Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky Listener discretion advised. For two
Speaker 1: and a half years, the Italian city of Revenna had
Speaker 1: been in a living hell, under siege by the king
Speaker 1: of the Visigoths, Theodoric the Great. Theodoric would hold the
Speaker 1: city in siege for as long as it took. His
Speaker 1: greatest enemy, Odoasser, the King of Italy, was hiding in
Speaker 1: Revenna with what was left of his army. Theodoric had
Speaker 1: him surrounded. He had been surrounded for two and a
Speaker 1: half years. It was only a matter of time, But
Speaker 1: in the meantime, Revenna was suffering starvation, gripped the streets,
Speaker 1: Plagues haunted whole neighborhoods. Even an earthquake erupted in the
Speaker 1: middle of town, as though God himself were showing just
Speaker 1: how folly it was to hope that the siege would end.
Speaker 1: But on February twenty fifth, four hundred and ninety three,
Speaker 1: the citizens of Ravina finally saw a glimmer of hope.
Speaker 1: Oduasser finally emerged from his foxhole. He sent word to
Speaker 1: Theodoric to begin negotiations. After a week, plenty of concessions
Speaker 1: and even the begging of a bishop, the two men
Speaker 1: came to an agreement they would rule Italy together. The
Speaker 1: crowds of Ravenna erupted in celebration. The siege was over.
Speaker 1: Not all, hope was lost after all. Theodoric entered the
Speaker 1: city at the head of a procession and the two
Speaker 1: leaders finally met in person. The two men collaborated together
Speaker 1: to determine what this knew Italy would look like in
Speaker 1: Italy with co rulers in Italy of peace. Ten days
Speaker 1: after Theodoric entered the city, Oduaser was taking a stroll
Speaker 1: outside one of his palaces. On his stroll, two beggars
Speaker 1: approached him, and they implored their lord to offer a
Speaker 1: blessing or alms. Before Oduaser could even respond, the two
Speaker 1: beggars pulled aside their cloaks and seized Oduaser by his arms.
Speaker 1: Soldiers poured out hidden among the street, and they cut
Speaker 1: down Oduaser's bodyguards. Oduaser was surprised to find that none
Speaker 1: of the attackers had specifically attacked him. His guards were dead,
Speaker 1: but he wasn't yet. The men were keeping him alive
Speaker 1: for now, but why. The answer came quickly. Someone specific
Speaker 1: wanted to be the one to cut him down. Out
Speaker 1: of the darkness. A figure of approached wielding a sword.
Speaker 1: Oduaser saw his own death written all over the face
Speaker 1: of his assassin. He just didn't expect the face to
Speaker 1: look so familiar. I'm Danish Schwartz and this is noble blood.
Speaker 1: In five hundred and eleven, a few decades after Oduaser
Speaker 1: was assassinated, an Italian monk took to compiling the memories
Speaker 1: of his music master, Saint Severinus. Severinus was renowned as
Speaker 1: a holy man in his lifetime, a devoted ascetic with
Speaker 1: mysterious origins. When the Western Roman Empire collapsed in four
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy six, Severinus accepted refugees into his monastery.
Speaker 1: He fed the poor and clothed the sick. The monk
Speaker 1: Eugippius was resolved to document and commemorate those selfless acts.
Speaker 1: But there was more to Severiz than his generosity. The
Speaker 1: holy man, like other early saints, professed seeing visions of
Speaker 1: the future. Eugippius wrote that sometime before the collapse of
Speaker 1: the Western Roman Empire, Severihinus met with a ragtag band
Speaker 1: of warriors who were crossing into Austria. They were led
Speaker 1: by a skinny young man in shabby clothes who bore
Speaker 1: the name Odoacer Gothic for he who maintains his property,
Speaker 1: a stately name for such a poor traveler. Supposedly, according
Speaker 1: to the writings of Eugyppius, Saint Severihinus took Odoacer aside
Speaker 1: and proclaimed a vision that this unknown warrior would one
Speaker 1: day rule as king of Rome. We can't know what
Speaker 1: impression this left on the young man, or even if
Speaker 1: the interaction happened at all, but if it did, we
Speaker 1: might get that Odoacer went on his way believing, probably
Speaker 1: like every other ambitious warrior of his age, that destiny
Speaker 1: was on his side. Odoacer was born in four hundred
Speaker 1: and thirty three. His exact origins are unknown, but we
Speaker 1: do know that he learned to fight and lead with
Speaker 1: the Hunnic army that sat menacingly on the Roman Empire's borders.
