Eraric (died 541) was briefly King of the

Ostrogoth The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

s, elected as the most distinguished among the

Rugians The Rugii, Rogi or Rugians ( grc, Ρογοί, Rogoi), were a Roman-era Germanic people. They were first clearly recorded by Tacitus, in his ''Germania'' who called them the ''Rugii'', and located them near the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Som ...

in the confederation of the Ostrogoths. The Goths were vexed at the presumption of the Rugians, but nevertheless they recognized Eraric. He summoned a council directed to convincing the confederation to make peace with the Eastern Roman emperor

Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

, under Roman suzerainty. The Ostrogoths opposed the ceasefire under the negotiations, and they instead elected

Ildibad Ildibad (sometimes rendered Hildebad or Heldebadus) (died 541) was a king of the Ostrogoths in Italy in 540–541. Biography Ildibad was a nephew of Theudis, an Ostrogoth king of the Visigoths in Spain. This relationship led Peter Heather to sugges ...

's nephew

Totila Totila, original name Baduila (died 1 July 552), was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of the Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the t ...

. Soon afterwards Eraric was killed by Totila's followers after a reign of five months.''The Age of Justinian: The Circumstances of Imperial Power'', p. 151, by J. A. S. Evans. Routledge, 2002.

References

External links

History of the later Roman Empire from the death of Theodosius I ..., Volume 2
by

John Bagnell Bury John Bagnell Bury (; 16 October 1861 – 1 June 1927) was an Anglo-Irish historian, classical scholar, Medieval Roman historian and philologist. He objected to the label "Byzantinist" explicitly in the preface to the 1889 edition of his ''Lat ...

. 6th-century kings of Italy Ostrogothic kings Rugian people 541 deaths Assassinated Gothic people 6th-century murdered monarchs 6th-century rulers in Europe 6th-century Ostrogothic people People of the Gothic War (535–554) Year of birth unknown {{Europe-royal-stub