144 Radtki
any new ruler who might seek to establish himself in the Roman West—a fact
that both Odovacer and Theoderic were well aware of. Theoderic especially,
at least in the first years of his reign, had been brilliant at involving the Senate
in his policies, thus allowing the senatorial elite to identify with a ruler who
respected their traditions. Internal senatorial rivalries, however, became mani-
fest in several prominent issues of the Amal reign: the Laurentian schism, the
affair of Albinus and Boethius, the question of cooperation with the Eastern
Roman emperor, and the question of appointments to offices. The strong
resentments between the old, established families of the senatorial elite liv-
ing near Rome and the homines novi based in the northern part of Italy were
both economically and socially grounded. While the senatorial elite had been
visible in so many aspects of public life and had upheld Roman traditions, the
Gothic War deprived it of economic means, and thus of the foundation for its
political and social engagement. So, with the end of the Ostrogothic reign on
Italian soil, the oldest Roman institution was irreparably damaged.
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