Theodahad : a platonic king at the collapse of Ostrogothic Italy / Massimiliano Vitiello.

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Painting a picture of an unlikely king whose reign helped spell the end of Ostrogothic Italy, Vitiello's book not only illuminates Theodahad's own life but also offers new insight into the sixth-century Mediterranean world.

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Theodahad was the wrong man to become the Ostrogothic king in the Italy of the 530s. Well-trained in rhetoric, philosophy, and Latin, this Goth had no military training or political experience. Vitiello (Univ. of Missouri, Kansas City) re-creates a portrait of those war-torn times by analyzing two complementary sources: the Gothic history of Procopius of Caesarea and the letters of Cassiodorus, who served several Gothic rulers. In the process, the author describes important aspects of sixth-century Italy: Theodoric's reign, the role of women, intellectual life, and local and international diplomacy from papal Rome to Byzantium. Theodahad, despite his Roman education and "unmanly" spirit--or perhaps because of these--developed an inordinate avarice for land, for which Theodoric chastised him and Procopius castigated him, as did his own emperor, Justinian. Theodahad's failure as a king did not last long; after killing his cousin the queen, he was deposed for failing to defend Naples from Belisarius and slain, while in flight to Ravenna, by the new king's agent. Characterized by scholarly caution, critical analysis, and heavy annotations, this is a detailed biography of the last days of Ostrogothic Italy and the first full treatment of its little-known king Theodahad. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty. --Steven Bowman, University of Cincinnati