Ostrogoths

The Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna, Italy

The Ostrogoths (Latin: Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who had settled in the Balkans in the 4th century, having crossed the Lower Danube. While the Visigoths had formed under the leadership of Alaric I, the new Ostrogothic political entity which came to rule Italy, was formed in the Balkans under the influence of the Amal Dynasty.

As with other Gothic groups, the history of the peoples who made them up before they reached the Roman Balkans is difficult to reconstruct in detail. However, the Ostrogoths are associated with the earlier Greuthungi. The Ostrogoths themselves were more commonly referred to simply as Goths even in the 5th century, but before then they were referred to once, in a poem by Claudian which associates them with a group of Greuthungi. Furthermore, the 6th century historian of the Goths Jordanes also equated the Ostrogoths of his time to the Goths ruled by King Ermanaric in the 4th century, who the Roman writer Ammianus Marcellinus had called Greuthungi, and described as living between the Dniester and Don rivers. He also mentioned that Ermanaric committed suicide when the Huns and Alans attacked his people from the east. After this, the Gothic peoples moved massively into the Roman empire, or became subservient to the Huns.

After the death of Attila and collapse of the Hunnic empire after the Battle of Nedao in 453, the Amal Dynasty, the family of Theodoric the Great became preeminent, and began to form their kingdom within the Roman Balkans. Eventually, the Emperor Zeno backed Theoderic to invade Italy and replace Odoacer there as its king, under imperial authority. In 493 he established the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy, when Theodoric defeated Odoacer's forces and killed his rival Germanic chieftain at a banquet.

A period of instability then ensued, eventually tempting the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian to declare war on the Ostrogoths in 535 in an effort to restore the former western provinces of the Roman Empire. Initially, the Byzantines were successful, but under the leadership of Totila, the Goths reconquered most of the lost territory until Totila's death at the Battle of Taginae. The war lasted for almost 21 years and caused enormous damage across Italy, reducing the population of the peninsula. Any remaining Ostrogoths in Italy were absorbed into the Lombards, who established a kingdom in Italy in 568.

Goths

Main articles: Goths, Chernyakhov culture, Oium, and Gothic runic inscriptions

  Traditional Götaland

  Island of Gotland

  Wielbark Culture, early 3rd century

  Chernyakhov culture, early 4th century

  Roman Empire

The Ostrogoths were one of several peoples referred to more generally as Goths. The Goths appear in Roman records starting in the third century, in the regions north of the Lower Danube and Black Sea. They competed for influence with peoples who had lived longer in the area, such as the Carpi, and various Sarmatians. Based on their Germanic language and material culture it is believed that the Gothic culture derived from cultures originally from the direction of the Vistula river, in the north, and now in Poland. By the third century, the Goths were already sub-groups, because the Tervingi, who bordered on the Roman Empire and the Carpathian mountains, were mentioned separately on at least one occasion.

The Ostrogoths, not mentioned until later, are associated with the Greuthungi who lived further east. The dividing line between the Tervingi and the Greuthungi, was reported by Ammianus to be the Dniester River, and to the east of the Greuthungi were Alans living near the River Don.

Gothic Language

Main article: Gothic language

The Ostrogoths in Italy used the Gothic language, which is best attested today in the surviving translation of the Bible by the Visigothic bishop Ulfilas. While none of the eastern Germanic languages are still spoken, Gothic is the only one with "continuous texts" remaining. These comprise the earliest remnants of a Germanic language.

Etymology

Further information: Greuthungi § Etymology, and Goths § Name

Ostrogothic bow-fibulae (c. 500) from Emilia-Romagna, Italy

The first part of the word "Ostrogoth" comes from a root "*auster-" meaning eastern. According to the proposal of Wolfram, this was originally a boastful tribal name meaning "Goths of the rising sun", or "Goths glorified by the rising sun". In the 6th century, however, Jordanes believed that the Visigoths and Ostrogoths were two contrasting names simply meaning western and eastern Goths, respectively.

History

The Greuthungi and Ostrogothi before the Huns

Further information: Greuthungi

The nature of the divisions of the Goths before the arrival of the Huns is uncertain, but the Ostrogoths are only mentioned by that name very rarely and normally in very uncertain contexts. Among other Gothic group names however, they are associated with the Greuthungi. Scholarly opinions are various. Historian Herwig Wolfram sees these as two names for one people as will be discussed below. Peter Heather, in contrast, has written that:

Ostrogoths in the sense of the group led by Theoderic to Italy stand at the end of complex processes of fragmentation and unification involving a variety of groups - mostly but not solely Gothic it seems - and the better, more contemporary, evidence argues against the implication derived from Jordanes that Ostrogoths are Greuthungi by another name.

