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100-496: The term libellus has particular historical significance for the libelli that were issued during the reign of Emperor Decius to citizens to certify performance of required pagan sacrifices in order to demonstrate loyalty to the authorities of the Roman Empire . During later periods libelli were issued as certificates of indulgence, in which the confessors or martyrs interceded for apostate Christians. The word libellus

200-692: 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

300-582: 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

400-777: 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 the Eastern Roman Empire in the 6th century, while the Visigothic Kingdom was largely conquered by

500-632: A 10-year hiatus, the Goths and the Heruli , with a raiding fleet of 500 ships, sacked Heraclea Pontica , Cyzicus and Byzantium . They were defeated by the Roman navy but managed to escape into the Aegean Sea , where they ravaged the islands of Lemnos and Scyros , broke through Thermopylae and sacked several cities of southern Greece ( province of Achaea ) including Athens , Corinth , Argos , Olympia and Sparta . Then an Athenian militia, led by

600-508: A Roman army led by Claudius advancing from the north. The battle most likely took place in 269, and was fiercely contested. Large numbers on both sides were killed but, at the critical point, the Romans tricked the Goths into an ambush by pretending to retreat. Some 50,000 Goths were allegedly killed or taken captive and their base at Thessalonika destroyed. Apparently Aurelian , who was in charge of all Roman cavalry during Claudius' reign, led

700-578: A century later, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . While their main force had constructed siege works and was close to taking the cities of Thessalonica and Cassandreia , it retreated to the Balkan interior at the news that the emperor was advancing. Learning of the approach of Claudius, the Goths first attempted to directly invade Italy. They were engaged near Naissus by

800-404: A certain day (the date would vary from place to place and the order may have been that the sacrifice had to be completed within a specified period after a community received the edict). When they sacrificed they would obtain a certificate ( libellus ) recording the fact that they had complied with the order. That is, the certificate would testify the sacrificant's loyalty to the ancestral gods and to

900-466: A fashion which was loudly denounced by conservatives. The 4th-century Greek bishop Synesius compared the Goths to wolves among sheep, mocked them for wearing skins and questioned their loyalty towards Rome: A man in skins leading warriors who wear the chlamys , exchanging his sheepskins for the toga to debate with Roman magistrates and perhaps even sit next to a Roman consul , while law-abiding men sit behind. Then these same men, once they have gone

1000-549: A little way from the senate house, put on their sheepskins again, and when they have rejoined their fellows they mock the toga, saying that they cannot comfortably draw their swords in it. In the 4th century, Geberic was succeeded by the Greuthungian king Ermanaric , who embarked on a large-scale expansion. Jordanes states that Ermanaric conquered a large number of warlike tribes, including the Heruli (who were led by Alaric),

1100-643: A number of prominent Christians (including Pope Fabian ) were put to death. In the last year of his reign, Decius co-ruled with his son Herennius Etruscus , until they were both killed by the Goths in the Battle of Abritus . Trajanus Decius was born Gaius Messius Quintus Decius Valerinus at Budalia , Illyricum , near Sirmium in Pannonia Inferior . Decius was one of the first among a long succession of Roman emperors ( Illyrian emperors ) to originate from

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1200-411: A portion of his people and asked to be allowed to settle on the south bank of the Danube. Valens permitted this, and even assisted the Goths in their crossing of the river (probably at the fortress of Durostorum ). The Gothic evacuation across the Danube was probably not spontaneous, but rather a carefully planned operation initiated after long debate among leading members of the community. Upon arrival,

1300-461: A sacrifice for the emperor and the Empire's well-being by a specified date risked torture and execution. A number of prominent Christians did, in fact, refuse to make a sacrifice and were killed in the process, including Pope Fabian himself in 250, and "anti-Christian feeling[s] led to killings at Carthage and Alexandria." However, towards the end of the second year of Decius' reign, "the ferocity of

1400-477: A single mass migration of an entire people, scholars open to hypothetical Scandinavian origins envision a process of gradual migration in the 1st centuries BC and AD, which was probably preceded by long-term contacts and perhaps limited to a few elite clans from Scandinavia. Similarities between the name of the Goths , some Swedish place names and the names of the Gutes and Geats have been cited as evidence that

