Athalaric

Athalaric (516-October 2 534), king of the Ostrogoths, grandson of Theodoric the Great, became king of the Ostrogoths in Italy on his grand-father's death (526).

As he 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, he drank heavily and indulged in vicious excesses, which ruined his constitution.

He died on October 2, 534.

This entry is based material from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.