A dubious early mention of the Ostrogoths is sometimes mentioned in the Historia Augusta article for Emperor Claudius Gothicus (reigned 268-270), where the following list of "Scythian" peoples is given who had been conquered by the emperor when he earned his title "Gothicus": "peuci trutungi austorgoti uirtingi sigy pedes celtae etiam eruli". These words are traditionally edited by modern to include well-known peoples: "Peuci, Grutungi, Austrogoti, Tervingi, Visi, Gipedes, Celtae etiam et Eruli" (emphasis added). However this work is now known to have been made centuries later than the events it reports, and is not considered reliable.

The first record of a Gothic sub-group acting in its own name, specifically the Tervingi, was dated from 291. The Greuthungi, Vesi, and Ostrogothi are all attested no earlier than 388. The Ostrogoths were first definitely mentioned more than one hundred years later than the Tervingi in 399, in a poem by Claudian which describes the Ostrogoths and Greuthungi inhabiting the land of Phrygia together, ready to be aroused by some small offense and return to their natural ways. The poem associates this rebellious squadron (alae) in Phrygia with the Roman general of Gothic background, Tribigild. Claudian only uses the term Ostrogoth once, but in other references to this same group he more often calls them Greuthungi or "Getic" (an older word used for Goths generally in this period). Zosimus also mentions Tribigild and the barbarian forces based in Phrygia, and their rebellion against the eunuch consul Eutropius. Gainas, the aggrieved Gothic general sent to fight him, joined forces with him after the death of Eutropius. Zosimus believed that was conspiracy between the two Goths from the beginning. It is generally believed by historians that this Phrygian settlement of Greuthingi, referred to as including Ostrogoths, were part of the Greuthungi-led force led by Odotheus in 386, and not the Greuthungi who had entered the empire earlier, in 376 under Alatheus and Saphrax. In contrast, the Amal dynasty, around whom the later and better-known Othogothic kingdom formed, were in neither of these groups who entered the Roman Empire in the 4th century, because into the 5th century they were Gothic leaders within Attila's Hunnic Empire.

Based upon the 6th century writer Jordanes, whose Getica is a history of the Ostrogothic Amal dynasty, there is a tradition of simply equating the Greuthungi with the Ostrogothi. Jordanes does not mention the Greuthungi, but he identified the Ostrogothic kings, the Amal dynasty, including Theodoric the Great, as the heirs and descendants of king Ermanaric. Ermanaric was described by the more reliable contemporary writer Ammianus Marcellinus as a king of the Greuthungi, however the family succession described by the two classical authors is completely in conflict, and Ammianus is considered to be the more reliable source.

According to Jordanes' Getica (XVI), around 250 (the time of Emperor Philip the Arab who reigned 244–249) the Ostrogoths were ruled by a king called Ostrogotha and they either derived their name from this "father of the Ostrogoths", or else the Ostrogoths and Visigoths got these names because they meant eastern and western Goths. Modern historians agree that Jordanes is unreliable, but some historians such Herwig Wolfram believe that he was right to believe there was a continuity between the nobility of the Greuthungi and the later Ostrogoths.

Wolfram claims the primary sources either use the terminology of Tervingi/Greuthungi or Vesi/Ostrogothi and never mix the pairs. When all four names were used together, the pairing was always preserved, as in the example of Claudian, or the Augustan History for the Emperor Claudius Gothicus which has "Gruthungi, Ostrogothi, Tervingi, Vesi". Wolfram argues that the terms Tervingi and Greuthungi were geographical identifiers used by each tribe to describe the other. Historian Thomas Burns agrees with this conclusion. This terminology therefore dropped out of use after the Goths moved into the Roman empire, after about 400. In support of this, Wolfram cites Zosimus as referring to a group of "Scythians" north of the Danube after 376 who were called "Greuthungi" by the barbarians. In contrast, according to him, the terms "Vesi" and "Ostrogothi" were used by the peoples themselves to boastfully describe themselves. On this understanding, the Greuthungi and Ostrogothi were more or less the same people.

