Editing Goths

{{short description|Early Germanic people}}
{{About|the Germanic people|the subculture|Goth subculture|other uses|Goth (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}

The '''Goths'''{{efn|{{langx|got|𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰|translit=''Gutþiuda''}}; {{langx|la|Gothi}}, {{langx|grc|Γότθοι|Gótthoi}}}} were a [[Germanic people]] who played a major role in the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]] and the emergence of [[medieval Europe]].<ref name="Heather_OCD"/><ref name="Heather_ODLA"/>{{sfn|Vitiello|2022|pp=160-192}} 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]], were the precursors of the [[Visigoths]], and their successors eventually established a [[Visigothic Kingdom]] in Spain at [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]].{{sfn|Vitiello|2022|pp=160-192}} 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]].{{sfn|Heather|2012|p=623}}{{sfn|Vitiello|2022|pp=160-192}}

The Ostrogothic Kingdom [[Gothic War (535–554)|was destroyed]] by the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] in the 6th century, while the Visigothic Kingdom was largely [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|conquered]] by the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] in the early 8th century, with a [[Kingdom of Asturias|remnant in Asturias]] which would go on to initiate the Reconquista under [[Pelagius of Asturias|Pelagius]]. Remnants of Gothic communities in [[Crimea]], known as the [[Crimean Goths]], established a culture that survived for more than a thousand years,<ref>{{Cite web |title=1 Cor. 13:1-12 |url=https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/gotol/100 |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=lrc.la.utexas.edu}}</ref> although Goths would eventually cease to exist as a distinct people.{{sfn|Heather|2018|p=673}}{{sfn|Pritsak|2005}}

[[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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The History of Goth |url=https://www.thealinemag.com/entertainment-socialmedia/history-of-goth?format=amp |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=www.thealinemag.com}}</ref>

==Name==
{{Main|Name of the Goths}}
In the [[Gothic language]], the Goths were called the *''[[:wiktionary:gutþiuda|Gut-þiuda]]'' ('Gothic people') or *''Gutans'' ('Goths').{{sfn|Lehmann|1986|pp=163–64}}{{sfn|Brink|2002|p=688}} 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''.{{sfn|Andersson|1998a|pp=402–03}} Though these names probably mean the same, their exact meaning is uncertain.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=21}} They are all thought to be related to the Proto-Germanic verb *''[[:wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/geutaną|geuta-]]'', which means "to pour".{{sfn|Brink|2008|pp=90, 110}}

The similarity of these Scandiavian names has long been noted by scholars in connection with the 6th-century book ''[[Getica]]'' ({{Circa|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.<ref name="Heather_OCD" /> A people called the ''[[Gutones]]''{{snd}}possibly early Goths{{snd}}are documented living near the lower [[Vistula River]] in current [[Poland]] in the 1st century, where they are associated with the archaeological [[Wielbark culture]].<ref name="Heather_OCD" /><ref name="Heather_ODLA" />

==Classification==
The Goths are classified as a [[Germanic people]] in modern scholarship.<ref name="Heather_OCD">{{harvnb|Heather|2012|p=623}}. "Goths, a Germanic people, who, according to Jordanes' Getica, originated in Scandinavia. The Cernjachov culture of the later 3rd and 4th cents. AD beside the Black Sea, and the Polish and Byelorussian Wielbark cultures of the 1st–3rd. cents. ad, provide evidence of a Gothic migration down the Vistula to the Black Sea, but no clear trail leads to Scandinavia."</ref><ref name="Heather_ODLA">{{harvnb|Heather|2018|p=673}}. "a Germanic tribe whose name means 'the people', first attested immediately south of the Baltic Sea in the first two centuries."</ref><ref name="Pritsak_ODB">{{harvnb|Pritsak|2005}}. Goths... a Germanic people..."</ref><ref name="Thompson_EB">{{harvnb|Thompson|1973|p=609}}. "Goths, a Germanic people described by Roman authors of the 1st century a.d. as living in the neighbourhood of the mouth of the Vistula river."</ref><ref name="Dictionaries">{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Goth |title=Goth |series=Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]] |access-date=22 March 2021 |quote=Goth... [A] member of a Germanic people that overran the Roman Empire in the early centuries of the Christian era |archive-date=5 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305013340/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Goth |url-status=live }}; {{cite web |url=https://www.wordreference.com/definition/Goth |title=Goth |year=2021 |website=[[WordReference.com]] |series=[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]] |publisher=[[Random House]] |access-date=22 March 2021 |quote=Goth... [O]ne of a Teutonic people who in the 3rd to 5th centuries invaded and settled in parts of the Roman Empire. |archive-date=2 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202205126/https://www.wordreference.com/definition/Goth |url-status=live }}; {{cite web |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/goth |title=Goth |year=2010 |series=[[Webster's New World Dictionary|Webster's New World College Dictionary]] |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |access-date=22 March 2021 |quote=Goth... [A]ny member of a Germanic people that invaded and conquered most of the Roman Empire in the 3d, 4th, and 5th centuries a.d. |archive-date=27 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427105627/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/goth |url-status=live }}; {{cite web |url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/goth |title=Goth |website=[[Lexico]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |access-date=22 March 2021 |quote=Goth... A member of a Germanic people that invaded the Roman Empire from the east between the 3rd and 5th centuries. The eastern division, the Ostrogoths, founded a kingdom in Italy, while the Visigoths went on to found one in Spain. |archive-date=25 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725071316/https://www.lexico.com/definition/goth |url-status=dead }}; {{cite web |url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Goth |title=Goth |year=2016 |website=[[The Free Dictionary]] |series=[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]] |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |access-date=22 March 2021 |quote=Goth... A member of a Germanic people who invaded the Roman Empire in the early centuries of the Christian era. |archive-date=29 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329092356/https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Goth |url-status=live }}; {{cite web |url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Goth |title=Goth |year=2016 |website=[[The Free Dictionary]] |series=Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary |publisher=[[Random House]] |access-date=22 March 2021 |quote=Goth... [A] member of a Germanic people settled N of the Black Sea in the 3rd century a.d., who, with the collapse of the Roman Empire, established kingdoms in Spain and Italy. |archive-date=29 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329092356/https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Goth |url-status=live }}</ref> Along with the [[Burgundians]], [[Vandals]] and others they belong to the [[East Germanic]] group.<ref name="Fulk_2018_19">{{harvnb|Fulk|2018|p=19}}. "[A] number of named early Germanic groups are to be counted among the East Germanic peoples... Usually included in this group are Goths (among whom are probably to be counted Gepids, Greuthingi, and Thervingi), Bastarnae, Burgundians, Heruli, Rugii, Sciri, Silingi, and Vandals."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Murdoch|Read|2004|pp=5, 20}}. "The Goths, another East Germanic group like the Vandals and the Burgundians, had originated (by tradition) in Scandinavia, and are attested at an early stage at the mouth of the Vistula in modern Poland."</ref><ref name="Collins">{{cite web |url=https://www.wordreference.com/definition/Goth |title=Goth |website=[[WordReference.com]] |series=[[Collins English Dictionary|Collins Concise English Dictionary]] |publisher=[[HarperCollins|HarperCollins Publishers]] |access-date=22 March 2021 |quote=Goth... [A] member of an East Germanic people from Scandinavia who settled south of the Baltic early in the first millennium ad. They moved on to the Ukrainian steppes and raided and later invaded many parts of the Roman Empire from the 3rd to the 5th century. |archive-date=2 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202205126/https://www.wordreference.com/definition/Goth |url-status=live }}</ref> Roman authors of [[late antiquity]] did not classify the Goths as ''Germani''.<ref name="Wolfram_5">{{harvnb|Wolfram|2005|p=5}}. "While the Gutones, the Pomeranian precursors of the Goths, and the Vandili, the Silesian ancestors of the Vandals, were still considered part of Tacitean Germania, the later Goths, Vandals, and other East Germanic tribes were differentiated from the Germans and were referred to as Scythians, Goths, or some other special names. The sole exception are the Burgundians, who were considered German because they came to Gaul via Germania. In keeping with this classification, post-Tacitean Scandinavians were also no longer counted among the Germans, even though they were regarded as close relatives."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Halsall|2014|p=519}} "Goths, who have in recent decades become something of a paradigm for 'Germanic migrations', spoke a Germanic language but they were not considered Germani by Graeco-Roman authors, who usually saw them as 'Scythians' or as descendants of other peoples recorded in the same region like the Getae."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Goffart|1989|p=112}}. "Goths, Vandals, and Gepids, among others, never called themselves German or were regarded as such by late Roman observers."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Goffart|2010|p=5}} "The use of "German" waned sharply in late antiquity, when, for example, it was mainly reserved by Roman authors as an alternative to "Franks" and never applied to Goths or the other peoples living in their vicinity at the eastern end of the Danube."</ref> In modern scholarship the Goths are sometimes referred to as being ''Germani''.<ref>{{harvnb|Heather|2010|pp=104, 111, 662}}. "Goths, Rugi and other Germani... Goths but also of some other Germani, notably Heruli... Germani such as the Vandals or Goths..."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Heather|2007|p=503}}. "Militarized freedmen among the Germani appear in sixth- and seventh-century Visigothic and Frankish law codes."</ref><ref name="James_Krmnicek_XV">{{harvnb|James|Krmnicek|2020|p=xv}}. "They also became aware of some groups regarded as Germani, notably the Goths, migrating south-eastwards during the early centuries AD towards the Black Sea."</ref>

==History==
===Prehistory===
{{See also|Origin stories of the Goths}}
[[File:Chernyakhov.PNG|right|upright=1.35|thumb|
{{legend|#0f0|[[Götaland]]}}
{{legend|#FF00FF|The island of [[Gotland]]}}
{{legend|#f00|[[Wielbark culture]] in the early 3rd century}}
{{legend|#FF8040|[[Chernyakhov culture]], in the early 4th century}}
{{legend|#8000FF|[[Roman Empire]]}}]]
A crucial source on Gothic history is the ''[[Getica]]'' of the 6th-century historian [[Jordanes]], who may have been of Gothic descent.<ref name="Heather_1994_3">{{harvnb|Heather|1994|p=3}}. "[T]he Getica of Jordanes has nevertheless played a crucial role. Written in the mid-sixth century, it is the only source which purports to provide an overview of Gothic history in our period, and has decisively influenced all modern historians of the Goths.</ref><ref name="Heather_1998_9">{{harvnb|Heather|1998|pp=9–10}}. "Modern approaches to the history of the Goths have been decisively shaped by the survival of one particular text: the Origins and Acts of the Goths or Getica of Jordanes. Written in Constantinople in about AD 550, it is a unique document. Although its author wrote in Latin, he was of Gothic descent, and drew upon Gothic oral traditions... [T]he Getic's consolidated account has exercised enormous influence on the overall "shape" of modern reconstructions of Gothic history... Thanks to [archaeology]... it is now possible to exercise at least some kind of control of Jordanes' account of even this earliest period of Gothic history."</ref> 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 (historian)|Ablabius]].{{sfn|Heather|1994|p=5}}{{sfn|Jordanes|1915|pp=19–22}}{{sfn|Gillett|2000|pp=479–500}} 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.<ref name="Fulk_2018_21">{{harvnb|Fulk|2018|pp=21–22}}. "How the Goths arrived at the Black Sea, and where they originated, are matters of debate. The usual assumption, and the one still credited by the considerable majority of scholars, has been that the account given in the sixth-century Getica of Jordanes is trustworthy at least in general outline: according to this account, the Goths migrated, perhaps about 100 BCE, from Scandinavia (Scandza) to the banks of the Vistula. Their area of settlement on the southern coast of the Baltic is called by Jordanes Gothiscandza... In accordance with the account of Jordanes, the Goths have usually been identified with the Gutones first mentioned by Pliny the Elder ca. 65 CE as living on the shore of (apparently) the Baltic Sea. On this reasoning the Goths have also commonly been associated with the island of Gotland and with the region of south-central Sweden called Götaland (named after the ON Gautar, OE Gēatas), from which areas they are assumed to have migrated originally... In more recent times the account of Jordanes, recorded so many centuries after the purported departure from Scandinavia, has been called into question, in part on archaeological grounds... [T]he presence of Goths in Scandinavia is not to be doubted... At all events, the name of the Goths is so common in place-names in Sweden{{snd}}and place-names are often among the most archaic evidence{{snd}}that it is difficult to believe that the Gothic presence in Scandinavia could have been a late development."</ref><ref name="Robinson_2005_36">{{harvnb|Robinson|2005|p=36}}. "Greek and Roman sources of the first and second centuries A.D. are the earliest written evidence we have for the Goths, under the names Guthones, Gothones, and Gothi. The sources agree in placing these people along the Vistula river, although whether they were on the coast or a bit inland is unclear. Also not totally clear is the connection between these people and other tribal groupings of similar names found at that time and later in parts of south central Sweden (now Västergötland and Östergötland) and on the island of Gotland. If the legend recorded by the sixth-century Gothic historian Jordanes is accurate, the Goths came to the mouth of the Vistula from across the sea, displacing a number of Germanic tribes who were there before them, including the Vandals. The weight of scholarship appears to support this story, with (mainland) Götland being seen as the likely point of origin, and the early first century B.C. as the likely time. Owing perhaps partially to population pressure, a large number of Goths subsequently left the Vistula in the mid-second century A.D. Around 170 they reached an area north of the Black Sea, where they settled between the Don and the Dniester rivers."</ref><ref name="Kasperski_2015_33">{{harvnb|Kasperski|2015|at=abstract}}. "The story by Jordanes about the migration of Goths from Scandza is a matter of a vivid and long standing discussion between historians. Most scholars argue that it is a part of the Gothic tribal tradition... Historians have long wondered how Jordanes learned about the migration. Some researchers claim that the source of his inspiration was an original Gothic tribal saga. It is even believed that the story about the origin (origo) of the Goths in Scandza is one of the most important parts of the Gothic tribal tradition, passed orally from generation to generation, a pillar sustaining the ethnicity of this people. However, not all scholars share this belief"</ref><ref name="Goffart_2010_56">{{harvnb|Goffart|2010|pp=56–57}}. "The report that the earliest Goths departed from Scandinavia for the Continent at some undetermined moment in the distant past still commands an impressive body of believers.... Experts in Germanic literature who instantly discount reports of Trojan or Scythian or Noachic origins as being fabulous, solemnly assent: emigration from Scandinavia is an authentic "tribal memory:' the one kernel of historicity to be plucked from an unholy stew of misconceptions and fabrications.</ref>

