Transcriber's Note:
The numbers in the right margin of the text are from the original book;
although nothing in the book says so, it appears that they might be
page numbers from the manuscript of which this is a translation. They
are preserved in this transcription in the hope that they are indeed
page numbers.
THE ORIGIN AND DEEDS OF THE GOTHS
by
JORDANES
in English Version
Part of a Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Princeton University
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
by CHARLES C. MIEROW
Princeton
1908
NOTE
For the first time the story of the Goths recorded in
the _Getica_ of Jordanes, a Christian Goth who wrote his
account in the year 551, probably in Constantinople, is
now put in English form, as part of an edition of the
_Getica_ prepared by Mr. Mierow. Those who care for the
romance of history will be charmed by this great tale of a
lost cause and will not find the simple-hearted exaggerations
of the eulogist of the Gothic race misleading. He
pictured what he believed or wanted to believe, and his
employment of fable and legend, as well as the naïve
exhibition of his loyal prejudices, merely heightens the
interest of his story. Those who want coldly scientific
narrative should avoid reading Jordanes, but should likewise
remember the truthful, words of Delbrück: "Legende
und Poesie malen darum noch nicht falsch, weil sie
mit anderen Farben malen als die Historie. Sie reden
nur eine andere Sprache, und es handelt sich darum,
aus dieser richtig ins Historische zu übersetzen."
ANDREW F. WEST.
PREFACE
The following version of the Getica of Jordanes is
based upon the text of Mommsen, as found in the
Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores
Antiquissimi 5 (Berlin 1882). I have
adhered closely to his spelling of proper names, especially
the Gothic names, except in the case of a very few words
which are in common use in another form (such as
Gaiseric and Belisarius).
I wish to express my sincere thanks to Dean Andrew F.
West of the Princeton Graduate School for his unfailing
interest in my work. It was in one of his graduate
courses that the translation was begun, three years ago,
and at his suggestion that I undertook the composition
of the thesis in its present form. He has read the entire
treatise in the manuscript, and has been my constant
adviser and critic. Thanks are also due to Dr. Charles
G. Osgood of the English Department of Princeton
University for reading the translation.
CHARLES C. MIEROW.
Classical Seminary,
Princeton University,
July 1908.
THE ORIGIN AND DEEDS OF THE GOTHS
(Preface)
Though it had been my wish to glide in my little boat 1
by the shore of a peaceful coast and, as a certain writer
says, to gather little fishes from the pools of the ancients,
you, brother Castalius, bid me set my sails toward the
deep. You urge me to leave the little work I have in
hand, that is, the abbreviation of the Chronicles, and to
condense in my own style in this small book the twelve
volumes of the Senator on the origin and deeds of the
Getae from olden time to the present day, descending
through the generations of the kings. Truly a hard command, 2
and imposed by one who seems unwilling to realize
the burden of the task. Nor do you note this, that my
utterance is too slight to fill so magnificent a trumpet of
speech as his. But above every burden is the fact that
I have no access to his books that I may follow his
thought. Still--and let me lie not--I have in times past
read the books a second time by his steward's loan for a
three days' reading. The words I recall not, but the
sense and the deeds related I think I retain entire. To 3
this I have added fitting matters from some Greek and
Latin histories. I have also put in an introduction and
a conclusion, and have inserted many things of my own
authorship. Wherefore reproach me not, but receive and
read with gladness what you have asked me to write. If
aught be insufficiently spoken and you remember it, do
you as a neighbor to our race add to it, praying for me,
dearest brother. The Lord be with you. Amen.
(Geographical Introduction)
[Sidenote: Ocean and Its Lesser Isles.]
I Our ancestors, as Orosius relates, were of the 4
opinion that the circle of the whole world was surrounded
by the girdle of Ocean on three sides. Its three parts
they called Asia, Europe and Africa. Concerning this
threefold division of the earth's extent there are almost
innumerable writers, who not only explain the situations
of cities and places, but also measure out the number of
miles and paces to give more clearness. Moreover they
locate the islands interspersed amid the waves, both the
greater and also the lesser islands, called Cyclades or
Sporades, as situated in the vast flood of the Great Sea.
But the impassable farther bounds of Ocean not only has 5
no one attempted to describe, but no man has been allowed
to reach; for by reason of obstructing seaweed and
the failing of the winds it is plainly inaccessible and is
unknown to any save to Him who made it. But the 6
nearer border of this sea, which we call the circle of the
world, surrounds its coasts like a wreath. This has
become clearly known to men of inquiring mind, even
to such as desired to write about it. For not only is the
coast itself inhabited, but certain islands off in the sea
are habitable. Thus there are to the East in the Indian
Ocean, Hippodes, Iamnesia, Solis Perusta (which though
not habitable, is yet of great length and breadth), besides
Taprobane, a fair island wherein there are towns or
estates and ten strongly fortified cities. But there is yet 7
another, the lovely Silefantina, and Theros also. These,
though not clearly described by any writer, are nevertheless
well filled with inhabitants. This same Ocean has
in its western region certain islands known to almost
everyone by reason of the great number of those that
journey to and fro. And there are two not far from the
neighborhood of the Strait of Gades, one the Blessed
Isle and another called the Fortunate. Although some
reckon as islands of Ocean the twin promontories of
Galicia and Lusitania, where are still to be seen the
Temple of Hercules on one and Scipio's Monument on
the other, yet since they are joined to the extremity of
the Galician country, they belong rather to the great land
of Europe than to the islands of Ocean. However, it 8
has other islands deeper within its own tides, which are
called the Baleares; and yet another, Mevania, besides
the Orcades, thirty-three in number, though not all inhabited.
