in late 534 Amalasuintha raised Theodahad to the throne, she did so with another reference to Roman culture, celebrating her cousin for his Platonic virtues and for his knowledge of literature.52 This was not entirely a lie, considering Theodahad’s interest in philosophy; in Cassiodorus’s words, he was nourished at the breast of Rome.53 Such a representation was also in line with Amalasuintha’s wish to commemorate her father as a purple-clad philosopher in late 533: “To the master of the state, you [i.e., Cassiodorus] acted as a household judge, and a private courtier. For, when free from public business, he asked you to recount the opinions of the wise, so that he might compare his own deeds with those of antiquity. The courses of the stars, the gulfs of the sea, the marvels of springs were investigated by this shrewd enquirer, so that, by diligent scrutiny of the natural world, he might seem a kind of purple-clad philosopher (purpuratus philosophus).”54 This image of Theoderic reflected Amalasuintha’s ideals, and perhaps also her wishes for Athalaric; but it was Amalasuintha herself whom Cassiodorus represented as the one whose firmness of mind “surpasses even the most famous philosophers,” because “from her mouth issue words of goodwill, and promises that can be trusted.”55 The Platonic Theodahad would celebrate her as model for the philosophers: “Certainly the philosophers would really learn new things, if they saw [her] and if they would acknowledge how much more inferior are the contents of their books, to the things they could understand [that are] ascribed to her.”56
Returning to the question of Amalasuintha’s youth and education, we should consider the circumstances under which Barbara was summoned to the palace, probably as a mentor, around 510. This choice took place at a troubled moment for the dynasty. Audefleda was probably alive in 506/7, when Ennodius in his panegyric warmly wished that Theoderic would receive a male heir soon, a sacer parvolus who would play on his lap.57 But it seems likely that the queen died shortly afterward. There is no reference to her in the Variae (the earliest of which date to circa 507), and she probably died shortly after 508. This is speculative, because Audefleda’s death is not recorded by any of our authors, and we do not know how she died. We have only the story of Gregory of Tours, who claims that Amalasuintha killed her own mother, but we have no reason to seriously entertain his version (particularly since he claims that all this happened after the death of Theoderic!).58 But what we do know is that in 510 Theoderic was in his late fifties and still without a direct heir. It is reasonable to think that at this point the king, who after he was widowed never remarried, had given up the idea of a son, and that he changed his strategy for a successor.
While Theoderic was searching for the right husband for his daughter, Amalasuintha was at a formative age. At this point Theoderic probably did not have a precise plan about how to regulate his succession. But Amalasuintha was now the best candidate to be the future queen of Italy and to govern over the Romans (especially considering the reservations that Theoderic had about Theodahad, which I discuss later). An education was not just desirable; it was indispensable for Theoderic’s daughter. Barbara belonged to the crème de la crème of the female aristocracy of the old capital, and given her political and cultural connections with the senatorial environment, she was the ideal figure to bring to the palace. Not only was she an exemplary instructor of grammar and of manners (as Ennodius claims), she was also the right person to prepare Amalasuintha for the female world of power, including politics and diplomacy.
Amalasuintha benefited from a much higher level of education than Amalafrida and Amalaberga, whose instruction, as I discuss later, was functional to the queenship and who were trained to offer their husbands wisdom and advice.59 For Amalasuintha, Roman culture had become a necessity for her future role in the government. Indeed, after his Frankish wife died, Theoderic had to rely on her, his only still-unmarried daughter, in order to provide Italy with an Amal heir. Now more than ever, Amalasuintha had become her father’s biggest treasure.
Promising Unions: Amalasuintha’s Marriage and Theoderic’s Dreams
By the time Amalasuintha was nearing the age of twenty, she was the only legitimate child of Theoderic living in Italy, and also the only daughter who had not yet been given in marriage. In order to guarantee succession to his throne, Theoderic could not let her leave Italy to marry another king. He needed to keep her close to him. Theoretically, he could have arranged a marriage with a scion of one of the Gothic aristocratic families in Ravenna, or perhaps with his own nephew Theodahad, who was an Amal. But for a series of dynastic and expansionistic reasons, Theoderic never embraced these options, nor did he seriously consider Theodahad.60 Rather, he searched for Amalasuintha’s husband outside his palace and even outside Italy.
While evaluating the various options, he “discovered” a branch of the Amal family in Visigothic Spain. We read in Jordanes that Theoderic learned that Eutharic Cilliga was living in the kingdom of Amalaric. Apparently an Amal of Spain, he was the son of Veteric, the grandson of the Amal Beremud and the great-grandson of Thorismuth.61 No matter whether this suspicious Amal ancestry was real, or whether it was made up by Theoderic for dynastic reasons, this kinship could guarantee the continuation of the Amal dynasty in Italy, while facilitating acceptance of an external heir by the emperor and also by the Goths. The propaganda on this ancestry was strong to the point that Cassiodorus would celebrate Thorismuth and his father Hunimund as Amalasuintha’s direct ancestors in his letter-panegyric—probably drawing on his Gothic History.62
The arrangements Theoderic made for Amalasuintha’s betrothal were very unlike those he had made previously for his other daughters. Instead of sending Amalasuintha to Spain, in 515 Theoderic invited her chosen spouse to come to Italy: “[Theoderic] sent for him and gave him his daughter Amalasuintha in marriage,” writes Jordanes.63 Cassiodorus listed this event in his Chronicle,64 and he eulogized Eutharic in his lost History as an Amal descendant in possession of the qualities necessary for a military leader and a Gothic king. Jordanes relied upon this History when he wrote of these needed qualities in his Getica: “a descendant of the race of the Amals (Amalorum) … a young man strong (pollentem) in wisdom (prudentia) and valor (virtute) and health of body.”65 Cassiodorus would later use this same combination of qualities to celebrate Theodahad as the ideal ruler for both Romans and Goths: “I have had many wise men (prudentes viros), but none of such might (pollentem) in learning and piety. I love the Amal (Hamalum) … the brave man (virum fortem) … dear to the Romans for his wisdom (prudentia), revered for his valor (gentibus virtute) by the tribes.”66 According to this (Cassiodoran) representation, Amal heritage combined with prudentia et virtus was the formula for rule over the Romans and Goths. This was an important aspect of the propaganda of the kingdom, and in a letter in Theoderic’s name dating years earlier we read about the Goths: “They have always maintained a praiseworthy mean, since they have acquired the wisdom of the Romans (Romanorum prudentia), and have inherited the valor of the peoples (virtutem gentium).”67
Because of the lineage of both Amalaric and Eutharic, Theoderic’s relationship with Visigothic Spain had become stronger. Jordanes, revealing once again the perspective of Cassiodorus’s lost work, makes clear how great Theoderic’s expectations were of this marriage: “Eutharic married Amalasuintha, the daughter of Theoderic, thus uniting again the stock of the Amals which had divided long ago.”68 Theoderic was probably planning to put an end to the generational division of the two Gothic peoples, Ostrogoths and Visigoths. Indeed, Amalaric, the son of Theudigotha and orphan of his father Alaric II since 507, was too young to rule when in 511 he succeeded to the Visigothic throne.
The political scenario behind this event is particularly complex. The battle of Vouillé (near Poitiers) in the late summer of 507 brought the death of Alaric II, and his throne was seized by his illegitimate son, Gesalic. In addition, the Visigothic kingdom lost the regions of Toulouse and Aquitaine, which became part of Clovis’s territory. One year later Theoderic took Provence from the Burgundians. The king was concerned at the increasing power of the Franks,69 and he
