Editing Amalasuintha (section)

==Rule==
[[File:Diptych Rufus Gennadius Probus Orestes VandA 139-1866.jpg|thumb|[[Consular diptych]] of Rufius Gennadius Probus Orestes, [[Victoria and Albert museum]]. Portraits of Amalasuintha and her son Athalaric are above the inscription, flanking the cross.]]

===Regent===
According to Procopius, the Goth aristocracy wanted Athalaric to be raised in the Gothic manner, but Amalasuintha wanted him to resemble the Roman princes.<ref name=":1" /> Amalasuintha had close ties to the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine emperor]] [[Justinian I]], which would have made her adherence to Roman learning and customs especially objectionable to her fellow Goths. The regency lasted until 534, when Athalaric died from what was most likely the combination of excessive drinking (a part of Gothic culture) and a disease, probably diabetes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Frye |first=David |title=Athalaric's Health and the Ostrogothic Character |date=1995 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44172211 |journal=Byzantion |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=249–251 |jstor=44172211 |issn=0378-2506}}</ref> In order to secure the power in the Amali name, Amalasuintha created the consortium regni that allowed her to continue to rule as queen while still presenting a public face that honored conservative Gothic tradition. She then appointed her older cousin Theodahad to rule as co-regent, in which Amalasuintha would play the male character and Theodahad would play the woman, as male and female monarchs sharing powers.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Vitiello |first=Massimiliano |title=Amalasuintha |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780812249477 |location=Philadelphia |pages=23}}</ref> Masculinity is the main characteristic attributed to Amalasuintha by Procopius and Cassiodorus, because she had a strong determination and temperament.<ref name=":6" />

Her tremendous influence in her position as regent can be seen in a [[diptych]] of [[Rufius Gennadius Probus Orestes]] in which she appears alongside her son, Athalaric, in 530.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-0199 |title=Amalasuntha |date=January 2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-518792-2}}</ref> Deeply imbued with the old Roman culture, she gave to her son's education a more refined and literary turn than suited her Goth subjects. Conscious of her unpopularity, she banished – and afterwards put to death – three Gothic nobles whom she suspected of conspiring against her rule. At the same time, she opened negotiations with Justinian, with the view of removing herself and the Gothic treasure to [[Constantinople]].

===Queen regnant===
After Athalaric's death, Amalasuintha became queen and ruled alone for a short while before making her cousin [[Theodahad]] co-ruler with the intent of strengthening her position.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Amalasuntha|volume=1|page=777}}</ref>  Theodahad was a prominent leader of the Gothic military aristocracy that opposed her pro-Roman stances, and Amalasuintha believed this duumvirate might make supporters from her harshest critics.<ref name=":0" /> Instead Theodahad fostered the disaffection of the Goths, and had Amalasuintha imprisoned on the island of Martana in [[Lake Bolsena]].<ref name="EB1911"/>