[gothic-l] Re: Administration of Ostrogothic Italy

[faltin2001]

--- In gothic-l at y..., andreas.schwarcz at u... wrote:
> Dear Dirk,
> after the capitulation of Vitigis none of his successors could
unite
> the control of the Ostrogothic army with recognition as a rightful
> ruler by the senatorial aristocracy and the Senate of Rome.
> Hildebad and Erarich controlled only a small part of Italy north of
ht
> river Po and Totila, who in 546/547 was lord of most of Italy for a
> short time, did not conquer Ravenna and could not keep Rome. he
> treated the senators in his power as hostages, not as partners in
> power. Only when he conquered Rome a second time  in 550, he
> was able to form a Senate to support his rule, and the hostages
> taken from these families were killed by his successor Teja. For
> most of the time between 539 and 555 the Roman administration of
> Italy was controlled by the generals of Justinian and they were
> supported by the senatorial aristocracy. There were also Romans
> supporting Totila, at least at the zenith of his success, but the
rule
> of the Ostrogothic kings after 539 was based on military structures
> and  Gothic comites civitatis in their territory, not by a Roman
civil
> administration except civic and ecclesiastical structures like the
> bishops, who led the urban administration of the cities.
> Kind regards
>


Dear Andreas,

That is very interesting. It appears that the defeat and surrender of
Vitigis presented a bigger break in the Ostrogothic state than I had
thought before. Interestingly, this break is also reflected in the
coinage of the time. Totila and Teja (the only kings after Vitigis
who minted coins) dropped much of the Roman imagery and references
from their coins. In their gold coinage they no longer used the name
of Justinian. Instead they did something very unusual. They reverted
back to using the name of the long-dead Anastasius. Apparently,
taking the step (like the Frankish king Theodebert) of putting their
own names on gold coins still seen as going too daring.

cheers,
Dirk









------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Tiny Wireless Camera under $80!
Order Now! FREE VCR Commander!
Click Here - Only 1 Day Left!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/WoOlbB/7.PDAA/ySSFAA/wWMplB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

You are a member of the Gothic-L list.  To unsubscribe, send a blank email to <gothic-l-unsubscribe at egroups.com>.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/