The enterprise was undertaken in 488, and completed in 493, at which time Odoacer was assassinated, and all his strongholds were in the possession of his adversary. Theodoric remained undisputed master of Italy during a prosperous reign of thirty-three years; but on his death his kingdom was...
This aggregation of strongholds may illustrate the allusion in Nahum (Na 3:14), "Draw the waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds," and "repair thy fortified places." They were probably surrounded by the dwellings of the mass of the population, either collected in groups, or ...