136 Radtki
men might not have been well received by the established Roman aristocrats.
The consulship was by then the last surviving magistracy of the Republican
period with any stature, and it was particularly sought after because the consul
gave his name to the year. The consular office offered many possibilities for
gaining popularity among the people. The consular ivories depict consuls sit-
ting on the sella curulis presiding over circus games with bags of money ready
for distribution to the people.102 In the 510s some aristocrats who for decades
had been able to enjoy the prestige of high office found themselves excluded
from the consulship and the urban prefecture. Aristocrats of Rome were no
longer as powerful as they had been, a possible stimulus for resentment.103 It
may be that Theoderic preferred the appointment of homines novi because
it enabled him to create a very loyal and engaged group of officials. Compared to
the serial careers of members of the established families, who could expect
to reach a position granting the rank of illustris in a relatively short amount
of time, some homines novi had to work in the state service for fifteen years
until they were allowed into the curia. Furthermore, less-established men were
willing to take over less-prestigious offices that noble families would typically
refuse. In the course of working in different offices for a long period, homines
novi often excelled through considerable engagement with the Gothic state
(e.g. Senarius took part in twenty-five embassies!) and became strongly ‘loyal’
to the Gothic regime.104
In many respects Theoderic placed himself in a Roman tradition of ruler-
ship and the elite of the Roman Senate played a crucial role in this presentation
of Theoderic’s public persona.105 For example, his care for the organization
and conduct of the circus games was a very public form of communication
between Theoderic and the senatorial elite (and the populus Romanus). This
is true in the context not only of his adventus at Rome in the year 500, but also
of the regular games organized by senators, whose peaceful execution of civic
tradition was important to Theoderic.106 In the early period of his reign this
communication between ruler and the economically and politically leading
102 Ibid. pp. 152–3.
103 For tensions between the senatorial and the palatine elite see Bjornlie, Politics, pp. 127–34.
104 Schäfer, Der weströmische Senat, pp. 170ff. and 291f.
105 Theoderic himself frequently mentioned this tradition, to which he saw himself as con-
nected. See e.g. Cassiodorus, Variae. 1.1.4 or 1.25.4, ed. Mommsen: “Ut antiqui principes
nobis merito debeant laudes suas”. On “Theoderic’s imperial kingdom” and the ideologies
he applied during his reign, see Heydemann in this volume.
106 In this context see a whole series of letters in the Variae concerning the problems arising
from circus games, e.g. 1.20, 1.21, 1.27 and 1.30–33, ed. Mommsen.