Athalaric
Athalaric (
516 -
2 October 534), King of the
Ostrogoths in
Italy, grandson of
Theodoric the Great, became king upon his grandfather's death in
526.
As Athalaric was only ten years old, the regency was assumed by his mother,
Amalasuntha. His mother attempted to provide for him an education in the Roman tradition, but the Gothic nobles pressured her to allow them to raise him as they saw fit. As a result, Athalaric drank heavily and indulged in vicious excesses, which ruined his constitution.
