Goths
Sign in to saveThe 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 mentioned by Greco-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.
AI overview
The Goths were a Germanic people who lived north of the Danube River (in present-day Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania) and became historically significant starting in the 3rd century AD through their raids into Roman territory and large-scale military service within the Roman Empire. They matter historically because they played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe.
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Article
41 sectionsContents
- Name
- Classification
- History
- Prehistory
- Early history
- Movement towards the Black Sea
- 3rd century raids on the Roman Empire
- Co-existence with the Roman Empire (300–375)
- Arrival of the Huns (about 375)
- The Gothic War of 376–382
- Later division and spread of the Goths
- Visigoths
- Ostrogoths
- Crimean Goths
- Language
- Culture
- Art
- Early
- Ostrogoths
- Visigoths
- Society
- Religion
- Law
- Warfare
- Economy
- Architecture
- Ostrogoths
- Visigoths
- Physical appearance
- Genetics
- Legacy
- List of early literature on the Goths
- In the sagas
- In Greek and Roman literature
- See also
- Notes and sources
- Notes
- Footnotes
- Ancient sources
- Modern sources
- Further reading
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 mentioned by Greco-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 began to concentrate near the Roman border at the Lower Danube, seeking refuge within the Roman Empire. Their entry into the Empire resulted in violence, 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 of these groups, initially led by their king Alaric I, sacked the city of Rome in 410, and were the precursors of the Visigoths. The successors of the Visigoths eventually established a Visigothic Kingdom in Spain at Toledo. Meanwhile, Goths under Hunnic rule gained their independence in the 5th century, most importantly the Ostrogoths. Under their king Theodoric the Great, these Goths established the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy at Ravenna.