1500-671: A traitor who was responsible for the loss of so many soldiers from their ranks. Decius was the first Roman emperor to die in battle against a foreign enemy. The Decian persecution was the first organized persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire and served as the basis for the Diocletianic Persecution , the last major persecution of Christians in the Empire. The later telling of the Seven Sleepers , about seven Christian youths from Ephesus who fled

1600-425: A vivid picture of the demoralizing effects of the plague and Cyprian moralized the event in his essay De mortalitate . In Carthage, the "Decian persecution", unleashed at the onset of the plague, sought out Christian scapegoats. Decius' edicts were renewed under Valerian in 253 and repealed under his son, Gallienus , in 260–261. The barbarian incursions into the Empire were becoming more daring and frequent whereas

1700-669: A widescale rebellion in Thrace, in which he was joined not only by Gothic refugees and slaves, but also by disgruntled Roman workers and peasants, and Gothic deserters from the Roman Army. The ensuing conflict, known as the Gothic War , lasted for several years. Meanwhile, a group of Greuthungi, led by the chieftains Alatheus and Saphrax , who were co-regents with Vithericus, son and heir of the Greuthungi king Vithimiris , crossed

1800-536: Is a Latin diminutive form of the ordinary word liber (meaning " book "), from which we get the English word library . Literally, it means "little book". Sometimes the word was used to describe what we would call: essays , tracts , pamphlets , or petitions . In the year 250, in an attempt to promote traditional Roman pietas and unify the Empire, the Emperor Decian decreed that everyone, (excepting

1900-619: 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 mean the same, their exact meaning is uncertain. They are all thought to be related to the Proto-Germanic verb * geuta- , which means "to pour". The similarity of these Scandiavian names has long been noted by scholars in connection with

2000-590: Is in the late 3rd century that the name Goths ( Latin : Gothi ) is first mentioned. Ancient authors do not identify the Goths with the earlier Gutones. Philologists and linguists have no doubt that the names are linked. On the Pontic steppe the Goths quickly adopted several nomadic customs from the Sarmatians. They excelled at horsemanship , archery and falconry , and were also accomplished agriculturalists and seafarers . J. B. Bury describes

2100-636: The Aegean Sea and a detachment ravaged the Aegean islands as far as Crete , Rhodes and Cyprus . According to the Augustan History , the Goths achieved no success on this expedition because they were struck by the Cyprianic Plague . The fleet probably also sacked Troy and Ephesus , damaging the Temple of Artemis , though the temple was repaired and then later torn down by Christians

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2200-594: The Aesti and the Vistula Veneti , who, although militarily weak, were very numerous, and put up a strong resistance. Jordanes compares the conquests of Ermanaric to those of Alexander the Great , and states that he "ruled all the nations of Scythia and Germany by his own prowess alone." Interpreting Jordanes, Herwig Wolfram estimates that Ermanaric dominated a vast area of the Pontic Steppe stretching from

2300-476: The Balkan provinces. In the meantime, a second and larger sea-borne invasion had started. An enormous coalition consisting of Goths (Greuthungi and Thervingi), Gepids and Peucini, led again by the Heruli, assembled at the mouth of river Tyras (Dniester). The Augustan History and Zosimus claim a total number of 2,000–6,000 ships and 325,000 men. This is probably a gross exaggeration but remains indicative of

2400-586: The Black Sea in what has been associated with Gothic migration, and by the late 3rd century it contributed to the formation of the Chernyakhov culture . By the 4th century at the latest, several Gothic groups were distinguishable, among whom the Thervingi and Greuthungi were the most powerful. During this time, Wulfila began the conversion of Goths to Christianity . The Goths are classified as

2500-577: The Danube . Around 275 the Goths launched a last major assault on Asia Minor , where piracy by Black Sea Goths was causing great trouble in Colchis , Pontus, Cappadocia , Galatia and even Cilicia . They were defeated sometime in 276 by Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus . By the late 3rd century, there were at least two groups of Goths, separated by the Dniester River : the Thervingi and

2600-743: The Decian persecution . Four libelli were found among the thousands of papyri at the archaeological site near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt ( P. Oxy. 658 , P. Oxy. 1464 , P. Oxy. 2990 and P. Oxy. 3929 ). A number of these certificates still exist and one discovered in Egypt reads: Participating in pagan sacrifices was a sin for Christians and punished by excommunication , because the New Testament forbade Christians to participate in " idol feasts". However, not participating made one liable to arrest by

