518 Cohen
Odovacer comes off rather well.79 His religion, like that of Ricimer before him
and Theoderic after, had been an unremarkable part of the Italian religious
landscape for more than a century. A similar situation existed in the eastern
half of the empire. The supposed ‘Arianism’ of Aspar and his son Ardabur was
at least grudgingly accepted in Constantinople at the same time Theoderic
himself was likely in the eastern capital as a hostage.80
But what of the Ostrogoths’ faith and their church? The exact nature of
Ostrogothic theology and ecclesiology is perhaps irrecoverable due to the
poor state of our available evidence.81 But some conclusions are possible. The
Ravenna papyri reveal the presence of a sizeable non-Nicene clergy in the city
during the Ostrogothic period—sixteen of whom were still in the service of
the Gothic cathedral dedicated to the Anastasis (or possibly to St Anastasias)
as late as 551—that is, long after the glory days of the Ostrogothic kingdom had
passed into history.82 As the capital of Theoderic’s kingdom in earlier decades,
Ravenna had become a centre of non-Nicene church building. According to
the testimony of Agnellus of Ravenna, the city had two episcopal palaces
(episcopia) and at least six Gothorum ecclesiae, two of which—the palatine
church (today Sant’Apollinare Nuovo) built next to Theoderic’s palace com-
plex and the above-mentioned Gothic cathedral—are still standing today,
together with the famous ‘Arian Baptistery’, which was originally part of the
cathedral complex.83 There is nothing particularly ‘Gothic’ or ‘Arian’ about any
79 Eugippius, Vita Sancti Severini 7.22, ed. R. Noll/E. Vetter, Berlin 1963. See also Anon. Val.
45, which cites the Vita of Severinus. Interestingly, Gelasius, ep. 26, ed. Thiel, p. 409 calls
Odovacer a “barbarus hereticus” in a letter to the bishops of Dardania in 495. Presumably it
was safe (and even politically advisable) to denigrate the previous regime once Theoderic
had established himself in Italy. Hereticus here is plainly a polemical term, not an accu-
rate description of Odovacer’s beliefs. This is a good example that one could ‘become’ a
heretic when political circumstances shifted.
80 And like Theoderic in Italy, the Ardaburs were often called upon to intervene in the affairs
of the Orthodox Church in Constantinople. See Snee, “Gregory Nazianzen”, pp. 180–1. On
Theoderic in Constantinople see Moorhead, Theoderic, pp. 13–14.
81 Brown, Role of Arianism, p. 417 has a rather more positive opinion of our available
evidence.
82 On the dedication see Deichmann, Ravenna, pp. 301–3 (to St Anastasius); to the Anastasis
(that is, the resurrection of Christ) Johnson, “Toward a History of Theoderic’s Building
Program”, pp. 79–80. Clergy: Tjäder, Die lateinischen Papyri, pp. 98–104.
83 Episcopia: Agnellus of Ravenna, Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis 70, ed. O. Holder-
Egger, p. 326. On the non-Nicene churches of Ravenna and their later suppression see
Agnellus of Ravenna, Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis 85–92, ed. O. Holder-Egger,
pp. 334–6. They are also described in detail by Johnson, “Toward a History of Theoderic’s
Building Program”, pp. 79–80 and especially by Deliyannis, Ravenna, pp. 143–87.