In addition to this war with the Franks, Alaric had to contend with a rebellion of the Bagaudae of Tarragona, whose chief, Burdurellus, was taken prisoner at Toulouse, and there slain (498). On the death of Alaric, the Visigothic magnates chose for their king his illegitimate son Gisalic, instead of Amalaric, his legitimate heir. Theodoric, the king of the Ostrogoths and grandfather of Amalaric, opposed him by armed intervention, and thus re-established the right of succession to the throne and saved the Visigothic kingdom from total destruction. Gisalic, who is represented by the historians of the period as being very wicked and cowardly, was defeated in the neighbourhood of Narbonne by the Burgundians, at that time the allies of Clovis. He fled to Barcelona, whence he was expelled by the troops of Theodoric. He then took refuge in Africa at the court of the king of the Vandals, who refused to support his claims; afterwards, under the protection of Clovis, he returned to Gaul, and was killed there. Meanwhile, the Burgundians, who had taken possession of Narbonne, combined with the Franks, and besieged Arles: but they were defeated by the army of Theodoric, under command of his general Ibbas, who compelled them to withdraw from Carcassonne. Thus, almost all the cities of the province of Narbonne, including the capital, were reconquered, and the whole of Visigothic Spain was placed in subjection to Theodoric, albeit in the name of Amalaric. The final episode of the war was the raising of the siege of Arles in 510; this city was heroically defended by its inhabitants assisted by the Ostrogothic general Tulum. Shortly afterwards (511) Clovis died, and the city of Rodez reverted to the Visigoths. The part of Provence which Theodoric had conquered remained, for the time being, united to the other territories, but, on the death of Theodoric, it became part of the Ostrogothic kingdom in consequence of a treaty between Amalaric and Theodoric's successor Athalaric.
As regards internal policy, matters were settled on the following terms: Amalaric, a minor, was to be king of the Visigoths, and his grandfather Theodoric acted as his guardian. Indeed, for fifteen years, Theodoric was the real ruler of the kingdom both in Gaul and Spain. Theodoric tried to make his rule agreeable to the Visigoths. He adhered to the system, privileges, and customs of the time of Alaric; he remitted taxation in the districts which had been especially impoverished by the war; he supplied Arles with money and provisions, and in order that his troops might not prove a burden to the inhabitants, he sent them corn and gold from Italy. His conduct as a guardian was particularly advantageous to Spain. He there displayed all the wise and vigorous policy which had rendered so illustrious his rule in Italy and which was all the more vital to Spain on account of the immorality and anarchy which had crept into the government during the decline of the Empire. Theodoric recovered for the Crown the exclusive right to coin money, which was being exercised by a few private individuals; he