In general, the terminology of a divided Gothic people disappeared gradually after they entered the Roman Empire. The term "Visigoth", however, was an invention of the sixth century. Cassiodorus, a Roman in the service of Theodoric the Great, invented the term Visigothi to match Ostrogothi, which terms he thought of as "western Goths" and "eastern Goths" respectively. The western-eastern division was a simplification and a literary device of sixth-century historians where political realities were more complex. Furthermore, Cassiodorus used the term "Goths" to refer only to the Ostrogoths, whom he served, and reserved the geographical term "Visigoths" for the Gallo-Hispanic Goths. This usage, however, was adopted by the Visigoths themselves in their communications with the Byzantine Empire and was in use in the seventh century.

Other names for the Goths abounded. A "Germanic" Byzantine or Italian author referred to one of the two peoples as the Valagothi, meaning "Roman [walha] Goths". In 484 the Ostrogoths had been called the Valameriaci (men of Valamir) because they followed Theodoric, a descendant of Valamir. This terminology survived in the Byzantine East as late as the reign of Athalaric, who was called του Ουαλεμεριακου (tou Oualemeriakou) by John Malalas.

Hunnic invasions and the Amals

Main article: History of the Huns

In the late 4th century, the rise of the Huns forced many of the Goths and Alans to join them, while other moved westwards and eventually moved into Roman territory in the Balkans. Ostrogoths and Greuthungi, perhaps the same people, were the first Goths who were subdued by the Huns.

While many Greuthungi entered the Roman Empire in the 370s, apart from the Ostrogoths who were settled with Greuthungi in Phrygia in the 380s by the Romans, historical records only mention this name as the Gothic political entity which formed among some of the Goths who fought under Attila in the 5th century. An Ostrogothic kingdom coalesced around the leadership of the Amal dynasty. The Ostrogoths thus fought alongside both Alans and Huns. Like several other tribal peoples, they became one of the many Hunnic vassals fighting in Europe, as in the Battle of Chalons in 451. Several uprisings against the Huns were suppressed.

Jordanes, in his Getica, which is about the history of the Amals, claimed that the Amals were already among the most powerful factions under Attila, and in charge of the Goths under him. Modern historians such as Peter Heather believe this is an exaggeration, and point out that there were at least three factions of Goths in Attila's forces.

The recorded history of the Ostrogoths as a political entity begins with their independence from the remains of the Hunnic Empire following the death of Attila the Hun in 453. The Ostrogoths under the Amal Valamir were among the peoples who were living in the Middle Danube region by this time, and whose freedom from domination by Attila's sons was confirmed by the Battle of Nedao in 454, which was led by the Gepids. It is unclear what role the Goths played in this battle, and after the battle many Goths entered Roman military service, while only some began to coalesce under the leadership of Valamir and his two brothers, Vidimir and Theodemir, the father of Theoderic the Great.

The Ostrogoths now entered into relations with the Empire, and were settled on lands in Pannonia, becoming foederati (federates) to the Byzantines. The Amal-led Ostrogoths expanded their control slowly southwards from Pannonia into the Balkans, and then westwards towards Illyria and the borders of Italy. Their rule was marked by turmoil with hostile neighbors all around and the land they acquired between Vindobona (Vienna) and Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica) was not well managed, a fact which rendered the Ostrogoths dependent upon Constantinople for subsidies.

During the greater part of the latter half of the 5th century, the East Goths played in south-eastern Europe nearly the same part that the Western Goths (Visigoths) played in the century before. They were seen going to and from, in every conceivable relation of friendship and enmity with the Eastern Roman power, until, just as the West Goths had done before them, they passed from the East to the West. Unchallenged by the now-dissipated power of the Huns, the Ostrogoths under Valamir were themselves powerful and absorbed elements from other, smaller tribes, such as the Scirii. A dispute with the Eastern Roman emperor at Constantinople caused Valamir to lead his Ostrogoths against him. With the barbarians at the gates, Emperor Leo I agreed to pay an annual subsidy of gold.

