http://www.btinternet.com/~mark.furnival/theodor.htm

When King Thiudimir of the Ostrogoths was presented with a son by one of his concubines (not herself a Goth, in all probability), the boy was christened Dietrich, a common name amongst the Germans of that era. In Late Latin, the name translated as Theodoricus and the boy grew up to become the man known to history as Theodoric the Great.

Born in or about AD 451, the young Theodoric was sent as a hostage to the Imperial Court in Byzantines at the age of eight. There he was to remain for ten years, and it was there that he absorbed Graeco-Roman cultural values to a degree not previously equaled by any barbarian ruler. Yet a barbarian he remained, versed in the warlike ways of his people. He never learned to read and write, it seems, for throughout his life he was to sign his name only by means of a golden stencil.

On his return from Constantinople, he took control of the eastern portion of the Ostrogothic lands in Pannonia and immediately began to build a reputation by defeating the Sarmatians in battle. Over the following few years he became known as an able and ambitious ruler, leading his people to new lands on the lower Danube, and accepting for them the status of Roman federates (foederati).

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/jordanes-theodoric1.html

At the time peace was made between the Ostrogoths and the Romans, the Romans received as a hostage of peace, Theodoric the son of Thiudimir. He had now attained the age of seven years and was entering upon his eighth [461 A.D.].

ibid

After a while Theodoric returned as a young man to his people and became king over them.

Thus he become Theodoric of the Ostrogoths a.k.a. Theoderic the Amal

http://www.roman-empire.net/constant/constantinople.html

. . . Theodoric Strabo, the mercenary having helped Basiliscus oust Zeno from power, now having retired into the Balkan mountains, invited Zeno to make him master of the army or to face the consequences.

Zeno declined and Teodoric Strabo, united with the Ostrogoth King Theodoric the Amal, marched on Constantinople. Diplomatic conniving on the part of Zeno managed to persuade Theodoric Strabo to change sides, but what was now a war between the Ostrogoths and Constantinople should last for four years (479-483), with all the honours falling to Theodoric the Amal.

With Theodoric Strabo having died, the emperor troubled with conspiracies and Theodoric the Amal realizing that in any case he could never conquer the hugely fortified City of Constantinople, the emperor and the Ostrogoth eventually agreed terms. Theodoric the Amal was made master of the soldiers (the very position Theodoric Strabo had demanded) and received fresh grants of land for his followers.

What followed was the revolt of a certain Leontius in Syria, who appealed for aid to the Persian king Balas and to Odoacer. But before any of the promised aid could arrive, Zeno had crushed the rebellion by the help of Theodoric.

But Zeno well appreciated just how dangerous helpers like Theodoric were. And the attitude of Odoacer was growing more menacing.

A plan was put into place to embroil the two. In AD 488 he offered Theodoric the rule of Italy in exchange for Moesia, the province he then ruled. Of course the Ostrogoth accepted,

http://www.salve.edu/~romanemp/zeno.htm

until 488, when Zeno sent him against Odoacer in Italy

Therefore, Theodoric departed from the royal city and returned to his own people. In company with the whole tribe of the Goths who gave him their unanimous consent he set out for Hesperia. He went in a straight march through Sirmium to the places bordering on Pannonia and, advancing into the territory of Venetia, as far as the bridge of the Sontius, encamped there. When he had halted there for some time to rest the bodies of his men and pack animals, Odovocar sent an armed force against him which he met on the plains of Verona, and destroyed with great slaughter. Then he broke camp and advanced through Italy with greater boldness. Crossing the river Po, he pitched camp near the royal city of Ravenna.

http://www.btinternet.com/~mark.furnival/theodor.htm#odovacar

Setting out along the valley of the Danube, Theodoric's host paused briefly to brush aside an army of Gepids, then swung southwards and defeated the self-styled King of Italy, Odovacar (or Odoacer) at the Isonzo Bridge on the River Wippach. Theodoric's Ostrogoths moved into northern Italy and, defeating Odovacar in a series of battles, blockaded him in Ravenna.

In 493, when all of Italy had been subdued, a local bishop arranged a truce between the two leaders. Theodoric, supported by the Church and in control of most of Italy, offered what seemed to be remarkably generous terms. Alas, he had not the slightest intention of honouring them. He invited Odovacar, together with his son and chief officers, to a banquet. As Odovacar took his seat, Theodoric stepped forward and, with one tremendous blow of his sword, clove through his enemy's body from collar-bone to thigh.

"The wretch cannot have had a bone in his body," he is reported to have commented, surprised by the effect of his stroke.

Odovacar's brother was shot down by arrows as he tried to escape. His wife, Sunigilda, was thrown into prison where she died of hunger. His son, Thelane (whom Theodoric already held as a hostage) was sent to Gaul but subsequently murdered. The whole unsavoury episode seemed to bode ill for the future but, in fact, Theodoric was to bring a period of peace and prosperity which Italy had rarely known. With the support of his warriors, Theodoric claimed kingship over Italy and was finally recognised as "King of the Goths and the Romans" by the Emperor Anastatius I in 497.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11347d.htm

. . . and founded in 493 the great Ostrogothic Empire, which included Italy, Sicily, Dalmatia, Upper Rhaetia, and later on Provence, with the capital Ravenna

ibid

He succeeded in establishing law and order in his lands; Roman art and literature flourished. He was tolerant towards the Catholic Church and did not interfere in dogmatic matters. He remained as neutral as possible towards the pope, though he exercised a preponderant influence in the affairs of the papacy. He and his people were Arians and Theodoric considered himself as protector and chief representative of the sect.