According to Jordanes, the Goths originated on an island called ''[[Scandza]]'' (Scandinavia), from where they emigrated by sea to an area called ''[[Gothiscandza]]'' under their king [[Berig]].{{sfn|Jordanes|1915|p=iv (25)}} Historians are not in agreement on the authenticity and accuracy of this account.<ref name="Hedeager_2000_27">{{harvnb|Hedeager|2000|p=27}}. "Nevertheless, that these explanations cannot be used to confirm the historicity of the origin myth does not mean that the Goths and many others did not originate from Scandinavia. Several independent, unrelated, pieces of evidence, both philological and archaeological, indicate that there might be a grain of historical truth in these stories. If Scandza is a literary motif, it might also reflect some long-gone historical reality, at least for the Goths, the Lombards, and the Anglo-Saxons, and perhaps even for groups like the Heruli, the Vandals and the Burgundians too."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Heather|1994|pp=6, 66}}. Some sections of narrative may also derive from oral tradition. We hear of King Berig, for instance, who led the Goths' migration from Scandinavia (4. 25), and of King Filimer guiding them into lands above the Black Sea (4. 28). Both are events of the distant past, and Gothic oral history seems the most likely source of these stories.... "[T]he Scandinavian origin of the Goths would seem to have been one sixth-century guess among several... The myths themselves perhaps referred only to an unnamed, mysterious island... The Scandinavian origin-tale would thus be similar to much else in the Getica, depending upon a complex mixture of material from Gothic oral and Graeco-Roman literary sources."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Goffart|2005|p=391}}. "[I]t takes a weird conception of any Gothic oral tradition to imagine that it would have supplied Jordanes or his source with ''Scandinavia'' in the same garb as Ptolemy, Pliny, and Pomponius Mela and would have added to it, besides, circumstantial recollections of the Goths' one-time neighbors when they emigrated 2,030 years ago."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Christensen|2002|p=346}}. "[Cassiodorus] had found out about this island [of Scandza] by reading works by Ptolemy and by listening to reports from people who had come to Ravenna from those regions... [He] knew... that this island was home to a people whose name was strongly reminiscent of the name of the Goths. They were called Gauts, however, and had nothing at all to do with the Goths.".</ref><ref name="Christensen_2002_349">{{harvnb|Christensen|2002|p=349}}. "Today we are able to conclude that this narrative is fictitious, a fabrication in which the omnipotent author himself has created both the framework and the content of the story. But in spite of all this, it is never justifiable to completely discard a relic of the past. If it cannot tell us something about the past it claims to describe; then at least it speaks volumes about the period in which it was conceived – contingent of course upon our own ability to precisely date the source. Parting is a painful process, as in this case, where we must relinquish something we have grown accustomed to regarding as Gothic history."</ref> Most scholars agree that Gothic migration from Scandinavia is reflected in the archaeological record,<ref name="Olędzki_2004_279">{{harvnb|Olędzki|2004|p=279}}. "Most scholars agree that contents of Jordanes' text... concerning the arrival of the Goths and Gepidae from Scandinavia to Pomerania is fully reflected in archaeological sources."</ref> but the evidence is not entirely clear.<ref name="Heather_OCD"/><ref name="Heather_1998_25">{{harvnb|Heather|1998|pp=25–29}}. "The archaeogical evidence would seem at least partly to confirm Jordanes' account of Filimer's migration; the movement of Goths from the European mainland opposite Scandinavia to the hinterland of the Black Sea. Given that the events occurred some 300–400 years before the Getica was composed, at a time when the Goths were not themselves literate, Jordanes' account is more correct, it seems to me, than we have any right ro expect... It is certainly possible... that Scandinavia was explicitly mentioned in Gothic tales of the past... The story of Berig as told by Goths might have said Scandinavia... I think it likely... that the story of Berig and his migration genuinely reflect Gothic story telling in some way, but I am less sure that the original Gothic stories mentioned Scandinavia."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Oxenstierna|1948|p=73}} claimed to have found archaeological evidence of a Gothic origin in [[Östergötland]]. [[Rolf Hachmann|Hachmann]] 1970 claimed there was no archaeological evidence for a Scandinavian origin of the Goths. {{harvnb|Kokowski|1999}} and {{harvnb|Kaliff|2008|p=236}} believe there is archaeological evidence for a partial Gothic origin in Scandinavia.</ref> Rather than 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Kazanski|1991|pp=15–18}}. "[[Ryszard Wołągiewicz|R. Wolagiewicz]] who has studied the chronology of the Gothic kings provided by Jordanes, rightly estimates, in our opinion, that Berig, the king that led the Goths to the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, would have lived at this time… Wolagiewicz' point of view requires some remarks, though. First of all, why did the first Scandinavian settlers seem so few? Would the first Gothic migration not have been that of a people or of a big tribe, but of a more restricted group? That is also what Jordanes seems to tell us, since he reports that the Goths arrived from Scandinavia on only three ships. How can we then justify that this author attached enough importance to this migration that he mentioned it several times? The political role played by these new arrivals, and the presence among them of their king Berig are without a doubt significant for this. Polish historian [[Jerzy Kolendo|J. Kolendo]] has interpreted the history of the Goths as that of the Gothic royal dynasty of the Amales that would reign until the VIth c. and of which Berig was the first king. Taking into account the archaeological data that we have just mentioned, this hypothesis seems likely to us. We can suppose that the king of the Goths and his closest followers, once they had disembarked on the continent, began to dominate the local tribes. We know similar cases in the history of ancient peoples that held in high regard the kings that descended from illustrious families, often made sacred... [O]nly the royal dynasty and their followers could have had a Scandinavian origin. We add also that the Scandinavian parallels of the sites in Pomerania are, as we have seen, very scattered. We also find them in the south of Norway as well as in Sweden and on the islands of the Baltic Sea. This observation could show the heterogeneous origins of the migrants."</ref>{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=39–40}}{{sfn|Heather|1998|pp=24–26}}<ref name="Kaliff_2008_223">{{harvnb|Kaliff|2008|pp=223, 235–36}}. "The archaeological record indicates that Jordanes' history concerning the origin of the Goths was based on an oral tradition with a real background... In modern research, the theory of a massive migration has generally been abandoned... Limited migration is likely to have taken place."</ref>

Similarities between the [[name of the Goths]], some Swedish [[place name]]s and the names of the Gutes and Geats have been cited as evidence that the Goths originated in [[Gotland]] or [[Götaland]].{{sfn|Brink|2008|pp=90, 103–04}}{{sfn|Strid|2011|p=43}}<ref>{{harvnb|Wolfram|1990|p=23}}. "The similarity of the name of the Gothic people and that of the island of Gotland seems to support the migration legend of the Origo Gothica. This area was also the home of the medieval Gutasaga."</ref> The Goths, Geats and Gutes may all have descended from an early community of seafarers active on both sides of the Baltic.{{sfn|Rübekeil|2002|pp=603–04}}{{sfn|Kaliff|2008|p=236}}<ref name=":0">{{harvnb|Andersson|1998b|p=283}}. "Die drei Stämme der Gauten, Goten und gutar scheinen sich im s. Ostseeraum aus einem *gautōz/*gutaniz-Volk entwickelt zu haben. Wo und wie deren Ethnogenese vor sich gegangen ist, bleibt zwar ungewiß, aber in der fortgesetzten Diskussion über die geogr. Herkunft der Stämme ist auf jeden Fall die sprachliche Analyse der Stammesbezeichnungen von wesentlichem Gewicht." English translation: "The three tribes of the Gautes, Goths and Gutar appear to have developed from a *gautōz/*gutaniz people in the southern Baltic region. Where and how their ethnogenesis took place remains uncertain, but in the ongoing discussion about the geographical origin of the tribes, the linguistic analysis of the tribal names is of considerable importance."</ref> Similarities and dissimilarities between the Gothic language and [[Scandinavian languages]] (particularly [[Gutnish]]) have been cited as evidence both for and against a Scandinavian origin.<ref>{{harvnb|Kortlandt|2001|pp=21–25}} "Witold Mańczak has argued that... the original homeland of the Goths must therefore be located in the southernmost part of the Germanic territories... I think that his argument is correct..."</ref>{{sfn|Peel|2015|pp=272, 290}}

Scholars generally locate ''Gothiscandza'' in the area of the [[Wielbark culture]].{{sfn|Kaliff|2008|p=228}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=38}}{{sfn|Liebeschuetz|2015|p=106}} This culture emerged in the lower Vistula and along the [[Pomerania]]n coast in the 1st century AD, replacing the preceding [[Oksywie culture]].{{sfn|Kaliff|2008|p=232}} It is primarily distinguished from the Oksywie by the practice of inhumation, the absence of weapons in graves, and the presence of [[stone circle]]s.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=103}}{{sfn|Kokowski|2011|pp=72–73}} This area had been intimately connected with Scandinavia since the time of the [[Nordic Bronze Age]] and the [[Lusatian culture]].{{sfn|Kaliff|2008|p=236}} Its inhabitants in the Wielbark period are usually thought to have been Germanic peoples, such as the Goths and Rugii.<ref name="Heather_OCD"/><ref name="Wolfram_Wielbark">{{harvnb|Wolfram|1990|p=12}}. "Archaeologists equate the earliest history of the Goths with the artifacts of a culture named after the East Prussian town Willenberg-Wielbark."</ref><ref name="Heather_104">{{harvnb|Heather|2010|p=104}}. "[I]s now generally accepted that the Wielbark culture incorporated areas that, in the first two centuries AD, were dominated by Goths, Rugi and other Germani."</ref><ref name="Heather_679">{{harvnb|Heather|2010|p=679}}. "[T]he Wielbark and Przeworsk systems have come to be understood as thoroughly dominated by Germanic-speakers, with earlier archaeological 'proofs' that the latter comprised just a very few migrants from southern Scandinavia being overturned."</ref><ref name="Heather_1998_XIV">{{harvnb|Heather|1998|pp=xiv, 2, 21, 30}}. "[The] Goths are met in historical sources... [in] northern Poland in the first and second centuries... Goths are first mentioned occupying territory in what is now Poland in the first century AD... The history of people labelled "Goths" thus spans 700 years, and huge tracts of Europe from northern Poland to the Atlantic ocean... [T]he Wielbark culture.... took shape in the middle of the first century AD... in Pomerania and lands either side of the lower Vistula... [T]his is the broad area where our few literary sources place a group called Goths at this time... Tacitus Germania 43–4 places them not quite on the Baltic coast; Ptolemy Geography 3.5.8 locates them east of the Vistula; Strabo Geography 7.1.3 (if Butones should be emended to Gutones) broadly agrees with Tacitus... The mutually confirmatory information of ancient sources and the archaeological record both suggest that Goths can first be identified beside the Vistula. It is here that this attempt to write their history will begin."</ref> Jordanes writes that the Goths, soon after settling ''Gothiscandza'', seized the lands of the [[Ulmerugi]] (Rugii).{{sfn|Jordanes|1915|pp=iv (26)}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=36–42}}

[[Image:Wesiory.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Stone circle (Iron Age)|stone circle]] in the area of northern [[Poland]] occupied by the [[Wielbark culture]], which is associated with the Goths]]

===Early history===
{{Further|Gutones|Origin of the Goths}}
[[File:Oksywie Wielbark Przeworsk.gif|thumb|upright=1.35|
{{legend|Red|[[Oksywie culture]] and the early [[Wielbark culture]]}}
{{legend|#FF9999|Expansion of the Wielbark culture}}
{{legend|Yellow|[[Przeworsk culture]]}}]]
The Goths are generally believed to have been first attested by [[Greco-Roman world|Greco-Roman]] sources in the 1st century under the name ''Gutones''.<ref name="Heather_ODLA"/><ref name="Fulk_2018_21"/><ref name="Robinson_2005_36"/><ref name="Heather_1998_XIV"/><ref name="Wolfram_12">{{harvnb|Wolfram|1990|pp=12–13, 20, 23}}: "Goths{{snd}}or Gutones, as the Roman sources called them... The Gutonic immigrants became Goths the very moment the Mediterranean world considered them "Scythians"... The Gothic name appears for the first time between A.D. 16 and 18. We do not, however, find the strong form Guti but only the derivative form Gutones... Hereafter, whenever the Gutones and Guti are mentioned, these terms refer to the Goths."</ref><ref name="Christensen_32">{{harvnb|Christensen|2002|pp=32–33, 38–39}}. "During the first century and a half AD, four authors mention a people also normally identified with 'the Goths'. They seem to appear for the first time in the writings of the geographer Strabo... It is normally assumed that [the Butones/Gutones] are identical with the Goths... It has been taken for granted that these Gotones were identical to the Goths... Finally, around 150, Klaudios Ptolemaios (or Ptolemy) writes of certain [Gutones/Gythones] who are also normally identified with 'the Goths'... Ptolemy lists the [Gutae], also identified by Gothic scholars with the Goths..."</ref> The equation between Gutones and later Goths is disputed by several historians.<ref>{{harvnb|Goffart|1980|pp=21–22}}. "We hear, for instance, that "the true history of the Goths" – true, that is, as distinct from legendary "but not inadmissible" – "begins with Pliny, who, toward A.D. 75, cited the Gutones, and Tacitus, who, towards 98, knows the Gothones." Prodigies of ingenuity are performed in creating arguments that sometimes are wholly circular. By normal standards of source analysis, the early Gothic migrations in Jordanes are about as historical as the tales of Genesis and Exodus; to champion their simple equivalence to history is a task for religious fundamentalists."</ref><ref name="Christensen_343">{{harvnb|Christensen|2002|p=343}}. "They might possibly have been mentioned in some geographical and ethnographical works dating from the first century AD, but the similarity in the names is not significant, and no antique author later considers them to be the forefathers of the Goths... No one sees this connection, even during the Great Migration. Chronologically it would, of course, be quite a realistic possibility..."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Kulikowski|2006|p=212}}. "The Gotones mentioned in Tacitus, Germania 44.1 and located somewhere in what is now modern Poland would not be regarded as Goths if Jordanes' migration stories did not exist."</ref><ref name="Halsall_52_120">{{harvnb|Halsall|2007|pp=52, 120}}. "Although the Scythians were long gone, their name was still applied to the inhabitants of these regions: Taifals and Sarmatians, Alans and Goths... Also significant is the fact that, as mentioned, when not using 'Scythian', these writers used Getae as a synonym for Goths, rather than (as modern historians do) associating the Goths with the Gutones, who had a respectable pedigree going back to Pliny at least... We might note the similarity of names such as Eudoses and Jutes, or Gutones and Goths but how much continuity does this imply, especially when the different names are recorded in different geographical locations?"</ref>

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 [[Marcomanni]]c king [[Maroboduus]].<ref name="Strabo_VII_I_">{{harvnb|Strabo|1903|p=}}, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-eng2:7.1 Book VII, Chap. 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216133608/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-eng2:7.1 |date=16 December 2019 }}</ref> The "Butones" are generally equated with the Gutones.<ref>{{harvnb|Wolfram|1990|p=38}}. "[T]he Gutones... were first mentioned by Strabo..."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Christensen|2002|p=33}}. "It is normally assumed that [the Butones/Gutones] are identical with the Goths."</ref> The Lugii have sometimes been considered the same people as the [[Vandals]], with whom they were certainly closely affiliated.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=40}} The Vandals are associated with the [[Przeworsk culture]], which was located to the south of the Wielbark culture.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=394–95}} Wolfram suggests that the Gutones were clients of the Lugii and Vandals in the 1st century AD.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=40}}

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 the Vandili. Pliny classifies the Vandili as one of the five principal "German races", along with the coastal [[Ingvaeones]], [[Istvaeones]], [[Irminones]], and [[Peucini]].<ref name="Pliny">{{harvnb|Pliny|1855|p=}}, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D37%3Achapter%3D11 Book IV, Chap. 28] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924171950/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D37%3Achapter%3D11 |date=24 September 2015 }}</ref>{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=40}}{{sfn|Christensen|2002|pp=34–35}} In an earlier chapter Pliny writes that the 4th century BC traveler [[Pytheas]] encountered a people called the ''Guiones''.<ref name="Pliny_XXXVIII_11">{{harvnb|Pliny|1855|p=}}, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D37%3Achapter%3D11 Book XXXVIII, Chap. 11] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924171950/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D37%3Achapter%3D11 |date=24 September 2015 }}</ref> Some scholars have equated these ''Guiones'' with the Gutones, but the authenticity of the Pytheas account is uncertain.{{sfn|Rübekeil|2002|pp=603–04}}{{sfn|Christensen|2002|pp=25–31}}

In his work ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'' from around 98 AD, [[Tacitus]] writes that 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.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=40–41}} He described them as "ruled by kings, a little more strictly than the other German tribes".<ref name="Tacitus_XLIV">{{harvnb|Tacitus|1876a|p=}}, [[:Wikisource:Germania (Church & Brodribb)#XLIV|XLIV]]</ref>{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=40–41}}{{sfn|Christensen|2002|pp=35–36}} In another notable work, the ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'', Tacitus writes that the Gotones had assisted [[Catualda]], a young Marcomannic exile, in overthrowing the rule of Maroboduus.<ref name="Tacitus_2_62">{{harvnb|Tacitus|1876b|p=}}, [[:Wikisource:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 2#62|62]]</ref>{{sfn|Christensen|2002|pp=36–38}} Prior to this, it is probable that both the Gutones and Vandals had been subjects of the Marcomanni.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=40–41}}

[[File:Roman Empire 125.png|thumb|upright=1.35|The Roman Empire under [[Hadrian]], <!-- (ruled 117–38), according to [[Tacitus]]' [[Germania (book)|Germania]] (written c. AD 100) and [[Ptolemy]]'s [[Geographia (Ptolemy)|Geographia]] (c. 130),--> showing the location of the Gothones, then inhabiting the east bank of the [[Vistula]] in modern-day Poland]]

Sometime after settling ''Gothiscandza'', Jordanes writes that the Goths defeated the neighbouring Vandals.{{sfn|Jordanes|1915|p=iv (28)}} Wolfram believes the Gutones freed themselves from Vandalic domination at the beginning of the 2nd century AD.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=40}}

In his ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geography]]'' from around 150 AD, [[Ptolemy]] mentions the Gythones (or Gutones) as living east of the Vistula in Sarmatia, between the [[Vistula Veneti|Veneti]] and the [[Fenni]].<ref name="Ptolemy">{{harvnb|Ptolemy|1932|p=}}, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/3/5*.html 3.5] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725071317/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/3/5%2A.html |date=25 July 2021 }}</ref>{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=37–39}}{{sfn|Christensen|2002|pp=38–39}} In an earlier chapter he mentions a people called the Gutae (or Gautae) as living in southern [[Scandia]].<ref name="Ptolemy_2.10">{{harvnb|Ptolemy|1932|p=}}, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/2/10/limited.html 2.10] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725071318/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/2/10/limited.html |date=25 July 2021 }}</ref>{{sfn|Christensen|2002|pp=38–39}} These Gutae are probably the same as the later [[Geats|Gauti]] mentioned by Procopius.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=37–39}} Wolfram suggests that there were close relations between the Gythones and Gutae, and that they might have been of common origin.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=37–39}}