Kingdom in Italy

Main article: Ostrogothic Kingdom

Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy

The greatest of all Ostrogothic rulers, the future Theodoric the Great (whose Gothic name meant "leader of the people") of the Ostrogothic Kingdom (Regnum Italiae, "Kingdom of Italy") was born to Theodemir in or about 454, soon after the Battle of Nedao. His childhood was spent at Constantinople as a diplomatic hostage, where he was carefully educated. The early part of his life was taken up with various disputes, intrigues and wars within the Byzantine empire, in which he had as his rival Theodoric Strabo of the Thracian Goths, a distant relative of Theodoric the Great and son of Triarius. This older but lesser Theodoric seems to have been the chief, not the king, of that branch of the Ostrogoths that had settled within the Empire earlier. Theodoric the Great, as he is sometimes distinguished, was sometimes the friend, sometimes the enemy, of the Empire. In the former case he was clothed with various Roman titles and offices, as patrician and consul; but in all cases alike he remained the national Ostrogothic king. Theodoric is also known for his attainment of support from the Catholic Church and on one occasion, he even helped resolve a disputed papal election. During his reign, Theodoric, who was an Arian, allowed freedom of religion, which had not been done before. However, he did try to appease the Pope and tried to keep his alliance with the church strong. He saw the Pope as an authority not only in the church but also over Rome itself. His ability to work well with Italy's nobles, members of the Roman Senate, and the Catholic Church all helped facilitate his acceptance as the ruler of Italy.

Theodoric sought to revive Roman culture and government and in doing so, profited the Italian people. It was in both characters together that he set out in 488, by commission from the Byzantine emperor Zeno, to recover Italy from Odoacer. In 489, the Rugii, a Germanic tribe who dwelt in the Hungarian Plain, joined the Ostrogoths in their invasion of Italy under their leader Frideric. By 493 Ravenna was taken, where Theodoric would set up his capital. It was also at this time that Odoacer was killed by Theodoric's own hand. Ostrogothic power was fully established over Italy, Sicily, Dalmatia and the lands to the north of Italy. Around 500, Theodoric celebrated his thirtieth anniversary as King of the Ostrogoths. In order to improve their chances against the Roman Empire the Ostrogoths and Visigoths began again to unite in what became a loose confederation of Germanic peoples. The two branches of the nation were soon brought closer together; after he was forced to become regent of the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse, the power of Theodoric was practically extended over a large part of Gaul and over nearly the whole of the Iberian peninsula. Theodoric forged alliances with the Visigoths, Alamanni, Franks and Burgundians, some of which were accomplished through diplomatic marriages.

The Ostrogothic dominion was once again as far-reaching and splendid as it was in the time of Hermanaric; however it was now of a wholly different character. The dominion of Theodoric was not a barbarian but a civilized power. His twofold position ran through everything. He was at once king of the Goths and successor, though without any imperial titles, of the Western Roman emperors. The two nations, differing in manners, language and religion, lived side by side on the soil of Italy; each was ruled according to its own law, by the prince who was, in his two separate characters, the common sovereign of both. Due to his ability to foster and leverage relations among the various Germanic kingdoms, the Byzantines began to fear Theodoric's power, which led to an alliance between the Byzantine emperor and the Frankish king, Clovis I, a pact designed to counteract and ultimately overthrow the Ostrogoths. In some ways Theodoric may have been overly accommodating to both the Romans and other Gothic people as he placated Catholics and Arian Christians alike. Historian Herwig Wolfram suggests that Theodoric's efforts in trying to appease Latin and barbarian cultures in kind brought about the collapse of Ostrogothic predominance and also resulted in the "end of Italy as the heartland of late antiquity." All the years of creating a protective perimeter around Italy were broken down by the Franco-Byzantine coalition. Theodoric was able to temporarily salvage some of his realm with the assistance of the Thuringians. Realizing that the Franks were the most significant threat to the Visigothic empire as well, Alaric II, (who was the son-in-law of Theodoric) enlisted the aid of the Burgundians and fought against the Franks at the urging of the magnates of his tribe, but this choice proved an error and he allegedly met his end at the hand of the Frankish king, Clovis.

A time of confusion followed the death of Alaric II who was slain during the Battle of Vouillé. The Ostrogothic king Theodoric stepped in as the guardian of his grandson Amalaric, and preserved for him all his Iberian and a fragment of his Gallic dominion. Toulouse passed to the Franks but the Goths kept Narbonne and its district and Septimania, which was the last part of Gaul held by the Goths, keeping the name of Gothia for many years. While Theodoric lived, the Visigothic kingdom was practically united to his own dominion. He seems also to have claimed a kind of protectorate over the Germanic powers generally, and indeed to have practically exercised it, except in the case of the Franks. From 508–511 under Theodoric's command, the Ostrogoths marched on Gaul as the Vandal king of Carthage and Clovis made concerted efforts to weaken his hold on the Visigoths. On the death of Theodoric in 526, the eastern and western Goths were once again divided. By the late 6th century, the Ostrogoths lost their political identity and assimilated into other Germanic tribes.

