Ostrogotha was a leader of the eastern

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, who invaded Roman

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

during the

Crisis of the Third Century The Crisis of the Third Century, also known as the Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis, was a period in History of Rome, Roman history during which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressure of repeated Barbarian invasions ...

, mentioned by the 6th-century historian

Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

. He was a contemporary of King Cniva. Jordanes' account differs with those of

Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to: People * * Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints * Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy * Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alch ...

and

Joannes Zonaras Joannes or John Zonaras ( ; 1070 – 1140) was a Byzantine Roman historian, chronicler and theologian who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held the offices of head justice and private s ...

, who do not mention Ostrogotha, and therefore his existence was questioned. Cassiodorus, one of the sources of Jordanes, also mentioned Ostrogotha as one of the ancestors of

Amalasuintha Amalasuintha (495 – 30 April 535) was a ruler of the Ostrogothic Kingdom from 526 to 535. Initially serving as regent for her son Athalaric, she became queen regnant after his premature death. Highly educated, Amalasuintha was praised by both ...

, daughter of

Theoderic the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal, was king of the Ostrogoths (475–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493 and 526, regent of the Visigoths (511–526 ...

.Cassiodor, Variae XI 1. However, the discovery of lost fragments of the ''Sythica'' of

Dexippus Publius Herennius Dexippus (; c. 210–273 AD), Greek historian, statesman and general, was an hereditary priest of the Eleusinian family of the Kerykes, and held the offices of ''archon basileus'' and ''eponymous'' in Athens. Life When the He ...

give confirmation to his existence.

Jordanes

Jordanes reported that during the reign of the Emperor

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

the Goths broke a truce they had with the Roman emperors (XIII 76). After several victories, including a successful defence against a Roman counterattack, Jordanes claimed that the Goths likened their leaders to demigods or " Ansis" (XIII 78). According to Jordanes, Ostrogotha was part of the Amal family, whose genealogy he recited, making him an ancestor of

Ermanaric Ermanaric (died 376) was a Greuthungian king who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of Oium, the part of Scythia inhabited by the Goths at the time. He is mentioned in two Roman sources: the contemporary writings of ...

and

Theodoric the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal, was king of the Ostrogoths (475–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493 and 526, regent of the Visigoths (511–526 ...

(XIV 79). : Ablabius the historian relates that in Scythia, where we have said that they were dwelling above an arm of the Pontic Sea, part of them who held the eastern region and whose king was Ostrogotha, were called Ostrogoths, that is, eastern Goths, either from his name or from the place. But the rest were called Visigoths, that is, the Goths of the western country. (XIV 82) Jordanes reported that Ostrogotha crossed the Danube during the reign of

Philip the Arab Philip I (; – September 249), commonly known as Philip the Arab, was Roman emperor from 244 to 249. After the death of Gordian III in February 244, Philip, who had been Praetorian prefect, rose to power. He quickly negotiated peace with the S ...

and invaded the provinces of

and

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

. The later

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius ( 201June 251), known as Trajan Decius or simply Decius (), was Roman emperor from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops a ...

could not defeat him either, whereupon Ostrogotha again raided Roman territory. :Now when the aforesaid Philip--who, with his son Philip, was the only Christian emperor before Constantine--ruled over the Romans, in the second year of his reign Rome completed its one thousandth year. He withheld from the Goths the tribute due them; whereupon they were naturally enraged and instead of friends became his foes. For though they dwelt apart under their own kings, yet they had been allied to the Roman state and received annual gifts. And what more? Ostrogotha and his men soon crossed the Danube and ravaged Moesia and Thrace. Philip sent the senator Decius against him. And since he could do nothing against the Getae, he released his own soldiers from military service and sent them back to private life, as though it had been by their neglect that the Goths had crossed the Danube. When, as he supposed, he had thus taken vengeance on his soldiers, he returned to Philip. But when the soldiers found themselves expelled from the army after so many hardships, in their anger they had recourse to the protection of Ostrogotha, king of the Goths. He received them, was aroused by their words and presently led out three hundred thousand armed men, having as allies for this war some of the

Taifali The Taifals or Tayfals ( or ''Theifali''; ) were a people of Germanic or Sarmatian origin, first documented north of the lower Danube in the mid third century AD. They experienced an unsettled and fragmented history, for the most part in associ ...

and Astringi and also three thousand of the Carpi, a race of men very ready to make war and frequently hostile to the Romans. But in later times when Diocletian and Maximian were Emperors, the Caesar Galerius Maximianus conquered them and made them tributary to the Roman Empire. Besides these tribes, Ostrogotha had Goths and

Peucini The Bastarnae, Bastarni or Basternae, also known as the Peuci or Peucini, were an ancient people who are known from Greek and Roman records to have inhabited areas north and east of the Carpathian Mountains between about 300 BC and about 300 AD, ...

from the island of Peuce, which lies in the mouths of the Danube where they empty into the Sea of Pontus. He placed in command Argaithus and Guntheric, the noblest leaders of his race. They speedily crossed the Danube, devastated Moesia a second time and approached

Marcianople Marcianopolis or Marcianople ( Greek: Μαρκιανούπολις), also known as Parthenopolis was an ancient Greek, then Roman capital city and archbishopric in Moesia Inferior. It is located at the site of modern-day Devnya, Bulgaria. The ...