===Movement towards the Black Sea===
{{Further|Oium}}
Beginning in the middle of the 2nd century, the Wielbark culture shifted southeast towards the [[Black Sea]].{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=103–07}} During this time the Wielbark culture is believed to have ejected and partially absorbed peoples of the Przeworsk culture.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=103–07}} This was part of a wider southward movement of eastern Germanic tribes, which was probably caused by massive population growth.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=103–07}} As a result, other tribes were pushed towards the [[Roman Empire]], contributing to the beginning of the [[Marcomannic Wars]].{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=103–07}} By 200 AD, Wielbark Goths were probably being recruited into the [[Roman army]].{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=106}}

According to Jordanes, the Goths entered [[Oium]], part of Scythia, under the king [[Filimer]], where they defeated the [[Spali]].{{sfn|Jordanes|1915|p=iv (28)}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=42}} This migration account partly corresponds with the archaeological evidence.<ref name="Heather_1998_25"/><ref name="James_Krmnicek_412">{{harvnb|James|Krmnicek|2020|p=412}}. "Except for a few examples where material, ritualized patterns (recognizable in burial rites, offerings, or ways of structuring settlements) and cultural change correspond almost perfectly with the written account{{snd}}e.g. concerning the migration of the Goths from the Southern Baltic shore to the Black Sea{{snd}}identification and localization of single Germanic tribes via patterns in archaeological material has mostly not been possible."</ref> The name ''Spali'' may mean "the giants" in [[Slavic languages|Slavic]], and the Spali were thus probably not [[Slavs]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=42–43}} In the early 3rd century AD, western Scythia was inhabited by the agricultural [[Zarubintsy culture]] and the nomadic [[Sarmatians]].{{sfn|Kokowski|2007|p=222}} 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.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=109–20}} [[Peter Heather]] considers the Filimer story to be at least partially derived from Gothic oral tradition.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=123–24}}<ref>{{harvnb|Heather|1994|p=5}}. "[T]here is a Gothic origin to some of the Getica's material, which makes it unique among surviving sources. It specifically refers, for instance, to Gothic songs and tales recording Filimer's migration to the Black Sea"</ref> The fact that the expanding Goths appear to have preserved their Gothic language during their migration suggests that their movement involved a fairly large number of people.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=130–31}}

By the mid-3rd century AD, the Wielbark culture had contributed to the formation of the [[Chernyakhov culture]] in Scythia.{{sfn|Heather|Matthews|1991|pp=50–51}}{{sfn|Kokowski|2011|p=75}} This strikingly uniform culture came to stretch from the [[Danube]] in the west to the [[Don (river)|Don]] in the east.{{sfn|Heather|1994|pp=87–96}} It is believed to have been dominated by the Goths and other Germanic groups such as the [[Heruli]].<ref name="Heather_117">{{harvnb|Heather|2010|p=117}}. "[I]t is now universally accepted that the system can be taken to reflect the world created by the Goths...</ref> It nevertheless also included [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]], [[Dacians|Dacian]], Roman and probably [[Slavs|Slavic]] elements as well.{{sfn|Heather|1994|pp=87–96}}

===3rd century raids on the Roman Empire===
{{Further|Crisis of the Third Century|Battle of Abritus|Battle of Naissus}}
[[File:Gothic raids in the 3rd century.jpg|right|upright=1.35|thumb|Gothic invasions in the 3rd century]]
The first incursion of the Roman Empire that can be attributed to Goths is the sack of [[Histria (Sinoe)|Histria]] in 238.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=109–20}}{{sfn|Bennett|2004}} 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.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=13}} It is in the late 3rd century that the name ''Goths'' ({{langx|la|Gothi}}) is first mentioned.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=20}} Ancient authors do not identify the Goths with the earlier Gutones.<ref name="Wolfram_13">{{harvnb|Wolfram|1990|pp=13}}. "No ancient ethnographer made a connection between the Goths and the Gutones. The Gutonic immigrants became Goths the very moment the Mediterranean world considered them "Scythians".</ref><ref name="Christensen_343"/> [[Philologist]]s and [[linguist]]s have no doubt that the names are linked.<ref name="Heather_115">{{harvnb|Heather|2010|p=115}}. "In the period of Dacian and Sarmatian dominance, groups known as Goths – or perhaps 'Gothones' or 'Guthones' – inhabited lands far to the north-west, beside the Baltic. Tacitus placed them there at the end of the first century AD, and Ptolemy did likewise in the middle of the second, the latter explicitly among a number of groups said to inhabit the mouth of the Vistula. Philologists have no doubt, despite the varying transliterations into Greek and Latin, that it is the same group name that suddenly shifted its epicentre from northern Poland to the Black Sea in the third century."</ref><ref name="Christensen_42">{{harvnb|Christensen|2002|p=41}}. "However, linguists believe there is an indisputable connection."</ref>

On the [[Pontic steppe]] the Goths quickly adopted several nomadic customs from the Sarmatians.{{sfn|McNeill}} They excelled at [[horsemanship]], [[archery]] and [[falconry]],{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=209–10}} and were also accomplished [[agriculture|agriculturalists]]{{sfn|Kershaw|2013|p=}} and [[Seamanship|seafarers]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}} [[J. B. Bury]] describes the Gothic period as "the only non-nomadic episode in the history of the steppe."{{sfn|Bury|1913|p=428}} [[William H. McNeill (historian)|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.{{sfn|McNeill}} From the 240s at the earliest, Goths were heavily recruited into the [[Roman Army]] to fight in the [[Roman–Persian Wars]], notably participating at the [[Battle of Misiche]] in 244.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=20, 44}} An [[Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht|inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht]] in [[Parthian language|Parthian]], [[Middle Persian|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,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Altheim |first1=Franz |title=Geschichte der Hunnen. Erster Band: Von den Anfängen bis zum Einbruch in Europa |date=1969 |publisher=De Gruyter |location=Berlin |pages=243 |language=German |chapter=Dichtung}}</ref> which is probably a Parthian gloss for the [[Danubian Limes|Danubian (Gothic) ''limes'']] and the [[Limes Germanicus|Germanic ''limes'']].{{sfn|Sprengling|1953|pp=3–4}}

Meanwhile, Gothic raids on the Roman Empire continued,{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|p=18}} In 250–51, the Gothic king [[Cniva]] [[Siege of Philippopolis (250)|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.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=128}}{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=109–20}} This was one of the most disastrous defeats in the history of the Roman army.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=109–20}}

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 (historian)|Zosimus]]. This may not be an ethnic term but may just mean "people from 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.{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|pp=18–19}} 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 (region)|Pontus]]. In 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 [[Kerch|Bosporus]] and captured several cities on the [[Euxine]] coast, including [[Olbia, Ukraine|Olbia]] and [[Tyras]], which enabled them to engage in widespread naval activities.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}}{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=109–20}}{{sfn|Bowman|Cameron|Garnsey|2005|pp=223–29}}

After a 10-year hiatus, the Goths and the [[Heruli]], with a raiding fleet of 500 ships,{{sfn|Syncellus|1829|p=717}} sacked [[Heraclea Pontica]], [[Cyzicus]] and [[Byzantium]].{{sfn|Bury|1911|pp=203–06}} They were defeated by the [[Roman navy]] but managed to escape into the [[Aegean Sea]], where they ravaged the islands of [[Lemnos]] and [[Scyros]], [[Battle of Thermopylae (267)|broke through Thermopylae]] and sacked several cities of southern Greece ([[Achaea (Roman province)|province of Achaea]]) including [[Athens]], [[Ancient Corinth#Roman era|Corinth]], [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]] and [[Sparta]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}} Then an Athenian militia, led by the historian [[Dexippus]], pushed the invaders to the north where they were intercepted by the Roman army under [[Gallienus]].<ref name="AH_13">{{harvnb|Disputed|1932|p=}}, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Gallieni_duo*.html The Two Gallieni] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725071318/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Gallieni_duo%2A.html |date=25 July 2021 }}, 13</ref>{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}} He won an important victory near the Nessos ([[Mesta River|Nestos]]) river, on the boundary between [[Macedonia (Roman province)|Macedonia]] and [[Thrace]], the Dalmatian cavalry of the Roman army earning a reputation as good fighters. Reported barbarian casualties were 3,000 men.<ref name="Zosimus_I.42">{{harvnb|Zosimus|1814|p=}}, [[:Wikisource:New History/Book the First|I.42–43]]</ref>{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}} Subsequently, the Heruli leader [[Naulobatus]] came to terms with the Romans.{{sfn|Syncellus|1829|p=717}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}}{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=109–20}}

After [[Gallienus]] was assassinated outside [[Milan]] in the summer of 268 in a plot led by high officers in his army, [[Claudius Gothicus|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 the [[Balkan]] provinces.<ref name="Bray">{{harvnb|Bray|1997|pp=279–91}}</ref>{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=109–20}}

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).{{efn|The ''[[Augustan History]]'' mentions Scythians, Greuthungi, Tervingi, Gepids, Peucini, Celts and Heruli. Zosimus names Scythians, Heruli, Peucini and Goths.}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}} The ''[[Augustan History]]'' and Zosimus claim a total number of 2,000–6,000 ships and 325,000 men.<ref name="AH_6">{{harvnb|Disputed|1932|p=}}, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Claudius*.html The Life of Claudius ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401031639/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Claudius%2A.html |date=1 April 2021 }}, 6</ref> This is probably a gross exaggeration but remains indicative of the scale of the invasion.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}} After failing to storm some towns on the coasts of the western [[Black Sea]] and the [[Danube]] ([[Constanţa|Tomi]], [[Marcianopolis]]), the invaders attacked [[Byzantium]] and [[Üsküdar|Chrysopolis]]. Part of their fleet was wrecked, either because of the Goth's inexperience in sailing through the violent currents of the [[Propontis]]<ref name="Zosimus_I.42"/> or because they were defeated by the Roman navy.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}} Then they entered the [[Aegean Sea]] and a detachment ravaged the Aegean islands as far as [[Crete]], [[Rhodes]] and [[Cyprus]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}} According to the ''Augustan History'', the Goths achieved no success on this expedition because they were struck by the [[Cyprianic Plague]].<ref name="AH_12">{{harvnb|Disputed|1932|p=}}, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Claudius*.html The Life of Claudius ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401031639/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Claudius%2A.html |date=1 April 2021 }}, 12</ref> 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 a century later, one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}} 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.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}}{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=109–20}}

[[File:East-Hem 300ad (cropped).jpg|right|upright=1.35|thumb|Europe in AD 300, showing the distribution of the Goths near the [[Black Sea]]]]

Learning of the approach of Claudius, the Goths first attempted to directly invade Italy.{{sfn|Tucker|2009|p=150}} They were [[Battle of Naissus|engaged]] near Naissus by 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.<ref name="Zosimus_I.42"/>{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}} Apparently [[Aurelian]], who was in charge of all Roman cavalry during Claudius' reign, led the decisive attack in the battle. Some survivors were resettled within the empire, while others were incorporated into the Roman army.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=52–56}}{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=109–20}} The battle ensured the survival of the [[Roman Empire]] for another two centuries.{{sfn|Tucker|2009|p=150}}

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 the [[Danube]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=56}}{{sfn|Bennett|2004}}{{sfn|Thompson|1973|pp=606–09}}

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]].{{sfn|Bowman|Cameron|Garnsey|2005|pp=53–54}} They were defeated sometime in 276 by Emperor [[Marcus Claudius Tacitus]].{{sfn|Bowman|Cameron|Garnsey|2005|pp=53–54}}

By the late 3rd century, there were at least two groups of Goths, separated by the [[Dniester River]]: the [[Thervingi]] and the [[Greuthungi]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=24}} The [[Gepids]], who lived northwest of the Goths, are also attested as this time.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=57–58}} Jordanes writes that the Gepids shared common origins with the Goths.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=57–58}}{{sfn|Jordanes|1915|p=xvii (94–95)}}

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.{{sfn|Jordanes|1915|pp=xvii (96–100)}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=58}} In the last decades of the 3rd century, large numbers of [[Carpi (people)|Carpi]] are recorded as fleeing Dacia for the Roman Empire, having probably been driven from the area by Goths.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=109–20}}

===Co-existence with the Roman Empire (300–375)===
{{Further|Greuthungi|Thervingi|Oium|Reidgotland|Arheimar}}
[[File:Pietroassa ring 1875.jpg|right|thumb|[[Ring of Pietroassa]], dated AD 250 to AD 400 and found in [[Pietroasele]], Romania, features a [[Gothic language]] inscription in the [[Elder Futhark]] [[runic alphabet]].]]
In 332, [[Constantine I|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&nbsp;Goths were reportedly killed in battle, and [[Aoric]], son of the Thervingian king [[Ariaric]], was captured.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=63–64}} [[Eusebius]], a historian who wrote in Greek in the third century, wrote that in 334, Constantine evacuated approximately 300,000&nbsp;[[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.<ref name="Eusebius">{{harvnb|Eusebius|1900|p=}}, [[:en:Wikisource:Nicene and Post–Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume I/Constantine/The Life of Constantine/Book IV/Chapter 5|Book IV, Chapters 5–6]]</ref>

Having been driven from the Danube by 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.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=95}} 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.{{sfn|Jordanes|1915|pp=xxx (113–15)}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=62}}

Both the Greuthungi and Thervingi became heavily [[Romanization (cultural)|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&nbsp;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.{{sfn|Paul|MacMullen}} The Goths increasingly became soldiers in the Roman armies in the 4th century leading to a significant [[Germanization]] of the Roman Army.{{sfn|Aubin}} Without the recruitment of Germanic warriors in the Roman Army, the Roman Empire would not have survived for as long as it did.{{sfn|Aubin}} Goths who gained prominent positions in the Roman military include [[Gainas]], [[Tribigild]], [[Fravitta]] and [[Aspar]]. [[Mardonius (philosopher)|Mardonius]], a Gothic eunuch, was the childhood tutor and later adviser of Roman emperor [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]], on whom he had an immense influence.{{sfn|Pritsak|2005}}

The Gothic penchant for wearing [[Hide (skin)|skins]] became fashionable in Constantinople, a fashion which was loudly denounced by conservatives.{{sfn|Cameron|Long|Sherry|1993|p=99}} The 4th-century Greek bishop [[Synesius]] compared the Goths to wolves among sheep, mocked them for wearing skins and questioned their loyalty towards Rome:<blockquote> A man in skins leading warriors who wear the [[chlamys]], exchanging his sheepskins for the [[toga]] to debate with [[Roman magistrate]]s and perhaps even sit next to a [[Roman consul]], while law-abiding men sit behind. Then these same men, once they have gone 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.{{sfn|Cameron|Long|Sherry|1993|p=99}}</blockquote>

[[File:Athanaric and Valens on the Danbue.png|thumb|''[[Athanaric]] and [[Valens]] on the Danube'', [[Eduard Bendemann]], 1860]]

In the 4th century, Geberic was succeeded by the Greuthungian king [[Ermanaric]], who embarked on a large-scale expansion.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=86–89}} Jordanes states that Ermanaric conquered a large number of warlike tribes, including the Heruli (who were led by Alaric), the [[Aesti]] and the [[Vistula Veneti]], who, although militarily weak, were very numerous, and put up a strong resistance.{{sfn|Jordanes|1915|pp=xxxiii (116–20)}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=86–89}} 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."{{sfn|Jordanes|1915|pp=xxxiii (116–20)}} Interpreting Jordanes, Herwig Wolfram estimates that Ermanaric dominated a vast area of the Pontic Steppe stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea as far eastwards as the [[Ural Mountains]],{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=86–89}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1997|pp=26–28}} encompassing not only the Greuthungi, but also [[Baltic Finnic peoples]], Slavs (such as the [[Antes (people)|Antes]]), [[Rosomoni]] (Roxolani), Alans, [[Huns]], [[Sarmatians]] and probably [[Aestii]] ([[Balts]]).{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=7}} According to Wolfram, it is certainly possible that the sphere of influence of the Chernyakhov culture could have extended well beyond its archaeological extent.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=86–89}} Chernyakhov archaeological finds have been found far to the north in the [[forest steppe]], suggesting Gothic domination of this area.{{sfn|Heather|1994|p=87}} [[Peter Heather]] on the other hand, contends that the extent of Ermanaric's power is exaggerated.{{sfn|Heather|Matthews|1991|pp=86–89}} Ermanaric's possible dominance of the [[Volga]]-[[Don River (Russia)|Don]] trade routes has led historian [[:de:Gottfried Schramm (Historiker)|Gottfried Schramm]] to consider his realm a forerunner of the [[Viking]]-founded state of [[Kievan Rus']].{{sfn|Schramm|2002|p=54}} In the western part of Gothic territories, dominated by the Thervingi, there were also populations of [[Taifali]], Sarmatians and other Iranian peoples, [[Dacians]], [[Daco-Romans]] and other Romanized populations.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=8}}

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 the region as Oium.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=42}}

In the 360s, [[Athanaric]], son of Aoric and leader of the Thervingi, supported the usurper [[Procopius (usurper)|Procopius]] against the [[Eastern Roman Emperor]] [[Valens]]. In retaliation, Valens invaded the territories of Athanaric and [[Battle of Noviodunum|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 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 [[Gothic persecution of Christians|a crackdown on Christianity]] in his realm.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=64–72}}

