The story of the Goths and Romans is well known. The Visigoths ...

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The Historian

Article date:

January 1, 1993

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Contreni, John J. | Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 1993 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)

The East Germanic subgroup consisted of the Germanic tribes who at the beginning of our era inhabited the estuary of the Vistula river to the east of Scandinavia and to the west of the Elbe. The most numerous and powerful among them were the Goths, one of an ancient Teutonic race of people who overran and conquered most of the Roman empire in the third to fifth centuries. The language of the Goths was Gothic. The Goths were the first Teutons to start their migrations.

According to the earliest historical accounts, the Goths originated from the place on the Baltic Sea known as “Gutisk-andja” (shore, coast). The origin of the tribe has never been positively ascertained. Pytheas, a Greek geographer of the late 4c. BC, placed the tribe that might have been the Goths on the Baltic. The Gothic historian Jordanes, who wrote a history of his people almost ten centuries later (551 AD) places them on the territory of modern Sweden. The Goths are said to have left their native haunts on board of three ships during the reign of King Bering. Having crossed “the ocean”, they scattered along the Baltic sea coast. This migration (1c. AD) has been proved by numerous archeological finds. The time of the migration is counted from the reign of Filimer, the son of Gederick, who was the fifth king after Bering.

On their way to the interior part of the continent the Goths were in contact with the following tribes:

1. The Rugians (rugii), their closest neighbours, came from Rogaland in Western Norway. This place is mentioned in old manuscripts as Holm-Rygir. In their migration the Rugians moved to the territory of the Roman Empire. On the territory of modern southern Austria and Moravia they founded the kingdom. It ended with the conquest of the German king of Italy Odoacer (487 AD).

2. The Vandals originated from Jutland. During the second and third centuries AD they settled along the Danube river. They entered Gaul in 406 and three years later invaded Spain. There they fought against both the Visigoths and the Romans. The Vandals achieved their greatest power under Genseric who became their king in 422. The following year they moved to Africa where they defeated the Romans. Genseric’s sovereignty was recognised by Roman Emperor Valentinian III. The warlike Vandals conquered Carthage in 439. Their navy ruled the western Mediterranean Sea. Because of the warlike Vandals, various parts of Italy were in constant danger. The Vandals even plundered Rome in 477. After Genseric’s death they began to decline. As a result, in 533 they were defeated by Byzantine general Belisarius.

The Gepides (gepidi) took part in King Bering’s voyage. They were one of the last to migrate to the Black Sea steppes (ab.268). Subjugated by the Huns, they are known to be the first to rebel against them after Attila’s death in the middle of the fifth century.

3. The Burgundians (burgundiones) were placed by Ptolemeus between the Elbe and the Oder. They started their migration in the third-fourth centuries not in the eastward but in the westward direction. In the fifth century the Burgundians established the Kingdom of Burgundy in France. The Kingdom expanded covering what is now south-eastern France and part of Switzerland. The Burgundians were conquered in 534 by the Merovingian rulers of the Franks. Later they were absorbed into the Carolingian Empire. Burgundy in eastern France still reminds us of this East Germanic tribe, as it is renowned for burgundies (wine of many varieties).

4. The Lombards came from Scandinavia. After their assimilation with the Swebs they settled along the lower Elbe river. Between 568-572 AD they conquered northern and central parts of Italy. The conquest resulted in the foundation of the Kingdom of Lombardy. The Lombard dynasty was overthrown in 774 by the Frankish King Charlemagne.

By the third century the Goths had reached the region of the lower Danube river. They constituted a formidable menace to outlying provinces of the Roman Empire. The Goths ravaged Thrace, Dacia, cities in Asia Minor and along the coast of the Aegean Sea. Italy itself was seriously threatened when Athens was captured and plundered in 262. Constant wars between the Roman emperors and Gothic kings devastated the Balkans and the north-eastern Mediterranean region for about a whole century.

Other tribes sought for the protection of the Goths. Under the great King Ermanaric the Goths controlled the territory from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.

But the conflicts among themselves led the Goths to their division into two groups (ab. 370). The eastern group, the Ostrogoths (from Austrogothi “the splendid Goths”), inhabited the Black Sea area. The western group, the Visigoths ( from Visigothi “ the good/noble Goths”), settled on the territory between the Dniester and the Danube rivers.

Not long after their separation from the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths were endangered by the Huns. They sought the protection of Valens, the Roman Emperor of the East (364-378). The Visigoths were given permission to settle in Moesia (modern Bulgaria and south-eastern Yugoslavia). In 376 Valens granted the Visigoths permission to cross the Danube river. Many Visigoths enlisted in the Roman forces. Two years later they revolted on the pretext of maltreatment of the Goths by Roman officers. At Ederne, near Adrianople, a decisive battle (378) was won by the Visigoths. Valens was killed. The Visigoths intended to capture Constantinople, but they were not able to do it.

