Athalaric (516 - 2 October 534) was the King of the Ostrogoths in Italy
. The
grandson of
Theodoric the Great,
he 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.
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