===Arrival of the Huns (about 375)===
{{See also|Migration Period|Hlöðskviða}}
[[Image:Gizur and the Huns.jpg|thumb|''[[Gizur]] challenges the Huns'' by [[Peter Nicolai Arbo]], 1886]]
Around 375 the Huns overran the [[Alans]], an [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] people living to the east of the Goths, and then, along with Alans, invaded the territory of the Goths.<ref>{{cite book
 |last1        = Gibbon
 |first1       = Edward
 |author-link1 = Edward Gibbon
 |year         = 1880
 |orig-date    = 1781
 |title        = The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
 |url          = https://books.google.com/books?id=b_QYAAAAYAAJ
 |volume       = 3
 |location     = Philadelphia
 |publisher    = J.B. Lippincott
 |page         = 29
 |access-date  = 10 December 2022
 |quote        = Ammianus [...] and [[Jordanes|Jornandes]] [...] describe the subversion of the Gothic empire by the Huns.
 |archive-date = 10 December 2022
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20221210022301/https://books.google.com/books?id=b_QYAAAAYAAJ
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref>{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|pp=81–83}} 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.<ref name="M_XXI_II_1">{{harvnb|Marcellinus|1862}}, [[:Wikisource:Roman History/Book XXXI#II|Book XXI, II]], 1. "The following circumstances were the original cause of all the destruction and various calamities which the fury of Mars roused up, throwing everything into confusion by his usual ruinous violence: the people called Huns, slightly mentioned in the ancient records, live beyond the Sea of Azov, on the border of the Frozen Ocean, and are a race savage beyond all parallel."</ref> It is possible that the Hunnic attack came as a response to the Gothic expansion eastwards.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|pp=81–83, 94–100, 331–332}}

Upon the suicide of Ermanaric (died 376), the Greuthungi gradually fell under Hunnic domination. [[Christopher I. Beckwith]] suggests that the Hunnic thrust into [[Europe]] and the Roman Empire was an attempt to subdue the independent Goths in the west.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|pp=331–32}} The Huns fell upon the Thervingi, and Athanaric sought refuge in the mountains (referred to as [[Caucaland]] in the sagas).{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=73}} [[Ambrose]] makes a passing reference to Athanaric's royal titles before 376 in his ''De Spiritu Sancto'' (On the Holy Spirit).{{sfn|Ambrose|2019|p=Book I, Preface, Paragraph 15}}

Battles between the Goths and the Huns are described in 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.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|pp=152–55}}

Although the Huns successfully subdued many of the Goths who subsequently joined their ranks, Fritigern approached the [[Eastern Roman Empire|Eastern Roman]] emperor [[Valens]] in 376 with 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]]).{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|p=130}} 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.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=69}} Upon arrival, the Goths were to be disarmed according to their agreement with the Romans, although many of them still managed to keep their arms.{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|p=130}} The [[Moesogoths]] settled in Thrace and [[Moesia]].<ref>{{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Goth|volume= IV |short=x}}</ref>

===The Gothic War of 376–382===
{{Main|Gothic War (376–382)}}
[[File:East-Hem 400ad (cropped).jpg|right|upright=1.35|thumb|Europe in AD 400, showing the distribution of the Goths in the aftermath of the [[Huns|Hunnic]] invasion]]
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.{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|p=130}} Enraged by this treachery, Fritigern unleashed 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 (376–382)|Gothic War]], lasted for several years.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=117–31}} 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 the Danube without Roman permission.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=117–31}} The Gothic War culminated in the [[Battle of Adrianople]] in 378, in which the Romans were badly defeated and Valens was killed.{{sfn|Howatson|2011}}{{sfn|Bennett|2004|p=367}}

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 (Roman province)|Syria]] and other parts of the Roman East. Fearing rebellion, Julian lured 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]].{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|pp=145–47}}

With the rise of [[Theodosius I]] in 379, the Romans launched a renewed offensive to subdue Fritigern and his followers.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=130–39}}{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|pp=150–52}} Around the same time, Athanaric arrived in Constantinople, having fled Caucaland through the scheming of Fritigern.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=130–39}} 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.{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|pp=152–53}} In 382, Theodosius decided to enter peace negotiations with the Thervingi, which were concluded on 3 October 382.{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|pp=152–53}} The Thervingi were subsequently made [[foederati]] of the Romans in Thrace and obliged to provide troops to the Roman army.{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|pp=152–53}}

===Later division and spread of the Goths===
In the aftermath of the Hunnic onslaught, two major groups of the Goths would eventually emerge, the [[Visigoths]] and [[Ostrogoths]].<ref name="EB_Visigoth">{{cite web|title=Visigoth|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Visigoth|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522223551/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Visigoth|archive-date=22 May 2019|access-date=19 September 2019|website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]}}</ref><ref name="EB_Ostrogoth">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ostrogoth |title=Ostrogoth |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=25 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425120017/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ostrogoth |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Waldman|Mason|2006|pp=336–41}}{{sfn|Waldman|Mason|2006|pp=573–77}} Visigoths means the "Goths of the west", while Ostrogoths means "Goths of the east".{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=24–25}} 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 the Greuthungi and were subjects of the Huns.{{sfn|Heather|2018}} 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.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=26}} A people closely related to the Goths, the Gepids, were also living under Hunnic domination.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=254}} A smaller group of Goths were the [[Crimean Goths]], who remained in Crimea and maintained their Gothic identity well into the [[18th century]].{{sfn|Heather|2018}}

In his biography of the [[Wessex|West Saxon]] monarch [[Alfred the Great]], the [[Welsh people|Welsh]] historian [[Asser]] states that Alfred's mother [[Osburh]] was of partial Goth ancestry through her father Oslac.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asser's Life of King Alfred, by Albert S. Cook—A Project Gutenberg eBook |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/63384/63384-h/63384-h.htm |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref>

====Visigoths====
{{Main|Visigoths}}
{{Further|Visigothic Kingdom}}
[[File:Alaric entering Athens.jpg|upright|thumb|right|An illustration of [[Alaric I|Alaric]] entering [[Athens]] in 395. The depiction, including [[Bronze Age]] armour, is anachronistic.]]
The Visigoths were a new Gothic political unit brought together during the career of their first leader, Alaric I.{{sfn|Heather|1999|pages=47–48}} Following a major settlement of Goths in the Balkans made by Theodosius in 382, Goths received prominent positions in the Roman army.{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|pp=156–57}} Relations with Roman civilians were sometimes uneasy. In 391, Gothic soldiers, with the blessing of Theodosius I, [[Massacre of Thessalonica|massacred]] thousands of Roman spectators at the Hippodrome in [[Thessalonica]] as vengeance for the lynching of the Gothic general [[Butheric]].{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|pp=156–60}}

{{Main|Revolt of Alaric I}}
The Goths suffered heavy losses while serving Theodosius in the civil war of 394 against [[Eugenius]] and [[Arbogast (magister militum)|Arbogast]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=136–38}} In 395, following the death of Theodosius I, Alaric and his Balkan Goths invaded Greece, where they sacked [[Piraeus]] (the port of [[Athens]]) and destroyed [[Corinth]], [[Megara]], [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], and [[Sparta]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=141}}<ref name="EB_Alaric">{{cite web|title=Alaric|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alaric|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020185832/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alaric|archive-date=20 October 2019|access-date=19 September 2019|website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]}}</ref> Athens itself was spared by paying a large bribe, and the Eastern emperor [[Flavius Arcadius]] subsequently appointed Alaric [[magister militum]] ("master of the soldiers") in [[Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum|Illyricum]] in 397.<ref name="EB_Alaric"/>

{{Main|Gothic War (401–403)}}
In 401 and 402, Alaric made two attempts at invading Italy, but was defeated by [[Stilicho]]. In 405–406, another Gothic leader, [[Radagaisus]], also attempted to invade Italy, and was also defeated by Stilicho.{{sfn|Bennett|2004}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=166–70}} In 408, the Western Roman emperor [[Flavius Honorius]] ordered the execution of Stilicho and his family, then incited the Roman population to massacre tens of thousands of wives and children of Goths serving in the Roman military. Subsequently, around 30,000 Gothic soldiers defected to Alaric.<ref name="EB_Alaric"/> Alaric in turn invaded Italy, seeking to pressure Honorious into granting him permission to settle his people in [[North Africa]].<ref name="EB_Alaric"/> In Italy, Alaric liberated tens of thousands of Gothic slaves, and in 410 he [[Sack of Rome (410)|sacked]] the city of Rome. Although the city's riches were plundered, the civilian inhabitants of the city were treated humanely, and only a few buildings were burned.<ref name="EB_Alaric"/> Alaric died soon afterwards, and was buried along with his treasure in an unknown grave under the [[Busento]] river.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=160}}

Alaric was succeeded by his brother-in–law [[Athaulf]], husband of Honorius' sister [[Galla Placidia]], who had been seized during Alaric's sack of Rome. Athaulf settled the Visigoths in southern [[Gaul]].{{sfn|O'Callaghan}}<ref name="EB_Ataulphus">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ataulphus |title=Ataulphus |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=12 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212013939/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ataulphus |url-status=live }}</ref> After failing to gain recognition from the Romans, Athaulf retreated into [[Hispania]] in early 415, and was assassinated in [[Barcelona]] shortly afterwards.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=162–66}} He was succeeded by [[Sigeric]] and then [[Wallia]], who succeeded in having the Visigoths accepted by Honorius as foederati in southern Gaul, with their capital at [[Toulouse]]. Wallia subsequently inflicted severe defeats upon the [[Silingi]] Vandals and the Alans in Hispania.{{sfn|O'Callaghan}}

{{Main|Gothic War in Spain (416–418)}}

Wallia was succeeded by [[Theodoric I]] who completed the settlement of the Goths in [[Gallia Aquitania|Aquitania]].
Periodically they marched on [[Arles]], the seat of the [[praetorian prefect]] but were always pushed back. In 439 the Visigoths signed a treaty with the Romans which they kept.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=176}}

{{Main|Gothic War (436–439)|Gothic War in Spain (456)|Gothic War (457–458)}}

[[File:Empire of Theodoric the Great 523.gif|thumb|upright=1.35|The maximum extent of territories ruled by [[Theodoric the Great]] in 523]]

Under [[Theodoric II]] the Visigoths allied with the Romans and fought [[Attila]] to a stalemate in the [[Battle of the Catalaunian Fields]], although Theodoric was killed in the battle.{{sfn|O'Callaghan}}{{sfn|Bennett|2004}} Under [[Euric]], the Visigoths established an independent [[Visigothic Kingdom]] and succeeded in driving the [[Suebi]] out of Hispania proper and back into [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]].{{sfn|O'Callaghan}} Although they controlled Spain, they still formed a tiny minority among a much larger [[Romanization of Hispania|Hispano-Roman]] population, approximately 200,000 out of 6,000,000.{{sfn|O'Callaghan}}

In 507, the Visigoths were pushed out of most of Gaul by the [[Franks|Frankish]] king [[Clovis I]] at the [[Battle of Vouillé]].{{sfn|Bennett|2004}} They were able to retain [[Narbonensis]] and [[Provence]] after the timely arrival of an Ostrogoth detachment sent by [[Theodoric the Great]]. The defeat at Vouillé resulted in their penetrating further into Hispania and establishing a new capital at [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]].{{sfn|O'Callaghan}}

Under [[Liuvigild]] in the latter part of the 6th century, the Visigoths succeeded in subduing the Suebi in Galicia and the Byzantines in the south-west, and thus achieved dominance over most of the [[Iberian peninsula]].{{sfn|O'Callaghan}} Liuvigild also abolished the law that prevented intermarriage between Hispano-Romans and Goths, and he remained an Arian Christian.{{sfn|O'Callaghan}} The conversion of [[Reccared I]] to [[Roman Catholicism]] in the late 6th century prompted the assimilation of Goths with the Hispano-Romans.{{sfn|O'Callaghan}}

At the end of the 7th century, the Visigothic Kingdom began to suffer from internal troubles.{{sfn|O'Callaghan}} Their kingdom fell and was progressively [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|conquered]] by the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] from 711 after the defeat of their last king [[Roderic]] at the [[Battle of Guadalete]]. Some Visigothic nobles found refuge in the mountain areas of the [[Asturias]], [[Pyrenees]] and [[Cantabria]]. According to Joseph F. O'Callaghan, the remnants of the Hispano-Gothic aristocracy still played an important role in the society of Hispania. At the end of Visigothic rule, the assimilation of Hispano-Romans and Visigoths was occurring at a fast pace. Their nobility had begun to think of themselves as constituting one people, the ''gens Gothorum'' or the ''Hispani''. An unknown number of them fled and took refuge in Asturias or Septimania. In Asturias they supported Pelagius's uprising, and joining with the indigenous leaders, formed a new aristocracy. The population of the mountain region consisted of native [[Astures]], [[Galicians]], [[Cantabri]], [[Basques]] and other groups unassimilated into Hispano-Gothic society.<ref name="O'Callaghan2013">{{cite book|author=Joseph F. O'Callaghan|title=A History of Medieval Spain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cq2dDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA176|date=2013|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-6872-8|page=176|access-date=13 August 2020|archive-date=5 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205080308/https://books.google.com/books?id=cq2dDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA176|url-status=live}}</ref> The Christians began to regain control under the leadership of the nobleman [[Pelagius of Asturias]], who founded the [[Kingdom of Asturias]] in 718 and defeated the Muslims at the [[Battle of Covadonga]] in c. 722, in what is taken by historians to be the beginning of the [[Reconquista]]. It was from the Asturian kingdom that modern [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]] evolved.{{sfn|O'Callaghan}}

The Visigoths were never completely [[Romanization|Romanized]]; rather, they were 'Hispanicized' as they spread widely over a large territory and population. They progressively adopted a new culture, retaining little of their original culture except for practical military customs, some artistic modalities, family traditions such as heroic songs and folklore, as well as select conventions to include Germanic names still in use in present-day Spain. It is these artifacts of the original Visigothic culture that give ample evidence of its contributing foundation for the present regional culture.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|pp=331–32}} Portraying themselves heirs of the Visigoths, the subsequent Christian Spanish monarchs declared their responsibility for the Reconquista of Muslim Spain, which was completed with the [[Fall of Granada]] in 1492.{{sfn|O'Callaghan}}

====Ostrogoths====
{{Main|Ostrogoths}}
{{Further|Ostrogothic Kingdom}}
[[File:Tomb of Theodoric the Great Ravenna (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Mausoleum of Theodoric]] in [[Ravenna]], [[Italy]]. The [[frieze]] includes a motif found in Scandinavian metal jewellery.]]
After the Hunnic invasion, many Goths became subjects of the Huns. A section of these Goths under the leadership of the Amali dynasty came to be known as the [[Ostrogoths]].{{sfn|Heather|2018}} Others sought refuge in the Roman Empire, where many of them were recruited into the Roman army. In the spring of 399, [[Tribigild]], a Gothic leader in charge of troops in [[Nakoleia]], rose up in rebellion and defeated the first imperial army sent against him, possibly seeking to emulate Alaric's successes in the west.{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|pp=168–69}} [[Gainas]], a Goth who along with Stilicho and [[Eutropius (consul 399)|Eutropius]] had deposed [[Rufinus (consul)|Rufinus]] in 395, was sent to suppress Tribigild's rebellion, but instead plotted to use the situation to seize power in the Eastern Roman Empire. This attempt was however thwarted by the pro-Roman Goth [[Fravitta]], and in the aftermath, thousands of Gothic civilians were massacred in Constantinople,{{sfn|Pritsak|2005}} many being burned alive in the local Arian church where they had taken shelter.{{sfn|Kulikowski|2006|pp=168–69}} As late as the 6th century Goths were settled as ''[[foederati]]'' in parts of [[Asia Minor]]. Their descendants, who formed the elite ''[[Optimatoi]]'' regiment, still lived there in the early 8th century.{{sfn|Foss|2005}} While they were largely assimilated, their Gothic origin was still well–known: the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor calls them [[Gothograeci]].{{sfn|Pritsak|2005}}

The Ostrogoths fought together with the Huns at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=178}} Following the death of Attila and the defeat of the Huns at the [[Battle of Nedao]] in 454, the Ostrogoths broke away from Hunnic rule under their king [[Valamir]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=259–60}} Mentions of this event were probably preserved in Slavic epic songs.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/61786841 |title=Tarasov I.M. Some plots of Gothic history mentioded in Ioachim Chronicles.2021. Part I. P.56–71. |date=January 2021 |access-date=19 November 2021 |archive-date=19 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119084932/https://www.academia.edu/61786841 |url-status=live }}</ref> Under his successor, [[Theodemir (Ostrogothic king)|Theodemir]], they utterly defeated the Huns at the [[Battle of Bassianae|Bassianae]] in 468,{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=264–66}} and then defeated a coalition of Roman–supported Germanic tribes at the [[Battle of Bolia]] in 469, which gained them supremacy in [[Pannonia]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=264–66}}

