Mommsen in his Ostgotische Studien (Ges. Schr. VI, 362 ff.) enunciated the theory that Odoacer and Theoderic were kings of their German followers, but ruled their Roman subjects as commissaries of the emperors, holding the office of magister militum with certain precisely defined additional powers. Stein (Bas-Empire II, 116 ff.) and Ensslin (Theoderich der Grosse) have considerably modified this theory, admitting that Theoderic acted as king of all his subjects. They nevertheless still maintain that he was at the same time magister militum, and that his powers were limited in certain respects by a formal concordat with the emperor. In my opinion Odoacer and Theoderic were kings pure and simple, in the same position as the other barbarian kings.