And at the farthest bound of its western expanse 9
it has another island named Thule, of which the
Mantuan bard makes mention:
"And Farthest Thule shall serve thee."
The same mighty sea has also in its arctic region, that is
in the north, a great island named Scandza, from which
my tale (by God's grace) shall take its beginning. For
the race whose origin you ask to know burst forth like a
swarm of bees from the midst of this island and came
into the land of Europe. But how or in what wise we
shall explain hereafter, if it be the Lord's will.
(BRITAIN)
[Sidenote: Caesar's two invasions of Britain B.C. 55-54]
II But now let me speak briefly as I can concerning 10
the island of Britain, which is situated in the bosom of
Ocean between Spain, Gaul and Germany. Although
Livy tells us that no one in former days sailed around
it, because of its great size, yet many writers have held
various opinions of it. It was long unapproached by
Roman arms, until Julius Caesar disclosed it by battles
fought for mere glory. In the busy age which followed
it became accessible to many through trade and by other
means. Thus it revealed more clearly its position, which
I shall here explain as I have found it in Greek and Latin
authors. Most of them say it is like a triangle pointing 11
between the north and west. Its widest angle faces the
mouths of the Rhine. Then the island shrinks in breadth
and recedes until it ends in two other angles. Its long
doubled side faces Gaul and Germany. Its greatest
breadth is said to be over two thousand three hundred
and ten stadia, and its length not more than seven thousand
one hundred and thirty-two stadia. In some parts 12
it is moorland, in others there are wooded plains, and
sometimes it rises into mountain peaks. The island is
surrounded by a sluggish sea, which neither gives readily
to the stroke of the oar nor runs high under the blasts
of the wind. I suppose this is because other lands are
so far removed from it as to cause no disturbance of the
sea, which indeed is of greater width here than anywhere
else. Moreover Strabo, a famous writer of the Greeks,
relates that the island exhales such mists from its soil,
soaked by the frequent inroads of Ocean, that the sun is
covered throughout the whole of their disagreeable sort
of day that passes as fair, and so is hidden from sight.
Cornelius also, the author of the Annals, says that in 13
the farthest part of Britain the night gets brighter and
is very short. He also says that the island abounds in
metals, is well supplied with grass and is more productive
in all those things which feed beasts rather than men.
Moreover many large rivers flow through it, and the
tides are borne back into them, rolling along precious
stones and pearls. The Silures have swarthy features
and are usually born with curly black hair, but the inhabitants
of Caledonia have reddish hair and large loose-jointed
bodies. They are like the Gauls or the Spaniards,
according as they are opposite either nation. Hence some 14
have supposed that from these lands the island received
its inhabitants, alluring them by its nearness. All the
people and their kings are alike wild. Yet Dio, a most
celebrated writer of annals, assures us of the fact that
they have all been combined under the name of Caledonians
and Maeatae. They live in wattled huts, a shelter
used in common with their flocks, and often the woods
are their home. They paint their bodies with iron-red,
whether by way of adornment or perhaps for some other
reason. They often wage war with one another, either 15
because they desire power or to increase their possessions.
They fight not only on horseback or on foot, but even
with scythed two-horse chariots, which they commonly
call _essedae_. Let it suffice to have said thus much on the
shape of the island of Britain.
(SCANDZA)
III Let us now return to the site of the island of 16
Scandza, which we left above. Claudius Ptolemaeus, an
excellent describer of the world, has made mention of it
in the second book of his work, saying: "There is a
great island situated in the surge of the northern Ocean,
Scandza by name, in the shape of a juniper leaf with
bulging sides that taper down to a point at a long end."
Pomponius Mela also makes mention of it as situated in
the Codan Gulf of the sea, with Ocean lapping its shores.
This island lies in front of the river Vistula, which rises 17
in the Sarmatian mountains and flows through its triple
mouth into the northern Ocean in sight of Scandza, separating
Germany and Scythia. The island has in its
eastern part a vast lake in the bosom of the earth, whence
the Vagus river springs from the bowels of the earth and
flows surging into the Ocean. And on the west it is surrounded
by an immense sea. On the north it is bounded
by the same vast unnavigable Ocean, from which by
means of a sort of projecting arm of land a bay is cut off
and forms the German Sea. Here also there are said to 18
be many small islands scattered round about. If wolves
cross over to these islands when the sea is frozen by
reason of the great cold, they are said to lose their sight.