2700-494: 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. According to Jordanes,

2800-595: The Greuthungi . The Gepids , who lived northwest of the Goths, are also attested as this time. Jordanes writes that the Gepids shared common origins with the Goths. In the late 3rd century, as recorded by Jordanes, the Gepids, under their king Fastida , utterly defeated the Burgundians, and then attacked the Goths and their king Ostrogotha. Out of this conflict, Ostrogotha and the Goths emerged victorious. In

2900-636: The Nordic Bronze Age and the Lusatian culture . Its inhabitants in the Wielbark period are usually thought to have been Germanic peoples, such as the Goths and Rugii. Jordanes writes that the Goths, soon after settling Gothiscandza , seized the lands of the Ulmerugi (Rugii). The Goths are generally believed to have been first attested by Greco-Roman sources in the 1st century under

3000-799: The Roman–Persian Wars , notably participating at the Battle of Misiche in 244. An inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht in Parthian , Persian and Greek commemorates the Persian victory over the Romans and the troops drawn from gwt W g'rmny xštr , the Gothic and German kingdoms, which is probably a Parthian gloss for the Danubian (Gothic) limes and the Germanic limes . Meanwhile, Gothic raids on

3100-702: 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

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3200-707: The Vandals , with whom they were certainly closely affiliated. The Vandals are associated with the Przeworsk culture , which was located to the south of the Wielbark culture. Wolfram suggests that the Gutones were clients of the Lugii and Vandals in the 1st century AD. In 77 AD, Pliny the Elder mentions the Gutones as one of the peoples of Germania . He writes that the Gutones, Burgundiones , Varini , and Carini belong to

3300-547: The battle of Abritus , in which the Goths fought with the courage of despair, under the command of Cniva, took place during the second week of June 251 on swampy ground in the Ludogorie (region in northeastern Bulgaria which merges with Dobruja plateau and the Danube Plain to the north) near the small settlement of Abritus or Forum Terebronii (modern Razgrad ). Jordanes records that Decius' son Herennius Etruscus

3400-546: The " Hlöðskviða " (The Battle of the Goths and Huns), a medieval Icelandic saga. The sagas recall that Gizur , king of the Geats , came to the aid of the Goths in an epic conflict with the Huns, although this saga might derive from a later Gothic-Hunnic conflict. Although the Huns successfully subdued many of the Goths who subsequently joined their ranks, Fritigern approached the Eastern Roman emperor Valens in 376 with

3500-515: 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

3600-770: The Baltic Sea to the Black Sea as far eastwards as the Ural Mountains , encompassing not only the Greuthungi, but also Baltic Finnic peoples , Slavs (such as the Antes ), Rosomoni (Roxolani), Alans, Huns , Sarmatians and probably Aestii ( Balts ). According to Wolfram, it is certainly possible that the sphere of influence of the Chernyakhov culture could have extended well beyond its archaeological extent. Chernyakhov archaeological finds have been found far to

3700-469: The Colosseum, which had been damaged by lightning strikes. In late 249, Decius had issued one of the most remarkable Roman imperial edicts. From the numerous surviving texts from Egypt, recording the act of sacrifice, it appears that the edict itself was fairly clear: All the inhabitants of the empire were required to sacrifice before the magistrates of their community "for the safety of the empire" by

3800-506: The Danube provinces, often referred to as Illyricum. Unlike some of his immediate imperial predecessors such as Philip the Arab or Maximinus Thrax who did not have extensive administrative experience before assuming the throne, Decius was a distinguished senator who had served as suffect consul in 232, had been governor of Moesia and Germania Inferior soon afterwards, served as governor of Hispania Tarraconensis between 235 and 238, and

3900-532: The Danube without Roman permission. The Gothic War culminated in the Battle of Adrianople in 378, in which the Romans were badly defeated and Valens was killed. Following the decisive Gothic victory at Adrianople, Julius, the magister militum of the Eastern Roman Empire , organized a wholesale massacre of Goths in Asia Minor , Syria and other parts of the Roman East. Fearing rebellion, Julian lured

4000-455: The Decian persecution by hiding in a cave (walled up by Decius) and sleeping for almost 300 years, emerged. The Quranic account, captured in Al-Kahf ("The Cave") surah (chapter), has led to the Persian saying of ahd-e daqyānus ("age of Decius") or daqyānus referring to ancient times or a person with outdated views. When something is old and outdated, people say, "this belongs to the age of Decius." Goths The Goths were

