Editing Getica (section)

==Importance and credibility==
Because the original work of Cassiodorus has not survived, the work of Jordanes is one of the most important sources for the period of the migration of the European tribes, and the [[Ostrogoths]] and [[Visigoths]] in particular, from the 3rd century AD. Jordanes mentioned that his work, perhaps via Cassiodorus, also drew upon Gothic "folk songs" (''carmina prisca'') as an important source, and a Gothic chronicler . Modern scholars have struggled to find any confirming evidence that his claims about such sources can give credibility to the more doubtful parts of the work.{{sfn|Christensen|2002}}

Like many other classical writers, Jordanes equated the earlier Getae to the later Goths. He specified that he did this on the testimony of [[Orosius Paulus]].<ref name="name1"/> In a passage that has become controversial, he identifies the [[Vistula Veneti|Venedi]], a people mentioned by [[Tacitus]], [[Pliny the Elder]] and [[Ptolemy]], with the [[Slavs]] of the 6th century. Since as early as 1844,<ref>{{citation| author-link = Pavel Josef Schafarik|first = Pavel Josef| last = Schafarik | title = Slawiche Alterthümmer|publisher = Leipzig| year = 1844| volume= 1|page= 40}}</ref> this passage has been used by some scholars in eastern Europe to support the idea that there was a distinct Slavic ethnicity long before the last phase of the Late Roman period. Others have rejected this view because of the absence of concrete archaeological and historiographical data.{{sfn|Curta|2001|p= 7; also pp.11-13 for an analysis of Schafarik's ideas in the context of his age as well as their revival by later Soviet historiography}}

The book is important to some medieval historians because it mentions the campaign in [[Gaul]] of one [[Riothamus]], "King of the Brettones", a possible [[Historical basis for King Arthur|source of inspiration for the early stories of King Arthur]].

One of the major questions concerning the historicity of the work is concerning the periods before the Goths enter the written record in the third century. Although there is a range of views, the earliest parts of the narratives are considered mainly mythological, and the account becomes more reliable as it approaches the 6th century. Whether or not [[Cassiodorus]] was the main collator of the information about the earliest Goths, not only contains chronologically untenable parts, but also shows evidence of being at least partly derived by culling ancient Greek and Latin authors for descriptions of peoples who ''might'' have been Goths.{{sfn|Geary|2002|pp=60-61}} Furthermore, it seems that Jordanes distorted Cassiodorus's narrative by presenting a cursory abridgement of it mixed with 6th-century ethnic names.{{sfn|Curta|2001|p=40}}{{sfn|Goffart|2006|pp=59-61}}

Some scholars claim that, while acceptance of Jordanes' text at face value may be too naïve, a totally skeptical view is not warranted. For example, Jordanes writes that the Goths originated in Scandinavia in 1490 BC. Although the chronology is untenable, one [[Austria]]n historian, [[Herwig Wolfram]], believes that there might be a kernel of truth in the claim, proposing that a clan of the [[Geats|Gutae]] may have left Scandinavia and contributed to the ethnogenesis of the [[Gutones]] in eastern [[Pomerania]] (see [[Wielbark culture]]).<ref>{{harv|Wolfram|1988|p=40}}. {{harv|Goffart|2006|pp=59–61}} harshly criticized this view</ref> An example of more believable material concerning the more recent centuries is the name of King [[Cniva]], which David S. Potter thinks is genuine because, since it doesn't appear in the fictionalized genealogy of Gothic kings given by Jordanes, he must have found it in a genuine 3rd-century source.{{sfn|Potter|2004|p=245}}

On the other hand, a Danish scholar, [[Arne Søby Christensen]], claims that the ''Getica'' is an entirely fabricated account, and that the origin of the Goths that Jordanes outlines is a construction based on popular Greek and Roman myths, as well as misinterpretation of recorded names from Northern Europe. The purpose of this fabrication, according to Christensen, may have simply been to preserve a memory of a people who, at the time, looked liked they were about to cease to exist.{{sfn|Christensen|2002|p=348}} Canadian scholar [[Walter Goffart]] suggests another incentive, arguing that the ''Getica'' was part of a conscious plan by [[Justinian I]] and the propaganda machine at his court to affirm that the Goths and their barbarian cousins did not belong to the Roman world, thus justifying the claims of the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] to hegemony over the [[Western Roman Empire| western part]].{{sfn|Goffart|2006|p= 70}}