Speaker 1: The Huns subjected many of the ethnic groups that the
Speaker 1: Romans referred to as quote barbarians, and like other imperial overlords,
Speaker 1: they found a way of recruiting soldiers and even lieutenants
Speaker 1: from those same subjugated populations. Oduwaser's father, Ettica, happened to
Speaker 1: be one of those lieutenants. He was considered such a
Speaker 1: valuable ally to the Huns that he was eventually made
Speaker 1: a member of Attila the Hun's prestigious personal bodyguard. When
Speaker 1: the Roman emperor solicited Ata's support to assassinate Attila, Ettica
Speaker 1: loyal soldier that he was alerted Attila of the conspiracy.
Speaker 1: Oduaser turned up in Italy by the time he was
Speaker 1: twenty eight. The Italian peninsula had gone through some major
Speaker 1: shifts in the last two hundred years, and it is
Speaker 1: incredibly complicated, but to simplify for the sake of this podcast,
Speaker 1: the Italian peninsula had formerly been the beating heart of
Speaker 1: a vast and dominant Roman Empire. But the Italy that
Speaker 1: Oduaser entered was one in perpetual crisis, where generals competed
Speaker 1: against one another to prop up their own emperors as figureheads.
Speaker 1: The armies that fought in these crises were the very
Speaker 1: barbarian warriors that the Romans had demonized in centuries prior.
Speaker 1: In the five years from four hundred seventy one to
Speaker 1: four hundred seventy six, the Western Empire gained and lost
Speaker 1: five emperors. I say Western Empire here because in three
Speaker 1: hundred ninety five the Roman Empire was split into two
Speaker 1: parts with two separate imperial courts to make it easier
Speaker 1: to manage. People at the time wouldn't have called themselves
Speaker 1: Eastern or Western. Those are only terms we use now
Speaker 1: looking back anyway. In the summer of four hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy five, the most recent general to win out in
Speaker 1: the Western Empire was a Roman aristocrat named Arrestes. He
Speaker 1: took control of the capital of the Western Empire, Ravenna.
Speaker 1: Arrestes elected his own son, Romulus, who was not older
Speaker 1: than fourteen, as emperor in the West. But Arrestes's army
Speaker 1: was only loyal as long as he was paying them,
Speaker 1: and eventually, when Arrestes wasn't able to confiscate and dole
Speaker 1: out land from Roman landowners, who he also relied on,
Speaker 1: his army grew restless and decided to choose another general
Speaker 1: to support. They chose Oduacer. On August twenty eighth, four
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy six, an army of defected warriors led
Speaker 1: by Odoacer captured Arrestes and defeated his remaining troops Oduaser
Speaker 1: swarmed the capital city of Ravenna and packed up the
Speaker 1: fourteen year old Emperor Romulus so he could live out
Speaker 1: the rest of his days in the countryside of southern Italy.
Speaker 1: Nothing up until this point was out of the ordinary.
Speaker 1: As usual, a barbarian warrior led a coalition of troops,
Speaker 1: deposed the emperor and captured the capital city. All that
Speaker 1: was left to do for Oduaser was for him to
Speaker 1: nominate his own puppet emperor or assume the title himself.
Speaker 1: It would be difficult for the Roman senate at the
Speaker 1: time to stomach Oduaser as the emperor, being an illiterate northerner,
Speaker 1: but surprisingly it never came to that. Odoacer's men hailed
Speaker 1: him as King of Italy, and he happily accepted that title.
Speaker 1: The title king was a convenient way of justifying his
Speaker 1: rule over Italy without alienating a potential ally in the East.
Speaker 1: Oduaser styled himself as a vassal of the Eastern Roman
Speaker 1: Emperor Zeno. A king, after all, was supposed to be
Speaker 1: less powerful than an emperor. But as much as Odoaser
Speaker 1: wanted to retain the status quo, there was no getting
Speaker 1: around the fact that something significant, unprecedented had just occurred.
Speaker 1: Italy had never been ruled by a king, a vassal
Speaker 1: of the Eastern Roman Emperor. After four hundred and fifty years,
Speaker 1: the Western Roman Empire had been formally swept away by
Speaker 1: a little known, illiterate man from the north. The year
Speaker 1: four hundred and seventy six has been treated by scholars
Speaker 1: as the end of a chapter in Roman history. In
Speaker 1: many traditional Western histories, it's treated as the end of
Speaker 1: the classical era and the beginning of the Medieval era,
Speaker 1: the fall of the Roman Empire, But in fact the
Speaker 1: abolition of the Western Empire didn't really change much in
Speaker 1: the everyday lives of peasants, merchants, or even elites. Italy
Speaker 1: certainly wasn't any more stable after this slight political shift.
