Amalasuintha

Amalasuintha (495 – 30 April 534/535) was a ruler of Ostrogothic Kingdom from 526 to 535. She ruled first as regent for her son and thereafter as queen on throne. A regent is "a person who governs a kingdom in the minority, absence, or disability of the sovereign." In Amalasuintha’s case it was the minority of her son Athalaric who was only 10 at the time of her father and King Theodoric’s death. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Ostrogothic Kingdom’s borders stretched a little farther than modern-day Italy’s borders. Amalasuintha was highly educated, especially as a woman in the 6th century, a time where education for any human was extremely rare. In fact, she was praised by both Cassiodorus, and Procopius for her wisdom and her ability to speak three languages, (Greek, Gothic, Latin). Along with being wise, she was known for her Roman virtues and values, which became an issue amongst her inner circle of people during her regency. Of all the things to have occurred during her time as ruler, she is mostly known for her cousin Theohadad’s betrayal and assassination of her in the year 535. There has been little modern literature on Amalasuintha, and it’s unfortunate that her assassination is what’s most known about her because it undervalues her time on the throne and her ability to rule.

Family

To understand Amalasuintha’s life and connection to the throne, it's necessary to begin with her family. Amalasuintha was likely born in Ravenna in 495 and was the only child of Theodoric and his wife Audofleda, the sister of Clovis, King of the Franks. The union of Amalasuintha’s parents were of a political purpose, as many royal marriages were at the time. Theodoric married Audofleda about the year 493, after Theodoric had defeated the various Gothic kingdoms and sought an alliance with the Franks. Amalasuintha was born into the Amali dynasty on her father’s side of the family. The Amali dynasty was a dynasty of Goths, who were of Germanic descent. Like her father, Amalasuintha married out of political reasons. In 515, Amalasuintha married Eutheric, a prince of the Amali dynasty, to ensure a legitimate heir to the throne. It would seem odd to modern readers for someone marry within their own family dynasty, but it’s important to understand it was common during this time and was seen as a way to strengthen the heirs right to the throne. Together Amalasuintha and Eutheric had two children together Athalaric and Matasuntha. Eutheric died in 522 a few years before Amalasuintha's father and King Theodoric's death in 526, this concerned Theodoric because his Kingdom lacked an adult male heir to the throne. Indeed, as Amalasuintha's son Athalaric was only 10 years old at the time of Theodoric's death, Amalasuintha took control of the Kingdom alongside her son as regent. Although accounts by Cassiodorus and Procopius refer Athalaric as King, nevertheless Amalasuintha effectively ruled on behalf of Athalaric.

Rule

Regent

After the death of her father in 526, Amalasuintha served alongside her son as a regent queen from 526 to 534 when Athalaric died from what was most likely from the combination of excessive drinking, which was a part of Gothic culture, and it being likely that he had diabetes. All though some sources refer to Athalaric as King, Amalasuintha effectively ruled on his behalf. A child of his age would not have been able to rule effectively. Theodoric most likely named him his heir due to the Ostrogothic Society being a patriarchy. With many people in the Senate wanting a male ruler rather than Amalasuintha, she had to make decisive decisions to combat the tensions. Her being female wasn’t the only reason individuals in the gothic senate didn’t like her was because of her Roman education and influence on her son. According to Procopius, the Gothic Aristocracy wanted Athalaric to be grown up in the barbarian way, but Amalasuintha wanted him to be raised to resemble the Roman princes. Amalasuintha had close ties to Justinian I, the emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Knowing how the gothic aristocrats viewed Amalasuintha’s roman virtues and education, her ties to Justinian would have certainly made the nobles object her rule more. Before Athalaric could get to the proper age he began to become ill. With the news that Athalaric was becoming too Ill, Amalasuintha new as an unmarried woman, it would be unlikely for her to remain in power. To secure the power in the Amali name, Amalasuintha created the consortium regni that allowed her to continue to rule as queen while still presenting a public face that honored conservative Gothic tradition. Also, she appointed her older cousin Theohadad to rule as co-regent, in which Amalasuintha would play the male character and Theohadad would play the woman, as male and female monarchs sharing powers. Masculinity is the main characteristic attributed to Amalasuintha by Procopius and Cassiodorus, because she had a strong determination and temperament.
----Her tremendous influence in her position as regent can be seen in a diptych of Rufius Gennadius Probus Orestes in which she appears alongside her son, Athalaric, in 530. Deeply imbued with the old Roman culture, she gave to that son's education a more refined and literary turn than suited the ideas of her Gothic subjects. Conscious of her unpopularity she banished – and afterwards put to death – three Gothic nobles whom she suspected of conspiring against her rule. At the same time, she opened negotiations with the Byzantine emperor Justinian I with the view of removing herself and the Gothic treasure to Constantinople.

Queen Regnant

After Athalaric's death, Amalasuintha became queen, ruling alone only for a short while before making her cousin Theodahad co-ruler (not, as sometimes stated, her husband, for his wife was still living), with the intent of strengthening her position. Theodahad was a prominent leader of the Gothic military aristocracy, the very group that so opposed her pro-Roman stances. Amalasuintha believed this pairing would help to make supporters out of her harshest critics. However, Theodahad fostered the disaffection of the Goths, and either by his orders or with his permission, Amalasuintha was imprisoned on the island of Martana, located in the lake of Bolsena in northern Lazio, where on 30 April in the spring of 534/535, she was murdered in her bath.

Death

The death of Amalasuintha gave Justinian I a reason to go to war with the Ostrogoths and attempt to take Italy. According to the Eastern Roman historian Procopius, Amalasuintha was thinking about handing over Italy to Justinian around the time of her death. Shortly after Amalasuintha's murder, Theodahad was replaced by Witigis, Amalasuintha's son-in-law. With the people's support, Witigis had Theodahad put to death.

Sources

The letters of Cassiodorus, chief minister and literary adviser of Amalasuintha, and the histories of Procopius and Jordanes, give us our chief information as to the character of Amalasuintha. Cassiodorus was a part of a greater pro-Roman party that desired to Romanize the traditional Ostrogothic kingship, further evidence of the pro-Roman circle that Amalasuintha surrounded herself with.

Legacy

The life of Amalasuintha was made the subject of a tragedy, the first play written by the young Carlo Goldoni and presented at Milan in 1733.

Romanian poet George Coșbuc wrote a poem entitled ''Regina Ostrogotilor (The Queen of the Ostrogoths)'' in which Amalasuintha (named Amalasunda in the poem) speaks to Theodahad (mentioned as Teodat in the poem) shortly before he kills her.

Asteroid 650 Amalasuntha is named in her honour.

Amalasuintha is portrayed by Honor Blackman in the 1968 film ''Kampf um Rom.''

References

Further reading

*Craddock, Jonathan Paul. ''Amalasuintha: Ostrogothic Successor, A.D. 526–535''. PhD diss. California State University, Long Beach, 1996.
*Vitiello, Massimiliano. ''Amalasuintha: The Transformation of Queenship in the Post-Roman World''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018.

{{Authority control

Year of birth unknown
535 deaths
6th-century women rulers
Ostrogothic queens consort
Ostrogothic kings
Amali dynasty
6th-century monarchs in Europe
6th-century murdered monarchs
6th-century Ostrogothic people
6th-century Italian women
6th-century Christians
6th-century scholars
Women scholars and academics
Scholars of Latin literature
Scholars of Greek language
Queens regnant
6th-century kings of Italy