Goths And Gothic Identity In The Ostrogothic Kingdom 215
adornment. Certain items of clothing could have ethnic origins and conno-
tations (Gallic cloaks, Phrygian caps), but might, when adapted by Romans,
come to signify Romanness as much as anything else. Given this, moustaches
or other ethnic symbols might not have been effective at signifying an identity
clearly demarcated from Roman.66
Ostrogothic Society: Civilians and Soldiers
The question of Gothic settlement is closely tied to the Gothic army—another
fraught subject. Questions about the army are not self-contained, however,
and touch on the nature of society in the Ostrogothic kingdom more broadly.
In a statement that has become almost emblematic for later historians,
Cassiodorus wrote: “While the Gothic army wages war, let the Roman be at
peace.”67 Cassiodorus hereby delineates two primary roles in Italian society,
soldier and civilian, and associates Goths with the former and Romans with
the latter. But what did this mean in practice? Was participation in the Gothic
army restricted to Theoderic’s original following and their descendants, or was
there recruitment among the Italians? And, concomitantly, how did the com-
position of the military map onto questions of separation or integration in the
rest of society?
There are, again, two main approaches: scholars who accept a functional
separation between Goths and Italians in both military and social spheres, and
those who see strong assimilative processes at work. To take the latter first,
some point to the fact that Theoderic’s army had originally come from mixed
origins in the Balkans and then likely absorbed the remnants of Odovacer’s
army, itself comprised of Rugians, Scirians, Sarmatians, among others, and also
likely Romans. It follows that Theoderic and his successors would continue to
recruit from among the Italian population.68 Further, the appearance in the
sources of Italo-Romans serving in military capacities indicates that the army
was integrated. In a letter by Cassiodorus in Theoderic’s name, the Italo-Roman
noble Cyprian and his father Opilio are celebrated for their military service,
and in another letter Cyprian is again praised for his success in both military
and civilian roles, and for rearing his sons in the martial fashion of the Goths.69
66 Arnold, “Theoderic’s Invincible Mustache”; see also von Rummel, Habitus Barbarus,
p. 261–3.
67 Cassiodorus, Variae 12.5.4.
68 Wolfram, Goths, pp. 300–2; Liebeschuetz, Decline and Fall, pp. 364–6.
69 Cassiodorus, Variae 5.41, 8.21.1–7; Amory, People and Identity, pp. 73–4, 154–5.