Speaker 1: Oduwaser ruled on shaky foundations. He led a multi ethnic
Speaker 1: confederation of soldiers that were only loyal to him so
Speaker 1: long as he provided them land. He had no remarkable
Speaker 1: reputation as a warrior in his own right. Some upstarts
Speaker 1: in his army thought themselves better and launched mutinies in
Speaker 1: four hundred and seventy seven and four hundred seventy eight
Speaker 1: Zeno understood better than anyone that Odoacer didn't really intend
Speaker 1: to obey the Eastern Empire. Zeno Eggdon, a nearby Germanic king,
Speaker 1: to launch an attack against Odoacer. The attack failed, but
Speaker 1: rather than retaliating against Zeno, Odoacer sent a portion of
Speaker 1: his spoils to Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Empire,
Speaker 1: in a show of peace. It didn't matter. If Zeno
Speaker 1: couldn't assert control over Italy this way, he would surely
Speaker 1: find another way. There is another version of the Saint
Speaker 1: Severinus prophecy story, one with an additional prediction that, even
Speaker 1: if it were true, he probably wouldn't have told the
Speaker 1: young Odoacer. In that version, Severihinus predicted that the future
Speaker 1: king wouldn't rule Italy longer than fourteen years, either by
Speaker 1: coincidence or by intelligent design, or by most likely fake
Speaker 1: sources changed after the fact. Odoacer lost the throne in
Speaker 1: exactly the fourteenth year of his rule to a man
Speaker 1: who had the support of a prophecy of his own.
Speaker 1: Before they even ever met. Odoacer's story was strangely intermingled
Speaker 1: with theodoricx Odowasser's father, Edica, eventually left the Huntic army
Speaker 1: to lead his own band of warriors. So did Theodoric's uncle,
Speaker 1: an Ostrogoth ruler, who settled in Pannonia or what is
Speaker 1: now the North Balkans after the death of Attila the Hunt.
Speaker 1: Theodoric was born on the banks of a small sea
Speaker 1: in what is now the easternmost part of Austria. His father, Twidemir,
Speaker 1: was a royal, but his mother was a concubine, though
Speaker 1: that mixed lineage never posed a problem for the Ostrogoths.
Speaker 1: For Theodoric's family, all that mattered and a king was
Speaker 1: that he had some claim to royal lineage and that
Speaker 1: he could fight. Theodomir and his brother Valimir almost certainly
Speaker 1: fought in their own battles, a compelling symbol of their
Speaker 1: right to rule. In contrast to Roman emperors at the time,
Speaker 1: who deferred to their generals from the comfort of their
Speaker 1: seaside palaces, the brothers Valimir and Theodomir had more than
Speaker 1: just cultural reasons to detest their more powerful Roman neighbors.
Speaker 1: According to a new treaty, the Ostrogoths would be allowed
Speaker 1: to settle on Roman land and would be given three
Speaker 1: hundred pounds of gold per year, but in return they
Speaker 1: would need to send a male hostage of royal descent,
Speaker 1: someone who the Romans could use as leverage in case
Speaker 1: future negotiations ever went south. Valimir didn't have a son,
Speaker 1: so he called upon his brother to make the sacrifice.
Speaker 1: The seven year old Theotre Doric was chosen to live
Speaker 1: in Constantinople for what would end up being a decade.
Speaker 1: Constantinople in the fifth century was the most cosmopolitan city
Speaker 1: in the Mediterranean, home to hundreds of thousands of inhabitants,
Speaker 1: dozens of languages, and several creeds. In Theodoric's youth, he
Speaker 1: learned to read and write not only in Latin, but
Speaker 1: also in Greek. He attended the imperial court, witnessed Roman ceremonies,
Speaker 1: and learned to keep his heretical faith secret. Roman citizens
Speaker 1: couldn't quite decide what to make of Theodoric. He was
Speaker 1: a Gothic boy from a barbarian family of war lords
Speaker 1: who could also recite prose in Latin. Though while Theodoric
Speaker 1: was making an impression in the imperial capital, his uncle
Speaker 1: and father existed in a constant state of warfare. It
Speaker 1: was Roman imperial policy to pit the Germanic tribes of
Speaker 1: Pannonia against one another. In the most recent cycle of violence,
Speaker 1: the Shii conducted raids against the Ostrogoths in the mid
Speaker 1: four hundred and sixties. It was during one such trade
Speaker 1: that Theodoric's uncle Valimir reportedly fell from his horse and died.
