ge, and the followers of Odoacer, who were hard pressed by the lack
of provisions, came to an agreement with each other through the
mediation of the priest of Ravenna, the understanding being that both
Theoderic and Odoacer should reside in Ravenna on terms of complete
equality. And for some time they observed the agreement; but afterward
Theoderic caught Odoacer, as they say, plotting against him, and bidding
him to a feast with treacherous intent slew him,[7] and in this way,
after gaining the adherence of such of the hostile barbarians as chanced
to survive, he himself secured the supremacy over both Goths and
Italians. And though he did not claim the right to assume either the
garb or the name of emperor of the Romans, but was called "rex" to the
end of his life (for thus the barbarians are accustomed to call their
leaders),[8] still, in governing his own subjects, he invested himself
with all the qualities which appropriately belong to one who is by birth
an emperor. For he was exceedingly careful to observe justice, he
preserved the laws on a sure basis, he protected the land and kept it
safe from the barbarians dwelling round about, and attained the highest
possible degree of wisdom and manliness. And he himself committed
scarcely a single act of injustice against his subjects, nor would he
brook such conduct on the part of anyone else who attempted it, except,
indeed, that the Goths distributed among themselves the portion of the
lands which Odoacer had given to his own partisans. And although in name
Theoderic was a usurper, yet in fact he was as truly an emperor as any
who have distinguished themselves in this office from the beginning; and
love for him among both Goths and Italians grew to be great, and that
too contrary to the ordinary habits of men. For in all states men's
preferences are divergent, with the result that the government in power
pleases for the moment only those with whom its acts find favour, but
offends those whose judgment it violates. But Theoderic reigned for
thirty-seven years, and when he died, he had not only made himself an
object of terror to all his enemies, but he also left to his subjects a
keen sense of bereavement at his loss. And he died in the following
manner.[F]

DATE:
[F] 526 A.D.

Symmachus and his son-in-law Boetius were men of noble and ancient
lineage, and both had been leading men[9] in the Roman senate and had
been consuls. But because they pr