How an Empire Ends: Life of Amalasuintha

Ancient History Fangirl

History, Society & Culture

4.5 • 518 Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2025

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

⁠Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! In our last episode, we told you all about the rise of Theodoric the Great and the founding of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy. Now, we’re going to tell you all about the women in his family—and the effect they had on his kingdom. Theodoric had a wife, a sister, and three daughters—all of whom played an important role in his empire-building. His wife was the daughter of another powerful Germanic tribe—the Franks—and he married off his sister and two eldest daughters to form strategic alliances. But three times he married off his kin, and three times it blew up in his face. Amalasuintha was Theodoric’s youngest daughter—and when he died, she was the last woman standing. For a few years, the Ostrogothic Kingdom had a Queen—but these were turbulent times. Join us as we explore the rule of Amalasuintha and the lives of Theodoric’s other tough-as-nails female kin. Sponsors and Advertising This episode is sponsored by Taskrabbit. Get 15% off your first task at Taskrabbit.com or the Taskrabbit app using promo code HISTORY. This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to advertising@airwavemedia.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:02.8	Her reactions were quick and courageous, indeed even reckless.
1:06.5	Music I'm Jenny Williamson.
1:21.3	And I'm Jen McManymy.
1:23.0	And this is Ancient History Fan Girl.
1:25.3	The More Goths Edition.
1:27.1	Gots, gots, Gots everywhere you look,
1:29.2	because somebody asked me to triangulate the Goths, much like somebody asked Jordains.
1:34.0	Hopefully you did it in a less problematic manner? I cannot guarantee that, but fingers crossed.
1:40.7	Anyway, in our last episode, we told you all about the rise of Theodoric the Great
1:45.1	and the founding of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy.
1:48.0	Now, we're going to tell you all about the women in his family and the effect they had on his kingdom
1:52.5	and their roles and how badass they were.
	...

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