Speaker 1: Theodoric's father, Theodomir, took the throne and in four hundred
Speaker 1: and sixty nine, in revenge, besieged the Sharian stronghold of Bolia,
Speaker 1: winning despite opposition from the Eastern Roman emperor. In a
Speaker 1: twist of fate, at the same time, it was Oduaser's father, Edica,
Speaker 1: who was leading the Shii, while Theodoric's father obviously was
Speaker 1: leading the Ostrogoths. Edica, Oduaser's father, was killed in that battle, and,
Speaker 1: according to some sources and sources that I'm sure would
Speaker 1: make an excellent scene in a biopic, Oduwasser witnessed the
Speaker 1: death of his father on the battle field. Theodomir won
Speaker 1: Pannonia for the Ostrogoths, but that victory was tainted by
Speaker 1: the fact that Pannonia didn't have much fertile land for
Speaker 1: his people to settle on. He left in four hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy to conduct raids in the north. When he
Speaker 1: returned a year later, he was surprised to find his son, Theodoric,
Speaker 1: released from captivity. At seventeen years old. Theodoric was no
Speaker 1: longer a scrawny boy, but the spitting image of a young,
Speaker 1: capable leader. Without his father's knowledge, Theodoric raised a force
Speaker 1: of six thousand warriors and single handedly crushed the nearby
Speaker 1: Sarmatian people, personally killing their king. Whether or not we
Speaker 1: can trust that exaggerated account, what's clear is that Theodoric
Speaker 1: was eager to prove himself in the eyes of his
Speaker 1: Gothic family. Clearly, ten years in the imperial capital did
Speaker 1: not dampen his resolve to lead his own people, even
Speaker 1: if that meant, or perhaps especially if it meant spilling
Speaker 1: blood with his own hands. Decades later, Theodoric would trace
Speaker 1: the start of his own reign to that victory over
Speaker 1: the Sarmatians. It's no small feat that Theodoric assumed leadership
Speaker 1: over the Ostrogoths unopposed when his father died in four
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy four. It's even more remarkable that Theodoric
Speaker 1: held his position despite the constant poverty and insecurity his
Speaker 1: people faced. There was never enough fertile land in Pannonia
Speaker 1: or Macedonia for them to grow crops or feed livestock.
Speaker 1: The situation was so bad that Theodoric's uncle Vidimir had
Speaker 1: taken his own tribe westward in hopes of greener pastures.
Speaker 1: If Theodoric was to feed and clothe his army of
Speaker 1: ten thousand warriors, he would need to win imperial favor.
Speaker 1: That would prove a difficult task, especially because there was
Speaker 1: another Gothic king, a man named Strabo, who was in
Speaker 1: the picture. Some years earlier. Strabo won an annual shipment
Speaker 1: of two thousand pounds of gold after intimidating Constantinople, almost
Speaker 1: as much as Attila the hun had once received in tribute.
Speaker 1: The Eastern emperor also bequeathed Strabo with the title Supreme
Speaker 1: Commander of the Goths, which Theodoric did not take particularly well.
Speaker 1: An opportunity presented itself to Theodoric in four hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy four, when the sitting emperor died and a succession
Speaker 1: crisis unfolded between two upstarts. Strabo had thrown his support
Speaker 1: behind the losing party, and Theodoric, either by luck or prophecy,
Speaker 1: happened to choose the winning one, a man we've already
Speaker 1: met Zeno. When Zeno took control of the Eastern Empire
Speaker 1: in fours one hundred and seventy six, Zeno immediately deposed
Speaker 1: Strabo and elevated Theodoric to the position of supreme commander
Speaker 1: of the Goths, and even adopted Theodoric as his quote
Speaker 1: son in arms. But nice as they were, none of
Speaker 1: those tokens of support meant that the Ostrogoths were free
Speaker 1: from want. Around four hundred and seventy seven, Zeno ordered
Speaker 1: Theodoric to crush Strabo, who was holed up in a
Speaker 1: mountain pass, and in return, Zeno would give Theodoric enough
Speaker 1: grain for his people to last the winter. Zeno promised
Speaker 1: the Ostrogoths Roman soldiers, but when Theodoric came to the
Speaker 1: field of battle, the imperial forces were nowhere to be found.
