Ostrogothic Provinces 87
the illustrious comes Arigern was eulogized before the Senate as a skilled
helmsmen, whose “mature counsel” had “restored the glory of civilitas [to the
Gauls], while still displaying the emblems of war”.72 Similar statements were
made about the praetorian prefect of Gaul, Liberius. In 514, Ennodius praised
him in a private letter for having corrected the Gauls, “who happened not to
taste of Roman liberty before you came”, and for having “conveyed civilitas [to
them] after the passing of many years”.73 Other sources, meanwhile, make it
clear that Liberius was a “military man”, just like Arigern, and bore “beauti-
ful” scars as a testament to his deeds in Gaul.74 So did the noble Goth Tuluin,
who had already proven himself during the Sirmian campaign a few years
earlier. In Gaul, however, Tuluin became a hero, who “took risks most will-
ingly” and captured and then held Arles’ pontoon bridge against the Franks.75
Later, his wounds were eulogized as a “testament to his courage,” and he was
celebrated for his defence of Gaul, which “acquired a [new] province for the
Roman Republic”.76
As for the administration of these newly acquired provinces, the greatest
evidence (namely from the Variae) comes from the earliest period (508–11),
when the rudiments of the Ostrogothic regime were being established there.77
This evidence focuses on key cities and speaks broadly in terms of Gaul and
Spain, rather than the individual provinces of these regions, most of which had
lost some of their territorial integrity.78 Nor for that matter does the evidence
distinguish between the provinces that Theoderic had annexed to Italy (east
72 Variae 4.16.1: “eius maturitate consilii... et gloriam civilitatis retulit... et bellorum insig-
nia reportavit.”
73 Ennodius, no. 447 (Ep. 9.23), ed. Vogel, pp. 307–8: “ordinatis illis, quibus civilitatem post
multos annorum circulos intulisti, quos ante te non contigit saporem de Romana libertate
gustare.”
74 Variae 11.1.16, with Vita Caesarii 2.10, ed. Krusch.
75 Variae 8.10.6: “Ammonet etiam expeditio Gallicana, ubi... pericula promptissimus
ingerebat.”
76 Variae 8.10.7–8: “vulnera factorum suorum signa susciperet: vulnera... propria lingua
virtutis... Mittitur... ad Gallias tuendas... Adquisivit rei publicae Romanae... provinciam.”
77 For commentary: Sirago, “Ostrogoti”, pp. 66–75.
78 As in Illyricum, the exact boundaries are unclear. Ostrogothic Provence included por-
tions of Alpes Maritimae, Narbonensis II, and Viennensis; Septimania included much of
Narbonensis I, some of Aquitania I, and possibly some of Aquitania II–III; and Spain
included much of Tarraconensis and Carthaginensis, and possibly some of eastern
Lusitania and Baetica. Cf. Ewig, “Fränkischen Teilungen,” pp. 123–4; Schwarcz, “Restitutio
Galliarum”, p. 793; Kulikowski, Late Roman Spain, pp. 261–2 and 265–6; and Diaz/Valverde,
“Goths”, p. 362.