4100-439: The Empire was facing a serious economic crisis in Decius' time. During his brief reign, Decius engaged in important operations against the Goths , who crossed the Danube to raid districts of Moesia and Thrace . This is the first considerable occasion that the Goths – who would later come to play such an important role – appear in the historical record. The Goths under King Cniva were surprised by

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4200-404: The Gothic period as "the only non-nomadic episode in the history of the steppe." William H. McNeill compares the migration of the Goths to that of the early Mongols , who migrated southward from the forests and came to dominate the eastern Eurasian steppe around the same time as the Goths in the west. From the 240s at the earliest, Goths were heavily recruited into the Roman Army to fight in

4300-445: The Goths and other Germanic groups such as the Heruli . It nevertheless also included Iranian , Dacian , Roman and probably Slavic elements as well. The first incursion of the Roman Empire that can be attributed to Goths is the sack of Histria in 238. The first references to the Goths in the 3rd century call them Scythians , as this area, known as Scythia, had historically been occupied by an unrelated people of that name. It

4400-462: The Goths into the confines of urban streets from which they could not escape and massacred soldiers and civilians alike. As word spread, the Goths rioted throughout the region, and large numbers were killed. Survivors may have settled in Phrygia . With the rise of Theodosius I in 379, the Romans launched a renewed offensive to subdue Fritigern and his followers. Around the same time, Athanaric arrived in Constantinople, having fled Caucaland through

4500-412: The Goths originated in Gotland or Götaland . The Goths, Geats and Gutes may all have descended from an early community of seafarers active on both sides of the Baltic. Similarities and dissimilarities between the Gothic language and Scandinavian languages (particularly Gutnish ) have been cited as evidence both for and against a Scandinavian origin. Scholars generally locate Gothiscandza in

4600-407: The Goths originated on an island called Scandza (Scandinavia), from where they emigrated by sea to an area called Gothiscandza under their king Berig . Historians are not in agreement on the authenticity and accuracy of this account. Most scholars agree that Gothic migration from Scandinavia is reflected in the archaeological record, but the evidence is not entirely clear. Rather than

4700-447: The Goths were to be disarmed according to their agreement with the Romans, although many of them still managed to keep their arms. The Moesogoths settled in Thrace and Moesia . Mistreated by corrupt local Roman officials, the Gothic refugees were soon experiencing a famine; some are recorded as having been forced to sell their children to Roman slave traders in return for rotten dog meat. Enraged by this treachery, Fritigern unleashed

4800-408: The Gotones (or Gothones) and the neighbouring Rugii and Lemovii were Germani who carried round shields and short swords, and lived near the ocean, beyond the Vandals. He described them as "ruled by kings, a little more strictly than the other German tribes". In another notable work, the Annals , Tacitus writes that the Gotones had assisted Catualda , a young Marcomannic exile, in overthrowing

4900-547: The Greuthungi and Thervingi became heavily Romanized during the 4th century. This came about through trade with the Romans, as well as through Gothic membership of a military covenant, which was based in Byzantium and involved pledges of military assistance. Reportedly, 40,000 Goths were brought by Constantine to defend Constantinople in his later reign, and the Palace Guard was thereafter mostly composed of Germanic warriors, as Roman soldiers by this time had largely lost military value. The Goths increasingly became soldiers in

5000-441: The Greuthungi and were subjects of the Huns. Procopius interpreted the name Visigoth as "western Goths" and the name Ostrogoth as "eastern Goth", reflecting the geographic distribution of the Gothic realms at that time. A people closely related to the Goths, the Gepids, were also living under Hunnic domination. A smaller group of Goths were the Crimean Goths , who remained in Crimea and maintained their Gothic identity well into

5100-441: The Gythones (or Gutones) as living east of the Vistula in Sarmatia, between the Veneti and the Fenni . In an earlier chapter he mentions a people called the Gutae (or Gautae) as living in southern Scandia . These Gutae are probably the same as the later Gauti mentioned by Procopius. Wolfram suggests that there were close relations between the Gythones and Gutae, and that they might have been of common origin. Beginning in