Theodemir was succeeded by his son [[Theodoric the Great|Theodoric]] in 471, who was forced to compete with [[Theodoric Strabo]], leader of the [[Thracian Goths]], for the leadership of his people.{{sfn|Thompson}} Fearing the threat posed by Theodoric to Constantinople, the Eastern Roman emperor [[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]] ordered Theodoric to invade Italy in 488. By 493,{{sfn|Howatson|2011}} Theodoric had conquered all of Italy from the [[Sciri]]an [[Odoacer]], whom he killed with his own hands;{{sfn|Thompson}} he subsequently formed the [[Ostrogothic Kingdom]]. Theodoric settled his entire people in Italy, estimated at 100,000–200,000, mostly in the northern part of the country, and ruled the country very efficiently. The Goths in Italy constituted a small minority of the population in the country.{{sfn|Paul|MacMullen}} Intermarriage between Goths and Romans were forbidden, and Romans were also forbidden from carrying arms. Nevertheless, the Roman majority was treated fairly.{{sfn|Thompson}}

The Goths were briefly reunited under one crown in the early 6th century under Theodoric, who became regent of the Visigothic kingdom following the death of [[Alaric II]] at the Battle of Vouillé in 507.{{sfn|Wolfram|1997|p=193}} Shortly after Theodoric's death, the country was invaded by the Eastern Roman Empire in the [[Gothic War (535–554)|Gothic War]], which severely devastated and depopulated the Italian peninsula.{{sfn|Jacobsen|2009|p=298}} The Ostrogoths made a brief resurgence under their king [[Totila]],{{sfn|Bennett|2004}} who was, however, killed at the [[Battle of Taginae]] in 552. After the last stand of the Ostrogothic king [[Teia]] at the [[Battle of Mons Lactarius]] in 553, Ostrogothic resistance ended, and the remaining Goths in Italy were assimilated by the [[Lombards]], another Germanic tribe, who invaded Italy and founded the [[Kingdom of the Lombards]] in 567.{{sfn|Bennett|2004}}{{sfn|Wickham|Foot}}

====Crimean Goths====
{{Main|Crimean Goths}}
[[File:Mangup 10.jpg|right|thumb|Ruins of the citadel of [[Doros (Crimea)|Doros]], capital of the Crimean Goths]]
Gothic tribes who remained in the lands around the Black Sea,{{sfn|Heather|2018}} especially in [[Crimea]], were known as the [[Crimean Goths]]. During the late 5th and early 6th century, the Crimean Goths had to fend off hordes of Huns who were migrating back eastward after losing control of their European empire.{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|p=261}} In the 5th century, [[Theodoric the Great]] tried to recruit Crimean Goths for his campaigns in Italy, but few showed interest in joining him.{{sfn|Wolfram|1988|pp=271–80}} They affiliated with the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] through the [[Metropolitanate of Gothia]], and were then closely associated with the [[Byzantine Empire]].{{sfn|Vasiliev|1936|pp=117–}}

During the Middle Ages, the Crimean Goths were in perpetual conflict with the [[Khazars]]. [[John of Gothia]], the [[metropolitan bishop]] of [[Doros (Crimea)|Doros]], capital of the Crimean Goths, briefly expelled the Khazars from Crimea in the late 8th century, and was subsequently [[canonized]] as an [[List of Eastern Orthodox saints|Eastern Orthodox saint]].{{sfn|Vasiliev|1936|pp=117–35}}

In the 10th century, the lands of the Crimean Goths were once again raided by the Khazars. As a response, the leaders of the Crimean Goths made an alliance with [[Sviatoslav I of Kiev]], who subsequently waged war upon and utterly destroyed the [[Khazar Khaganate]].{{sfn|Vasiliev|1936|pp=117–35}} In the late Middle Ages the Crimean Goths were part of the [[Principality of Theodoro]], which was conquered by the [[Ottoman Empire]] in the late 15th century. As late as the 18th century a small number of people in Crimea may still have spoken [[Crimean Gothic]].{{sfn|Bennett|1965|p=27}}

==Language==
{{Main|Gothic language|Gothic alphabet}}
The Goths were [[Germanic languages|Germanic-speaking]].<ref name="Heather_2007">{{harvnb|Heather|2007|p=467}}. "Goths – Germanic-speaking group first encountered in northern Poland in the first century AD."</ref> The Gothic language is the [[Germanic language]] with the earliest attestation (the 4th century),{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=63}}{{sfn|Howatson|2011}} and the only [[East Germanic languages|East Germanic language]] documented in more than proper names, [[De conviviis barbaris|short phrases]] that survived in historical accounts, and loan-words in other languages, making it a language of great interest in [[comparative linguistics]]. Gothic is known primarily from the [[Codex Argenteus]], now preserved in [[Uppsala]], Sweden, which contains a partial translation of the Bible credited to [[Ulfilas]].{{sfn|Pronk-Tiethoff|2013|pp=9–11}}

The language was in decline by the mid-500s, due to the military victory of the Franks, the elimination of the Goths in Italy, and geographic isolation. In Spain, the language lost its last and probably already declining function as a church language when the Visigoths converted to Catholicism in 589;{{sfn|Pohl|Reimitz|1998|pp=119–21}} it survived as a domestic language in the Iberian peninsula (modern [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]]) as late as the 8th century.

[[Franks|Frankish]] author [[Walafrid Strabo]] wrote that Gothic was still spoken in the lower [[Danube]] area, in what is now Bulgaria, in the early 9th century,{{sfn|Pronk-Tiethoff|2013|pp=9–11}} and a related dialect known as [[Crimean Gothic]] was spoken in the Crimea until the 16th century, according to references in the writings of travelers.{{sfn|Simpson|2010|p=460}} Most modern scholars believe that Crimean Gothic did not derive from the dialect that was the basis for Ulfilas' translation of the Bible.

==Culture==
===Art===
====Early====
{{See also|Migration Period art|Pietroasele Treasure|Ring of Pietroassa}}
[[File:Ostgoten-fibel.jpg|thumb|upright|An Ostrogothic eagle-shaped [[fibula (brooch)|fibula]], AD 500, Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nuremberg]]
Before the invasion of the Huns, the Gothic Chernyakhov culture produced jewelry, vessels, and decorative objects in a style much influenced by Greek and Roman craftsmen. They developed a [[polychrome]] style of gold work, using wrought cells or setting to encrust [[gemstone]]s into their gold objects.{{sfn|Heather|Matthews|1991|pp=47–96}}

====Ostrogoths====
The eagle-shaped [[fibula (brooch)|fibula]], part of the [[Domagnano Treasure]], was used to join clothes c. AD 500; the piece on display in the [[Germanisches Nationalmuseum]] in Nuremberg is well-known.

====Visigoths====
{{Main|Visigothic art and architecture}}
[[File:CoronaRecesvinto01.JPG|right|thumb|upright|Detail of the [[votive crown]] of Recceswinth, hanging in Madrid. The hanging letters spell [R]ECCESVINTHVS REX OFFERET [King R. offers this].{{efn|The first R is held at the [[Musée de Cluny]], Paris.}}]]
[[File:Visigothic - Pair of Eagle Fibula - Walters 54421, 54422 - Group.jpg|thumb|Visigothic – Pair of eagle fibulae found at Tierra de Barros (Badajoz, southwest Spain) made of sheet gold with amethysts and coloured glass]]
In [[Spain]] an important collection of Visigothic metalwork was found in the [[treasure of Guarrazar]], [[Guadamur]], [[Province of Toledo]], [[Castile-La Mancha]], an [[Archaeology|archeological]] find composed of twenty-six [[votive crown]]s and gold [[cross]]es from the royal workshop in Toledo, with Byzantine influence. The treasure represents the high point of Visigothic goldsmithery, according to {{harvp|Guerra|Galligaro|Perea|2007}}.{{sfn|Guerra|Galligaro|Perea|2007}} The two most important votive crowns are those of [[Recceswinth]] and of [[Suintila]], displayed in the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid; both are made of gold, encrusted with sapphires, pearls, and other precious stones. Suintila's crown was stolen in 1921 and never recovered. There are several other small crowns and many votive crosses in the treasure.

These findings, along with others from some neighbouring sites and with the archaeological excavation of the Spanish Ministry of Public Works and the Royal Spanish Academy of History (April 1859), formed a group consisting of:
* [[National Archaeological Museum of Spain]]: six crowns, five crosses, a pendant and remnants of foil and channels (almost all of gold).
* [[Royal Palace of Madrid]]: a crown and a gold cross and a stone engraved with the Annunciation. A crown, and other fragments of a tiller with a crystal ball were stolen from the Royal Palace of Madrid in 1921 and its whereabouts are still unknown.
* [[Musée de Cluny|National Museum of the Middle Ages]], Paris: three crowns, two crosses, links and gold pendants.
The aquiliform (eagle-shaped) [[Fibula (brooch)|fibulae]] that have been discovered in [[necropolis]]es such as [[Duratón, Segovia|Duraton]], [[Madrona (Segovia)|Madrona]] or Castiltierra (cities of [[Segovia]]), are an unmistakable indication of the Visigothic presence in Spain. These fibulae were used individually or in pairs, as clasps or pins in gold, bronze and glass to join clothes, showing the work of the goldsmiths of Visigothic Hispania.<ref>{{cite web |title=Eagle Fibula|url=https://art.thewalters.org/detail/16373/eagle-fibula-3/|website=The Walters Art Museum|access-date=27 May 2020|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030203226/https://art.thewalters.org/detail/16373/eagle-fibula-3/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Visigothic belt buckles, a symbol of rank and status characteristic of Visigothic women's clothing, are also notable as works of goldsmithery. Some pieces contain exceptional [[Byzantine art|Byzantine-style]] [[lapis lazuli]] inlays and are generally rectangular in shape, with copper alloy, garnets and glass.<ref>{{cite web |title=Belt Buckle 550–600 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/466162 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |access-date=5 August 2020 |archive-date=2 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902164100/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/466162 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|1=Important findings have also been made in the Visigothic [[necropolis]] of Castiltierra ([[Segovia]]) in Spain. See {{cite web |editor=Isabel Arias Sánchez |editor2=Luis Javier Balmaseda Muncharaz |name-list-style=amp |title=La necrópolis de época visigoda de Castiltierra (Segovia) – Excavaciones dirigidas por E. Camps y J. M. de Navascués, 1932–1935 – Materiales conservados en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional: Tomo II, Estudios |language=es |trans-title=The Visigothic necropolis of Castiltierra (Segovia) – Excavations directed by E. Camps and J. M. de Navascués, 1932–1935 – Materials preserved in the National Archaeological Museum, Volume II: Studies |url=http://www.man.es/man/dam/jcr:eb7fea42-15c8-4b6b-b18c-4d940b2656a5/2018-castiltierra-ii.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614011014/http://www.man.es/man/dam/jcr:eb7fea42-15c8-4b6b-b18c-4d940b2656a5/2018-castiltierra-ii.pdf |archive-date=2020-06-14 |url-status=live}}}}

===Society===
{{Further|Palace of Omurtag}}
Archaeological evidence in Visigothic cemeteries shows that social stratification was analogous to that of the village of [[Sabbas the Goth]]. The majority of villagers were common [[peasant]]s. Paupers were buried with funeral rites, unlike slaves. In a village of 50 to 100 people, there were four or five elite couples.{{sfn|Bóna|2001|p=}} In Eastern Europe, houses include sunken-floored dwellings, surface dwellings, and stall-houses. The largest known settlement is the [[Criuleni District]].{{sfn|Heather|Matthews|1991|pp=47–96}} Chernyakhov cemeteries feature both [[cremation]] and [[inhumation]] burials; among the latter the head aligned to the north. Some graves were left empty. Grave goods often include pottery, bone combs, and iron tools, but hardly ever weapons.{{sfn|Heather|Matthews|1991|pp=47–96}}

Peter Heather suggests that the freemen constituted the core of Gothic society. These were ranked below the nobility, but above the [[freedmen]] and slaves. It is estimated that around a quarter to a fifth of weapon-bearing Gothic males of the [[Ostrogothic Kingdom]] were freemen.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=66}}

===Religion===
{{Further|Gothic paganism|Gothic persecution of Christians|Gothic Christianity}}

[[File:Bischof Ulfilas erklärt den Goten das Evangelium.jpg|thumb|upright|''Ulfilas explains the gospel to the Goths'', 1900]]
Initially practising [[Gothic paganism]], the Goths were gradually converted to [[Arianism]] in the course of the 4th century.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=79–80}} According to [[Basil of Caesarea]], a prisoner named Eutychus taken captive in a raid on Cappadocia in 260 preached the gospel to the Goths and was martyred.{{sfn|Cassia|2019|p=22}} It was only in the 4th century, as a result of missionary activity by the Gothic bishop [[Ulfilas]], whose grandparents were Cappadocians taken captive in the raids of the 250s,{{sfn|Cassia|2019|p=22}} that the Goths were gradually converted.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=79–80}} Ulfilas devised a [[Gothic alphabet]] and translated the [[Gothic Bible]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=79–80}}

During the 370s, Goths converting to Christianity were subject to [[Gothic persecution of Christians|persecution]] by the Thervingian king Athanaric, who was a pagan.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=64–72}}

The Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania converted to Catholicism in the late 6th&nbsp;century.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=371}}

The Ostrogoths (and their remnants, the Crimean Goths) were closely connected to the [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]] from the 5th century, and became fully incorporated under the [[Metropolitanate of Gothia]] from the 9th century.{{sfn|Vasiliev|1936|pp=117–35}}

===Law===
{{Further|Ancient Germanic law|Kindins|Reiks|Edictum Theodorici|Visigothic Code|Code of Euric|Councils of Toledo}}

===Warfare===
{{Main|Gothic and Vandal warfare}}
{{Further|Gothic Wars|Upper Trajan's Wall|Athanaric's Wall|Montes Serrorum}}

[[File:Roman Europe Germanic Spears (28138612604).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Germanic spearheads]]

Gothic arms and armour usually consisted of wooden shield, spear and often swords. 'Rank and file' troops did not wear much protection, while warriors of higher social class were better equipped, as was common for most tribal peoples of the time.

Armour was either a chainmail shirt or lamellar cuirass. Lamellar was popular among horsemen. Shields were either round or oval with a central boss grip. They were decorated with tribe or clan symbols, such as animal drawings. Helmets were often of spangenhelm type, often with cheek and neck plates. Spears were used both for thrusting and throwing, although specialized javelins were also in use. Swords were one handed, double edged and straight, with a very small crossguard and large pommel. It was called the Spatha by the Romans, and it is believed to have first been used by the Celts. Short wooden bows were also used, as well as occasional throwing axes.<ref name="Kevin F. Kiley 2013">{{cite book |author= [[Kevin F. Kiley]] |year= 2013|title=Uniforms of the Roman world}}</ref>
Missile weapons were mainly short throwing-axes such as [[Fransica]] and short wooden bows. Specialized javelins such as [[angon]] were more rare but still used.<ref name="Kevin F. Kiley 2013"/>

===Economy===
Archaeology shows that the Visigoths, unlike the Ostrogoths, were predominantly farmers. They sowed wheat, barley, rye, and flax. They also raised pigs, poultry, and goats. Horses and donkeys were raised as working animals and fed with hay. Sheep were raised for their wool, which they fashioned into clothing. Archaeology indicates they were skilled potters and blacksmiths. When peace treaties were negotiated with the Romans, the Goths demanded free trade. Imports from Rome included wine and cooking-oil.{{sfn|Bóna|2001|p=}}

Roman writers note that the Goths neither assessed [[taxes]] on their own people nor on their subjects. The early 5th-century Christian writer [[Salvian]] compared the Goths' and related people's favourable treatment of the poor to the miserable state of peasants in [[Roman Gaul]]:
<blockquote>
For in the Gothic country the barbarians are so far from tolerating this sort of oppression that not even Romans who live among them have to bear it. Hence all the Romans in that region have but one desire, that they may never have to return to the Roman jurisdiction. It is the unanimous prayer of the Roman people in that district that they may be permitted to continue to lead their present life among the barbarians.{{sfn|Kristinsson|2010|p=172}}
</blockquote>

===Architecture===
====Ostrogoths====
The [[Mausoleum of Theodoric]] ([[Italian language|Italian]]: ''Mausoleo di Teodorico'') is an ancient monument just outside [[Ravenna]], [[Italy]]. It was built in 520 AD by [[Theodoric the Great]], an Ostrogoth, as his future tomb.

The current structure of the [[mausoleum]] is divided into two [[decagon]]al orders, one above the other; both are made of [[Istria]] stone. Its roof is a single 230-tonne [[Istrian stone]], 10 meters in diameter. Possibly as a reference to the Goths' tradition of an origin in Scandinavia, the architect decorated the [[frieze]] with a pattern found in 5th- and 6th-century Scandinavian metal adornments.{{sfn|Näsman|2008|p=31}}{{sfn|Stenroth|2015|p=142}} A niche leads down to a room that was probably a chapel for funeral [[Liturgy|liturgies]]; a stair leads to the upper floor. Located in the centre of the floor is a circular [[Porphyry (geology)|porphyry]] stone grave, in which Theodoric was buried. His remains were removed during [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] rule, when the mausoleum was turned into a [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Oratory (worship)|oratory]]. In the late 19th century, silting from a nearby rivulet that had partly submerged the mausoleum was drained and excavated.