Speaker 1: Zeno had lied, but Theodoric was intent on continuing the fight. Strabo,
Speaker 1: on the other hand, offered terms of peace, and Theodoric's
Speaker 1: followers implored their leader not to engage in battle again
Speaker 1: people they considered their kin. Theodoric's forty thousand troops laid
Speaker 1: down their arms, and the two Gothic leaders issued joint
Speaker 1: demands against Zeno for grain and status. Zeno was furious
Speaker 1: and frightened at the possibility of a united enemy. He
Speaker 1: sent messengers promising one thousand pounds of gold and ten
Speaker 1: thousand pounds of silver in addition to his daughter's hand
Speaker 1: in marriage, if Theodoric could defeat Strabo. Theodoric refused, but
Speaker 1: Zeno made a similar offer to Strabo in secret, which was,
Speaker 1: unfortunately for Theodoric accepted. From four hundred and seventy seven
Speaker 1: to four hundred and eighty, Theodoric had lost his title
Speaker 1: as a supreme commander, he lost his ability to feed
Speaker 1: his people, and he lost his lucrative alliance with the
Speaker 1: Eastern Roman Empire. His people were on the run, traveling
Speaker 1: in baggage trains that allegedly stretched for miles, pillaging cities
Speaker 1: for survival along their trail. In four hundred and eighty,
Speaker 1: a Roman general successfully raided Theodoric's baggage train, capturing some
Speaker 1: two thousand wagons and five thousand prisoners, nearly abducting Theodoric's
Speaker 1: own mother and brother. But the following year, Theodoric's fortunes reversed.
Speaker 1: Strabo accidentally fell from his horse and impaled himself on
Speaker 1: a lance while riding. Suddenly, his Gothic coalition descended into chaos,
Speaker 1: and even though Strabo's son won some control over what remained,
Speaker 1: there was no doubt that theodoricx Ostrogoths were the most
Speaker 1: powerful players in the region. Again, Zeno had no option
Speaker 1: but to court Theodoric's favor. He once again granted Theodoric
Speaker 1: the title of Supreme Commander in four hundred and eighty three,
Speaker 1: and even elevated him to the prestigious position of Roman
Speaker 1: Consul in four hundred and eighty four, which was the
Speaker 1: highest possible distinction that a Goth could receive from the Empire,
Speaker 1: but just to make his status secure, just in case,
Speaker 1: Theodoric also murdered Strabo's son in broad daylight. Theodoric's people
Speaker 1: won permission to settle the fertile land to the west
Speaker 1: of Constantinople, and to top it all off, Xeno erected
Speaker 1: a statue of Theodoric atop a battle horse right in
Speaker 1: the center of the imperial castle. But as expected, the
Speaker 1: fickle Zeno once again changed his mind, worried that Theodoric
Speaker 1: might betray him, and he sent an army against Theodoric
Speaker 1: in four hundred and eighty five. Theodoric responded by pillaging
Speaker 1: nearby towns and even besieging Constantinople, going so far as
Speaker 1: cutting off the city's drinking water. In four hundred and
Speaker 1: eighty eight, the two leaders finally came together and recognized
Speaker 1: that they could not both occupy the same territory in peace.
Speaker 1: It would be better for everyone if Theodoric took his
Speaker 1: roaming Gothic army out west. Zeno had wanted to depose
Speaker 1: Oduasser for some time, and who better to do the
Speaker 1: job than the unrelenting Ostrogoth Theodoric. Two birds with one stone.
Speaker 1: If Theodoric successfully defeated Oduaser, Zeno would grant him the
Speaker 1: illustrious title of Patricius, a status normally reserved for the
Speaker 1: most elite Roman citizens. In truth, Theodoric didn't need all
Speaker 1: that much convincing to leave. Even when times were good,
Speaker 1: the emperor's payments only came irregularly. His people continued to
Speaker 1: go hungry in infertile pastures. Many of them were uprooted
Speaker 1: from these sedentary lives of their forefathers. Theodoric knew better
Speaker 1: than any leader that the only thing worse than a
Speaker 1: hungry population was a hungry population with no one to
Speaker 1: fight and nowhere to go. According to the Chronicles, which
Speaker 1: should always be taken with a grain of salt, Theodoric
Speaker 1: set out from Macedonia at the head of one hundred
Speaker 1: thousand people. While we refer to all of them as Ostrogoths,
Speaker 1: they were in fact a motley mix of displaced people,
Speaker 1: many Germanic who scraped by to survive in times of
Speaker 1: nearly constant crisis. Some of them may have been lured
Speaker 1: by the growing legend of Theodoric, the man who had
Speaker 1: slayed a king as a teenager and brought the city
Speaker 1: of Constantinople to its knees. To contemporaries, Theodoric was a
Speaker 1: fairly unique leader, not quite a Barbarian king and not
Speaker 1: quite a Roman prince. We can imagine that Theodoric r
Speaker 1: his renown. He marched the thousand kilometers into Italy, intent
Speaker 1: on fulfilling his destiny. In the dead of winter four
Speaker 1: hundred and eighty eight, Oduasser, king of Italy, received a
Speaker 1: message that sent a shiver down his spine. To the
Speaker 1: northeast of Italy, a Germanic people known as the Gepids
Speaker 1: ruled an independent kingdom, which they proudly defended after decades
Speaker 1: of Hunnik rule and Roman incursions. Unfortunately for the Gepids,
Speaker 1: they lived on the road to Italy. Oduaser got a
Speaker 1: message that an army of about twenty thousand warriors commissioned
Speaker 1: by the Emperor Zeno crushed the once proud Gepid people
Speaker 1: and killed their king. Odoacer knew what was coming next.
