Editing Sicily (section)

=== Germanic rule (469–535) ===
The [[Western Roman Empire]] began falling apart after the invasion of [[Vandals]], Alans, and Sueves [[Crossing of the Rhine|across the Rhine]] on the last day of 406. Eventually the Vandals, after roaming about western and southern [[Hispania]] (present-day [[Iberia]]) for 20 years, moved to North Africa in 429 and occupied Carthage in 439. The Franks moved south from present-day Belgium. The Visigoths moved west and eventually settled in Aquitaine in 418; the Burgundians settled in present-day Savoy in 443.

The Vandals found themselves in a position to threaten Sicily – only 100 miles away from their North African bases.<ref name="jpriv">{{cite book|last=Privitera|first=John|title=Sicily: An Illustrated History|publisher=Hippocrene Books|url=https://archive.org/details/sicilyillustrate00priv|isbn=978-0-7818-0909-2|year=2002}}</ref> After taking Carthage, the Vandals, personally led by King [[Gaiseric]], laid siege to Palermo in 440 as the opening act in an attempt to wrest the island from Roman rule.<ref>J.B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire, 1958 edition, p. 254</ref> The Vandals made another attempt to take the island one year after the 455 sack of Rome, at Agrigento, but were defeated decisively by [[Ricimer|Ricimir]] in a [[Battle of Corsica|naval victory off Corsica]] in 456.<ref>Bury, p. 327.</ref> The island remained under Roman rule until 469. The Vandals lost possession of the island 8 years later in 477 to the [[Germanic peoples|East Germanic tribe]] of the [[Ostrogoths]], who then controlled Italy and Dalmatia.<ref name="jpriv" /> The island was returned to the Ostrogoths by payment of tribute to their king [[Odoacer]]. He ruled Italy from 476 to 488 in the name of the [[Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire|Byzantine (Eastern Roman)]] Emperor. The Vandals kept a toehold in [[Lilybaeum]], a port on the west coast. They lost this in 491 after making one last attempt to conquer the island from this port.<ref>Bury, pp. 410, 425.</ref> The Ostrogothic conquest of Sicily (and of Italy as a whole) under [[Theodoric the Great]] began in 488. The Byzantine Emperor [[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]] had appointed Theodoric as a military commander in Italy. The Goths were Germanic, but Theodoric fostered Roman culture and government and allowed freedom of religion.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url= http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9026834/Theodoric#949802.hook|encyclopedia= [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|title= Theodoric|date= 7 October 2007}}</ref> In 461 from the age of seven or eight until 17 or 18 Theodoric had become a Byzantine hostage; he resided in the great palace of Constantinople, was favored by Emperor [[Leo I (emperor)|Leo I]] ({{reign | 457 | 474}}) and learned to read, write and do arithmetic.<ref>Frassetto, Michael (2003), ''Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation''. Santa Barbara, CA, p. 335: ABC-CLIO. {{ISBN|978-1-57607-263-9}}.</ref>