Meanwhile, Valens was succeeded by Theodosius I, the Roman general. Theodosius did his best to satisfy the needs of the Teuton migrants. The farmers of the Gothic origion who settled in Moesia got known as Moeso-Goths. One of the Moeso-Goths was Wulfila, the inventor of the Gothic alphabet.

Approximately at that time the Goths were converted to Christianity. They adopted the Arian form of belief. The Greek theologian Arius suggested that if the son were truly a son, there must have been a time when he did not exist. Arius’s doubts about Trinity attracted the attention of the Church, were highly disputed. In the end, the whole trend known as Arianism was condemned. Nevertheless, in the following centuries, as in the conflicts between Arian and Catholic Goths in Spain, the controversy assumed both military and political significance.

Theodosius I died in 395. The Empire was subsequently divided between his two heirs, Honorius in the west and Arcadius in the east. The Visigoths opposed Rome again. Renouncing their allegiance to Rome, they proclaimed Alaric I their king. Alaric seized an opportunity to invade Greece. Soon he retreated as he was appointed prefect of East Illyricum.

At the beginning of the fifth century the Visigoths started war against Italy. Their attacks were so successful that they captured and pillaged Rome in 410. Two years later the Visigoths withdrew from Italy, cross the Pyrenees and began the invasion of Spain. In 415-419 the Visigothic power extended almost all over Spain. Southern Gaul was also included into the domains of Visigothic kingdom, with Toulouse as its capital.

In the succession of the Visigothic kings the most notable was Euric (466-484). He had to control vast territories, as the Kingdom of Toulouse included Spain and the greater part of Gaul west of the Rhone and south of the Loire. Euric introduced many elements of Roman civilisation. In his code of law he combined Roman and German elements. However, Euric had to face certain internal difficulties. As a matter of fact, Euric wanted to protect his power by founding a hereditary royal house. Naturally, the powerful Visigoths stood against these attempts, as each of them cherished the same hopes. Besides, Euric was troubled by external danger coming from three powerful military centres – the Byzantine Empire, the Franks and the forces of Islam.

In order to install greater loyalty in his rebellious Roman subjects, Alaric II in 506 introduced the Breviary of Alaric, the collection of laws. In 507 Alaric II faced Chlovis I, King of the Franks, at the battle of Vouille. Alaric II was killed. As a result of the defeat, most of Provence was separated from the Gothic lands. The decline of the Visigothic power began. The last Visigothic king Roderick was killed by the Muslims in the Battle of Rio Barbate (711). By 713 Spain was a part of Islam. Thus ended the Visigothic power.

The beginning of the separate history of the Ostrogoths is much more dramatic than that of the Visigoths. The Ostrogoths were compelled to aid the Hunnish invaders in their conquests. They had to join the king of the Huns Attila in his expedition against Gaul (451). At the battle of Chalons the Ostrogoths fought against their Visigothic kinsmen and fell by thousands under their swords.

When the Huns retreated, the Ostrogoths were given permission to settle in Pannonia. Here they joined the remaining Ostrogoths who had taken refuge within the Roman Empire and escaped the Huns.

The flourishing of the Ostrogoths is connected with the name of their renowned king Theodoric the Great (454-526), the founder of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy.

Theodoric was from Pannonia. Ten years, from the age of 7 to 17, he spent at the Byzantine court of Constantinople as a hostage. At the age of 20 Theodoric succeeded to the throne. During the following 14 years he was engaged in alternate warfare and alliance with Zeno, Byzantine Emperor. Under the auspices of Zeno Theodoric invaded Italy in 488. In three decisive battles the first barbarian ruler of Italy Odoacer (ab.435-493) was defeated. The whole of Italy having been conquered by Theodoric, Odoacer was blockaded in Ravenna. Odoacer surrendered in 493 but, to be on the safe side, Theodoric assasinated Odoacer with his own hands. Ravenna was chosen the capital of the new kingdom. Theodoric’s reign of 33 years was remarkably peaceful and prosperous for Italy. The Ostrogothic ruler held the power of the Western Roman emperors all over Italy (a Roman consul was given no more than nominal authority). During the minority of the Visigothic king Amalaric (502-531), son of Alaric II, Theodoric also ruled the Visigoths (507-526). Theodoric did all to preserve the unity of the Romans and Goths. Unfortunately, his successors failed to be rulers of his stature. Less than a decade after the death of Theodoric the Great, the Byzantine emperor Justinian declared war on Italy in order to attain it to the Byzantine domains. The war lasted for twenty years and broke the Gothic power, the throne of Italy filled by the Byzantine governors of Ravenna.

The Ostrogoths gradually assimilated with the neighbouring peoples, such as Alani, Vandals, Franks, and Burgundians. The same fate of being absorbed by subsequent ethnic groups was shared by their former kinsmen, the Visigoths.

However, many centuries after Busbecg, the Flemish ambassador of Charles V to Turkey, took down in Istanbul (1560-1562) about 60 words from two natives of the Crimea. Their speech was unmistakably Gothic, the language considered to be extinct. This speech is traditionally referred to as Crimean Gothic.