Thus the land is not only inhospitable to men but cruel
even to wild beasts.
Now in the island of Scandza, whereof I speak, there 19
dwell many and divers nations, though Ptolemaeus mentions
the names of but seven of them. There the honey-making
swarms of bees are nowhere to be found on
account of the exceeding great cold. In the northern part
of the island the race of the Adogit live, who are said
to have continual light in midsummer for forty days and
nights, and who likewise have no clear light in the winter
season for the same number of days and nights. By 20
reason of this alternation of sorrow and joy they are like
no other race in their sufferings and blessings. And why?
Because during the longer days they see the sun returning
to the east along the rim of the horizon, but on the shorter
days it is not thus seen. The sun shows itself differently
because it is passing through the southern signs, and
whereas to us the sun seem to rise from below, it seems
to go around them along the edge of the earth. There
also are other peoples. There are the Screrefennae, who 21
do not seek grain for food but live on the flesh of wild
beasts and birds' eggs; for there are such multitudes of
young game in the swamps as to provide for the natural
increase of their kind and to afford satisfaction to the
needs of the people. But still another race dwells there,
the Suehans, who, like the Thuringians, have splendid
horses. Here also are those who send through innumerable
other tribes the sappherine skins to trade for Roman
use. They are a people famed for the dark beauty of
their furs and, though living in poverty, are most richly
clothed. Then comes a throng of various nations, Theustes, 22
Vagoth, Bergio, Hallin, Liothida. All their habitations
are in one level and fertile region. Wherefore they
are disturbed there by the attacks of other tribes. Behind
these are the Ahelmil, Finnaithae, Fervir and Gauthigoth,
a race of men bold and quick to fight. Then come the
Mixi, Evagre, and Otingis. All these live like wild animals
in rocks hewn out like castles. And there are beyond 23
these the Ostrogoths, Raumarici, Aeragnaricii, and
the most gentle Finns, milder than all the inhabitants of
Scandza. Like them are the Vinovilith also. The Suetidi
are of this stock and excel the rest in stature. However,
the Dani, who trace their origin to the same stock, drove
from their homes the Heruli, who lay claim to preëminence
among all the nations of Scandza for their tallness.
Furthermore there are in the same neighborhood the 24
Grannii, Augandzi, Eunixi, Taetel, Rugi, Arochi and
Ranii, over whom Roduulf was king not many years ago.
But he despised his own kingdom and fled to the embrace
of Theodoric, king of the Goths, finding there what he
desired. All these nations surpassed the Germans in size
and spirit, and fought with the cruelty of wild beasts.
(The United Goths)
[Sidenote: HOW THE GOTHS CAME TO SCYTHIA]
IV Now from this island of Scandza, as from a hive 25
of races or a womb of nations, the Goths are said to have
come forth long ago under their king, Berig by name.
As soon as they disembarked from their ships and set
foot on the land, they straightway gave their name to the
place. And even to-day it is said to be called Gothiscandza.
Soon they moved from here to the abodes of
the Ulmerugi, who then dwelt on the shores of Ocean, 26
where they pitched camp, joined battle with them and
drove them from their homes. Then they subdued their
neighbors, the Vandals, and thus added to their victories.
But when the number of the people increased greatly and
Filimer, son of Gadaric, reigned as king--about the fifth
since Berig--he decided that the army of the Goths with
their families should move from that region. In search 27
of suitable homes and pleasant places they came to the
land of Scythia, called Oium in that tongue. Here they
were delighted with the great richness of the country,
and it is said that when half the army had been brought
over, the bridge whereby they had crossed the river fell
in utter ruin, nor could anyone thereafter pass to or fro.
For the place is said to be surrounded by quaking bogs
and an encircling abyss, so that by this double obstacle
nature has made it inaccessible. And even to-day one
may hear in that neighborhood the lowing of cattle and
may find traces of men, if we are to believe the stories
of travellers, although we must grant that they hear these
things from afar.
This part of the Goths, which is said to have crossed 28
the river and entered with Filimer into the country of
Oium, came into possession of the desired land, and there
they soon came upon the race of the Spali, joined battle
with them and won the victory. Thence the victors hastened
to the farthest part of Scythia, which is near the sea
of Pontus; for so the story is generally told in their early
songs, in almost historic fashion. Ablabius also, a famous
chronicler of the Gothic race, confirms this in his
most trustworthy account. Some of the ancient writers 29
also agree with the tale. Among these we may mention
Josephus, a most reliable relator of annals, who everywhere
follows the rule of truth and unravels from the
beginning the origin of causes;--but why he has omitted
the beginnings of the race of the Goths, of which I have
spoken, I do not know. He barely mentions Magog
of that stock, and says they were Scythians by race and
were called so by name.
Before we enter on our history, we must describe the
boundaries of this land, as it lies.
