Bishops, Ecclesiastical Institutions, and the Ostrogothic Regime 453
asceticism, priests, too, in Ostrogothic Italy received fiscal privileges and judi-
cial powers as holy men by definition, while their virtues naturally made them
eligible to pursue justice. Additionally, during the 5th century clerical iden-
tity was clearly defined through an emphasis on sexual continence and the
delineation of external characteristics (e.g. distinctive clothing, tonsure, and
specific ritual access to the sacred orders), which made the clerical ordo recog-
nizable as a class, distinct from the laity.
In the ancient world, tax exemptions usually conferred wealth. For this rea-
son, holiness, power, and wealth were often connected during the Ostrogothic
period. The combination of these three components was a novelty at the time.
The result of a long process, this combination quickly changed in the age of
Gregory the Great (late 6th century), when Italy was socially and economically
devastated. During the Ostrogothic period, however, as a result of the royal
attitude towards granting privilege to the Nicene church, the kingdom’s Nicene
bishops were in turn a source of power and a kind of protection for Theoderic
and his successors.7
Bishops, Power, and Protection in the Communities of the
Ostrogothic Frontier
To the venerable Eustorgius, bishop of Milan, King Theoderic... The
bishop of Aosta has been falsely accused of betraying the homeland... We
therefore wish to strike his attackers with legitimate punishment: but
because they themselves were members of the clergy, we have entrusted
each decision to the judgment of Your Holiness, whose responsibility is
both to bring honesty to such behaviour, and to exercise ecclesiastical
coercion.8The letter Theoderic wrote to the bishop of Milan, which the metropolitan
doubtlessly received with satisfaction, raises the curtain on a sombre atmo-
sphere of suspicion, accusations, and betrayals. The bishop of Aosta had been
accused of treason, subjected to investigation by the king, and found innocent.
7 Lizzi Testa, “Rome during the Ostrogoth Kingdom”.
8 Cassiodorus, Variae (hereafter cited as Cass., Va r.) 1.9, ed. Fridh, pp. 19–20, lines 8–20: “[.. .]
Augustanae civitatis episcopum proditionis patriae falsis criminationibus accusatum [.. .]
Volumus enim impugnatores eius legitima poena percellere: sed quoniam et ipsi clericatus
nomine fungebantur, ad sanctitatis vestrae iudicium cuncta transmisimus ordinanda, cuius
est et probitatem moribus talibus imponere et districtionem ecclesiasticam custodire.”