Speaker 1: Zeno would certainly be sending an army to dethrone him.
Speaker 1: That much was clear when the emperor refined used Odoacer's
Speaker 1: white flags, which came to Constantinople in the form of
Speaker 1: chests of gold. But what Odoacer could not have predicted
Speaker 1: was that the famed warmonger Theodoric was at the army's
Speaker 1: helm at the battle against the Gepids in four hundred
Speaker 1: and eighty eight. When it seemed like the Goths might lose,
Speaker 1: Theodoric heroically led the charge that turned the tides. The
Speaker 1: fifth century bishop Inodius wrote an embellished account of the
Speaker 1: battle addressed directly to Theodoric. As a torrent devastates crops,
Speaker 1: as a lion devastates flocks, So did you devastate no
Speaker 1: one who met you could resist or escape your pursuit.
Speaker 1: You were transported everywhere as the spears ran out, Yet
Speaker 1: your rage still grew for you, venerable one who has
Speaker 1: sought out the savior of battle, unaccompanied, drove forward, Fortified
Speaker 1: by thousands, Oduacer wasted no time preparing for what he
Speaker 1: knew was an incoming invasion. He fortified a bridge over
Speaker 1: the river Isonzo, which Theodoric would need to pass in
Speaker 1: order to reach Italy proper, but that didn't do much
Speaker 1: to slow the invaders. Oduaser retreated to the city of Verona,
Speaker 1: but there too, the Ostrogoths overwhelmed Odoaser's forces. One of
Speaker 1: our few sources for an account of the battle comes
Speaker 1: from that bishop and Odius, but his text is particularly
Speaker 1: problematic because not only was he not an eyewitness to
Speaker 1: the events, but his intention for writing at all was
Speaker 1: to make Theodoric fit the mold of Greek and Roman
Speaker 1: heroes from legends past, like Achilles in the Iliad. Before
Speaker 1: the Battle of Verona, Theodoric turns to his mother and
Speaker 1: sister to bid them farewell, where he presents himself as
Speaker 1: a selfless hero duty bound to make good on his
Speaker 1: family's royal name. It looks like the battle might be
Speaker 1: won by Odoaser's forces, but Theodoric's arrival once again personally
Speaker 1: turned the tide. But Odoacer managed to wriggle free from
Speaker 1: his enemy's grasp and live to fight another day. At
Speaker 1: this point, it seemed to most observers that Theodoric would
Speaker 1: surely conquer all of Italy. Opportunistic warlords took advantage of
Speaker 1: Odoacer's weakness to invade Sicily in the south and the
Speaker 1: Alps in the north. Even Odowasser's chief general briefly defected
Speaker 1: to Theodoric's side. Archaeologists have excavated coins from this period
Speaker 1: during Oduaser's rule. These silver pieces bear a portrait of
Speaker 1: a bare headed king entitled Flavius Oduaser, meaning Odouaser, servant
Speaker 1: of the Emperor. No Germanic king before him had minted
Speaker 1: silver coins, let alone coins in the style of the
Speaker 1: Roman Empire. Meanwhile, Oduaser elevated his son Thela to the
Speaker 1: position of caesar of the West. Now some of this
Speaker 1: is a little strange. Why would Oduaser be concerning himself
Speaker 1: with the prestige of coins and titles at the very
Speaker 1: moment that control was very literally slipping from his grasp.
Speaker 1: Did he truly believe that the prophecy was on his side,
Speaker 1: that he would in the end prevail, Or did he decide,
Speaker 1: after suffering defeat after defeat that if he couldn't actually
Speaker 1: have an empire to himself, he could at least pretend
Speaker 1: through trappings. Any chances Oduaser had of victory were crushed.
