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 1: his enemy's grasp and live to fight another day. At 377 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: this point, it seemed to most observers that Theodoric would 378 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:28,960 Speaker 1: surely conquer all of Italy. Opportunistic warlords took advantage of 379 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,919 Speaker 1: Odoacer's weakness to invade Sicily in the south and the 380 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:38,720 Speaker 1: Alps in the north. Even Odowasser's chief general briefly defected 381 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:44,400 Speaker 1: to Theodoric's side. Archaeologists have excavated coins from this period 382 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: during Oduaser's rule. These silver pieces bear a portrait of 383 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:55,000 Speaker 1: a bare headed king entitled Flavius Oduaser, meaning Odouaser, servant 384 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 1: of the Emperor. No Germanic king before him had minted 385 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,840 Speaker 1: silver coins, let alone coins in the style of the 386 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: Roman Empire. Meanwhile, Oduaser elevated his son Thela to the 387 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:11,520 Speaker 1: position of caesar of the West. Now some of this 388 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: is a little strange. Why would Oduaser be concerning himself 389 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 1: with the prestige of coins and titles at the very 390 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:25,040 Speaker 1: moment that control was very literally slipping from his grasp. 391 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 1: Did he truly believe that the prophecy was on his side, 392 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: that he would in the end prevail, Or did he decide, 393 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 1: after suffering defeat after defeat that if he couldn't actually 394 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: have an empire to himself, he could at least pretend 395 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:52,080 Speaker 1: through trappings. Any chances Oduaser had of victory were crushed. 396 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 1: On August eleventh, four hundred and ninety one year from 397 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 1: the start of the invasion, the two sides met at 398 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:04,320 Speaker 1: a river outside Milan, and both suffered enormous losses in 399 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:10,040 Speaker 1: a battle that Theodoric technically won. The Ostrogoths pursued Oduaser 400 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 1: all the way to his capital city, Ravena, where they 401 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:17,400 Speaker 1: established a camp in a pine grove just outside the 402 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:21,920 Speaker 1: city walls. There was no way Theodoric could storm the city, 403 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: which sat in the middle of the lagoon, so he 404 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:28,320 Speaker 1: dug in for a siege. He ordered his army to 405 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 1: block all land routes to the city, cutting off access 406 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:36,680 Speaker 1: to food and water. Meanwhile, his men, as with many 407 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: other invading armies in Italy's history, rampaged across the nearby countryside, 408 00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:49,080 Speaker 1: searching for supplies and families to enslave. We can't accurately 409 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: portray the toll that the invasion took on the people 410 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 1: living in Italy at the time, but some sources refer 411 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 1: to their suffering in passing mass famines in the north, 412 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:04,960 Speaker 1: Thousands abducted and held for ransom, Whole cities displaced by 413 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:09,040 Speaker 1: pillaging warriors on both sides. Those that fled for their 414 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:12,840 Speaker 1: lives mainly ended up in Rome, but the Church could 415 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:18,160 Speaker 1: feed only so many hungry mouths. Rumors spread like wildfire 416 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: that the war signaled the coming of the Antichrist. Needless 417 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:27,640 Speaker 1: to say, these accounts temper the usual depiction of Theodoric 418 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 1: as a great and selfless, almost godlike ruler. In fact, 419 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,800 Speaker 1: like all other kings of the era, he was just 420 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: as ruthless, just as power hungry, and just as callous 421 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:44,440 Speaker 1: as the worst of them. That was a lesson that 422 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:49,640 Speaker 1: Oduaser was about to learn. The siege that started in 423 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:54,320 Speaker 1: the summer of four hundred and ninety became utterly intolerable 424 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:57,560 Speaker 1: for the citizens of Ravena by the middle of four 425 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 1: hundred and ninety two, when Theodore Yorick used ships to 426 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:05,760 Speaker 1: block the city's access to the sea, it was official 427 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:10,600 Speaker 1: the city was fully surrounded. No supplies were getting in 428 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,680 Speaker 1: or out, and the city barely had enough to last 429 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:18,160 Speaker 1: the year. It's reported that at the start of four 430 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: hundred and ninety three, the citizens of Ravena resorted to 431 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:29,600 Speaker 1: eating weeds and leather. Oduwaser requested to begin negotiations in February, 432 00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:33,560 Speaker 1: though Theodoric would only agree if Oduwaser sent his son 433 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:38,480 Speaker 1: Theyla as a hostage. What choice did Oduaser have. He 434 