Mosaic depicting the palace of Theodoric the Great in his palace chapel of San Apollinare Nuovo

The picture of Theodoric's rule is drawn for us in the state papers drawn up, in his name and in the names of his successors, by his Roman minister Cassiodorus. The Goths seem to have been thick on the ground in northern Italy; in the south they formed little more than garrisons. Meanwhile, the Frankish king Clovis fought protracted wars against various enemies while consolidating his rule, forming the embryonic stages of what would eventually become Medieval Europe.

War with Byzantium (535–554)

Main article: Gothic War (535–554)

Coin of Theodahad (534-536), minted in Rome – he wears the barbaric moustache.

Absent the unifying presence of Theodoric, the Ostrogoths and Visigoths were unable to consolidate their realms despite their common Germanic kinship. The few instances where they acted together after this time are as scattered and incidental as they were before. Amalaric succeeded to the Visigothic kingdom in Iberia and Septimania. Theodoric's grandson Athalaric took on the mantle as king of the Ostrogoths for the next five years. Provence was added to the dominion of the new Ostrogothic king Athalaric and through his daughter Amalasuntha who was named regent. Both were unable to settle disputes among Gothic elites. Theodahad, cousin of Amalasuntha and nephew of Theodoric through his sister, took over and slew them; however the usurping ushered in more bloodshed. Atop this infighting, the Ostrogoths faced the doctrinal challenges incurred from their Arian Christianity, which both the aristocracy of Byzantium and the Papacy strongly opposed—so much that it brought them together.

The weakness of the Ostrogothic position in Italy now showed itself, particularly when Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I enacted a law excluding pagans—among them Arian Christians and Jews—from public employment. The Ostrogothic King Theodoric reacted by persecuting Catholics. Nonetheless, Justinian always strove to restore as much of the Western Roman Empire as he could and certainly would not pass up the opportunity. Launched on both land and sea, Justinian began his war of reconquest. In 535, he commissioned Belisarius to attack the Ostrogoths following the success he had in North Africa against the Vandals. It was Justinian's intention to recover Italy and Rome from the Goths. Belisarius quickly captured Sicily and then crossed into Italy, where he captured Naples and Rome in December of 536. Sometime during the spring of 537, the Goths marched on Rome with upwards of 100,000 men under the leadership of Witiges and laid siege to the city, albeit unsuccessfully. Despite outnumbering the Romans by a five-to-one margin, the Goths could not loose Belisarius from the former western capital of the Empire. After recuperating from siege warfare, Belisarius marched north, taking Mediolanum (Milan) and the Ostrogoth capital of Ravenna in 540.

With the attack on Ravenna, Witiges and his men were trapped in the Ostrogothic capital. Belisarius proved more capable at siege warfare than his rival Witiges had been at Rome and the Ostrogoth ruler, who was also dealing with Frankish enemies, was forced to surrender, but not without terms. Belisarius refused to grant any concessions save unconditional surrender in view of the fact that Justinian wanted to make Witiges a vassal king in Trans-Padane Italy. This condition made for something of an impasse.

Totila razes the walls of Florence: illumination from the Chigi manuscript of Villani's Cronica

A faction of the Gothic nobility pointed out that their own king Witiges, who had just lost, was something of a weakling and they would need a new one. Eraric, the leader of the group, endorsed Belisarius and the rest of the kingdom agreed, so they offered him their crown. Belisarius was a soldier, not a statesman, and still loyal to Justinian. He made as if to accept the offer, rode to Ravenna to be crowned, and promptly arrested the leaders of the Goths and reclaimed their entire kingdom—no halfway settlements—for the Empire. Fearful that Belisarius might set himself up a permanent kingship should he consolidate his conquests, Justinian recalled him to Constantinople with Witiges in tow.

As soon as Belisarius was gone, the remaining Ostrogoths elected a new king named Totila. Under the brilliant command of Totila, the Goths were able to reassert themselves to a degree. For a period of nearly ten years, control for Italy became a seesaw battle between Byzantine and Ostrogothic forces. Totila eventually recaptured all of northern Italy and even drove the Byzantines out of Rome, thereby affording him the opportunity to take political control of the city, partly by executing the Roman senatorial order. Many of them fled eastwards for Constantinople.

