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Goths
The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is now Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania. From here they conducted raids into Roman territory, and large numbers of them joined the Roman military. These early Goths lived in the regions where archaeologists find the Chernyakhov culture, which flourished throughout this region during the 3rd and 4th centuries.
In the late 4th century, the lands of the Goths in present-day Ukraine were overwhelmed by a significant westward movement of Alans and Huns from the east. Large numbers of Goths subsequently concentrated upon the Roman border at the Lower Danube, seeking refuge inside the Roman Empire. After they entered the Empire, violence broke out, and Goth-led forces inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. Roman forces regained a level of control but many Goths and other eastern peoples were quickly settled in and near the empire. One group of these, initially led by their king Alaric I, sacked the city of Rome in 410 and were the precursors of the Visigoths, and their successors eventually established a Visigothic Kingdom in Spain at Toledo. Meanwhile, Goths under Hunnic rule gained their independence in the 5th century, most importantly the Ostrogoths. Under their king Theodoric the Great, these Goths established an Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy at Ravenna.
The Ostrogothic Kingdom was destroyed by Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire) in the 6th century, while the Visigothic Kingdom was largely conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate in the early 8th century, with a remnant in Asturias which would go on to initiate the Reconquista under Pelagius. Remnants of Gothic communities in Crimea, known as the Crimean Goths, established a culture that survived for more than a thousand years, although Goths would eventually cease to exist as a distinct people.
Gothic architecture, Gothic literature and the modern-day Goth subculture ultimately derive their names from the ancient Goths, though the Goths themselves did not directly create or influence these art forms.
In the Gothic language, the Goths were called the *Gut-þiuda ('Gothic people') or *Gutans ('Goths'). The Proto-Germanic form of the Gothic name is reconstructed as *Gutōz, but it is proposed that this co-existed with an n-stem variant *Gutaniz, attested in Gutones, gutani, or gutniskr. The form *Gutōz is etymologically identical to that of the Gutes from Gotland, Sweden, and closely related to that of the Geats, from mainland Sweden, whose name is reconstructed as *Gautōz. Though these names probably all mean the same thing, that meaning is uncertain. They are all thought to be related to the Proto-Germanic verb *geuta-, which means "to pour".
The similarity of these Scandinavian names has long been noted by scholars in connection with the 6th-century book Getica (c. 551), by the historian Jordanes who wrote that the Goths originated on Scandza many centuries earlier, and moved to the Vistula delta. However, the accuracy of Jordanes' account for such early Gothic history has been questioned by scholars. A people called the Gutones – possibly early Goths – are documented living near the lower Vistula River in current Poland in the 1st century, where they are associated with the archaeological Wielbark culture.
The Goths are classified as a Germanic people in modern scholarship. Along with the Burgundians, Vandals and others they belong to the East Germanic group. Roman authors of late antiquity did not classify the Goths as Germani. In modern scholarship the Goths are sometimes referred to as being Germani.
A crucial source on Gothic history is the Getica of the 6th-century historian Jordanes, who may have been of Gothic descent. Jordanes claims to have based the Getica on an earlier lost work by Cassiodorus, but also cites material from fifteen other classical sources, including an otherwise unknown writer, Ablabius. Many scholars accept that Jordanes' account on Gothic origins is at least partially derived from Gothic tribal tradition and accurate on certain details, and as a result the Goths are often identified as originating from south-central Sweden.
Goths
The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is now Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania. From here they conducted raids into Roman territory, and large numbers of them joined the Roman military. These early Goths lived in the regions where archaeologists find the Chernyakhov culture, which flourished throughout this region during the 3rd and 4th centuries.
In the late 4th century, the lands of the Goths in present-day Ukraine were overwhelmed by a significant westward movement of Alans and Huns from the east. Large numbers of Goths subsequently concentrated upon the Roman border at the Lower Danube, seeking refuge inside the Roman Empire. After they entered the Empire, violence broke out, and Goth-led forces inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. Roman forces regained a level of control but many Goths and other eastern peoples were quickly settled in and near the empire. One group of these, initially led by their king Alaric I, sacked the city of Rome in 410 and were the precursors of the Visigoths, and their successors eventually established a Visigothic Kingdom in Spain at Toledo. Meanwhile, Goths under Hunnic rule gained their independence in the 5th century, most importantly the Ostrogoths. Under their king Theodoric the Great, these Goths established an Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy at Ravenna.
The Ostrogothic Kingdom was destroyed by Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire) in the 6th century, while the Visigothic Kingdom was largely conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate in the early 8th century, with a remnant in Asturias which would go on to initiate the Reconquista under Pelagius. Remnants of Gothic communities in Crimea, known as the Crimean Goths, established a culture that survived for more than a thousand years, although Goths would eventually cease to exist as a distinct people.
Gothic architecture, Gothic literature and the modern-day Goth subculture ultimately derive their names from the ancient Goths, though the Goths themselves did not directly create or influence these art forms.
In the Gothic language, the Goths were called the *Gut-þiuda ('Gothic people') or *Gutans ('Goths'). The Proto-Germanic form of the Gothic name is reconstructed as *Gutōz, but it is proposed that this co-existed with an n-stem variant *Gutaniz, attested in Gutones, gutani, or gutniskr. The form *Gutōz is etymologically identical to that of the Gutes from Gotland, Sweden, and closely related to that of the Geats, from mainland Sweden, whose name is reconstructed as *Gautōz. Though these names probably all mean the same thing, that meaning is uncertain. They are all thought to be related to the Proto-Germanic verb *geuta-, which means "to pour".
The similarity of these Scandinavian names has long been noted by scholars in connection with the 6th-century book Getica (c. 551), by the historian Jordanes who wrote that the Goths originated on Scandza many centuries earlier, and moved to the Vistula delta. However, the accuracy of Jordanes' account for such early Gothic history has been questioned by scholars. A people called the Gutones – possibly early Goths – are documented living near the lower Vistula River in current Poland in the 1st century, where they are associated with the archaeological Wielbark culture.
The Goths are classified as a Germanic people in modern scholarship. Along with the Burgundians, Vandals and others they belong to the East Germanic group. Roman authors of late antiquity did not classify the Goths as Germani. In modern scholarship the Goths are sometimes referred to as being Germani.
A crucial source on Gothic history is the Getica of the 6th-century historian Jordanes, who may have been of Gothic descent. Jordanes claims to have based the Getica on an earlier lost work by Cassiodorus, but also cites material from fifteen other classical sources, including an otherwise unknown writer, Ablabius. Many scholars accept that Jordanes' account on Gothic origins is at least partially derived from Gothic tribal tradition and accurate on certain details, and as a result the Goths are often identified as originating from south-central Sweden.