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King[1] of [the] Goths[2] and Italians, he stood out among his subjects, being endowed with whatever is suited to the nature of a king. He was exceptionally concerned with justice and preserved the laws securely. He unfailingly protected his territory from the surrounding barbarians. He reached the height of understanding and courage as much as possible. He neither did practically any injustice himself to his subjects nor entrusted the undertaking of such deeds to anyone else. In name he was a tyrant, but in deed he was a true king no less than any of those who have been approved in this rank from the beginning. Love of him reached a high point among both the Goths and the Italians.

*qeude/rixos, r(h\c *go/tqwn kai\ *)italiwtw=n, tw=n kathko/wn au)tou= prou)/sth, periballo/menos o(/sa tw=| fu/sei basilei= h(/rmostai. dikaiosu/nhs te ga\r u(perfuw=s e)pemelh/sato kai\ tou\s no/mous e)n tw=| bebai/w| diesw/sato, e)/k te barba/rwn tw=n perioikou/ntwn th\n xw/ran a)sfalw=s diefu/lace: cune/sew/s te ga\r kai\ a)ndrei/as e)s a)/kron e)lh/luqen w(s ma/lista kai\ a)di/khma sxedo/n ti ou)de\n ou)/te au)to\s e)s tou\s a)rxome/nous ei)rga/zeto ou)/te tw| a)/llw| ta\ toiau=ta e)gkexeirhko/ti e)pe/trepe. kai\ h)=n lo/gw| me\n tu/rannos, e)/rgw| de\ basileu\s a)lhqh\s tw=n e)n tau/th| th=| timh=| e)c a)rxh=s hu)dokimhko/twn ou)deno\s h(/sswn, e)/rws te au)tou= e)/n te *go/tqois kai\ *)italiw/tais polu\s h)/kmasen.

King of the Ostrogoths 471-526. Reigned in Italy 493-526. See also theta 297; P.J. Heather in OCD(4) s.v. Theoderic(1); Catholic Encyclopedia entry at web address 1; PLRE II s.v. Theodericus(7). The present passage is a summary of Procopius, History of the Wars of Justinian 5.1.26-29 (web address 2); cf. Kaldellis (253-254).
[1] The Greek word basileus occurs twice later in the passage, but this is a straight transliteration of the Latin rex (which Procopius himself had felt the need to gloss); cf. rho 136.
[2] gamma 406.

J.J. Arnold, Theoderic and the Roman Imperial Restoration (Cambridge 2014); reviewed BMCR 2015.04.50
J.R. Martindale, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, vol. II, (Cambridge 1980)
A. Kaldellis, ed. and H.B. Dewing, trans., Prokopios: The Wars of Justinian, (Indianapolis 2014)

David Whitehead (added note; augmented keywords; cosmetics) on 14 July 2003@03:03:56.
David Whitehead (augmented notes) on 14 July 2003@03:13:40.
Catharine Roth (added another spelling of the headword) on 24 August 2003@23:54:33.
David Whitehead (tweaked note; added a keyword) on 5 May 2006@04:09:47.
David Whitehead (more keywords; cosmetics) on 2 January 2013@05:23:53.
David Whitehead on 5 August 2014@07:11:24.
David Whitehead (added bibliography) on 29 April 2015@02:45:35.
Ronald Allen (augmented primary note, added to bibliography, added link) on 24 February 2024@11:55:50.

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