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Goths - 100-450

The Goths were an Germanic tribe which, according to their own traditions, originated in Scandinavia. From Scandinavia, the Goths migrated and set up a kingdom in Scythia. The Goths have been confounded with the Sarmatians (the Scythians of the older Greek writers), whose country in the south of Russia they occupied. "Those two great portions of human kind " - observes Gibbon - "were principally distinguished by fixed huts or moveable tents, by a close dress or flowing garments, by the marriage of one or of several wives, by a military force consisting, for the most part, either of infantry or cavalry; and, above all, by the uses of the Teutonic or of the Slavonian language." Still it must not be forgotten that the Goths, in their march across the wide plains and steppes between the Baltic and the Black Seas, the border region of the Teutonic and Slavonian nations, would naturally gather into their vast moving mass other tribes of various origin, from the Vandals,:}: who were their neighbours in the north, to the Sarmatians and Alani in the south, whom we have already seen united with the German Marchmeu (Marcomanni) in their wars with Trajan.

The Goths were divided into Ostrogoths and Visigoths after their irruption into Dacia, in the third century: the Ostrogoths remaining in Scythia, while the Visigoths migrated to Dacia in the Balkans. Those who came from Mecklenburgh and Pomerania, were called Visigoths [Western Goths]: those who came from the south of Prussia and the north-west of Poland, were named Ostrogoths [Eastern Goths]. The Goths were in possession of Ukraine, a country of considerable extent and uncommon fertility, intersected with navigable rivers, which, from either side, discharge themselves into the Borysthenes; and interspersed with large and lofty forests of oaks. The plenty of game and fish, the innumerable bee-hives, deposited in the hollow of old trees, and in the cavities of rocks, and forming, even in that rude age, a valuable branch of commerce, the size of the cattle, the temperature of the air, the aptness of the soil for every species of grain, and the luxuriancy of the vegetation, all displayed the liberality of nature, and tempted the industry of man.

But the Goths withstood all these temptations, and still adhered to a life of idleness, of poverty, and of rapine. A horde of pirates formed, which, however, inconsiderable as to maritime means and knowledge, became terrible from their numbers, spirit, and hardihood. The Goths and Vandals having stationed themselves in Ukraine, soon rendered themselves masters of the northern coast of the Euxine, and with this success acquired an additional incentive to future conquest by the possession of a naval force, which, rude as it certainly was, appeared to be competent to the necessities of this daring people.

The prospect of the Roman territories was far more alluring; and the fields of Dacia were covered with rich harvests, sown by the hands of an industrious, and exposed to be gathered by those of a warlike, people. It is probable, that the conquests of Trajan, maintained by his successors, less for any real advantage, than for ideal dignity, had contributed to weaken the empire on that side.

The description of veasel used at that time for the navigation of the Black Sea is extremely curious: they were of very light construction, flat bottomed, and formed of timber only, without the smallest addition of iron; they were built with an occasional shelving roof to protect the passengers, as well as.the mariners, from the fury of any tempest which they might be so unfortunate as to encounter. In these floating huts, for they merited no other appellation, did the Goths, flushed with the charms of plunder, rashly commit themselves to the mercy of a sea totally unknown to them, under the conduct of navi gators compulsively brought into their service, and whose skill as well as fidelity were equally suspicious.

Three successive uncouth and ill-equipped expeditions proved eminently fortunate; numerous cities were mercilessly sacked, the whole province of Bithynia was overrun, Greece and the Grecian islands were subdued, and Rome itself was trembling at the daring invaders, when the intestine divisions among some of their chiefs, aided by bribes profusely distributed among others, caused their unexpected retreat.

The new and unsettled province of Dacia was neither strong enough to resist, nor rich enough to satiate, the rapaciousness of the barbarians. As long as the remote banks of the Niester were considered as the boundary of the Roman power, the fortifications of the Lower Danube were more carelessly guarded, and the inhabitants of Maesia lived in supine security, fondly conceiving themselves at an inaccessible distance from any barbarian invaders.

The irruptions of the Goths, under the reign of Philip, fatally convinced them of their mistake. The king, or leader, of that fierce nation, traversed with contempt, the province of Dacia, and passed both the Niester and the Danube without encountering any opposition capable of retarding his progress. The relaxed discipline of the Roman troops betrayed the most important posts, where they were stationed, and the fear of deserved punishment induced great numbers of them to enlist under the Gothic standard.

The various multitude of barbarians appeared, at length, under the walls of Marcianopolis, a city built by Trajan in honor of his sister, and at that time the capital of the second Maesia. The inhabitants consented to ransom their lives and property, by the payment of a largre sum of money, and the invaders retreated back into their deserts, animated rather than satisfied, with the first success of their arms against an opulent but feeble country. Intelligence was soon transmitted to the emperor Decius, that Cniva, king of the Goths, had passed the Danube a second time, with more considerable forces; that his numerous detachments scattered devastation over the province of Mtesia, whilst the main body of the army, consisting of seventy thousand Germans and Sarmatians, a force equal to the most daring achievements, required the presence of the Roman monarch, and the exertion of his military power.

The love of lawless depredation had been too strongly nourished by success to subside, and the formidable barbarians again poured on the Roman frontier in multitudes incredibly numerous. They were now, however, encountered by the brave and judicious Claudius Gothicus, and in a severe battle in AD 269, in which tho pirates fought for plunder, and the legions for safety, the genius of Rome prevailed; the Goths were signally defeated, 50,000 were slain in the action itself, and the rest, after a time, fell into the hands of the victors. Their fleet experienced a similar fate: it is said to have amounted to 6000 vessels, and must have been composed merely of the navis Iralaria, or, as Gibbon styles them, canoes. There were follow-up operations on both land and sea, but the Gothic War had essentially been won.

The death of Claudius in AD 270 revived the fainting spirit of the Goths. The troops which guarded the passes of Mount Haemus and the banks of the Danube had been drawn away by the apprehension of a civil war; and it seems probable that the remaining body of the Gothic and Vandalic tribes embraced the favourable opportunity, abandoned their settlements of the Ukraine, traversed the rivers, and swelled with new multitudes the destroying host of their countrymen. Their united numbers were at length encountered by Aurelian, and the bloody and doubtful conflict ended only with the approach of night. Exhausted by so many calamities, which they had mutually endured and inflicted during a twenty years' war, the Goths and the Romans consented to a lasting and beneficial treaty. The Gothic nation engaged to supply the armies of Rome with a body of two thousand auxiliaries, consisting entirely of cavalry, and stipulated in return an undisturbed retreat, with a regular market as far as the Danube, provided by the emperor's care, but at their own expense. But the most important condition of peace was understood rather than expressed in the treaty. Aurelian withdrew the Roman forces from Dacia, and tacitly relinquished that great province to the Goths and Vandals. His manly judgment convinced him of the solid advantages, and taught him to despise the seeming disgrace, of thus contracting the frontiers of the monarchy. The Dacian subjects, removed from those distant possessions which they were unable to cultivate or defend, added strength.

The Visigoths remained in Dacia until 376 AD, when one of their leaders, Fritigern, appealed to the Roman emperor Valens to be allowed to settle with his people on the south bank of the Danube. Here, they hoped to find refuge from the Huns, who lacked the ability to cross the wide river in force. Valens permitted this, and even helped bring the Visigoths over the river. In return, Fritigern was to provide soldiers for the Roman army. Valens promised the Visigoths land, food, and protection. His major reason for quickly accepting the Goths into Roman territory was to increase the size of his personal army.