Speaker 1: On August eleventh, four hundred and ninety one year from
Speaker 1: the start of the invasion, the two sides met at
Speaker 1: a river outside Milan, and both suffered enormous losses in
Speaker 1: a battle that Theodoric technically won. The Ostrogoths pursued Oduaser
Speaker 1: all the way to his capital city, Ravena, where they
Speaker 1: established a camp in a pine grove just outside the
Speaker 1: city walls. There was no way Theodoric could storm the city,
Speaker 1: which sat in the middle of the lagoon, so he
Speaker 1: dug in for a siege. He ordered his army to
Speaker 1: block all land routes to the city, cutting off access
Speaker 1: to food and water. Meanwhile, his men, as with many
Speaker 1: other invading armies in Italy's history, rampaged across the nearby countryside,
Speaker 1: searching for supplies and families to enslave. We can't accurately
Speaker 1: portray the toll that the invasion took on the people
Speaker 1: living in Italy at the time, but some sources refer
Speaker 1: to their suffering in passing mass famines in the north,
Speaker 1: Thousands abducted and held for ransom, Whole cities displaced by
Speaker 1: pillaging warriors on both sides. Those that fled for their
Speaker 1: lives mainly ended up in Rome, but the Church could
Speaker 1: feed only so many hungry mouths. Rumors spread like wildfire
Speaker 1: that the war signaled the coming of the Antichrist. Needless
Speaker 1: to say, these accounts temper the usual depiction of Theodoric
Speaker 1: as a great and selfless, almost godlike ruler. In fact,
Speaker 1: like all other kings of the era, he was just
Speaker 1: as ruthless, just as power hungry, and just as callous
Speaker 1: as the worst of them. That was a lesson that
Speaker 1: Oduaser was about to learn. The siege that started in
Speaker 1: the summer of four hundred and ninety became utterly intolerable
Speaker 1: for the citizens of Ravena by the middle of four
Speaker 1: hundred and ninety two, when Theodore Yorick used ships to
Speaker 1: block the city's access to the sea, it was official
Speaker 1: the city was fully surrounded. No supplies were getting in
Speaker 1: or out, and the city barely had enough to last
Speaker 1: the year. It's reported that at the start of four
Speaker 1: hundred and ninety three, the citizens of Ravena resorted to
Speaker 1: eating weeds and leather. Oduwaser requested to begin negotiations in February,
Speaker 1: though Theodoric would only agree if Oduwaser sent his son
Speaker 1: Theyla as a hostage. What choice did Oduaser have. He
Speaker 1: sent his son, and bargaining commenced on February twenty fifth,
Speaker 1: four hundred and ninety three. Messengers scurried back and forth
Speaker 1: between Ravena and Theodoric's encampment. Even the local bishop traveled
Speaker 1: between both sides, imploring both men for an end to
Speaker 1: the hostilities. After nearly four years of civil war in Italy,
Speaker 1: of pillaged towns and scorched fields, Theodoric and Odoacer came
Speaker 1: to an agreement they would resurrect the Western Roman Empire
Speaker 1: and rule it jointly. On March fifth, Theodoric and his
Speaker 1: retinue paraded into Ravena, no doubt full of applauding citizens
Speaker 1: hopeful for the future. Perhaps it was an especially meaningful
Speaker 1: day for the few followers who remembered that Theodoric's father
Speaker 1: had defeated and possibly killed Odoacer's father in battle some
Speaker 1: three decades before history did not have to repeat itself.
Speaker 1: Vendettas could turn into truces, sieges, into celebrations. The two
Speaker 1: co emperors communicated daily in the first week of this
Speaker 1: new chapter in Roman history. In the midst of the buzz,
Speaker 1: Oduaser decided to visit a palace in the city known
Speaker 1: as the Laurel Grove. This was March fifteenth. As he
Speaker 1: was taking a stroll, Odoacer was approached by two shrouded
Speaker 1: beggars who were asking for help from their imperial master. But,
Speaker 1: as you might recall from the introduction, before he could respond,
Speaker 1: the two men grabbed his arms, and a swarm of
Speaker 1: Ostrogothic soldiers made quick work of Odoacer's bodyguards. Then, out
Speaker 1: of the shadows, a middle aged man appeared with the
Speaker 1: sword drawn. It was Theodoric himself. The famed warrior took
Speaker 1: his blade and slashed Oduaser from the collar bone to
Speaker 1: the hip, at which point Oduaser yelled out, where is God.
Speaker 1: According to one probably apocryphal source, Theodoric murdered Oduaser, his
Speaker 1: co emperor, in a single stroke, as predicted by Saint Severinus.
Speaker 1: Odoacer's reign as king of Italy ended after fourteen years. Strangely,
Speaker 1: it's reported that Theodoric shouted, this is exactly what you
Speaker 1: did to my relatives at the dying Oduacer. We have
Speaker 1: no record of Oduaser killing a relative of Theodorics. Instead,
Speaker 1: we do have a record of Theodoric's father killing Odoacer's father.
Speaker 1: In all likelihood, Theodoric was using whatever justification he could
Speaker 1: to carry out the execution. In fact, the assassination was
Speaker 1: just one part in a meticulously planned massacre in which
Speaker 1: Oduaser's chief lieutenants were all shot down. Within the city,
Speaker 1: soldiers chased Oduaser's brother into a church, where they were
Speaker 1: prevented from slaying him according to the rules of sanctuary,
Speaker 1: but they technically didn't need to be inside the church
Speaker 1: to kill him with arrows. Soldiers captured Odoacer's mother and
Speaker 1: threw her in prison, where she died of starvation. Theodoric
Speaker 1: released Odoacer's son, Thela, but he too was eventually hunted down.
