Why did the Arian church under Theoderic call itself the “church of Gothic belief”? Historians have believed that Arianism appealed to the Goths because it helped them to preserve their group identity. No cultural trait has been seen as more fundamental to the definition of an Italian Goth than Arian belief. In the end, according to this interpretation, Ostrogothic Italy could not survive as a kingdom because, unlike Frankish Gaul, the heretical faith of the settlers slowed assimilation and promoted conflict. “[Theoderic's] Arianism was a national identity-card for the Goths.” “We may suspect that for the Goths an essential feature of their Arianism was simply that it was not the faith of the Romans.” “Wherever in Italy there was any substantial Gothic garrison, the Arians had their own church buildings.” “Vero punctum dolens nei rapporti fra Goti e Romani era la diversità di confessione: Teoderico, con la maggioranza del suo seguito, era ariano.”

These statements are questionable. They rest on the following assumptions, each of which would need to be proven: Goths and Romans are easily definable as peoples; one people has only one religion; belonging to a people determines one's religion; and that religion is the same as the religion of the king or the emperor.

These historians understand Arianism as the religion of the Goths because it was the religion of Theoderic, yet members of Theoderic's family were Catholics.