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5200-419: The Hunnic thrust into Europe and the Roman Empire was an attempt to subdue the independent Goths in the west. The Huns fell upon the Thervingi, and Athanaric sought refuge in the mountains (referred to as Caucaland in the sagas). Ambrose makes a passing reference to Athanaric's royal titles before 376 in his De Spiritu Sancto (On the Holy Spirit). Battles between the Goths and the Huns are described in

5300-480: The Jews), must sacrifice and burn incense to the gods in the presence of a magistrate, and obtain a signed document witnessed by the officials attesting to this. The libellus was the statement of the individual of his/her loyalty to the Empire, the fact that they had rendered the required sacrifice, plus a request for the officials to countersign as witnesses. "Forty-six such certificates have been published, all dating from this same year [250 AD]." This coincides with

5400-548: The Roman Empire continued, In 250–51, the Gothic king Cniva captured the city of Philippopolis and inflicted a devastating defeat upon the Romans at the Battle of Abrittus , in which the Roman Emperor Decius was killed. This was one of the most disastrous defeats in the history of the Roman army. The first Gothic seaborne raids took place in the 250s. The first two incursions into Asia Minor took place between 253 and 256, and are attributed to Boranoi by Zosimus . This may not be an ethnic term but may just mean "people from

5500-445: 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 , were the precursors of the Visigoths , and their successors eventually establishing

5600-437: The Roman Empire. Soon afterwards, Fritigern , a rival of Athanaric, converted to Arianism, gaining the favor of Valens. Athanaric and Fritigern thereafter fought a civil war in which Athanaric appears to have been victorious. Athanaric thereafter carried out a crackdown on Christianity in his realm. Around 375 the Huns overran the Alans , an Iranian people living to the east of the Goths, and then, along with Alans, invaded

5700-557: The Roman armies in the 4th century leading to a significant Germanization of the Roman Army. Without the recruitment of Germanic warriors in the Roman Army, the Roman Empire would not have survived for as long as it did. Goths who gained prominent positions in the Roman military include Gainas , Tribigild , Fravitta and Aspar . Mardonius , a Gothic eunuch, was the childhood tutor and later adviser of Roman emperor Julian , on whom he had an immense influence. The Gothic penchant for wearing skins became fashionable in Constantinople,

5800-437: The Roman army. In the aftermath of the Hunnic onslaught, two major groups of the Goths would eventually emerge, the Visigoths and Ostrogoths . Visigoths means the "Goths of the west", while Ostrogoths means "Goths of the east". The Visigoths, led by the Balti dynasty , claimed descent from the Thervingi and lived as foederati inside Roman territory, while the Ostrogoths, led by the Amali dynasty , claimed descent from

5900-463: The Roman authorities. A warrant to arrest a Christian ( P. Oxy. 3035 ) was also found at Oxyrhynchus, this too has been dated precisely—to the year 256. The grounds for this arrest are not documented, however, and it predates the persecution under the emperor Valerian by about a year. The lapsi of Carthage persuaded certain Confessors of the Faith who had remained faithful in the face of torture and imprisonment to send letters of recommendation in

6000-453: The Romans, the Thervingi invaded the territory of the Sarmatians of the Tisza . In this conflict, the Thervingi were led by Vidigoia , "the bravest of the Goths" and were victorious, although Vidigoia was killed. Jordanes states that Aoric was succeeded by Geberic , "a man renowned for his valor and noble birth", who waged war on the Hasdingi Vandals and their king Visimar , forcing them to settle in Pannonia under Roman protection. Both

6100-408: The Romans. After Gallienus was assassinated outside Milan in the summer of 268 in a plot led by high officers in his army, Claudius was proclaimed emperor and headed to Rome to establish his rule. Claudius' immediate concerns were with the Alamanni , who had invaded Raetia and Italy. After he defeated them in the Battle of Lake Benacus , he was finally able to take care of the invasions in

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6200-409: The Thervingi, there were also populations of Taifali , Sarmatians and other Iranian peoples, Dacians , Daco-Romans and other Romanized populations. According to Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks (The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek), a 13th-century legendary saga , Árheimar was the capital of Reidgotaland , the land of the Goths. The saga states that it was located on the Dnieper river. Jordanes refers to

6300-400: The Thervingian king Ariaric , was captured. Eusebius , a historian who wrote in Greek in the third century, wrote that in 334, Constantine evacuated approximately 300,000  Sarmatians from the north bank of the Danube after a revolt of the Sarmatians' slaves. From 335 to 336, Constantine, continuing his Danube campaign, defeated many Gothic tribes. Having been driven from the Danube by