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:43,160 Speaker 1: sent his son, and bargaining commenced on February twenty fifth, 435 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:47,480 Speaker 1: four hundred and ninety three. Messengers scurried back and forth 436 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:52,680 Speaker 1: between Ravena and Theodoric's encampment. Even the local bishop traveled 437 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:56,600 Speaker 1: between both sides, imploring both men for an end to 438 00:32:56,640 --> 00:33:01,120 Speaker 1: the hostilities. After nearly four years of civil war in Italy, 439 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:06,640 Speaker 1: of pillaged towns and scorched fields, Theodoric and Odoacer came 440 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:11,160 Speaker 1: to an agreement they would resurrect the Western Roman Empire 441 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:15,720 Speaker 1: and rule it jointly. On March fifth, Theodoric and his 442 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:20,840 Speaker 1: retinue paraded into Ravena, no doubt full of applauding citizens 443 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:25,920 Speaker 1: hopeful for the future. Perhaps it was an especially meaningful 444 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:30,120 Speaker 1: day for the few followers who remembered that Theodoric's father 445 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:35,280 Speaker 1: had defeated and possibly killed Odoacer's father in battle some 446 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 1: three decades before history did not have to repeat itself. 447 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:48,640 Speaker 1: Vendettas could turn into truces, sieges, into celebrations. The two 448 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:52,480 Speaker 1: co emperors communicated daily in the first week of this 449 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:56,480 Speaker 1: new chapter in Roman history. In the midst of the buzz, 450 00:33:56,680 --> 00:34:00,360 Speaker 1: Oduaser decided to visit a palace in the city known 451 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:04,800 Speaker 1: as the Laurel Grove. This was March fifteenth. As he 452 00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:09,640 Speaker 1: was taking a stroll, Odoacer was approached by two shrouded 453 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 1: beggars who were asking for help from their imperial master. But, 454 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:18,600 Speaker 1: as you might recall from the introduction, before he could respond, 455 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:22,920 Speaker 1: the two men grabbed his arms, and a swarm of 456 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:29,160 Speaker 1: Ostrogothic soldiers made quick work of Odoacer's bodyguards. Then, out 457 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:32,560 Speaker 1: of the shadows, a middle aged man appeared with the 458 00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:38,760 Speaker 1: sword drawn. It was Theodoric himself. The famed warrior took 459 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:43,000 Speaker 1: his blade and slashed Oduaser from the collar bone to 460 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:47,360 Speaker 1: the hip, at which point Oduaser yelled out, where is God. 461 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:54,840 Speaker 1: According to one probably apocryphal source, Theodoric murdered Oduaser, his 462 00:34:55,080 --> 00:35:01,160 Speaker 1: co emperor, in a single stroke, as predicted by Saint Severinus. 463 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:08,399 Speaker 1: Odoacer's reign as king of Italy ended after fourteen years. Strangely, 464 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:13,200 Speaker 1: it's reported that Theodoric shouted, this is exactly what you 465 00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:17,399 Speaker 1: did to my relatives at the dying Oduacer. We have 466 00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:22,480 Speaker 1: no record of Oduaser killing a relative of Theodorics. Instead, 467 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:26,680 Speaker 1: we do have a record of Theodoric's father killing Odoacer's father. 468 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:32,320 Speaker 1: In all likelihood, Theodoric was using whatever justification he could 469 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:37,200 Speaker 1: to carry out the execution. In fact, the assassination was 470 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:42,160 Speaker 1: just one part in a meticulously planned massacre in which 471 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:46,760 Speaker 1: Oduaser's chief lieutenants were all shot down. Within the city, 472 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:51,920 Speaker 1: soldiers chased Oduaser's brother into a church, where they were 473 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:55,200 Speaker 1: prevented from slaying him according to the rules of sanctuary, 474 00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:59,280 Speaker 1: but they technically didn't need to be inside the church 475 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:04,360 Speaker 1: to kill him with arrows. Soldiers captured Odoacer's mother and 476 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:08,759 Speaker 1: threw her in prison, where she died of starvation. Theodoric 477 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:14,440 Speaker 1: released Odoacer's son, Thela, but he too was eventually hunted down. 478 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:19,440 Speaker 1: There would be no joint rule in Theodoric's new Italy. 479 00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:23,640 Speaker 1: He had spent too long managing his relationships with anxious 480 00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:29,400 Speaker 1: emperors and fickle allies. After all, a Gothic king proved 481 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:32,600 Speaker 1: his right to rule by the blood on his hands, 482 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:36,239 Speaker 1: not the treaties he signed. And what greater show of 483 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:51,600 Speaker 1: might than to bend prophecy to your will. That's the 484 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:55,160 Speaker 1: story of Odoacer and Theodoric. But keep listening after a 485 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:58,240 Speaker 1: brief sponsor break to hear a little bit more about 486 00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:07,640 Speaker 1: how Theodoric story specific evolved into one very particular folk legend. 487 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:15,600 Speaker 1: Theodoric ruled for thirty three years after his betrayal of Oduaser. 