Ostrogothic Cities 111
little or nothing to invest and their notables had little incentive to contribute
their own resources. The state could not lavish support on every city in need
of repairs and choices had to be made about which projects to privilege. In a
letter written possibly between 523 and 526 (Variae 5.9) Theoderic ordered the
possessores of Feltre (modern northern Veneto) to render their contribution
to the construction of a new city in the nearby area of Trento by building a
portion of the new city’s walls with the use of the king’s own treasury (domus
divina). It is interesting that the request does not address the city council of
Feltre, but the wealthier members of the local community. It is equally remark-
able that the central government apparently could not afford the cost of the
whole operation and opted to distribute the expense among people who, in
addition to their ‘civic’ obligations, were considered capable of lending money
and manpower. Unfortunately, it is not possible to locate the settlement that
corresponds to the new ‘city’ and so it is not possible to speculate on the actual
nature and size of the new foundation. Nonetheless, this case illustrates how
cities constituted a crucial part of the political ideology of the kingdom, while
their promotion depended on a more complex range of factors than a mere
assertion of ideological principles.33
On the other hand, the evidence also makes it clear that efforts were espe-
cially made in favour of those cities such as Rome and Ravenna, whose repu-
tation was directly linked to the king’s name. Although it is difficult to assess
the effectiveness of the attention dedicated to Rome and its proportionality
to the needs of the urban populace, Ravenna was an easier environment to
manage. It was far smaller and had enjoyed the privilege of being a capital
of the (now declining) western empire for more than a century. Ravenna had
therefore been the consistent concern of emperors and their officials, albeit
33 The quote given by the 7th century anonymous author of the Cosmographia (the so-called
Anonymus Ravennate) regarding the existence of a city named Theodericopolis, presum-
ably located in the Alpine region of Raetia, remains a mystery, since it is never mentioned
by sources contemporary with Theoderic. However, it is possible that if such a city ever
existed it might have been some kind of military outpost towards the northern frontier of
the Gothic kingdom, something similar in size (but not necessarily in terms of monumen-
tal grandiosity) to the city of Iustiniana Prima founded by Justinian in southern Serbia,
near to his birthplace. The possible foundation of a new city baptized in the name of the
king shows once again Theoderic’s interest in portraying himself as a typical Roman ruler,
capable of spreading civilization through the dissemination of new urban settlements.
See Saitta, La civilitas di Teodorico, p. 117; see also Arce, “La fundación de nuevas ciudades”,
pp. 31–62.