The [[Palace of Theodoric]], also in Ravenna, has a symmetrical composition with arches and monolithic marble columns, reused from previous Roman buildings. With capitals of different shapes and sizes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ostrogodos y Visigodos en Italia y Francia |trans-title=Ostrogoths and Visigoths in Italy and France |url=http://editorial.dca.ulpgc.es/estructuras/construccion/1_historia/16_visigoda/c162.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029194712/http://editorial.dca.ulpgc.es/estructuras/construccion/1_historia/16_visigoda/c162.htm |archive-date=29 October 2013 |website=Editorial.dca |language=es}}</ref> The Ostrogoths restored Roman buildings, some of which have come down to us thanks to them.

====Visigoths====
During their governance of Hispania, the Visigoths built several churches of [[basilica]]l or [[cruciform#Cruciform architectural plan|cruciform]] floor plan that survive, including the churches of [[San Pedro de la Nave]] in El Campillo, [[Santa María de Melque]] in [[San Martín de Montalbán]], Santa Lucía del Trampal in Alcuéscar, Santa Comba in Bande, and [[Hermitage of Santa María de Lara|Santa María de Lara]] in Quintanilla de las Viñas; the [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] [[crypt]] (the Crypt of San Antolín) in the [[Palencia Cathedral]] is a [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] chapel from the mid 7th century, built during the reign of [[Wamba (king)|Wamba]] to preserve the remains of the martyr [[Antoninus of Pamiers|Saint Antoninus of Pamiers]], a Visigothic-Gallic nobleman brought from Narbonne to Visigothic Hispania in 672 or 673 by Wamba himself. These are the only remains of the Visigothic cathedral of Palencia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rutasconhistoria.es/loc/cripta-visigoda-de-san-antolin|title=Cripta visigoda de San Antolín|last=Salvador Conejo|first=Diego|website=Rutas con historia|url-status=dead|access-date=19 April 2020|archive-date=3 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003020010/http://www.rutasconhistoria.es/loc/cripta-visigoda-de-san-antolin}}</ref>

[[File:Crypt of Saint Antoninus, Cathedral of Palencia 031.jpg|thumb|Visigothic crypt of Saint Antoninus, Palencia Cathedral]]
[[Reccopolis]] (Spanish: ''Recópolis''), located near the tiny modern village of [[Zorita de los Canes]] in the [[Guadalajara (province)|province of Guadalajara]], Castile-La Mancha, Spain, is an archaeological site of one of at least four cities founded in [[Hispania]] by the [[Visigoths]]. It is the only city in Western Europe to have been founded between the fifth and eighth centuries.{{efn|1=According to {{harvp|Thompson|1963}}, the others were (i) ''Victoriacum'', founded by Leovigild and may survive as the city of [[Vitoria-Gasteiz|Vitoria]], but a twelfth-century foundation for this city is given in contemporary sources, (ii) ''Lugo id est Luceo'' in the [[Asturias]], referred to by [[Isidore of Seville]], and (iii) ''Ologicus'' (perhaps ''Ologitis''), founded using [[Basques|Basque]] labour in 621 by [[Suinthila]] as a fortification against the Basques, is modern [[Olite]]. All of these cities were founded for military purposes and at least Reccopolis, Victoriacum, and Ologicus in celebration of victory. A possible fifth Visigothic foundation is ''Baiyara'' (perhaps modern [[Montoro]]), mentioned as founded by Reccared in the fifteenth-century geographical account, ''[[Kitab al-Rawd al-Mitar]]''.{{sfn|Lacarra|1958}}}} According to Lauro Olmo Enciso who is a professor of archaeology at the [[University of Alcalá]], the city was ordered to build by the Visigothic king [[Liuvigild|Leovigild]] to honor his son [[Reccared II|Reccared]] I and to serve as Reccared's seat as co-king in the Visigothic province of [[Celtiberia]], to the west of [[Carpetania]], where the main capital, Toledo, lay.

==Physical appearance==
In ancient sources, the Goths are always described as tall and athletic, with [[light skin]], [[blonde]] hair and [[blue eyes]].<ref name="Bradley_9">{{harvnb|Bradley|1888|p=9}} "The Goths are always described as tall and athletic men, with fair complexions, blue eyes, and yellow hair..."</ref>{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=6}} The 4th-century Greek historian [[Eunapius]] described their characteristic powerful musculature in a pejorative way: "Their bodies provoked contempt in all who saw them, for they were far too big and far too heavy for their feet to carry them, and they were pinched in at the waist – just like those insects [[Aristotle]] writes of."{{sfn|Moorhead|Stuttard|2006|p=56}} [[Procopius]] notes that the Vandals and Gepids looked similar to the Goths, and on this basis, he suggested that they were all of common origin. Of the Goths, he wrote that "they all have white bodies and fair hair, and are tall and handsome to look upon."<ref name="Procopius_III.II">{{harvnb|Procopius|1914|p=}}, [[:Wikisource:History of the Wars/Book III#II|Book III, II]]</ref>

==Genetics==
Stolarek et al. (2023) and Antonio et al. (2022) both sequenced genomes from the [[Wielbark culture]] Goths. Stolarek et al. includes samples from multiple sites all over the territory of the Wielbark culture, in large numbers. The results are in alignment with archaeological and historical evidence, strongly suggesting that the Wielbark culture formed through migration from Southern Scandinavia. A large majority of the Wielbark culture samples are autosomally Scandinavian-like, and carry predominantly Scandinavian Y-DNA haplogroups. The most common Y-DNA haplogroup among the Wielbark individuals was Y-DNA haplogroup I1-M253, characteristic of the Nordic Bronze Age in Southern Scandinavia, in which it was found at a very high frequency and from where it first expanded. Among the Wielbark Goths, substantial subclade diversity is seen among the I1 carriers, suggesting that the male founders of the culture descended from clans from a rather widespread area in Scandinavia.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2023-10-26 |title=Genetic origins of the Goths |url=https://genomicatlas.org/2023/10/26/the-genetic-origin-of-the-goths/ |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=Genomic Atlas |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite report |url=https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.15.491973 |title=Stable population structure in Europe since the Iron Age, despite high mobilit |last1=Antonio |first1=Margaret |last2=Weiß |first2=Clemens |date=2023 |last3=Gao |first3=Ziyue |last4=Sawyer |first4=Susanna |last5=Oberreiter |first5=Victoria |last6=Moots |first6=Hannah |last7=Spence |first7=Jeffrey |last8=Cheronet |first8=Olivia |last9=Zagorc |first9=Brina|doi=10.1101/2022.05.15.491973 |hdl=11573/1706425 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Stolarek |first1=Ireneusz |last2=Zenczak |first2=Michal |last3=Handschuh |first3=Luiza |last4=Juras |first4=Anna |last5=Marcinkowska-Swojak |first5=Malgorzata |last6=Spinek |first6=Anna |last7=Dębski |first7=Artur |last8=Matla |first8=Marzena |last9=Kóčka-Krenz |first9=Hanna |last10=Piontek |first10=Janusz |last11=Figlerowicz |first11=Marek |last12=Polish Archaeogenomics Consortium Team |date=2023-07-24 |title=Genetic history of East-Central Europe in the first millennium CE |journal=[[Genome Biology]] |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=173 |doi=10.1186/s13059-023-03013-9 |issn=1474-760X |pmc=10364380 |pmid=37488661 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Assessing the population movement during late Antiquity, a 2023 study on the Roman frontier on the Danube concludes that "Goths were ethnically diverse confederations". A number of samples obtained from Roman sites close to the limes (such as [[Viminacium]]) dated to the 3rd century or later were shown to carry admixture from Central/North European and Pontic-Kazakh Steppe ancestries in addition to 42%–55% local Balkan Iron Age-related ancestry. 7 out of 9 males among these samples belonged to haplogroups associated with these trans-frontier ancestry sources (I1 and R1b-U106: North European; Z93: Iron Age Steppe). Many of these samples suggest that admixture between Central/North European and Pontic-Kazakh Steppe ancestries likely occurred beyond the frontier prior to the movement into the Roman Empire, "perhaps indicative of, e.g., the formation of diverse confederations under Gothic leadership".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olalde |first1=Iñigo |last2=Carrión |first2=Pablo |date=December 7, 2023 |title=A genetic history of the Balkans from Roman frontier to Slavic migrations |url=https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/sites/reich.hms.harvard.edu/files/inline-files/1-s2.0-S0092867423011352-main.pdf |journal=[[Cell (journal)|Cell]] |volume=186 |issue=25 |pages=P5472–5485.E9 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2023.10.018 |pmid=38065079 |pmc=10752003 |access-date=December 25, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shaw |first=Jonathan |date=12 July 2023 |title=The Roman Empire's Cosmopolitan Frontier |url=https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2023/12/roman-empire-genetic-research-harvard |access-date=25 December 2023 |website=Harvard Magazine}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Estatua de Don Pelayo en Covadonga, Asturias.jpg|thumb|In Spain, the Visigothic nobleman [[Pelagius of Asturias]] who founded the [[Kingdom of Asturias]] and began the [[Reconquista]] at the [[Battle of Covadonga]], is a national hero regarded as the country's first monarch.]]
{{Further|Reconquista|Gothicism}}
The Goths' relationship with Sweden became an important part of Swedish nationalism, and until the 19th&nbsp;century, before the Gothic origin had been thoroughly researched by archaeologists, Swedish scholars considered Swedes to be the direct descendants of the Goths. Today, scholars identify this as a [[cultural movement]] called [[Gothicismus]], which included an enthusiasm for things [[Old Norse]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=23}}

In [[Spain in the Middle Ages|medieval]] and modern Spain, the Visigoths were believed to be the progenitors of the [[Spanish nobility]] (compare [[Gobineau]] for a similar French idea). By the early 7th century, the ethnic distinction between Visigoths and Hispano-Romans had all but disappeared, but recognition of a Gothic origin, e.g. on gravestones, still survived among the nobility. The 7th century Visigothic aristocracy saw itself as bearers of a particular Gothic consciousness and as guardians of old traditions such as Germanic namegiving; probably these traditions were on the whole restricted to the family sphere (Hispano-Roman nobles were doing service for the Visigothic Royal Court in Toulouse already in the 5th century and the two branches of Spanish aristocracy had fully adopted similar customs two centuries later).{{sfn|Pohl|Reimitz|1998|pp=124–26}}

Beginning in 1278, when [[Magnus III of Sweden]] ascended to the throne, [[King of the Goths|a reference to Gothic origins]] was included in the title of the king of Sweden: "We N.N. by the Grace of God King of the Swedes, the Goths and the Vends". In 1973, with the accession of King [[Carl XVI Gustaf]], the title was changed to simply "King of Sweden".{{sfn|Luttwak|2009|p=24}}

{{Quote box
 |quote = In all history there is nothing more romantically marvellous than the swift rise of this people to the height of greatness, or than the suddenness and the tragic completeness of their ruin.{{sfn|Bradley|1888|p=3}}
 |author = — [[Henry Bradley]]
 |source = The Story of the Goths (1888)
 |align =
 |width = 18.5%
}}

The Spanish and Swedish claims of Gothic origins led to a clash at the [[Council of Basel]] in 1434. Before the assembled [[cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinals]] and delegations could engage in theological discussion, they had to decide how to sit during the proceedings. The delegations from the more prominent nations argued that they should sit closest to the [[Pope]], and there were also disputes over who were to have the finest chairs and who were to have their chairs on mats. In some cases, they compromised so that some would have half a chair leg on the rim of a mat. In this conflict, [[Nicolaus Ragvaldi]], bishop of the [[Diocese of Växjö]], claimed that the Swedes were the descendants of the great Goths, and that the people of Västergötland (''Westrogothia'' in Latin) were the Visigoths and the people of Östergötland (''Ostrogothia'' in Latin) were the Ostrogoths. The Spanish delegation retorted that it was only the "lazy" and "unenterprising" Goths who had remained in Sweden, whereas the "heroic" Goths had left Sweden, invaded the Roman empire and settled in Spain.{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=2}}{{sfn|Söderberg|1896|pp=187–95}}

In Spain, a man acting with arrogance would be said to be "''haciéndose los godos''" ("making himself to act like the Goths"). In [[Chile]], [[Argentina]], and the [[Canary Islands]], ''godo'' was an [[ethnic slur]] used against European Spaniards, who in the early colonial period often felt superior to the people born locally (''[[Spanish Criollo peoples|criollos]]'').{{sfn|Bell|1993|p=67}} In Colombia, it remains as slang for a person with [[Colombian Conservative Party|conservative]] views.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.elmundo.com/noticia/-Godosy-liberales/359931| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170923112733/http://www.elmundo.com/noticia/-Godosy-liberales/359931| archive-date = 2017-09-23| title = "Godos" y liberales {{!}} El Mundo}} {{Cite web |url=https://www.elmundo.com/noticia/-Godosy-liberales/359931 |title="Godos" y liberales &#124; el Mundo |access-date=8 January 2021 |archive-date=10 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110030425/https://www.elmundo.com/noticia/-Godosy-liberales/359931 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A large amount of literature has been produced on the Goths, with [[Henry Bradley]]'s ''The Goths'' (1888) being the standard English-language text for many decades. More recently, [[Peter Heather]] has established himself as the leading authority on the Goths in the [[English-speaking world]]. The leading authority on the Goths in the [[List of countries and territories where German is an official language|German-speaking world]] is [[Herwig Wolfram]].{{sfn|Murdoch|Read|2004|p=166}}

==List of early literature on the Goths==
===In the sagas===
* [[Gutasaga]]
* [[Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks]] (The Saga of Hervör and Heidrek)
* [[Hlöðskviða]] (The Battle of the Goths and Huns)

===In Greek and Roman literature===
{{Div col|colwidth=25em}}
* [[Ambrose]].{{sfn|Ambrose|2019|p=Book I, Preface, Paragraph 15}}
* [[Ammianus Marcellinus]]<ref name="M_XXI_II_1"/>
* The anonymous author(s) of the [[Augustan History]]<ref name="AH_13"/><ref name="AH_6"/>
* [[Aurelius Victor]]: The ''Caesars'', a history from [[Augustus]] to [[Constantius II]]
* [[Cassiodorus]]: A lost history of the Goths used by Jordanes
* [[Claudian]]: Poems
* [[Epitome de Caesaribus]]
* [[Eunapius]]"{{sfn|Moorhead|Stuttard|2006|p=56}}
* [[Eutropius (historian)|Eutropius]]: ''Breviary''
* [[Eusebius]]<ref name="Eusebius"/>
* [[George Syncellus]]{{sfn|Syncellus|1829|p=717}}
* [[Gregory of Nyssa]]
* [[Isidore of Seville]] in his ''History of the Kings of the Goths, Vandals, and Suevi''{{sfn|Isidore of Seville|1970}}
* [[Jerome]]: ''Chronicle''
* [[Jordanes]], in his [[Getica]]{{sfn|Jordanes|1915|p=IV (25)}}{{sfn|Jordanes|1915|p=IV (26)}}
* [[Julian the Apostate]]
* [[Lactantius]]: ''On the death of the Persecutors''
* [[Olympiodorus of Thebes]]
* ''[[Panegyrici latini]]''
* [[Paulinus the Deacon]]: Life of bishop Ambrose of Milan
* [[Paulus Orosius]]{{sfn|Orosius|1773}}
* [[Philostorgius]]: Greek church history
* [[Pliny the Elder]] in ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]''<ref name="Pliny_XXXVIII_11"/>
* [[Procopius]]<ref name="Procopius_III.II"/>
* [[Ptolemy]] in ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geography]]''<ref name="Ptolemy_2.10"/>
* [[Sozomen]]
* [[Strabo]] in ''[[Geographica]]''<ref name="Strabo_VII_I_"/>{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=40}}
* [[Synesius]]: ''De regno'' and ''De providentia.''{{sfn|Cameron|Long|Sherry|1993|p=99}}
* [[Tacitus]] in ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'' and ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]''<ref name="Tacitus_XLIV"/>
* [[Themistius]]: Speeches
* [[Theoderet of Cyrrhus]]
* [[Theodosian Code]]
* [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]]<ref name="Zosimus_I.42"/>
{{div col end}}

==See also==
{{Commons category|Goths}}
{{EB1911 poster|Goths}}
* [[Gothic Wars]]
* [[Gaut]]
* [[Getae]]
* [[Gutes]]
* [[Geats]]
* [[Gothicism]]
* [[Gutian people]]
* [[Jutes]]
* [[Early Germanic culture]]

==Notes and sources==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===Footnotes===
{{reflist}}