Speaker 1: There would be no joint rule in Theodoric's new Italy.
Speaker 1: He had spent too long managing his relationships with anxious
Speaker 1: emperors and fickle allies. After all, a Gothic king proved
Speaker 1: his right to rule by the blood on his hands,
Speaker 1: not the treaties he signed. And what greater show of
Speaker 1: might than to bend prophecy to your will. That's the
Speaker 1: story of Odoacer and Theodoric. But keep listening after a
Speaker 1: brief sponsor break to hear a little bit more about
Speaker 1: how Theodoric story specific evolved into one very particular folk legend.
Speaker 1: Theodoric ruled for thirty three years after his betrayal of Oduaser.
Speaker 1: Contemporary chronicles treat the new king of Italy as an
Speaker 1: enlightened ruler. He settled his people in the north of Italy,
Speaker 1: revived games in the Colosseum, and even rebuilt some of
Speaker 1: Rome's monuments. He styled himself heir to the Roman imperial throne,
Speaker 1: but never lost his mantle as king of the Ostrogoths.
Speaker 1: He went as far as to conquer Spain and North Africa.
Speaker 1: But Theodoric's legend far exceeded his century. For one thousand
Speaker 1: years following his rule, Theodoric's legend seeped into Central European
Speaker 1: popular culture and literature. His history slowly evolved into the
Speaker 1: myth of a German hero named Dietrich von Berne. While
Speaker 1: Theodoric came to Italy as an invader from Pannonia, the
Speaker 1: legendary Dietrich was born in Verona and reclaimed Italy as
Speaker 1: its rightful heir. Theodoric conquered fearsome Germanic foes on his
Speaker 1: path to a kingdom in Italy, but those foes were
Speaker 1: all merely human. Dietrich fought giants, dragons, and worms. In
Speaker 1: some medieval texts. He has even described as a fire breather.
Speaker 1: As with many other oral traditions, Dietrich's story intermingled with
Speaker 1: other heroic narratives from Norse and German mythology. In one example,
Speaker 1: the Germanic hero Siegfried encounters a fire breathing Dietrich as
Speaker 1: he attempts to protect the princess crime Hilled. Stories like
Speaker 1: this are often depicted in tapestries that once adorned the
Speaker 1: halls of German nobility. One of Dietrich's most famous medieval
Speaker 1: stories begins with three giants sitting around complaining over the
Speaker 1: fact that Dietrich has won favor for his heroic deeds,
Speaker 1: whereas the giants never do. A queen approaches the leader
Speaker 1: of the giants, the giant named Ek, and requests that
Speaker 1: he bring Dietrich to her alive for the mission. The
Speaker 1: queen gives Ek armor and a sword, which have been
Speaker 1: soaked in dragon blood and thereby rendered unbeatable. Ek travels
Speaker 1: to the Alps and challenges Dietrich to a duel, but
Speaker 1: our hero refuses. The giant has done him no wrong.
Speaker 1: Eck calls him a coward, and that seals the deal.
Speaker 1: Dietrich pounces on him, but after a prolonged fight, he
Speaker 1: realizes that his foes dragon blood armor can't be penetrated.
Speaker 1: According to the myth, Dietrich is forced to dishonorably stab
Speaker 1: Act through a gap in his armor, at which point
Speaker 1: the leader of the giants dies, takes the armor and
Speaker 1: the sword for himself, and goes on to slay the
Speaker 1: remaining two giants after him. In some stories, the queen
Speaker 1: admits to having wanted the giant's slain all along. In another,
Speaker 1: the last giant treacherously leads Dietrich to murder the remaining
Speaker 1: giants in his family. One version of the myth an
Speaker 1: attempt to connect the fantastical Dietrich with the historical. Theodoric
Speaker 1: explains that the sword Dietrich one from Eck became the
Speaker 1: very blade that Dietrich used to murder Oduaser Oduaser, mortal
Speaker 1: man that he was was no match for a blade
Speaker 1: soaked in dragon's blood and its fire breathing master. Ow
Speaker 1: Blood is a production of iHeart Radio and Grimm and
Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Mank. Noble Blood is created and hosted
Speaker 1: by me Dana Shworts, with additional writing and researching by
Speaker 1: Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori Goodman.
Speaker 1: The show is edited and produced by Noemi Griffin and
Speaker 1: rima Il Kahali, with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive
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