6400-479: The Vandili. Pliny classifies the Vandili as one of the five principal "German races", along with the coastal Ingvaeones , Istvaeones , Irminones , and Peucini . In an earlier chapter Pliny writes that the 4th century BC traveler Pytheas encountered a people called the Guiones . Some scholars have equated these Guiones with the Gutones, but the authenticity of the Pytheas account is uncertain. In his work Germania from around 98 AD, Tacitus writes that

6500-451: The [anti-Christian] persecution had eased off, and the earlier tradition of tolerance had begun to reassert itself." Christians bore the brunt of the persecution and never forgot the reign of Decius, whom they remembered as "that fierce tyrant". In June 251 Decius died alongside his co-emperor Herennius Etruscus in the Battle Abrittus against the Goths; their successors Trebonianus Gallus and Hostilian rescinded Decius's decree, ending

6600-406: The area of the Wielbark culture . This culture emerged in the lower Vistula and along the Pomeranian coast in the 1st century AD, replacing the preceding Oksywie culture . It is primarily distinguished from the Oksywie by the practice of inhumation, the absence of weapons in graves, and the presence of stone circles . This area had been intimately connected with Scandinavia since the time of

6700-426: The barbarians across the Danube, died through treachery at Abritus after reigning two years. ... Very many report that the son had fallen in battle while pressing an attack too boldly; that the father however, has strenuously asserted that the loss of one soldier seemed to him too little to matter. And so he resumed the war and died in a similar manner while fighting vigorously. One literary tradition claims that Decius

6800-430: The beginning of the Marcomannic Wars . By 200 AD, Wielbark Goths were probably being recruited into the Roman army . According to Jordanes, the Goths entered Oium , part of Scythia, under the king Filimer , where they defeated the Spali . This migration account partly corresponds with the archaeological evidence. The name Spali may mean "the giants" in Slavic , and the Spali were thus probably not Slavs . In

6900-436: The consumption of sacrificial food and drink as well as the names of the officials who were overseeing the sacrifice. According to D. S. Potter, Decius did not try to impose the superiority of the Roman pantheon over any other gods. It is very probable that the edict was an attempt to legitimize his position and to respond to a general unease provoked by the passing of the Roman millennium. While Decius himself may have intended

7000-409: The dangers and difficulties attached to the office at such a time, declined the responsibility. The invasion of the Goths and Decius' death put an end to the abortive attempt. During his reign, he proceeded with several building projects in Rome, including the Thermae Decianae (Baths of Decius in the Aventine), which were completed in 252 and survived through to the 16th century; Decius also repaired

7100-428: The decisive attack in the battle. Some survivors were resettled within the empire, while others were incorporated into the Roman army. The battle ensured the survival of the Roman Empire for another two centuries. In 270, after the death of Claudius, Goths under the leadership of Cannabaudes again launched an invasion of the Roman Empire , but were defeated by Aurelian , who, however, did surrender Dacia beyond

7200-524: The early 3rd century AD, western Scythia was inhabited by the agricultural Zarubintsy culture and the nomadic Sarmatians . Prior to the Sarmatians, the area had been settled by the Bastarnae , who are believed to have carried out a migration similar to the Goths in the 3rd century BC. Peter Heather considers the Filimer story to be at least partially derived from Gothic oral tradition. The fact that

7300-464: The edict as a way to reaffirm his conservative vision of the Pax Romana and to reassure Rome's citizens that the empire was still secure, it nevertheless sparked a "terrible crisis of authority as various Christian bishops and their flocks reacted to it in different ways." Measures were first taken demanding that the bishops and officers of the church make a sacrifice for the emperor. The sacrifice

7400-570: The emperor while besieging Nicopolis on the Danube; the Goths fled through the difficult terrain of the Balkans , but then doubled back and surprised the Romans near Beroë (modern Stara Zagora ), sacking their camp and dispersing the Roman troops ( Battle of Beroe ). The Goths then moved to attack Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv ), which fell into their hands. The governor of Thrace, Titus Julius Priscus , declared himself emperor under Gothic protection in opposition to Decius but Priscus's challenge