ibid

His daughter Amalasvintha succeeded him in 526, first as regent for her son Athalaric, and after the latter's death, in 534, as queen. She was assassinated by her cousin Theodahad, the rightful heir to the throne. The Byzantine emperor Justinian now made himself her avenger and declared war upon the Ostrogoths. His general Belisarius captured Naples in 536.

http://myron.sjsu.edu/romeweb/LADYCONT/art31.htm

Amalasuntha was the daughter of Theoderic, perhaps the most famous of the Ostrogothic kings in Italy. This was a strange period in the history of Europe. The official date for the fall of the Roman Empire in the West was A. D. 476, but from 493 until 526 Italy enjoyed the reign of an Ostrogothic king who ruled more like a Roman emperor. Theoderic was, in fact, on friendly terms with two of the three Eastern emperors who reigned in Constantinople during Theoderic’s reign in Italy. Theoderic had no sons, but he did have in Amalasuntha an intelligent and capable daughter who had received a good Roman education.

Amalasuntha had been married to Eutharic, an obscure Gothic nobleman. She gave birth to Athalaric in 518. Eutharic later died, leaving Amalasuntha a widow to raise their young son.

It was the custom amongst the Ostrogoths that a king should name someone to succeed him, subject to the approval of the Gothic nobility. During the final months of his life, Theoderic indicated that he wished Athalaric to succeed him as king and that Amalasuntha his mother should act as regent, managing the affairs of the kingdom while Athalaric was still a child.

It was over the education of the young prince that trouble began between Amalasuntha and the majority of the Gothic noblemen. Amalasuntha had appointed three learned and civilized Gothic tutors to ensure that Athalaric received a classical Roman education in law, rhetoric, and the humanities. The Goths placed a value on a man’s strength and ferocity in warfare. How could a son who feared the tutor’s whip grow up to face the sword and spear? Besides, Theoderic had been a good king and had not needed to know how to read. Soon, Amalasuntha discovered a plot by some of the noblemen to do away with her and she had the men executed. She did, however, relent and allow young Athalaric to have some rough young Gothic companions his own age with which to spend time. This did not work out, though. They succeeded not in instructing him in the arts of war but taught him to spend his time drinking and womanizing instead.

In 534, Athalaric died. Amalasuntha’s position was now critical. The Goths would not have a woman rule them in her own name; they had barely tolerated a woman as regent. She decided to offer the kingship to her cousin Theodahad if he would consent to sharing the ruling power with her.

It seems that Theodohad was nursing a grudge against her. Theodohad owned most of the land in the province of Tuscany. He had used extortion and strong-arm tactics to seize property belonging to his neighbors. The people of Tuscany had objected and petitioned Amalasuntha to do something and she made Theodohad give back some of the property he had extorted. Now that she had invited him to be king, it appeared that all was forgiven and they would rule together in harmony. Theodohad even wrote letters to the Senate praising her wisdom and promising to imitate her when he became king.

As soon as Theodohad became king, he did an incredibly stupid thing. He imprisoned Amalasuntha on an island in the middle of Lake Bolsena. What this ignorant and vengeful man did not know is that during the period when the Gothic nobles had threatened to depose her, Amalasuntha had secretly written to the Eastern emperor Justinian asking his protection if the discontented nobles had made a move against her.

Soon. Justinian got wind of the situation despite Theodohad’s clumsy attempt to conceal the facts. Justinian sent a fast messenger to Ravenna informing Theodohad that he would soon be there with an army if Amalasuntha was harmed.

These promises of aid to a lady in distress were to no avail. It was probably in April, 535 that Amalasuntha was murdered. The story that has come down to us is that she was strangled in her bath by relatives of the three traitors she has had executed. In spite of her great popularity and immaculate reputation amongst both Roman and Gothic subjects, Theodohad could not restrain himself from gratifying his hunger for revenge. The population of all Italy was shocked by this foul deed.

What Theodohad had bought for himself and Italy was a period of destructive war that lasted for most of the next fifteen years. Justinian did not need much of an excuse to invade Italy to reclaim the lost province and deal a death blow to the hated Aryan heresy at the same time. It was this intermittent warfare carried on first by Justinian’s general Belisarius, then later by Narses that finally finished off what was left of the ancient Roman Empire. Cities taken first by one side, then by the other, were burned and their buildings were thrown down. Atrocities were committed on the Italian population first by the gothic troops, then by the Byzantine. It was the beginning of a long period if oppression for the Italian people during which they were ruled by one petty ruler or city state after another. Nothing was to change for the peasantry for 1200 years except the name and nationality of their tormentors.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11347d.htm

After his (Belisarius) recall in 540, the Goths reconquered Italy under their new king Totila. In 544 Belisarius appeared once more and the war was continued with varying success. In 551 Narses became commander-in-chief in place of Belisarius, and in the following year he defeated Totila at Taginae in the Apennines. Totila was killed in the battle. The survivors of the Ostrogoths chose Teja as their king, but were practically annihilated in the battle near Mount Vesuvius in 553, after a desperate struggle in which Teja was killed. Their last fortress fell in 555, after which the Ostrogoths disappear.