[Sidenote: SCYTHIA]
V Now Scythia borders on the land of Germany as 30
far as the source of the river Ister and the expanse of the
Morsian Swamp. It reaches even to the rivers Tyra,
Danaster and Vagosola, and the great Danaper, extending
to the Taurus range--not the mountains in Asia but
our own, that is, the Scythian Taurus--all the way to
Lake Maeotis. Beyond Lake Maeotis it spreads on the
other side of the straits of Bosphorus to the Caucasus
Mountains and the river Araxes. Then it bends back to
the left behind the Caspian Sea, which comes from the
north-eastern ocean in the most distant parts of Asia, and
so is formed like a mushroom, at first narrow and then
broad and round in shape. It extends as far as the Huns,
Albani and Seres. This land, I say,--namely, Scythia, 31
stretching far and spreading wide,--has on the east the
Seres, a race that dwelt at the very beginning of their
history on the shore of the Caspian Sea. On the west are
the Germans and the river Vistula; on the arctic side,
namely the north, it is surrounded by Ocean; on the south
by Persis, Albania, Hiberia, Pontus and the farthest
channel of the Ister, which is called the Danube all the
way from mouth to source. But in that region where 32
Scythia touches the Pontic coast it is dotted with towns
of no mean fame:--Borysthenis, Olbia, Callipolis, Cherson,
Theodosia, Careon, Myrmicion and Trapezus. These
towns the wild Scythian tribes allowed the Greeks to build
to afford them means of trade. In the midst of Scythia is
the place that separates Asia and Europe, I mean the
Rhipaeian mountains, from which the mighty Tanais
flows. This river enters Maeotis, a marsh having a circuit
of one hundred and forty-four miles and never subsiding
to a depth of less than eight fathoms.
In the land of Scythia to the westward dwells, first of 33
all, the race of the Gepidae, surrounded by great and
famous rivers. For the Tisia flows through it on the
north and northwest, and on the southwest is the great
Danube. On the east it is cut by the Flutausis, a swiftly
eddying stream that sweeps whirling into the Ister's
waters. Within these rivers lies Dacia, encircled by the 34
lofty Alps as by a crown. Near their left ridge, which
inclines toward the north, and beginning at the source of
the Vistula, the populous race of the Venethi dwell, occupying
a great expanse of land. Though their names are
now dispersed amid various clans and places, yet they are
chiefly called Sclaveni and Antes. The abode of the 35
Sclaveni extends from the city of Noviodunum and the
lake called Mursianus to the Danaster, and northward as
far as the Vistula. They have swamps and forests for
their cities. The Antes, who are the bravest of these
peoples dwelling in the curve of the sea of Pontus, spread
from the Danaster to the Danaper, rivers that are many
days' journey apart. But on the shore of Ocean, where 36
the floods of the river Vistula empty from three mouths,
the Vidivarii dwell, a people gathered out of various
tribes. Beyond them the Aesti, a subject race, likewise
hold the shore of Ocean. To the south dwell the Acatziri,
a very brave tribe ignorant of agriculture, who subsist
on their flocks and by hunting. Farther away and above 37
the Sea of Pontus are the abodes of the Bulgares, well
known from the wrongs done to them by reason of our
oppression. From this region the Huns, like a fruitful
root of bravest races, sprouted into two hordes of people.
Some of these are called Altziagiri, others Sabiri; and
they have different dwelling places. The Altziagiri are
near Cherson, where the avaricious traders bring in the
goods of Asia. In summer they range the plains, their
broad domains, wherever the pasturage for their cattle
invites them, and betake themselves in winter beyond the
Sea of Pontus. Now the Hunuguri are known to us from
the fact that they trade in marten skins. But they have
been cowed by their bolder neighbors.
[Sidenote: THE THREE ABODES OF THE GOTHS]
We read that on their first migration the Goths dwelt 38
in the land of Scythia near Lake Maeotis. On the second
migration they went to Moesia, Thrace and Dacia, and
after their third they dwelt again in Scythia, above the
Sea of Pontus. Nor do we find anywhere in their
written records legends which tell of their subjection to
slavery in Britain or in some other island, or of their
redemption by a certain man at the cost of a single horse.
Of course if anyone in our city says that the Goths had an
origin different from that I have related, let him object.
For myself, I prefer to believe what I have read, rather
than put trust in old wives' tales.
To return, then, to my subject. The aforesaid race of 39
which I speak is known to have had Filimer as king while
they remained in their first home in Scythia near Maeotis.
In their second home, that is in the countries of Dacia,
Thrace and Moesia, Zalmoxes reigned, whom many writers
of annals mention as a man of remarkable learning in
philosophy. Yet even before this they had a learned man
Zeuta, and after him Dicineus; and the third was Zalmoxes
of whom I have made mention above. Nor did
they lack teachers of wisdom. Wherefore the Goths have 40
ever been wiser than other barbarians and were nearly
like the Greeks, as Dio relates, who wrote their history
and annals with a Greek pen. He says that those of noble
birth among them, from whom their kings and priests
were appointed, were called first Tarabostesei and then
Pilleati. Moreover so highly were the Getae praised that
Mars, whom the fables of poets call the god of war, was
reputed to have been born among them. Hence Virgil
says:
"Father Gradivus rules the Getic fields." 41
Now Mars has always been worshipped by the Goths
with cruel rites, and captives were slain as his victims.
