a man of real merit and distinction——Theodoric

Theodoric captured Odoacer, but he promised to spare his life. Instead, he invited him to a banquet and stabbed him to death.

It has always puzzled me that Theodoric could have done something so monstrous, because in other ways he was a truly great ruler, a man of real merit and distinction.

He made sure that the Goths lived in peace with the Italians and gave his warriors no more than one piece of land each to farm. He chose Ravenna, a harbor town in northern Italy, to be his capital and built beautiful churches decorated with wonderful brightly colored mosaics.

This was all quite unexpected. That the Ostrogoths might succeed in building themselves a mighty and prosperous kingdom in Italy, one that would one day pose a threat to the imperial rule in Constantinople, is something that would never have occurred to the Emperor of the East, who must have regretted his advice.

狄奥多里克俘获了日耳曼统帅奥多亚塞。狄奥多里克虽然允诺免他一死，但是后来却在一个宴会上将他刺死。我始终感到奇怪，狄奥多里克怎么会做出这样令人恶心的事情来，因为撇开这一点不谈，他是一位真正伟大、著名和有教养的君主。他力主让哥特人和意大利和睦相处并只分给他的每一名武士一块可耕作的田地。他选择上意大利的一座港口城市拉韦纳做首都。他在那里建造镶嵌美妙的彩色马赛克（在美术中，用各种颜色的小块材料如石块、玻璃、瓷片或贝壳等紧密拼集在黏附性底材上的表面装饰）的漂亮教堂。东罗马的皇帝们却没有想到会这样，他们不相信东哥特人会在那边的意大利建造一个强大和繁荣的国家,一个最终会对君士坦丁堡的统治者们构成威胁的国家。