High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Ostrogothic Kingdom was established by the Ostrogoths in Italy and neighbouring areas from 493 to 553. In Italy the Ostrogoths replaced Odoacer, the de facto ruler of Italy who had deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus Augustulus, in 476. The Gothic kingdom reached its zenith under the rule of its first king, Theodoric the Great.