They thought that he who is the lord of war ought to be
appeased by the shedding of human blood. To him they
devoted the first share of the spoil, and in his honor arms
stripped from the foe were suspended from trees. And
they had more than all other races a deep spirit of religion,
since the worship of this god seemed to be really
bestowed upon their ancestor.
In their third dwelling place, which was above the Sea 42
of Pontus, they had now become more civilized and, as I
have said before, were more learned. Then the people
were divided under ruling families. The Visigoths served
the family of the Balthi and the Ostrogoths served the
renowned Amali. They were the first race of men to 43
string the bow with cords, as Lucan, who is more of a
historian than a poet, affirms:
"They string Armenian bows with Getic cords."
[Sidenote: THE RIVER DON]
[Sidenote: THE DNIEPER]
In earliest times they sang of the deeds of their ancestors
in strains of song accompanied by the cithara; chanting
of Eterpamara, Hanala, Fritigern, Vidigoia and
others whose fame among them is great; such heroes as
admiring antiquity scarce proclaims its own to be. Then, 44
as the story goes, Vesosis waged a war disastrous to
himself against the Scythians, whom ancient tradition
asserts to have been the husbands of the Amazons. Concerning
these female warriors Orosius speaks in convincing
language. Thus we can clearly prove that Vesosis
then fought with the Goths, since we know surely that he
waged war with the husbands of the Amazons. They
dwelt at that time along a bend of Lake Maeotis, from
the river Borysthenes, which the natives call the Danaper,
to the stream of the Tanais. By the Tanais I mean the 45
river which flows down from the Rhipaeian mountains
and rushes with so swift a current that when the neighboring
streams or Lake Maeotis and the Bosphorus are
frozen fast, it is the only river that is kept warm by the
rugged mountains and is never solidified by the Scythian
cold. It is also famous as the boundary of Asia and
Europe. For the other Tanais is the one which rises in
the mountains of the Chrinni and flows into the Caspian
Sea. The Danaper begins in a great marsh and issues 46
from it as from its mother. It is sweet and fit to drink
as far as half-way down its course. It also produces fish
of a fine flavor and without bones, having only cartilage
as the frame-work of their bodies. But as it approaches
the Pontus it receives a little spring called Exampaeus,
so very bitter that although the river is navigable for the
length of a forty days' voyage, it is so altered by the
water of this scanty stream as to become tainted and
unlike itself, and flows thus tainted into the sea between
the Greek towns of Callipidae and Hypanis. At its mouth
there is an island named Achilles. Between these two
rivers is a vast land filled with forests and treacherous
swamps.
[Sidenote: DEFEAT OF VESOSIS (SESOSTRIS)]
VI This was the region where the Goths dwelt when 47
Vesosis, king of the Egyptians, made war upon them.
Their king at that time was Tanausis. In a battle at the
river Phasis (whence come the birds called pheasants,
which are found in abundance at the banquets of the great
all over the world) Tanausis, king of the Goths, met
Vesosis, king of the Egyptians, and there inflicted a
severe defeat upon him, pursuing him even to Egypt.
Had he not been restrained by the waters of the impassable
Nile and the fortifications which Vesosis had long
ago ordered to be made against the raids of the Ethiopians,
he would have slain him in his own land. But
finding he had no power to injure him there, he returned
and conquered almost all Asia and made it subject and
tributary to Sornus, king of the Medes, who was then his
dear friend. At that time some of his victorious army,
seeing that the subdued provinces were rich and fruitful,
deserted their companies and of their own accord
remained in various parts of Asia.
From their name or race Pompeius Trogus says the 48
stock of the Parthians had its origin. Hence even to-day
in the Scythian tongue they are called Parthi, that is,
Deserters. And in consequence of their descent they are
archers--almost alone among all the nations of Asia--and
are very valiant warriors. Now in regard to the
name, though I have said they were called Parthi because
they were deserters, some have traced the derivation of
the word otherwise, saying that they were called Parthi
because they fled from their kinsmen. Now when this
Tanausis, king of the Goths, was dead, his people worshipped
him as one of their gods.
[Sidenote: THE AMAZONS IN ASIA MINOR]
VII After his death, while the army under his successors 49
was engaged in an expedition in other parts, a
neighboring tribe attempted to carry off women of the
Goths as booty. But they made a brave resistance, as
they had been taught to do by their husbands, and routed
in disgrace the enemy who had come upon them. When
they had won this victory, they were inspired with greater
daring. Mutually encouraging each other, they took up
arms and chose two of the bolder, Lampeto and Marpesia,
to act as their leaders. While they were in command, 50
they cast lots both for the defense of their own country
and the devastation of other lands. So Lampeto remained
to guard their native land and Marpesia took a company
of women and led this novel army into Asia. After conquering
various tribes in war and making others their
allies by treaties, she came to the Caucasus. There she
remained for some time and gave the place the name Rock
of Marpesia, of which also Virgil makes mention:
"Like to hard flint or the Marpesian Cliff."
