Ostrogothic Provinces 91
comes Liwirit and his Roman counterpart Ampelius. Their specific offices are
not stated, but their respective ranks, spectabilis and inlustris, are reminiscent
of Fridibad and Severinus in Dalmatia-Savia, and their orders indicate that
they had analogous responsibilities and faced similar problems.
The first letter demonstrates that Spain remitted some of its tribute annu-
ally in the form of grain, which supplemented the annona at Rome and seems
to have been paid diligently until Theoderic’s death. “It is just”, Theoderic
explained, “for Spain to furnish supplies of wheat for the City, so that under us
a happier Rome might receive its ancient tribute.”99 The exception of course
was the year in which this letter was dispatched, when the shippers had made
a detour for Africa and sold the grain for their own profit. Theoderic was under-
standably furious. The second letter provides a long list of abuses, many rev-
enue related, that Liwirit and Ampelius were instructed to investigate. Spanish
provincials accused tax collectors of using false weights, extorting excessive
payments from renters of royal land, exacting unjust and irregular tolls, and
embezzling funds. Others were allegedly minting private coinage or demand-
ing a host of illegal services, even from Gothic troops “sent to fight on behalf
of their liberty.”100 These abuses were condemned by Theoderic, who expected
Liwirit and Ampelius to correct them to the mutual benefit of his Spanish tax-
payers and the royal fisc.
Much more could be said about Ostrogothic Gaul and, to a lesser extent,
Spain given the available evidence. Indeed it is not by accident that the Variae
and other contemporary sources refer far more often to these regions than to
any of the other provinces treated in this chapter. Theoderic, it seems, was
right: Gaul’s restoration was a crowning achievement of his reign and did much
to legitimize the Ostrogothic kingdom as a revived Roman Empire.101
The End of the Empire
The relative peace and stability of Theoderic’s reign is generally seen as com-
ing to an end during his final years, which were typified by a series of unfortu-
nate events.102 Chief among these, at least with respect to the integrity of his
99 Variae 5.35.1: “aequum iudicavimus Hispaniae triticeas illi copias exhibere, ut antiquum
vectigal sub nobis felicior Roma reciperet,” with Procopius, Wars 5.12.47–54.
100 Variae 5.39, with Kulikowski, Late Roman Spain, pp. 262–4, and Diaz/Valverde, “Goths”,
p. 363.
101 See Arnold, Theoderic, pp. 233 and 272–94.
102 See Moorhead, Theoderic, pp. 212–48, and Arnold, Theoderic, pp. 295–302.