, the famed metropolis of that land. Yet after a long siege they departed, upon receiving money from the inhabitants. (XVI 89-92) Ostrogotha also fended off a challenge from the kinsfolk of the Goths, the

Gepids The Gepids (; ) were an East Germanic tribes, East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern Romania, Hungary, and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava, and Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion and language of the G ...

, under the leadership of their king Fastida. :For he sent ambassadors to Ostrogotha, to whose rule Ostrogoths and Visigoths alike, that is, the two peoples of the same tribe, were still subject. Complaining that he was hemmed in by rugged mountains and dense forests, he demanded one of two things,--that Ostrogotha should either prepare for war or give up part of his lands to them. Then Ostrogotha, king of the Goths, who was a man of firm mind, answered the ambassadors that he did indeed dread such a war and that it would be a grievous and infamous thing to join battle with their kin,--but he would not give up his lands. And why say more? The Gepidae hastened to take arms and Ostrogotha likewise moved his forces against them, lest he should seem a coward. They met at the town of Galtis, near which the river Auha flows, and there both sides fought with great valor; indeed the similarity of their arms and of their manner of fighting turned them against their own men. But the better cause and their natural alertness aided the Goths. Finally night put an end to the battle as a part of the Gepidae were giving way. Then Fastida, king of the Gepidae, left the field of slaughter and hastened to his own land, as much humiliated with shame and disgrace as formerly he had been elated with pride. The Goths returned victorious, content with the retreat of the Gepidae, and dwelt in peace and happiness in their own land so long as Ostrogotha was their leader. (XVII 98-100) After his death, Jordanes mentions a new ruler of Goths,

Cniva Cniva ( mid-3rd century AD) was a Gothic king who invaded the Roman Empire. He successfully captured the city of Philippopolis (Plovdiv in Bulgaria) in 250 and killed Emperor Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus at the Battle of Abritus as he ...

Dexippus

In the Vienna fragment of Dexippus, Cniva and Ostrogotha are contemporaries and competitors. Ostrogotha was still alive when Cniva conquered Philippopolis and Ostrogotha was jealous of the high regard Cniva was given because of this victory. He set out to battle the Roman leader Decius and was apparently the Gothic leader responsible for the defeat of

(which is also reported by Jordanes as happening after Phillipopolis). : But when Ostrogouthos, the leader of the Scythians, heard that Philippopolis was taken, and that (?) indeed the Scythians were holding Cniva in the highest regard, and were celebrating him in song, as is their ancestral custom when they have especially good fortune and success in war, whereas they were holding himself n less esteem charging him with cowardice and failure in his tactics, he thought it unbearable not to make amends to the Scythian cause by some notable achievement, setting out, he marched quickly with an army of about fifty thousand. But Decius was grieved by failure to bring help and by the capture of Philip (194v) popolis, and when the army was collected to the number of about eighty thousand, his intention was to renew the war if he could, thinking that even if he had failed to bring help, the honorable (course) was at least to set free the Thracian captives and to prevent them from crossing to the other side f the Danube And having in the meanwhile made a ditch near Amisos (?), a village of the territory of Beroea, he remained within the stockade with his army, keeping awatch for when the enemy might (try to) cross. But when the advance of the force under Ostrogouthos was reported to him, he decided it was necessary to encourage the soldiers as the opportunity offered, and after calling them together in assembly he said something like this: If only, (my) men, the body of the army and our subject to us had been successful. But since the vicissitudes of humanity bring many calamities, as is the rule for mortals, it is perhaps the duty of wise men to accept events and not to be less brave in disposition, and not, because (you are) shaken by the failure in the plain and the capture of the Thracians (in case any of you has lost heart because of these events), to become cowards. For both setbacks can be disputed .e. can be explained away For the first was due to the treachery of the sentinels rather than to cowardice on our part, and they took the Thracians city, after despairing of doing so by direct attack, by treachery rather than by valor. But weakness is not courage (?) Cniva was described as a king (βασιλεύς) while Ostrogotha was described as an archon or leader of

Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...

(τῶν Σκυθῶν ἄρχων).

References

Sources

* * * *

Also see

* Thomas Gerhardt, Udo Hartmann: Fasti. In: Klaus-Peter Johne (Hrsg.): Die Zeit der Soldatenkaiser. Band 2. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2008, S. 1194f. * Jana Grusková, Gunter Martin: Ein neues Textstück aus den „Scythica Vindobonensia“ zu den Ereignissen nach der Eroberung von Philippopolis. In: Tyche 29, 2014, S. 29–43. * Jana Grusková, Gunter Martin: Zum Angriff der Goten unter Kniva auf eine thrakische Stadt (Scythica Vindobonensia, f. 195v). In: Tyche 30, 2015, S. 35–53

External links

*English translation of ''Getica'' by Jordanes: https://people.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/Courses/texts/jordgeti.html Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 3rd-century Gothic people Gothic kings Gothic warriors {{Germany-hist-stub