488 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:19,680 Speaker 1: Contemporary chronicles treat the new king of Italy as an 489 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:23,400 Speaker 1: enlightened ruler. He settled his people in the north of Italy, 490 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:27,440 Speaker 1: revived games in the Colosseum, and even rebuilt some of 491 00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:33,000 Speaker 1: Rome's monuments. He styled himself heir to the Roman imperial throne, 492 00:37:33,239 --> 00:37:37,120 Speaker 1: but never lost his mantle as king of the Ostrogoths. 493 00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:40,800 Speaker 1: He went as far as to conquer Spain and North Africa. 494 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:47,880 Speaker 1: But Theodoric's legend far exceeded his century. For one thousand 495 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:53,400 Speaker 1: years following his rule, Theodoric's legend seeped into Central European 496 00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:58,839 Speaker 1: popular culture and literature. His history slowly evolved into the 497 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:04,000 Speaker 1: myth of a German hero named Dietrich von Berne. While 498 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:08,239 Speaker 1: Theodoric came to Italy as an invader from Pannonia, the 499 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:12,920 Speaker 1: legendary Dietrich was born in Verona and reclaimed Italy as 500 00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:18,200 Speaker 1: its rightful heir. Theodoric conquered fearsome Germanic foes on his 501 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:21,200 Speaker 1: path to a kingdom in Italy, but those foes were 502 00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:27,520 Speaker 1: all merely human. Dietrich fought giants, dragons, and worms. In 503 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:31,720 Speaker 1: some medieval texts. He has even described as a fire breather. 504 00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:37,080 Speaker 1: As with many other oral traditions, Dietrich's story intermingled with 505 00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:42,360 Speaker 1: other heroic narratives from Norse and German mythology. In one example, 506 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:47,319 Speaker 1: the Germanic hero Siegfried encounters a fire breathing Dietrich as 507 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:51,400 Speaker 1: he attempts to protect the princess crime Hilled. Stories like 508 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:55,520 Speaker 1: this are often depicted in tapestries that once adorned the 509 00:38:55,560 --> 00:39:00,640 Speaker 1: halls of German nobility. One of Dietrich's most famous medieval 510 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:05,200 Speaker 1: stories begins with three giants sitting around complaining over the 511 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:08,720 Speaker 1: fact that Dietrich has won favor for his heroic deeds, 512 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:13,000 Speaker 1: whereas the giants never do. A queen approaches the leader 513 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:16,879 Speaker 1: of the giants, the giant named Ek, and requests that 514 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:20,920 Speaker 1: he bring Dietrich to her alive for the mission. The 515 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:24,560 Speaker 1: queen gives Ek armor and a sword, which have been 516 00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:30,080 Speaker 1: soaked in dragon blood and thereby rendered unbeatable. Ek travels 517 00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:33,360 Speaker 1: to the Alps and challenges Dietrich to a duel, but 518 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:36,720 Speaker 1: our hero refuses. The giant has done him no wrong. 519 00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:40,360 Speaker 1: Eck calls him a coward, and that seals the deal. 520 00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:44,400 Speaker 1: Dietrich pounces on him, but after a prolonged fight, he 521 00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:48,719 Speaker 1: realizes that his foes dragon blood armor can't be penetrated. 522 00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:53,880 Speaker 1: According to the myth, Dietrich is forced to dishonorably stab 523 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:56,840 Speaker 1: Act through a gap in his armor, at which point 524 00:39:56,960 --> 00:40:00,920 Speaker 1: the leader of the giants dies, takes the armor and 525 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:03,560 Speaker 1: the sword for himself, and goes on to slay the 526 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:07,239 Speaker 1: remaining two giants after him. In some stories, the queen 527 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:11,880 Speaker 1: admits to having wanted the giant's slain all along. In another, 528 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:16,280 Speaker 1: the last giant treacherously leads Dietrich to murder the remaining 529 00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:19,719 Speaker 1: giants in his family. One version of the myth an 530 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:24,879 Speaker 1: attempt to connect the fantastical Dietrich with the historical. Theodoric 531 00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:29,520 Speaker 1: explains that the sword Dietrich one from Eck became the 532 00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:36,360 Speaker 1: very blade that Dietrich used to murder Oduaser Oduaser, mortal 533 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:39,560 Speaker 1: man that he was was no match for a blade 534 00:40:39,760 --> 00:41:00,080 Speaker 1: soaked in dragon's blood and its fire breathing master. Ow 535 00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:04,040 Speaker 1: Blood is a production of iHeart Radio and Grimm and 536 00:41:04,120 --> 00:41:08,440 Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Mank. Noble Blood is created and hosted 537 00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:13,200 Speaker 1: by me Dana Shworts, with additional writing and researching by 538 00:41:13,239 --> 00:41:18,760 Speaker 1: Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori Goodman. 539 00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:23,040 Speaker 1: The show is edited and produced by Noemi Griffin and 540 00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:29,000 Speaker 1: rima Il Kahali, with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive 541 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:33,680 Speaker 1: producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more 542 00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:39,680 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 543 00:41:39,719 --> 00:41:42,120 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.