- Carolingian Frontiers: Italy and Beyond
- Edited by Maddalena Betti, Francesco Borri, Stefano Gasparri
Waiting for the barbarians: the frontiers of the Ostrogothic Kingdom during the reign of Theoderic
- Marco Cristini
- © 2024 Author(s) |
- CC BY 4.0
- DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-0416-3.07
Several letters written by Cassiodorus deal with Ostrogothic borders, describing the forts that guarded the Alpine passes, discussing the administration of frontier areas or lingering on the virtues and the vices of the people who inhabited them. The evidence provided by the Variae indicates that frontiers were a crucial part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom during the reign of Theoderic, not only because they were the gates of Italy and had to be garrisoned to prevent hostile incursions, but also because they became a cornerstone of his political communication, stressing the difference between “Romanized” Goths and the “savage” tribes who lived beyond the Alps.
- Keywords:
- 5th–6th centuries,
- Italian frontiers,
- Ostrogoths,
- Theoderic,
- Cassiodorus,
- Variae,
University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-9629-5119
Chapter Information
Chapter Title
Waiting for the barbarians: the frontiers of the Ostrogothic Kingdom during the reign of Theoderic
Authors
Marco Cristini
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0416-3.07
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Bibliographic Information
Book Title
Carolingian Frontiers: Italy and Beyond
Editors
Maddalena Betti, Francesco Borri, Stefano Gasparri
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
354
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0416-3
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0415-6
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0416-3
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0418-7
Series Title
Reti Medievali E-Book
Series ISSN
2704-6362
Series E-ISSN
2704-6079