56 Bjornlie
(palatia) used by Theoderic at Ravenna, Verona, and Pavia.42 Similarly, hagio-
graphical tradition associates Theoderic with a substantial residence at Galeata,
approximately thirty miles south-west of Ravenna.43 Letter 10.28 of the Variae
deals with the provisioning of royal mansiones in Rome and Ravenna, but also
at properties near Pavia, Piacenza, and “other places” (sive per alia loca). Given
the lengthy manifest of foodstuffs considered in this letter, it seems clear that
the itinerary of the court and the management of the king’s personal resources
were intimately connected. It was probably while Athalaric was in residence at
Verona that Cassiodorus ordered the canonicarius to supply the court with a
wine distinctive to that area (acinaticium).44 The medieval legend of Dietrich
von Bern (“Theoderic of Verona”) certainly suggests that it was the historical
association of the Amal family with Verona, not Ravenna, which left a liter-
ary residue that persisted at least until the 10th century.45 Another letter of
the Variae suggests that the Amal court maintained a substantial presence at
Pavia and Tortona, where the control of horrea (granaries) there provided the
Amals with leverage over key zones of military settlement.46 The proximity of
Epiphanius and Ennodius to the affairs of Theoderic’s court also attests to the
importance of Pavia to the Amals. The fact that Boethius was tried for treason
in Verona and then spent his last days in confinement outside of Pavia similarly
describes the peripatetic nature of the court.47 That the Gothic ruler’s mobile
administration (comitatus noster) would receive petitions and execute the
business of state outside of the presumed administrative centre of Ravenna
is patent in the Variae. Letter 2.20 requisitioned the transport of grain from
Ravenna to Liguria, where the presence of Theoderic’s officials (comitatus)
had attracted crowds of petitioners (catervas observantium).48 Similar to the
importance of maintaining the royal presence near horrea outside of Ravenna,
the higher frequency of coins minted at Milan (as opposed to Ravenna) speaks
to a strategy for disbursing the instruments of military power (coin and grain)
42 Anonymus Valesianus 12.71, ed. Moreau; Fredegar, Chronicles 2.57, ed. Krusch; on the
importance of these centres to an Amal administrative strategy: Mor, “La riforma ammin-
istrativa”, pp. 70–4.
43 Bolzani, Teoderico e Galeata; De Maria (ed.), Villa di Teodorico a Galeata.
44 Variae 12.4, ed. Mommsen.
45 De Azevedo, “Verona Gota”, p. 187.
46 Variae 10.28, ed. Mommsen; on the importance of these granaries, Ruggini, Economia e
Societá, pp. 326–40, and Settia, “Le fortificazioni dei Goti”, p. 130; on the concentration of
Gothic settlements in northern and central Italy, Bierbrauer, Die Ostgotischen Grab- und
Schatzfunde, pp. 29–64.
47 Anonymus Valesianus 14.87, ed. Moreau.
48 Variae 2.20.1, ed. Mommsen.