TEODORICO I and II, kings of the Visigoths. — The Visigothic people, who, following Alaric—proclaimed king—had sacked Rome and overrun all Italy, after the death of that bold leader, withdrew with Ataulf to southern Gaul, bound to the Empire by a *foedus* repeatedly violated and renewed. In 418, Wallia was succeeded by T. I, who, taking advantage of the death of Honorius and the misfortunes of the Empire, constantly strove to expand the boundaries of the territory granted to him, pushing toward the center of Gaul, sometimes checked by the *magister utriusque militiae* Aetius and his generals, but always ready to resume his advances.
It is uncertain whether, in any of the peace treaties repeatedly renewed with him by the imperial government, the complete independence of the Visigothic Kingdom centered at Toulouse was recognized, or whether the semi-subordinate status of the federated state persisted; but when the Huns of Attila descended upon Gaul, T., feeling himself threatened as well, drew close to Rome and played an honorable part in the resistance, falling killed at Campus Mauriacus near Troyes in 451.
T. II, son of the preceding, seized the throne by killing his brother Thorismund. He maintained good relations with the Romans, especially after the sack of Rome by Gaiseric; he played a notable role in the events unfolding in Gaul, supporting the imperial candidacy of Avitus, fighting for Rome against the Vandals in Spain, adopting an attitude first hostile then favorable toward Emperor Majorian, and managing to extend his domains toward Narbo Marius (Narbonne) and Aurelianum (Orléans). After the assassination of Majorian, he allied himself with the usurper Flavius Ricimer, who had become very powerful. But this friendship did not save him from the treachery of his own brother, Euric, who had him killed in the year 466.