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5.3.28 "happened to be of your kingdom." These things Amalasuntha wrote openly to the emperor; but secretly she agreed 5.3.29 to hand over all of Italy to him. The envoys, returning to Byzantium, reported everything to the Emperor Justinian; Alexander, what seemed good to Amalasuntha, and Demetrius and Hypatius, what they had heard Theudatus say, and how Theudatus, wielding great power among the Tuscans, and having become master of much of the land there, would be able to accomplish the things agreed 5.3.30 upon with no trouble. And so the emperor, being overjoyed at this, immediately sent to Italy Peter, an Illyrian by birth, hailing from Thessalonica, one of the orators in Byzantium, and otherwise intelligent and gentle and well-suited for persuasion. 5.4.1 While these things were happening here, meanwhile many Tuscans were slandering Theudatus to Amalasuntha, for having violently treated all the people there and for having seized their lands without any reason, both all the others and not least the royal household itself, which the 5.4.2 Romans are accustomed to call the patrimonium. Therefore the woman, having summoned Theudatus to an accounting, and he having been openly convicted by his accusers, forced him to pay back everything which he had wrongly taken, and so she sent him 5.4.3 away. And from this, having become excessively hostile to the man, she was henceforth at odds with him, who was much distressed by his avarice, because he was unable to transgress and use violence. 5.4.4 About this time Atalaric, wasted away by his disease, died, having survived for eight years in his reign. But Amalasuntha (for it was fated that she should fare ill), taking no account of Theudatus’s nature and what she had recently done to him, suspected she would suffer nothing unpleasant from him, if she should do the man some greater 5.4.5 good. Therefore, summoning him, when he came, she spoke soothingly, saying she had known for some time that her son's end was expected, because he would die a little later. For she had heard all the physicians holding the same opinion and she herself had perceived that Atalaric’s body was always wasting 5.4.6 away. And since she saw that both Goths and Italians had a not very good opinion of Theudatus himself, upon whom the house of Theuderic had devolved, it was her earnest desire to cleanse him of this shameful reputation, so that nothing might be an impediment to him when called to the 5.4.7 kingship. And at the same time, justice disturbed her, if indeed it should come to pass for those who were already accusing him of being wronged that they would have no one to whom to report what had happened to them, but would have their enemy as 5.4.8 master. For these reasons she