What happened to the Roman aristocracy upon the establishment of Ostrogoth rule

Question: What happened to the Roman aristocracy upon the establishment of Ostrogoth rule in Rome!?
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The aristocracy, i!.e!. the Senate, remained in the same position upon the Ostrogothic seizure of Italy as it had been in the past!. The Ostrogoths, and in particular their leader Theodoric, tried to show that they were like the Romans and imitated the Roman style of rule!. The Goths saw the Romans as having a long tradition of legal and governmental experience, while the Goths did not, but instead saw themselves primarily as warriors (Romans were not allowed in the Ostrogothic army)!.So they thought it best to learn and imitate the Roman system and learn from the masters!.

Part of that was to ally themselves with the Roman senatorial class and allow the Roman government to operate as it had in the past!. The result was that the Roman Senate had a great deal of influence in the Ostrogothic Kingdom (Cassidorus, a Roman senator, was Theodoric's adviser) and the Senate pretty much ran the city of Rome (the Goths' base of operations was in Ravenna)!. also, the Goths were probably outnumbered in Italy by ethnic Romans, so they tried to make the transition to Gothic rule as smooth as possible in order to prevent uprisings among their Italian subjects, so naturally they wanted to keep the Senate going (The Goths also continued to hold chariot races and distribute the grain dole)!. For the senators, life remained as it had been in the past, holding meetings and trying to climb the ladder of offices to reach the consulship!. The only difference was instead of having an Emperor, they had a Gothic King!. Ironically, it was only with the recapture of Italy by the Eastern Romans that relegated the Roman Senate to obscurity and marks the break with the traditional Roman past!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

If Theoderic told them 'roll over': they rolled over!. With very good reason: in those days possession of land was what mattered!. All the rich and mighty were major landowners!. You can't pick up your estates as a bag of gold or diamonds and set up shop elsewhere!.

So what they did was work out some kind of deal with the new ruling class!. Today that would seem traitorous, but in those days it was common sense!. An arrangement that benefited both parties: Theoderic got revenues and an administration in return for letting them keep (most of) their possessions and positions!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Add to Christopher's fine answer, Theoderic gave the Senate more respect than since the end of the Republic!. (Augustus's time!.)Www@QuestionHome@Com