By 550 Justinian was able to put together an enormous force, an assembly designed to recover his losses and subdue any Gothic resistance. In 551, the Roman navy destroyed Totila's fleet and in 552 an overwhelming Byzantine force under Narses entered Italy from the north. Attempting to surprise the invading Byzantines, Totila gambled with his forces at Taginaei, where he was slain. Broken but not yet defeated, the Ostrogoths made one final stand at Campania under a chief named Teia, but when he was also killed in battle at Nuceria they finally capitulated. On surrendering, they informed Narses that evidently "the hand of God was against them" and so they left Italy for the northern lands of their fathers. After that final defeat, the Ostrogothic name wholly died. The nation had practically evaporated with Theodoric's death. The leadership of western Europe therefore passed by default to the Franks. Consequently, Ostrogothic failure and Frankish success were crucial for the development of early medieval Europe, for Theodoric had made it "his intention to restore the vigor of Roman government and Roman culture". The chance of forming a national state in Italy by the union of Roman and Germanic elements, such as those that arose in Gaul, in Iberia, and in parts of Italy under Lombard rule, was thus lost. The failures of the barbarian kingdoms to maintain control of the regions they conquered were partly the result of leadership vacuums like those which resulted from the death of Theodoric (also the lack of male succession) and Totila but additionally as a consequence of political fragmentation amid the Germanic tribes as their loyalties wavered between their kin and their erstwhile enemies. Frankish entry onto the geopolitical map of Europe also bears into play: had the Ostrogoths attained more military success against the Byzantines on the battlefield by combining the strength of other Germanic tribes, this could have changed the direction of Frankish loyalty. Military success or defeat and political legitimacy were interrelated in barbarian society.

Nevertheless, according to Roman historian Procopius of Caesarea, the Ostrogothic population was allowed to live peacefully in Italy with their Rugian allies under Roman sovereignty. They later joined the Lombards during their conquest of Italy.

Culture

Ostrogoth ear jewels, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Surviving Gothic writings in the Gothic language include the Bible of Ulfilas and other religious writings and fragments. In terms of Gothic legislation in Latin, we have the edict of Theodoric from around the year 500, and the Variae of Cassiodorus, which may also pass as a collection of the state papers of Theodoric and his immediate successors. Among the Visigoths, written laws had already been put forth by Euric. Alaric II put forth a Breviarium of Roman law for his Roman subjects; but the great collection of Visigothic laws dates from the later days of the monarchy, being put forth by King Reccaswinth about 654. This code gave occasion to some well-known comments by Montesquieu and Gibbon, and has been discussed by Savigny (Geschichte des römischen Rechts, ii. 65) and various other writers. They are printed in the Monumenta Germaniae, leges, tome i. (1902).

Amid Gothic histories that remain, besides that of the frequently quoted Jordanes, there is the Gothic history of Isidore, archbishop of Seville, a special source of the history of the Visigothic kings down to Suinthila (621-631). But all the Latin and Greek writers contemporary with the days of Gothic predominance also made their contributions. Not for special facts, but for a general estimate, no writer is more instructive than Salvian of Marseilles in the 5th century, whose work, De Gubernatione Dei, is full of passages contrasting the vices of the Romans with the virtues of the "barbarians", especially of the Goths. In all such pictures one must allow a good deal for exaggeration both ways, but there must be a groundwork of truth. The chief virtues that the Roman Catholic presbyter praises in the Arian Goths are their chastity, their piety according to their own creed, their tolerance towards the Catholics under their rule, and their general good treatment of their Roman subjects. He even ventures to hope that such good people may be saved, notwithstanding their heresy. This image must have had some basis in truth, but it is not very surprising that the later Visigoths of Iberia had fallen away from Salvian's somewhat idealistic picture.

6th century Scandinavian Ostrogoths (Jordanes)

Possible map of Scandza based on Jordanes' work

Jordanes named a people called the Ostrogoths (Ostrogothae) in a list of many peoples living on the large island of "Scandza", north of the mouth of the Vistula, which most modern scholars understand to refer to the Scandinavian peninsula. The implication was that these Ostrogoths were living there in the 6th century, during the same period when there was a powerful Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy. On the other hand, scholars have come to no consensus about when the list was made, and by whom, nor how to interpret most of the names in the list. Arne Søby Christensen, in his detailed analysis lists three possibilities:

• that Jordanes believed some Ostrogoths had emigrated north, or...
• that a similar name "Eastern Goths" had been coined in Scandinavia, where there were a people with the related name, the Gauts, or...
• that a source of Jordanes, for example Cassiodorus, had created this form of the name, perhaps having heard of the Gauts.