7500-536: The expanding Goths appear to have preserved their Gothic language during their migration suggests that their movement involved a fairly large number of people. By the mid-3rd century AD, the Wielbark culture had contributed to the formation of the Chernyakhov culture in Scythia. This strikingly uniform culture came to stretch from the Danube in the west to the Don in the east. It is believed to have been dominated by

7600-538: The historian Dexippus , pushed the invaders to the north where they were intercepted by the Roman army under Gallienus . He won an important victory near the Nessos ( Nestos ) river, on the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace , the Dalmatian cavalry of the Roman army earning a reputation as good fighters. Reported barbarian casualties were 3,000 men. Subsequently, the Heruli leader Naulobatus came to terms with

7700-410: The last decades of the 3rd century, large numbers of Carpi are recorded as fleeing Dacia for the Roman Empire, having probably been driven from the area by Goths. In 332, Constantine helped the Sarmatians to settle on the north banks of the Danube to defend against the Goths' attacks and thereby enforce the Roman border. Around 100,000 Goths were reportedly killed in battle, and Aoric , son of

7800-479: The lower Vistula River in current Poland in the 1st century, where they are associated with the archaeological Wielbark culture . More recent genetic evidence has confirmed that Wielbark culture Goths from the Vistula carry Scandinavian Y-haplogroups , strongly suggesting that Gothic clans formed with migration from Southern Scandinavia. From the 2nd century, the Wielbark culture expanded southwards towards

7900-487: The middle of the 2nd century, the Wielbark culture shifted southeast towards the Black Sea . During this time the Wielbark culture is believed to have ejected and partially absorbed peoples of the Przeworsk culture. This was part of a wider southward movement of eastern Germanic tribes, which was probably caused by massive population growth. As a result, other tribes were pushed towards the Roman Empire , contributing to

8000-550: 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 recostructed 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

8100-517: The name Gutones . The equation between Gutones and later Goths is disputed by several historians. Around 15 AD, Strabo mentions the Butones, Lugii , and Semnones as part of a large group of peoples who came under the domination of the Marcomannic king Maroboduus . The "Butones" are generally equated with the Gutones. The Lugii have sometimes been considered the same people as

8200-613: The name of the dead martyrs (libella pacis/"letters of peace") to the bishop endorsing the position that those who had lapsed be restored to communion with the Church. Bishop Cyprian debated whether the threat of the death penalty mitigated the sin of having communion with idols, leaving room for forgiveness and restoration to the Christian community. Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius ( c. 201 – June 251), known as Trajan Decius or simply Decius ,

8300-521: The north in the forest steppe , suggesting Gothic domination of this area. Peter Heather on the other hand, contends that the extent of Ermanaric's power is exaggerated. Ermanaric's possible dominance of the Volga - Don trade routes has led historian Gottfried Schramm to consider his realm a forerunner of the Viking -founded state of Kievan Rus' . In the western part of Gothic territories, dominated by

8400-452: The north". It is unknown if Goths were involved in these first raids. Gregory Thaumaturgus attributes a third attack to Goths and Boradoi, and claims that some, "forgetting that they were men of Pontus and Christians," joined the invaders. An unsuccessful attack on Pityus was followed in the second year by another, which sacked Pityus and Trabzon and ravaged large areas in the Pontus . In

8500-529: The persecution after approximately eighteen months. At this time, there was a second outbreak of the Antonine Plague , which at its height from 251 to 266, took the lives of 5,000 daily in Rome. This outbreak is referred to as the " Plague of Cyprian " ( Cyprian was the bishop of Carthage , where both the plague and the persecution of Christians were especially severe). Cyprian's biographer Pontius gave

8600-596: The region as Oium. In the 360s, Athanaric , son of Aoric and leader of the Thervingi, supported the usurper Procopius against the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens . In retaliation, Valens invaded the territories of Athanaric and defeated him , but was unable to achieve a decisive victory. Athanaric and Valens thereupon negotiated a peace treaty, favorable to the Thervingi, on a boat in the Danube river, as Athanaric refused to set his feet within

8700-473: 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

8800-469: The rule of Maroboduus. Prior to this, it is probable that both the Gutones and Vandals had been subjects of the Marcomanni. Sometime after settling Gothiscandza , Jordanes writes that the Goths defeated the neighbouring Vandals. Wolfram believes the Gutones freed themselves from Vandalic domination at the beginning of the 2nd century AD. In his Geography from around 150 AD, Ptolemy mentions