It was here Alexander the Great afterwards built gates
and named them the Caspian Gates, which now the tribe
of the Lazi guard as a Roman fortification. Here, then, 51
the Amazons remained for some time and were much
strengthened. Then they departed and crossed the river
Halys, which flows near the city of Gangra, and with
equal success subdued Armenia, Syria, Cilicia, Galatia,
Pisidia and all the places of Asia. Then they turned to
Ionia and Aeolia, and made provinces of them after their
surrender. Here they ruled for some time and even
founded cities and camps bearing their name. At Ephesus
also they built a very costly and beautiful temple for
Diana, because of her delight in archery and the chase--arts
to which they were themselves devoted. Then these 52
Scythian-born women, who had by such a chance gained
control over the kingdoms of Asia, held them for almost
a hundred years, and at last came back to their own kinsfolk
in the Marpesian rocks I have mentioned above,
namely the Caucasus mountains.
[Sidenote: THE CAUCASUS]
Inasmuch as I have twice mentioned this mountain-range,
I think it not out of place to describe its extent and
situation, for, as is well known, it encompasses a great
part of the earth with its continuous chain. Beginning 53
at the Indian Ocean, where it faces the south it is warm,
giving off vapor in the sun; where it lies open to the
north it is exposed to chill winds and frost. Then bending
back into Syria with a curving turn, it not only sends
forth many other streams, but pours from its plenteous
breasts into the Vasianensian region the Euphrates and
the Tigris, navigable rivers famed for their unfailing
springs. These rivers surround the land of the Syrians
and cause it to be called Mesopotamia, as it truly is. Their
waters empty into the bosom of the Red Sea. Then turning 54
back to the north, the range I have spoken of passes
with great bends through the Scythian lands. There it
sends forth very famous rivers into the Caspian Sea--the
Araxes, the Cyrus and the Cambyses. It goes on in continuous
range even to the Rhipaeian mountains. Thence
it descends from the north toward the Pontic Sea, furnishing
a boundary to the Scythian tribes by its ridge, and
even touches the waters of the Ister with its clustered
hills. Being cut by this river, it divides, and in Scythia
is named Taurus also. Such then is the great range, 55
almost the mightiest of mountain chains, rearing aloft its
summits and by its natural conformation supplying men
with impregnable strongholds. Here and there it divides
where the ridge breaks apart and leaves a deep gap, thus
forming now the Caspian Gates, and again the Armenian
or the Cilician, or of whatever name the place may be.
Yet they are barely passable for a wagon, for both sides
are sharp and steep as well as very high. The range has
different names among various peoples. The Indian calls
it Imaus and in another part Paropamisus. The Parthian
calls it first Choatras and afterward Niphates; the Syrian
and Armenian call it Taurus; the Scythian names it Caucasus
and Rhipaeus, and at its end calls it Taurus. Many
other tribes have given names to the range. Now that we
have devoted a few words to describing its extent, let us
return to the subject of the Amazons.
[Sidenote: THE AMAZONS]
VIII Fearing their race would fail, they sought marriage 56
with neighboring tribes. They appointed a day for
meeting once in every year, so that when they should
return to the same place on that day in the following year
each mother might give over to the father whatever male
child she had borne, but should herself keep and train for
warfare whatever children of the female sex were born.
Or else, as some maintain, they exposed the males, destroying
the life of the ill-fated child with a hate like
that of a stepmother. Among them childbearing was
detested, though everywhere else it is desired. The terror 57
of their cruelty was increased by common rumor; for
what hope, pray, would there be for a captive, when it
was considered wrong to spare even a son? Hercules,
they say, fought against them and overcame Menalippe,
yet more by guile than by valor. Theseus, moreover, took
Hippolyte captive, and of her he begat Hippolytus. And
in later times the Amazons had a queen named Penthesilea,
famed in the tales of the Trojan war. These women
are said to have kept their power even to the time of
Aleander the Great.
[Sidenote: REIGN OF TELEFUS AND EURYPYLUS]
IX But say not "Why does a story which deals with 58
the men of the Goths have so much to say of their women?"
Hear, then, the tale of the famous and glorious
valor of the men. Now Dio, the historian and diligent
investigator of ancient times, who gave to his work the
title "Getica" (and the Getae we have proved in a previous
passage to be Goths, on the testimony of Orosius
Paulus)--this Dio, I say, makes mention of a later king
of theirs named Telefus. Let no one say that this name
is quite foreign to the Gothic tongue, and let no one who
is ignorant cavil at the fact that the tribes of men make
use of many names, even as the Romans borrow from the
Macedonians, the Greeks from the Romans, the Sarmatians
from the Germans, and the Goths frequently from
the Huns. This Telefus, then, a son of Hercules by 59
Auge, and the husband of a sister of Priam, was of
towering stature and terrible strength. He matched his
father's valor by virtues of his own and also recalled the
traits of Hercules by his likeness in appearance. Our
ancestors called his kingdom Moesia. This province has
on the east the mouths of the Danube, on the south
Macedonia, on the west Histria and on the north the
Danube. Now this king we have mentioned carried on 60
wars with the Greeks, and in their course he slew in battle
Thesander, the leader of Greece. But while he was making
a hostile attack upon Ajax and was pursuing Ulysses,
his horse became entangled in some vines and fell. He
himself was thrown and wounded in the thigh by a javelin
of Achilles, so that for a long time he could not be healed.