Ostrogothic rulers

Amal dynasty

• Valamir r. 447 – c. 465 succeeded by his brother...
• Theodemir r. c. 465 – 475 succeeded by his son...
• Theodoric the Great r. 475–526 succeeded by his grandson...
• Athalaric r. 526–534 succeeded by his mother...
• Amalasuntha, r. 534-535 the daughter of Theoderic, succeeded by her first cousin...
• Theodahad r. 535–536 the son of Theoderic's sister.

Later kings

• Witiges r. 536–540
• Ildibad r. 540–541
• Eraric r. 541
• Totila (also Baduila) r. 541–552
• Theia (also Teia(s), Teja) r. 552–553

See also

• List of Germanic tribes
• Ostrogothic Kingdom
• Gothic War (535–554)
• Chernyakhov culture
• Oium
• Wielbark culture

References

Sources

• Amory, Patrick. People and Identity in Ostrogothic Italy, 489–554. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-521-52635-3.
• Backman, Clifford R (2008). The Worlds of Medieval Europe. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533527-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Bauer, Susan Wise (2010). The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-39305-975-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Burns, Thomas (1984). A History of the Ostrogoths. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-32831-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Bury, J. B. (2000). The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-39300-388-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Cameron, Alan; Long, Jacqueline; Sherry, Lee (1993). Barbarians and Politics at the Court of Arcadius. University of California Press. ISBN 0520065506. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Cantor, Norman F. (1994). The Civilization of the Middle Ages. New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-092553-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Chisholm, Hugh (1910). The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information. (Volumes 11-12). New York: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: location (link)
• Christensen, Arne Søby (2002). Cassiodorus, Jordanes and the History of the Goths: Studies in a Migration Myth. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Collins, Roger (1999). Early Medieval Europe, 300–1000. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-33365-808-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Dalby, Andrew (1999). Dictionary of Languages. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-23111-568-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• De Puy, William Harrison (1899). The World-wide Encyclopedia and Gazetteer (vol 4). New York: Werner Co. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Encyclopædia Britannica, "Ostrogoth", stable URL: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/434454/Ostrogoth
• Frassetto, Michael (2003). Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-263-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Halsall, Guy (2007). Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376–568. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-52143-543-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Heather, Peter (1988). "The Anti-Scythian Tirade of Synesius' "De Regno"". Phoenix. 42 (2): 156. doi:10.2307/1088231. JSTOR 1088231.
• Heather, Peter (1989). "Cassiodorus and the Rise of the Amals: Genealogy and the Goths under Hun Domination". The Journal of Roman Studies. 79: 103–128. doi:10.2307/301183. JSTOR 301183.
• Heather, Peter (1996). The Goths. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-16536-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Heather, Peter (2007), "Merely an Ideology? - Gothic identity in Ostrogothic Italy", in Barnish; Marazzi (eds.), Linguistic and Literary Traces of the Ostrogoths, The Ostrogoths from the Migration Period to the Sixth Century: An Ethnographic Perspective, Studies in Historical Archaeoethnology, vol. 7, ISBN 9781843830740 {{citation}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Heather, Peter (2009). Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-989226-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Heather, Peter (2018). "Ostrogoths". In Oliver Nicholson (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity. Vol. Vol 2, J–Z. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19881-625-6. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Larned, J. N., ed. (1895). History for Ready Reference. Cambridge, MA: C.A. Nichols. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Long, Jacqueline (1996), "5", Claudian's In Eutropium: Or, How, When, and Why to Slander a Eunuch
• Mierow, Charles Christopher (translator). The Gothic History of Jordanes. In English Version with an Introduction and a Commentary. 1915. Reprinted by Evolution Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1-889758-77-9.
• Oman, Charles W.C (1902). The Byzantine Empire. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Todd, Malcolm (1999). The Early Germans. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-16397-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Waldman, Carl; Mason, Allan R. (2006). Encyclopedia of European Peoples. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-81604-964-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. (2004). The Barbarian West, 400–1000. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-63120-292-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Wolfram, Herwig (1988). History of the Goths. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-52006-983-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Wolfram, Herwig (1997). The Roman Empire and its Germanic Peoples. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-08511-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Media related to Ostrogoths at Wikimedia Commons