===Ancient sources===
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite book |last=Ambrose |author-link=Ambrose |year=2019 |title=On the Holy Ghost: (De Spiritu Sancto) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZfsxgEACAAJ |publisher=[[Amazon (company)|Amazon Digital Services LLC – KDP Print]] |isbn=978-1076198747 |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=25 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725071318/https://books.google.com/books?id=rZfsxgEACAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Eusebius |author-link=Eusebius |translator-last1=Schaff |translator-first1=Philip |translator-link1=Philip Schaff |year=1900 |title=The Life of Constantine |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Nicene_and_Post-Nicene_Fathers:_Series_II/Volume_I/Constantine/The_Life_of_Constantine |publisher=[[T&T Clark]] |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=5 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205132510/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Nicene_and_Post-Nicene_Fathers:_Series_II/Volume_I/Constantine/The_Life_of_Constantine |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Disputed |translator-last1=Magie |translator-first1=David |year=1932 |title=Augustan history |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/home.html |publisher=[[Loeb Classical Library]] |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=25 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725071321/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/home.html |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Isidore of Seville |author-link=Isidore of Seville |year=1970 |translator1=Guido Donini |translator2=Gordon B. Ford, Jr. |title=History of the Kings of the Goths, Vandals, and Suevi |publisher=[[E.J. Brill]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8X_5GgAACAAJ |access-date=14 November 2015 |archive-date=8 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508200539/https://books.google.com/books?id=8X_5GgAACAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Jordanes |author-link=Jordanes |translator-last1=Mierow |translator-first1=Charles C. |translator-link1=Charles Christopher Mierow |year=1915 |title=The Gothic history of Jordanes |url=https://archive.org/details/gothichistoryofj00jorduoft |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] }}
* {{cite book |last=Marcellinus |first=Ammianus |author-link=Ammianus Marcellinus |translator-last1=Yonge |translator-first1=Charles Duke |translator-link1=Charles Duke Yonge |year=1862 |title=Roman History |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Roman_History |publisher=[[Henry George Bohn|Bohn]] |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=5 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205132426/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Roman_History |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Orosius |first=Paulus |author-link=Paulus Orosius |year=1773 |title=The Anglo-Saxon Version From The Historian Orosius |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aT0JAAAAQAAJ |publisher=[[John Bowyer Nichols]] |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=28 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228111917/https://books.google.com/books?id=aT0JAAAAQAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Pliny |author-link=Pliny the Elder |translator-last1=Bostock |translator-first1=John |year=1855 |title=The Natural History |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plin.+Nat.+toc |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |access-date=20 February 2021 |archive-date=6 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106232505/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plin.+Nat.+toc |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Procopius |author-link=Procopius |translator-last1=Dewing |translator-first1=Henry Bronson |year=1914 |title=History of the Wars |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_the_Wars |publisher=[[Heinemann (publisher)|Heinemann]] |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=22 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222002135/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_the_Wars |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Ptolemy |author-link=Ptolemy |year=1932 |title=Geography |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/home.html |publisher=[[New York Public Library]] |access-date=19 February 2021 |archive-date=25 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725071321/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/home.html |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Strabo |author-link=Strabo |translator-last1=Hamilton |translator-first1=H. C. |translator-last2=Falconer |translator-first2=W. |year=1903 |title=The Natural History |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3Dnotice |publisher=[[George Bell & Sons]] |access-date=20 February 2021 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205131250/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3Dnotice |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Syncellus |first=George |author-link=George Syncellus |year=1829 |editor-last=Dindorf |editor-first=Karl Wilhelm |editor-link=Karl Wilhelm Dindorf |title=Chronographia |series=[[Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae]] |language=la |volume=22-23 |publisher=[[University of Bonn]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Tacitus |author-link=Tacitus |translator-last1=Church |translator-first1=Alfred John |translator-link1=Alfred John Church |translator-last2=Brodribb |translator-first2=William Jackson |year=1876a |title=Germania |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Germania_(Church_%26_Brodribb) |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=25 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025170829/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Germania_(Church_%26_Brodribb) |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Tacitus |translator-last1=Church |translator-first1=Alfred John |translator-last2=Brodribb |translator-first2=William Jackson |year=1876b |title=The Annals |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Annals_(Tacitus) |access-date=25 February 2020 |archive-date=29 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929040404/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Annals_(Tacitus) |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Zosimus |author-link=Zosimus (historian) |year=1814 |title=New History |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/New_History |publisher=W. Green & T. Chaplin |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=5 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205132436/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/New_History |url-status=live }}
{{Refend}}