Yet, despite his wound, he drove the Greeks from his
land. Now when Telefus died, his son Eurypylus succeeded
to the throne, being a son of the sister of Priam,
king of the Phrygians. For love of Cassandra he sought
to take part in the Trojan war, that he might come to the
help of her parents and his own father-in-law; but soon
after his arrival he was killed.
[Sidenote: Cyrus the Great B.C. 559-529]
[Sidenote: QUEEN TOMYRIS AND CYRUS B.C. 529]
X Then Cyrus, king of the Persians, after a long 61
interval of almost exactly six hundred and thirty years
(as Pompeius Trogus relates), waged an unsuccessful
war against Tomyris, Queen of the Getae. Elated by his
victories in Asia, he strove to conquer the Getae, whose
queen, as I have said, was Tomyris. Though she could
have stopped the approach of Cyrus at the river Araxes,
yet she permitted him to cross, preferring to overcome
him in battle rather than to thwart him by advantage of 62
position. And so she did. As Cyrus approached, fortune
at first so favored the Parthians that they slew the son
of Tomyris and most of the army. But when the battle
was renewed, the Getae and their queen defeated, conquered
and overwhelmed the Parthians and took rich
plunder from them. There for the first time the race of
the Goths saw silken tents. After achieving this victory
and winning so much booty from her enemies, Queen
Tomyris crossed over into that part of Moesia which is
now called Lesser Scythia--a name borrowed from great
Scythia,--and built on the Moesian shore of Pontus the
city of Tomi, named after herself.
[Sidenote: DARIUS B.C. 521-485]
[Sidenote: DARIUS REPELLED]
Afterwards Darius, king of the Persians, the son of 63
Hystaspes, demanded in marriage the daughter of Antyrus,
king of the Goths, asking for her hand and at the
same time making threats in case they did not fulfil his
wish. The Goths spurned this alliance and brought his
embassy to naught. Inflamed with anger because his
offer had been rejected, he led an army of seven hundred
thousand armed men against them and sought to avenge
his wounded feelings by inflicting a public injury. Crossing
on boats covered with boards and joined like a bridge
almost the whole way from Chalcedon to Byzantium, he
started for Thrace and Moesia. Later he built a bridge
over the Danube in like manner, but he was wearied by
two brief months of effort and lost eight thousand armed
men among the Tapae. Then, fearing the bridge over the
Danube would be seized by his foes, he marched back to
Thrace in swift retreat, believing the land of Moesia
would not be safe for even a short sojourn there.
[Sidenote: Xerxes B.C. 485-465]
After his death, his son Xerxes planned to avenge his 64
father's wrongs and so proceeded to undertake a war
against the Goths with seven hundred thousand of his
own men and three hundred thousand armed auxiliaries,
twelve hundred ships of war and three thousand transports.
But he did not venture to try them in battle, being
overawed by their unyielding animosity. So he returned
with his force just as he had come, and without righting
a single battle.
[Sidenote: Philip of Macedon B.C. 359-336]
[Sidenote: SIEGE OF ODESSUS]
Then Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, made 65
alliance with the Goths and took to wife Medopa, the
daughter of King Gudila, so that he might render the
kingdom of Macedon more secure by the help of this
marriage. It was at this time, as the historian Dio relates,
that Philip, suffering from need of money, determined
to lead out his forces and sack Odessus, a city of
Moesia, which was then subject to the Goths by reason of
the neighboring city of Tomi. Thereupon those priests
of the Goths that are called the Holy Men suddenly
opened the gates of Odessus and came forth to meet them.
They bore harps and were clad in snowy robes, and
chanted in suppliant strains to the gods of their fathers
that they might be propitious and repel the Macedonians.
When the Macedonians saw them coming with such confidence
to meet them, they were astonished and, so to
speak, the armed were terrified by the unarmed. Straight-way
they broke the line they had formed for battle and
not only refrained from destroying the city, but even
gave back those whom they had captured outside by right
of war. Then they made a truce and returned to their
own country.
After a long time Sitalces, a famous leader of the 66
Goths, remembering this treacherous attempt, gathered a
hundred and fifty thousand men and made war upon the
Athenians, fighting against Perdiccas, King of Macedon.
This Perdiccas had been left by Alexander as his successor
to rule Athens by hereditary right, when he drank his
destruction at Babylon through the treachery of an attendant.
The Goths engaged in a great battle with him
and proved themselves to be the stronger. Thus in return
for the wrong which the Macedonians had long before
committed in Moesia, the Goths overran Greece and laid
waste the whole of Macedonia.
