Amalasuintha. Massimiliano Vitiello

have served as a model for the transmission of power, but perhaps the most likely exemplar would have been Ariadne with her child Leo II at the court of Constantinople, where Theoderic had spent part of his life.¹⁶⁸ A functioning regent, and the sole representative of the Amal family for the remaining years of the king’s minority, Amalasuintha was by now regina in her actions, and probably also in her title.¹⁶⁹

      A Widow and a Rex Puer: The Beginning of the Regency