===Modern sources===
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite book |last=Andersson |first=Thorsten |author-link1=Thorsten Andersson |year=1998a |chapter=Goten: § 1. Namenkundliches |chapter-url=https://db.degruyter.com/view/GAO/RGA_2029 |editor-last=Beck |editor-first=Heinrich |editor-link=:de:Heinrich Beck (Philologe) |editor-last2=Steuer |editor-first2=Heiko |editor-link2=:de:Heiko Steuer |editor-last3=Timpe |editor-first3=Dieter |editor-link3=:de:Dieter Timpe |title=Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde |language=de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bcwfZW_soyMC |volume=12 |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] |pages=402–03 |isbn=311016227X |access-date=26 August 2020 |archive-date=14 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614105921/https://books.google.com/books?id=bcwfZW_soyMC |url-status=live }}
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* {{cite book|last=Halsall|first=Guy|year=2007|title=Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376–568|place=Cambridge and New York|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521435437|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S7ULzYGIj8oC|access-date=26 August 2020|archive-date=5 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205130604/https://books.google.com/books?id=S7ULzYGIj8oC|url-status=live}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Halsall |first1=Guy |author-link1=Guy Halsall |date=December 2014 |title=Two Worlds Become One: A 'Counter-Intuitive' View of the Roman Empire and 'Germanic' Migration |url=https://www.academia.edu/24215604 |access-date=17 January 2020 |journal=[[German History (journal)|German History]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=515–32 |doi=10.1093/gerhis/ghu107 |archive-date=25 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725071320/https://www.academia.edu/24215604 |url-status=live }}
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* {{cite book |last1=Heather |first1=Peter |year=1994 |title=Goths and Romans 332–489 |url=https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205357.001.0001/acprof-9780198205357 |publisher=Oxford Scholarship Online |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205357.001.0001 |isbn=978-0198205357 |access-date=24 February 2020 |archive-date=24 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224174624/https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205357.001.0001/acprof-9780198205357 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Heather |first=Peter |year=1998 |title=The Goths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCf0Tjg0BukC |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |isbn=0631209328 |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624195129/https://books.google.com/books?id=eCf0Tjg0BukC |url-status=live }}
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* {{cite book |last1=Heather |first1=Peter |year=2007 |title=The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MmXFrafifw0C |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0195325416 |access-date=24 February 2020 |archive-date=14 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214014927/https://books.google.com/books?id=MmXFrafifw0C |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Heather |first1=Peter |year=2010 |title=Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=suwVDAAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0199892266 |access-date=24 February 2020 |archive-date=13 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113170449/https://books.google.com/books?id=suwVDAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Heather |first1=Peter |date=2012 |chapter=Goths |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-2873? |editor1-last=Hornblower |editor1-first=Simon |editor1-link=Simon Hornblower |editor2-last=Spawforth |editor2-first=Antony |editor3-last=Eidinow |editor3-first=Esther |editor3-link=Esther Eidinow |title=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVWcAQAAQBAJ |edition=4 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=623 |isbn=978-0191735257 |access-date=25 January 2020 |archive-date=29 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229011009/https://books.google.com/books?id=bVWcAQAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Heather |first1=Peter |date=2018 |chapter=Goths |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-2090? |editor1-last=Nicholson |editor1-first=Oliver |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A09WDwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=673 |isbn=978-0191744457 |access-date=25 January 2020 |archive-date=28 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128004326/https://books.google.com/books?id=A09WDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
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* {{cite book |last1=Howatson |first1=M. C. |date=2011 |chapter=Goths |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199548545.001.0001/acref-9780199548545-e-1390? |title=[[The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature]] |edition=3 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0191739422 |access-date=25 January 2020 |archive-date=14 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614105933/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199548545.001.0001/acref-9780199548545-e-1390 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Jacobsen |first=Torsten Cumberland |title=The Gothic War: Rome's Final Conflict in the West |publisher=Westholme |year=2009}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kaliff |first1=Anders |author-link1=Anders Kaliff |date=2008 |chapter=The Goths and Scandinavia |editor1-last=Biehl |editor1-first=P. F. |editor2-last=Rassamakin |editor2-first=Y. Ya. |title=Import and Imitation in Archaeology |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/52159386/Import_and_Imitation_in_Archaeology_2008.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DBiehl_P._and_Yu._Rassamakin_eds_2008._Im.pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A%2F20200304%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200304T170951Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=355de635ccfc657545d564dfe0a3352cc9d4fd13c6b2b0b86e3501149ddb9069 |publisher=[[:de:Verlag Beier & Beran|Beier & Beran]] |pages=223–43 |isbn=978-3937517957 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304171034/https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/52159386/Import_and_Imitation_in_Archaeology_2008.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DBiehl_P._and_Yu._Rassamakin_eds_2008._Im.pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A%2F20200304%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200304T170519Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=ab126e33c136a90a8776d3d89b9de03e0480cf60c09420e07537c3077835febc |archive-date=4 March 2020 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Kasperski |first=Robert |year=2015 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=33–51 |title=Too Civilized to Revert to Savages? A Study Concerning a Debate about the Goths between Procopius and Jordanes |journal=The Mediaeval Journal |publisher=[[Brepols]] |doi=10.1484/J.TMJ.5.108524}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kazanski |first1=Michel |author-link1=Michel Kazanski |year=1991 |title=Les Goths |trans-title=The Goths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rrdmAAAAMAAJ |language=fr |publisher=[[:fr:Éditions Errance|Éditions Errance]] |pages=15–18 |isbn=2877720624 |access-date=6 April 2021 |archive-date=14 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614105926/https://books.google.com/books?id=rrdmAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Kershaw |first=Stephen P. |year=2013 |title=A Brief History of the Roman Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ET2eBAAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Hachette UK]] |isbn=978-1780330495 |access-date=17 January 2015 |archive-date=17 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517184859/https://books.google.com/books?id=ET2eBAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Kokowski |first=Andrzej |author-link=Andrzej Kokowski |year=1999 |title=Archäologie der Goten |trans-title=Archaeology of the Goths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y9F7NQAACAAJ |language=de |publisher=IdealMedia |isbn=8390734184 |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=14 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614105934/https://books.google.com/books?id=y9F7NQAACAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Kokowski |first1=Andrzej |year=2007 |chapter=The Agriculture of the Goths Between the First and Fifth Centuries AD |editor1-last=Barnish |editor1-first=Sam J. |editor2-last=Marazzi |editor2-first=Federico |title=The Ostrogoths from the Migration Period to the Sixth Century: An Ethnographic Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M0WnZ2vDfEkC |publisher=[[Boydell & Brewer|The Boydell Press]] |isbn=978-1843830740 |access-date=29 April 2020 |archive-date=5 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605060813/https://books.google.com/books?id=M0WnZ2vDfEkC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Kokowski |first1=Andrzej |year=2011 |chapter=The Goths in ca. 311 AD |editor1-last=Kaliff |editor1-first=Anders |editor1-link=:sv:Anders Kaliff |editor2-last=Munkhammar |editor2-first=Lars |title=Wulfila 311-2011 |url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:668706/FULLTEXT01.pdf |publisher=[[:sv:Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis|Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis]] |pages=71–96 |isbn=978-9155486648 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305224440/http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:668706/FULLTEXT01.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2020 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Kortlandt |first=Frederik |author-link=Frederik Kortlandt |year=2001 |title=The Origin of the Goths |url=https://www.kortlandt.nl/publications/art198e.pdf |access-date=17 September 2019 |journal=[[:sv:Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik|Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik]] |publisher=[[Rodopi (publisher)|Rodopi]] |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=21–25 |doi=10.1163/18756719-055-01-90000004 |s2cid=160585229 |archive-date=25 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225074657/https://kortlandt.nl/publications/art198e.pdf |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Kristinsson |first=Axel |year=2010 |title=Expansions: Competition and Conquest in Europe Since the Bronze Age |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9s2uzr47M-cC |publisher=ReykjavíkurAkademían |isbn=978-9979992219 |access-date=14 November 2015 |archive-date=24 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424104841/https://books.google.com/books?id=9s2uzr47M-cC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Kulikowski |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Kulikowski |year=2006 |title=Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QXM9SH4EALgC |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1139458092 |access-date=17 January 2015 |archive-date=16 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150516165835/https://books.google.com/books?id=QXM9SH4EALgC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last=Lacarra |first=José María |year=1958 |title=Panorama de la historia urbana en la Península Ibérica desde el siglo V al X |journal=La Città Nell'alto Medioevo |volume=6 |pages=319–58}} Reprinted in {{cite book |title=Estudios de alta edad media española |location=Valencia |year=1975 |pages=25–90}}
* {{cite book |last=Lehmann |first=Winfred Philipp |author-link=Winfred P. Lehmann |year=1986 |title=A Gothic Etymological Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39UUAAAAIAAJ |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=9004081763 |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205130605/https://books.google.com/books?id=39UUAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Liebeschuetz |first1=J. H. W. F. |author-link1=Wolf Liebeschuetz |year=2015 |title=East and West in Late Antiquity: Invasion, Settlement, Ethnogenesis and Conflicts of Religion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6QV2CQAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-9004289529 |access-date=18 April 2020 |archive-date=25 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725071320/https://books.google.com/books?id=6QV2CQAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
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* {{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/the-Steppe/Geography-of-adjacent-regions |last=McNeill |first=William H. |author-link1=William H. McNeill (historian) |title=The Steppe |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |access-date=18 September 2019 |archive-date=25 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025151340/https://www.britannica.com/place/the-Steppe/Geography-of-adjacent-regions |url-status=live }}
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* {{cite book |last=Näsman |first=Ulf |chapter=Från Attila till Karl den Store |title=Hem till Jarlabanke: Jord, makt och evigt liv i östra Mälardalen under järnåder och medeltid |editor1=M. Olausson |year=2008 |location=Lund |publisher=Historiska media |isbn=978-9185507948 |language=sv}}
* {{cite book |last1=Olędzki |first1=Marek |author-link1=Marek Olędzki |year=2004 |chapter=The Wielbark and Przeworsk Cultures at the Turn of the Early and Late Roman Periods |chapter-url=https://www.austriaca.at/0xc1aa5576%200x00074adb.pdf |editor1-last=Friesinger |editor1-first=Herwig |editor-last2=Stuppner |editor2-first=Alois |title=Zentrum und Peripherie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lR7IzQEACAAJ |publisher=[[:de:Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften|Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften]] |series=Mitteilungen Der Prähistorischen Kommission |volume=57 |pages=279–90 |isbn=978-3700133179 |access-date=21 March 2021 |archive-date=14 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614105929/https://books.google.com/books?id=lR7IzQEACAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |last1=O'Callaghan |first1=Joseph |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Spain/The-Visigothic-kingdom |title=Spain: The Visigothic Kingdom |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=24 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324183740/https://www.britannica.com/place/Spain/The-Visigothic-kingdom |url-status=live }}
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* {{citation|title=Die Germanen|last=Pohl|first=Walter|date=2004|series=Enzyklopädie deutscher Geschichte|volume=57|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ZZHAAAAQBAJ|isbn=978-3486701623|access-date=26 August 2020|archive-date=25 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725071320/https://books.google.com/books?id=9ZZHAAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last1=Pritsak |first1=Omeljan |author-link1=Omeljan Pritsak |date=2005 |chapter=Goths |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-2131? |editor1-last=Kazhdan |editor1-first=Alexander P. |title=[[The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0195187922 |access-date=25 January 2020 |archive-date=14 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614105933/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-2131 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Pronk-Tiethoff |first=Saskia |year=2013 |title=The Germanic loanwords in Proto-Slavic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0iWLAgAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Rodopi (publisher)|Rodopi]] |isbn=978-9401209847 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Oxenstierna |first1=Eric |author-link1=Eric Oxenstierna |year=1948 |title=Die Urheimat der Goten |trans-title=The Urheimat of the Goths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vJMZAAAAMAAJ |language=de |publisher=[[:de:Johann Ambrosius Barth Verlag|J.A. Barth]] |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=14 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614105930/https://books.google.com/books?id=vJMZAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Peel |first1=Christine |year=2015 |title=Guta Lag and Guta Saga: The Law and History of the Gotlanders |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WbigBgAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1138804210 |access-date=21 March 2021 |archive-date=14 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614105929/https://books.google.com/books?id=WbigBgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Pohl |first1=Walter |author-link1=Walter Pohl |last2=Reimitz |first2=Helmut |author-link2=:de:Helmut Reimitz |year=1998 |title=Strategies of Distinction: The Construction of the Ethnic Communities, 300–800 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OAZ1WNWSockC |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=9004108467 |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205130544/https://books.google.com/books?id=OAZ1WNWSockC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=Orrin W. |author-link1=Orrin W. Robinson (philologist) |year=2005 |chapter=A Brief History of the Visigoths and Ostrogoths |title=Old English and its Closest Relatives: A Survey of the Earliest Germanic Languages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GO1oDwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |pages=36–39 |isbn=0415081696 |access-date=21 March 2021 |archive-date=14 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614105930/https://books.google.com/books?id=GO1oDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Rübekeil |first1=Ludwig |author-link1=Ludwig Rübekeil |date=2002 |chapter=Scandinavia in the Light of Ancient Tradition |editor1-last=Bandle |editor1-first=Oskar |title=The Nordic Languages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqkBXIJkkuEC |volume=1 |publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]] |pages=593–604 |isbn=978-3110148763 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Schramm |first1=Gottfried |author-link1=:de:Gottfried Schramm (Historiker) |year=2002 |title=Altrusslands Anfang: historische Schlüsse aus Namen, Wörtern und Texten zum 9. und 10. Jahrhundert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ksVoAAAAMAAJ |language=de |publisher=Rombach |isbn=3793092682 |access-date=26 August 2020 |archive-date=11 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211073618/https://books.google.com/books?id=ksVoAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Simpson |first=J.M.Y. |year=2010 |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Keith |editor2-last=Ogilvie |editor2-first=Sarah |title=Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World |chapter=Gothic |pages=459–61 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0080877754 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC&pg=PA459 |access-date=5 August 2020 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205131014/https://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC&pg=PA459 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last=Söderberg |first=Werner |author-link=:sv:Verner Söderberg |year=1896 |title=Nicolaus Ragvaldis tal i Basel 1434 |url=https://runeberg.org/samlaren/1896/0195.html |journal=[[:sv:Samlaren|Samlaren]] |language=sv |publisher=Akademiska Boktryckeriet |volume=17 |pages=187–95 |access-date=13 December 2006 |archive-date=13 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613085314/http://runeberg.org/samlaren/1896/0195.html |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book|first=Martin|last=Sprengling|title=Third Century Iran: Sapor and Kartir|year=1953|publisher=The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago|oclc=941007640|url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/misc/third-century-iran-sapor-and-kartir|access-date=15 May 2020|archive-date=18 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918063800/https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/misc/third-century-iran-sapor-and-kartir|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |first=Ingmar |last=Stenroth |title=Goternas Historia |year=2015 |location=Göteborg |publisher=Citytidningen CT |isbn=978-9197419482 |language=sv}}
* {{cite book |last1=Strid |first1=Jan Paul |author-link1=Jan Paul Strid |year=2011 |chapter=Retracing the Goths |editor1-last=Kaliff |editor1-first=Anders |editor2-last=Munkhammar |editor2-first=Lars |title=Wulfila 311–2011 |url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:668706/FULLTEXT01.pdf |publisher=[[:sv:Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis|Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis]] |pages=41–54 |isbn=978-9155486648 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305084737/http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:668706/FULLTEXT01.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2020 }}
* {{cite web |last=Thompson |first=Edward Arthur |author-link=Edward Arthur Thompson |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodoric-king-of-Italy |title=Theodoric |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |access-date=19 September 2019 |archive-date=18 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118180349/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9026834/Theodoric |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last=Thompson |first=Edward Arthur |year=1963 |title=The Barbarian Kingdoms in Gaul and Spain |journal=Nottingham Medieval Studies |volume=7 |pages=3–33 |doi=10.1484/J.NMS.3.19}}
* {{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Edward Arthur |year=1973 |chapter=Goths |title=Encyclopaedia Britannica |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IOdMAQAAIAAJ |volume=10 |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |pages=606–09 |isbn=0852291736 |access-date=25 January 2020 |archive-date=14 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614105923/https://books.google.com/books?id=IOdMAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer |author-link=Spencer C. Tucker |year=2009 |title=A Global Chronology of Conflict |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5_tSnygvbIC |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-1851096725 |access-date=14 November 2015 |archive-date=22 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322201018/http://books.google.com/books?id=h5_tSnygvbIC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Vasiliev |first=Alexander A. |author-link=Alexander Vasiliev (historian) |year=1936 |title=The Goths in Crimea |url=https://archive.org/details/Vasiliev1936Goths/page/n3 |publisher=[[Medieval Academy of America]] }}
* {{cite journal |last=Vitiello |first=Massimiliano |date=Spring 2022 |title=Cassiodorus, Theoderic, and the Dream of a Pan-Gothic Kingdom |journal=[[Journal of Late Antiquity]] |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=160–192 |doi=10.1353/jla.2022.0005 |s2cid=247442895 |issn=1942-1273}}
* {{cite book |last1=Waldman |first1=Carl |last2=Mason |first2=Catherine |year=2006 |title=Encyclopedia of European Peoples |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kfv6HKXErqAC |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]] |isbn=1438129181 |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=28 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151128103819/https://books.google.com/books?id=kfv6HKXErqAC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Italy/History |title=Italy: History |last1=Wickham |first1=Christopher John |author-link1=Christopher Wickham |last2=Foot |first2=John |author-link2=John Foot (historian) |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |access-date=19 September 2019 |archive-date=20 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320223401/https://www.britannica.com/place/Italy/History |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Herwig |author-link=Herwig Wolfram |translator-first=Thomas J. |translator-last=Dunlap |title=History of the Goths |publisher=University of California Press |date=1988 |orig-year=Originally published in German, 1980 |isbn=978-0520052598}}
* {{cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Herwig |translator-last1=Dunlap |translator-first1=Thomas J. |year=1990 |title=History of the Goths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xsQxcJvaLjAC |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=0520069838 |access-date=17 January 2015 |archive-date=2 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702065325/https://books.google.com/books?id=xsQxcJvaLjAC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Herwig |year=1997 |title=The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tOnQDfRU-poC |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0520085114 |access-date=14 November 2015 |archive-date=2 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702061359/https://books.google.com/books?id=tOnQDfRU-poC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Herwig |year=2005 |title=The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0520244900 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_7EwDwAAQBAJ |access-date=26 August 2020 |archive-date=13 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113170431/https://books.google.com/books?id=_7EwDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite journal |last=Andersson |first=Thorsten |year=1996 |title=Göter, Goter, Gutar |url=http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A46735&dswid=-340 |journal=[[:sv:Namn och bygd|Namn och bygd]] |language=sv |volume=84 |pages=5–21 |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414153619/http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:46735&dswid=-340 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Arrhenius |first=Birgit |author-link=Birgit Arrhenius |year=2013 |chapter=Connections between Scandinavia and the East Roman Empire in the Migration period |editor-last1=Alcock |editor-first1=Leslie |editor-link1=Leslie Alcock |editor-last2=Austin |editor-first2=David |title=From the Baltic to the Black Sea: Studies in Medieval Archaeology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pEbFBQAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Routledge]] |pages=118–37 |isbn=978-1135073312 }}
* [[Volker Bierbrauer|Bierbrauer, Volker]] (1994). "Archäologie und Geschichte der Goten vom 1.–7. Jahrhundert" [Archaeology and history of the Goths from the 1st-7th century]. ''Frühmittelalterliche Studien'' '''28''', pp. 51–171.
* {{cite book |last1=Braune |first1=Wilhelm |author-link1=Wilhelm Braune |year=1912 |title=Gotische Grammatik |trans-title=Gothic Grammar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGI4AQAAIAAJ |language=de |publisher=V. Niemeyer }}
* {{cite book |last1=Burns |first1=Thomas S. |year=1991 |title=A History of the Ostrogoths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dw3FEpOUrRkC |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |isbn=978-0253206008 |access-date=26 August 2020 |archive-date=25 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725000320/https://books.google.com/books?id=dw3FEpOUrRkC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Darvill |first1=Timothy |date=2009 |chapter=Goths |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199534043.001.0001/acref-9780199534043-e-1660? |title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0191727139 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199534043.001.0001 |access-date=25 January 2020 |archive-date=4 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304153137/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199534043.001.0001/acref-9780199534043-e-1660 |url-status=live }}
* Faber, Eike (2014). ''Von Ulfila bis Rekkared. Die Goten und ihr Christentum'' [From Ulfila to Rekkared. The Goths and their Christianity]. Potsdamer Altertumswissenschaftliche Beiträge, vol. 51. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, {{ISBN|978-3-515-10926-0}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Green |first1=D. H. |author-link1=Dennis Howard Green |year=2004 |chapter=The Migration of the Goths |title=Language and History in the Early Germanic World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RONb2alF0rEC |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=164–82 |isbn=0521794234 |access-date=26 August 2020 |archive-date=17 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617024646/https://books.google.com/books?id=RONb2alF0rEC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |last=Heather |first=Peter |title=Germany: Ancient History |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany/History#ref58082 |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |access-date=22 February 2020 |archive-date=31 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331232159/https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany/History#ref58082 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Heather |first1=Peter |date=1997 |chapter=Goths and Huns, c. 320–425 |chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-ancient-history/goths-and-huns-c-320425/11EA46B0D3952716D3D5EACD6395E35C |editor1-last=Cameron |editor1-first=Averil |editor2-last=Garnsey |editor2-first=Peter |title=The Late Empire, AD 337–425 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-ancient-history/EE631C735F670175D599D0E27F548427 |series=[[The Cambridge Ancient History]] |volume=13 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=487–515 |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521302005.017 |isbn=978-1139054409 |access-date=22 February 2020 |archive-date=9 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209133001/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-ancient-history/EE631C735F670175D599D0E27F548427 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |year=1999 |editor1-last=Heather |editor1-first=Peter |title=The Visigoths from the Migration Period to the Seventh Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4MADmH2eaGIC |publisher=[[Boydell & Brewer Ltd]] |isbn=978-1843830337 |ref=none |access-date=26 August 2020 |archive-date=8 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808214956/https://books.google.com/books?id=4MADmH2eaGIC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |title=Regna and Gentes: The Relationship Between Late Antique and Early Medieval Peoples and Kingdoms in the transformation of the Roman world |editor1-first=Hans-Werner |editor1-last=Goetz |editor2-first=Jörg |editor2-last=Jarnut |editor3-first=Walter |editor3-last=Pohl |year=2003 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RovRlJkrncEC&pg=PA85 |first=Peter |last=Heather |chapter=Gens and Regnum among the Ostrogoths |pages=85–134 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9004125248 |access-date=6 August 2020 |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205080321/https://books.google.com/books?id=RovRlJkrncEC&pg=PA85 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Hinds |first=Kathryn |year=2010 |title=Goths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gUE_-6brtloC |publisher=[[Marshall Cavendish]] |isbn=978-0761445166 }}
* {{cite book |last=Jacobsen |first=Torsten Cumberland |year=2009 |title=The Gothic War: Rome's Final Conflict in the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KR4MAQAAMAAJ |publisher=Westholme |isbn=978-1594160844 |ref=none |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=25 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725071716/https://books.google.com/books?id=KR4MAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Järve |first1=Mari |date=22 July 2019 |title=Shifts in the Genetic Landscape of the Western Eurasian Steppe Associated with the Beginning and End of the Scythian Dominance |journal=[[Current Biology]] |volume=29 |issue=14 |pages=2430–41 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.019 |pmid=31303491|doi-access=free|bibcode=2019CBio...29E2430J }}
* {{cite book |last=Kaliff |first=Anders |author-link=Anders Kaliff |year=2001 |title=Gothic connections: Contacts between eastern Scandinavia and the southern Baltic coast 1000 BC–500 AD |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WhK4AAAACAAJ |publisher=[[Uppsala University]] |isbn=9150614827 |access-date=26 August 2020 |archive-date=11 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211073618/https://books.google.com/books?id=WhK4AAAACAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |last1=Mark |first1=Joshua J. |date=12 October 2014 |title=The Goths |website=[[World History Encyclopedia]] |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Goths/ |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423142430/https://www.worldhistory.org/Goths/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Nordgren |first1=Ingemar |year=2011 |chapter=Goths and Religion |editor1-last=Kaliff |editor1-first=Anders |editor2-last=Munkhammar |editor2-first=Lars |title=Wulfila 311–2011 |url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:668706/FULLTEXT01.pdf |publisher=[[:sv:Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis|Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis]] |pages=209–24 |isbn=978-9155486648 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305224440/http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:668706/FULLTEXT01.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2020 }}
* {{cite web |last1=Skorupka |first1=Tomasz |title=Jewellery of the Goths |url-status=dead |url=http://www.muzarp.poznan.pl/muzeum/muz_eng/wyst_czas/Goci_katalog/index_kat.html |access-date=18 September 2019 |website=[[:pl:Muzeum Archeologiczne w Poznaniu|Poznan Archaeological Museum]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717021406/http://www.muzarp.poznan.pl/muzeum/muz_eng/wyst_czas/Goci_katalog/index_kat.html |archive-date=17 July 2012 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Sønnesyn |first1=Sigbjørn |s2cid=162534744 |year=2004 |title=Arne Søby Christensen, ''Cassiodorus, Jordanes and the History of the Goths'' (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculaneum Press, 2002). 391 pp. |isbn=8772897104 |journal=[[Scandinavian Journal of History]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=29 |issue=3–4 |pages=306–08 |doi=10.1080/03468750410005719}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Stolarek |first1=I. |last2=Juras |first2=A. |last3=Handschuh |first3=L. |last4=Marcinkowska-Swojak |first4=M. |last5=Philips |first5=A. |last6=Zenczak |first6=M. |last7=Dębski |first7=A. |last8=Kóčka-Krenz |first8=H. |last9=Piontek |first9=J. |last10=Kozlowski |first10=P. |last11=Figlerowicz |first11=M. |display-authors=3 |date=6 February 2018 |title=A mosaic genetic structure of the human population living in the South Baltic region during the Iron Age |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |volume=8 |issue=1|at=2455|bibcode=2018NatSR...8.2455S |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-20705-6 |doi-access=free |pmc=5802798 |pmid=29410482}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Stolarek |first1=I. |last2=Handschuh|first2=L. |last3=Juras|first3=A. |last4=Nowaczewska|first4=W. |last5=Kóčka-Krenz|first5=H. |last6=Michalowski|first6=A. |last7=Piontek |first7=J. |last8=Kozlowski |first8=P. |last9=Figlerowicz|first9=M. |display-authors=3 |date=1 May 2019 |title=Goth migration induced changes in the matrilineal genetic structure of the central-east European population |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |volume=9 |issue=1 |at=6737 |bibcode=2019NatSR...9.6737S |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-43183-w |doi-access=free |pmc=6494872 |pmid=31043639}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Strid |first1=Jan Paul |date=January 2010 |title=The Origin of the Goths from a Topolinguistic Perspective |journal=North-Western European Language Evolution |publisher=[[John Benjamins Publishing Company]] |volume=58 |issue=59 |pages=443–52 |doi=10.1075/nowele.58-59.16str}}
* {{cite book |last1=Todd |first1=Malcolm |author-link1=Malcolm Todd |year=2004 |chapter=The Gothic Kingdoms |title=The Early Germans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZxXltwAACAAJ |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |pages=139–71 |isbn=978-1405117142 |access-date=26 August 2020 |archive-date=5 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805062110/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZxXltwAACAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Edward Arthur |year=1969 |title=The Goths in Spain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YENpAAAAMAAJ |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |isbn=978-0198142713 }}
* {{cite book |first=Dieter |last=Timpe |year=1989 |editor-last1=Beck |editor-first1=Heinrich |title=Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde |volume=7 |pages=307–91 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3QmORVr1IfMC |chapter=Entdeckungsgeschichte |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3110114454 |access-date=26 August 2020 |archive-date=25 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725071716/https://books.google.com/books?id=3QmORVr1IfMC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Wolfram |first1=Herwig |year=2004 |chapter=Origo Gentis: The Literature of Germanic Origins |editor1-last=Murdoch |editor1-first=Brian |editor2-last=Read |editor2-first=Malcolm |title=Early Germanic Literature and Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHqzR1XoV0QC |publisher=[[Boydell & Brewer]] |pages=39–54 |isbn=157113199X |access-date=26 August 2020 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806224002/https://books.google.com/books?id=PHqzR1XoV0QC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Wood |first1=Ian N. |author-link1=Ian N. Wood |year=2003 |title=Cassiodorus, Jordanes and the History of the Goths |journal=[[Historisk Tidsskrift (Denmark)|Historisk Tidsskrift]] |publisher=[[:da:Den danske historiske Forening|Danish Historical Association]] |volume=103 |issue=2 |pages=465–84 |url=http://www.dendanskehistoriskeforening.dk//pdf_histtid/103_2/465.pdf |access-date=27 February 2020 |archive-date=25 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725071711/http://www.dendanskehistoriskeforening.dk//pdf_histtid/103_2/465.pdf |url-status=live }}
{{Refend}}
* {{cite book |author= Kevin F. Kiley |year= 2013|title=Uniforms of the Roman world}}
* {{cite book |author=Maurice |year=500s |title=Strategikon of Maurice}}

{{Germanic peoples}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Goths| ]]
[[Category:Early Germanic peoples]]