8900-509: The scale of the invasion. After failing to storm some towns on the coasts of the western Black Sea and the Danube ( Tomi , Marcianopolis ), the invaders attacked Byzantium and Chrysopolis . Part of their fleet was wrecked, either because of the Goth's inexperience in sailing through the violent currents of the Propontis or because they were defeated by the Roman navy. Then they entered

9000-506: The scheming of Fritigern. Athanaric received a warm reception by Theodosius, praised the Roman Emperor in return, and was honoured with a magnificent funeral by the emperor following his death shortly after his arrival. In 382, Theodosius decided to enter peace negotiations with the Thervingi, which were concluded on 3 October 382. The Thervingi were subsequently made foederati of the Romans in Thrace and obliged to provide troops to

9100-473: The territory of the Goths. A source for this period is the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus , who wrote that Hunnic domination of the Gothic kingdoms in Scythia began in the 370s. It is possible that the Hunnic attack came as a response to the Gothic expansion eastwards. Upon the suicide of Ermanaric (died 376), the Greuthungi gradually fell under Hunnic domination. Christopher I. Beckwith suggests that

9200-538: The third year, a much larger force devastated large areas of Bithynia and the Propontis , including the cities of Chalcedon , Nicomedia , Nicaea , Apamea Myrlea , Cius and Bursa . By the end of the raids, the Goths had seized control over Crimea and the Bosporus and captured several cities on the Euxine coast, including Olbia and Tyras , which enabled them to engage in widespread naval activities. After

9300-549: The troops proclaim him emperor. Philip advanced against him and was killed at Verona , Italy , in September 249. The Senate then recognized Decius as emperor, giving him the attribute Traianus in reference to Emperor Trajan . According to the Byzantine historian Zosimus , Decius was clothed in purple and forced to undertake the [burdens of] government, despite his reluctance and unwillingness. Decius' political program

9400-528: Was Roman emperor from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab , Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops after putting down a rebellion in Moesia . In 249, he defeated and killed Philip near Verona and was recognized as emperor by the Senate afterwards. During his reign, he attempted to strengthen the Roman state and its religion, leading to the Decian persecution , where

9500-464: Was urban prefect of Rome during the early reign of Emperor Philip the Arab. Around 245, Philip entrusted Decius with an important command on the Danube. By the end of 248 or 249, Decius was sent to quell the revolt of Pacatian and his troops in Moesia and Pannonia; some modern historians see this rebellion as a reflection of emerging Balkan separatism. After the collapse of the revolt, Decius let

9600-402: Was "on behalf of" (Latin pro ) the emperor, not to the emperor, since a living emperor was not considered divine . Certificates were issued to those who satisfied the commissioners during the persecution of Christians under Decius. Forty-six such certificates have been published, all dating from 250, four of them from Oxyrhynchus . Anyone, including Christian followers, who refused to offer

9700-420: Was betrayed by his successor, Trebonianus Gallus, who was involved in a secret alliance with the Goths, but this cannot be substantiated and was most likely a later invention since Gallus felt compelled to adopt Decius' younger son, Gaius Valens Hostilianus, as joint emperor even though the latter was too young to rule in his own right. It is also unlikely that the shattered Roman legions would proclaim as emperor

9800-595: Was focused on the restoration of the strength of the State, both militarily opposing the external threats, and restoring the public piety with a program of renovation of the state religion . Either as a concession to the Senate, or perhaps with the idea of improving public morality, Decius endeavoured to revive the separate office and authority of the censor . The choice was left to the Senate, who unanimously selected Valerian (the future emperor). But Valerian, well aware of

9900-404: Was killed by an arrow early in the battle, and to cheer his men Decius exclaimed, "Let no one mourn; the death of one soldier is not a great loss to the republic." Nevertheless, Decius' army was entangled in the swamp and annihilated in this battle, while he himself was killed on the field of battle. As the historian Aurelius Victor relates: The Decii (i.e., Decius and his son), while pursuing

10000-400: Was rendered moot when he was killed soon afterwards. Then the invaders began returning to their homeland, laden with booty and captives, among them many of senatorial rank. In the meantime, Decius had returned with his re-organized army, accompanied by his son Herennius Etruscus and the general Trebonianus Gallus , intending to defeat the invaders and recover the booty. The final engagement,

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