was inviting him, thus made clean, to the kingship. But it was necessary that he be bound by the most dreadful oaths that while the name of the rule would pass to Theudatus, she herself would in fact have no less 5.4.9 power than before. When Theudatus heard these things, having sworn everything that Amalasuntha wanted, he agreed with wicked intent, keeping in mind what she had previously done to 5.4.10 him. Thus Amalasuntha, deceived both by her own judgment and by the oaths sworn to Theudatus, 5.4.11 established him in the rule. And sending Gothic men as envoys to Byzantium, she made these things known to the Emperor Justinian. 5.4.12 But Theudatus, upon taking over the leadership, did everything contrary to what she had hoped and he had 5.4.13 promised. And bringing in the relatives of those Goths who had been put to death by her, who were many and very notable among the Goths, he suddenly killed some of Amalasuntha’s kinsmen and held her under guard, before the envoys had yet arrived in 5.4.14 Byzantium. There is a certain lake in Tuscany, called Vulsina, within which rises an island, very small indeed, 5.4.15 but having a strong fortress. There Theudatus imprisoned and guarded Amalasuntha. But fearing, as it turned out, that he might have given offense to the emperor by this, he sent men from the Roman senate, Liberius and Opilio, along with certain others, to make excuses with all their might

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5.3.28 «σῆς βασιλείας οὖσα ἐτύγχανε.» ταῦτα μὲν ἐκ τοῦ ἐμφανοῦς Ἀμαλασοῦνθα βασιλεῖ ἔγραψε· λάθρα δὲ αὐτῷ 5.3.29 ξύμπασαν Ἰταλίαν ἐγχειριεῖν ὡμολόγησεν. οἱ δὲ πρέσβεις ἐς Βυζάντιον ἐπανήκοντες ἅπαντα Ἰουστινιανῷ βασιλεῖ ἤγγειλαν· Ἀλέξανδρος μὲν ἅπερ τῇ Ἀμαλασούνθῃ δοκοῦντα εἴη, ∆ημήτριος δὲ καὶ Ὑπάτιος ὅσα Θευδάτου λέγοντος ἤκουσαν, καὶ ὡς δυνάμει μεγάλῃ ἐν Τούσκοις ὁ Θευδάτος χρώμενος, χώρας τε ἐνταῦθα τῆς πολλῆς κύριος γεγονὼς, πόνῳ ἂν οὐδενὶ τὰ ὡμο5.3.30 λογημένα ἐπιτελεῖν οἷός τε εἴη. οἷς δὴ περιχαρὴς γεγονὼς βασιλεὺς Πέτρον, Ἰλλυριὸν γένος, ἐκ Θεσσαλονίκης ὁρμώμενον, ἐς τὴν Ἰταλίαν εὐθὺς ἔστελλεν, ἕνα μὲν ὄντα τῶν ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ῥητόρων, ἄλλως δὲ ξυνετόν τε καὶ πρᾷον καὶ ἐς τὸ πείθειν ἱκανῶς πεφυκότα. 5.4.1 Ἐν ᾧ δὲ ταῦτα ἐγίνετο τῇδε, ἐν τούτῳ Θευδάτον Τοῦσκοι πολλοὶ Ἀμαλασούνθῃ διέβαλον βιάσασθαι ἅπαντας τοὺς ταύτῃ ἀνθρώπους καὶ τοὺς ἀγροὺς ἀφελέσθαι οὐδενὶ λόγῳ, τούς τε ἄλλους ἅπαντας καὶ οὐχ ἥκιστά γε τὴν βασίλειον οἰκίαν αὐτὴν, ἣν δὴ πα5.4.2 τριμώνιον Ῥωμαῖοι καλεῖν νενομίκασι. διὸ δὴ ἐς τὰς εὐθύνας καλέσασα Θευδάτον ἡ γυνὴ διαρρήδην τε πρὸς τῶν διαβαλόντων ἐληλεγμένον ἀποτιννύναι πάντα ἠνάγκασεν, ἅπερ οὐ δέον ἀφείλετο, οὕτω τε αὐτὸν 5.4.3 ἀπεπέμψατο. καὶ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἐς ἄγαν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ προσκεκρουκυῖα διάφορος τὸ λοιπὸν ἐγεγόνει ἀνιωμένῳ ὑπὸ φιλοχρηματίας ὡς μάλιστα, ὅτι διαμαρτάνειν τε καὶ βιάζεσθαι ἀδύνατος ἦν. 5.4.4 Ὑπὸ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον Ἀταλάριχος μὲν τῇ νόσῳ καταμαρανθεὶς ἐτελεύτησεν, ὀκτὼ τῇ ἀρχῇ ἐπιβιοὺς ἔτη. Ἀμαλασοῦνθα δὲ (χρῆν γάρ οἱ γενέσθαι κακῶς) ἐν οὐδενὶ λόγῳ φύσιν τὴν Θευδάτου ποιησαμένη καὶ ὅσα αὐτὸν ἔναγχος δράσειεν, οὐδὲν πείσεσθαι ἄχαρι πρὸς αὐτοῦ ὑπετόπησεν, ἤν τι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀγαθὸν 5.4.5 ἐργάσηται μεῖζον. μεταπεμψαμένη τοίνυν αὐτὸν, ἐπειδὴ ἧκε, τιθασσεύουσα ἔφασκε χρόνου ἐξεπίστασθαι ὥς οἱ ὁ παῖς ἐπίδοξος εἴη, ὅτι δὴ ὀλίγῳ ὕστερον τελευτήσειε. τῶν τε γὰρ ἰατρῶν πάντων ταὐτὰ γινωσκόντων ἀκηκοέναι καὶ αὐτὴ τοῦ Ἀταλαρίχου σώματος ἀεὶ μαραι5.4.6 νομένου ᾐσθῆσθαι. ἐπεί τε ἀμφὶ αὐτῷ Θευδάτῳ ἑώρα Γότθους τε καὶ Ἰταλιώτας δόξαν οὐκ ἀγαθήν τινα ἔχοντας, ἐς ὃν περιεστήκει τὸ Θευδερίχου γένος, τούτου δὴ αὐτὸν διακαθᾶραι τοῦ αἰσχροῦ ὀνόματος ἐν σπουδῇ οἱ γενέσθαι, ὅπως μή τι αὐτῷ καλουμένῳ ἐς 5.4.7 τὴν βασιλείαν ἐμπόδιον εἴη. ἅμα δὲ καὶ τὸ δίκαιον αὐτὴν ξυνταράξαι, εἴ γε περισταίη τοῖς ἠδικῆσθαι πρὸς αὐτοῦ ἤδη αἰτιωμένοις οὐκ ἔχειν μὲν ὅτῳ τὰ ξυμπεσόντα σφίσιν ἀγγείλωσι, δεσπότην δὲ τὸν δυσμενῆ 5.4.8 ἔχειν. διὰ ταῦτα μὲν αὐτὸν, οὕτω καθαρὸν γεγενημένον, ἐς τὴν βασιλείαν παρακαλεῖν. δεῖν δὲ αὐτὸν ὅρκοις δεινοτάτοις καταληφθῆναι ὡς ἐς Θευδάτον μὲν τὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς ὄνομα ἄγοιτο, αὐτὴ δὲ τῷ ἔργῳ τὸ κρά5.4.9 τος οὐκ ἔλασσον ἢ πρότερον ἔχοι. ταῦτα ἐπεὶ Θευδάτος ἤκουσεν, ἅπαντα ὅσα ἦν βουλομένῃ Ἀμαλασούνθῃ ὀμωμοκὼς, ἐπὶ λόγῳ τῷ πονηρῷ ὡμολόγησεν, ἐν μνήμῃ ἔχων ὅσα δὴ ἐκείνη πρότερον ἐς αὐτὸν εἰργασμένη 5.4.10 ἐτύγχανεν. οὕτω μὲν Ἀμαλασοῦνθα πρός τε γνώμης τῆς οἰκείας καὶ τῶν Θευδάτῳ ὀμωμοσμένων ἀπατη5.4.11 θεῖσα, ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτὸν κατεστήσατο. πρέσβεις τε πέμψασα ἐς Βυζάντιον ἄνδρας Γότθους Ἰουστινιανῷ βασιλεῖ ταῦτα ἐδήλου. 5.4.12 Θευδάτος δὲ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν παραλαβὼν, πάντα οἱ τἀναντία ὧν ἐκείνη τε ἤλπισε καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπέσχετο 5.4.13 ἔπρασσε. καὶ Γότθων τῶν πρὸς αὐτῆς ἀνῃρημένων τοὺς ξυγγενεῖς ἐπαγαγόμενος, πολλούς τε καὶ λίαν λογίμους ἐν Γότθοις ὄντας, τῶν τε Ἀμαλασούνθῃ προσηκόντων ἐκ τοῦ αἰφνιδίου τινὰς ἔκτεινε καὶ αὐτὴν ἐν φυλακῇ ἔσχεν, οὔπω τῶν πρέσβεων ἐς Βυζάντιον 5.4.14 ἀφικομένων. ἔστι δέ τις λίμνη ἐν Τούσκοις, Βουλσίνη καλουμένη, ἧς δὴ ἐντὸς νῆσος ἀνέχει, βραχεῖα μὲν 5.4.15 κομιδῆ οὖσα, φρούριον δὲ ἐχυρὸν ἔχουσα. ἐνταῦθα Θευδάτος τὴν Ἀμαλασοῦνθαν καθείρξας ἐτήρει. δείσας δὲ, ὅπερ ἐγένετο, μὴ βασιλεῖ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ προσκεκρουκὼς εἴη, ἄνδρας ἐκ τῆς Ῥωμαίων βουλῆς Λιβέριόν τε καὶ Ὀπιλίωνα στείλας σὺν ἑτέροις τισὶ, παραιτεῖσθαι πάσῃ δυνάμει