[Sidenote: Sulla's Dictatorship B.C. 82-79]
[Sidenote: THE WISE RULE OF DICINEUS]
[Sidenote: Caesar's Dictatorship B.C. 49-44]
[Sidenote: Tiberius A.D. 14-37]
XI Then when Buruista was king of the Goths, 67
Dicineus came to Gothia at the time when Sulla ruled the
Romans. Buruista received Dicineus and gave him almost
royal power. It was by his advice the Goths ravaged
the lands of the Germans, which the Franks now possess. 68
Then came Caesar, the first of all the Romans to assume
imperial power and to subdue almost the whole world,
who conquered all kingdoms and even seized islands lying
beyond our world, reposing in the bosom of Ocean. He
made tributary to the Romans those that knew not the
Roman name even by hearsay, and yet was unable to prevail
against the Goths, despite his frequent attempts.
Soon Gaius Tiberius reigned as third emperor of the
Romans, and yet the Goths continued in their kingdom
unharmed. Their safety, their advantage, their one hope 69
lay in this, that whatever their counsellor Dicineus advised
should by all means be done; and they judged it
expedient that they should labor for its accomplishment.
And when he saw that their minds were obedient to him
in all things and that they had natural ability, he taught
them almost the whole of philosophy, for he was a skilled
master of this subject. Thus by teaching them ethics he
restrained their barbarous customs; by imparting a knowledge
of physics he made them live naturally under laws
of their own, which they possess in written form to this
day and call _belagines_. He taught them logic and made
them skilled in reasoning beyond all other races; he
showed them practical knowledge and so persuaded them
to abound in good works. By demonstrating theoretical
knowledge he urged them to contemplate the twelve signs
and the courses of the planets passing through them, and
the whole of astronomy. He told them how the disc of
the moon gains increase or suffers loss, and showed them
how much the fiery globe of the sun exceeds in size our
earthly planet. He explained the names of the three hundred
and forty-six stars and told through what signs in
the arching vault of the heavens they glide swiftly from
their rising to their setting. Think, I pray you, what 70
pleasure it was for these brave men, when for a little
space they had leisure from warfare, to be instructed in
the teachings of philosophy! You might have seen one
scanning the position of the heavens and another investigating
the nature of plants and bushes. Here stood one
who studied the waxing and waning of the moon, while
still another regarded the labors of the sun and observed
how those bodies which were hastening to go toward the
east are whirled around and borne back to the west by
the rotation of the heavens. When they had learned the 71
reason, they were at rest. These and various other matters
Dicineus taught the Goths in his wisdom and gained
marvellous repute among them, so that he ruled not only
the common men but their kings. He chose from among
them those that were at that time of noblest birth and
superior wisdom and taught them theology, bidding them
worship certain divinities and holy places. He gave the
name of Pilleati to the priests he ordained, I suppose
because they offered sacrifice having their heads covered
with tiaras, which we otherwise call _pillei_. But he bade
them call the rest of their race Capillati. This name the 72
Goths accepted and prized highly and they retain it to
this day in their songs.
After the death of Dicineus, they held Comosicus in 73
almost equal honor, because he was not inferior in knowledge.
By reason of his wisdom he was accounted their
priest and king, and he judged the people with the greatest
uprightness.
[Sidenote: DACIA]
XII When he too had departed from human affairs,
Coryllus ascended the throne as king of the Goths and for
forty years ruled his people in Dacia. I mean ancient
Dacia, which the race of the Gepidae now possess. This
country lies across the Danube within sight of Moesia, 74
and is surrounded by a crown of mountains. It has only
two ways of access, one by way of the Boutae and the
other by the Tapae. This Gothia, which our ancestors
called Dacia and now, as I have said, is called Gepidia,
was then bounded on the east by the Roxolani, on the west
by the Iazyges, on the north by the Sarmatians and Basternae
and on the south by the river Danube. The Iazyges
are separated from the Roxolani by the Aluta river only.
[Sidenote: THE DANUBE]
And since mention has been made of the Danube, I 75
think it not out of place to make brief notice of so excellent
a stream. Rising in the fields of the Alamanni, it
receives sixty streams which flow into it here and there
in the twelve hundred miles from its source to its mouths
in the Pontus, resembling a spine inwoven with ribs like
a basket. It is indeed a most vast river. In the language
of the Bessi it is called the Hister, and it has profound
waters in its channel to a depth of quite two hundred feet.
This stream surpasses in size all other rivers, except the
Nile. Let this much suffice for the Danube. But let us
now with the Lord's help return to the subject from which
we have digressed.
[Sidenote: Domitian A.D. 81-96]
[Sidenote: WAR WITH DOMITIAN]
XIII Now after a long time, in the reign of the 76
Emperor Domitian, the Goths, through fear of his avarrice,
broke the truce they had long observed under other
emperors. They laid waste the bank of the Danube, so
long held by the Roman Empire, and slew the soldiers and
their generals. Oppius Sabinus was then in command of
that province, succeeding Agrippa, while Dorpaneus held
command over the Goths. Thereupon the Goths made
war and conquered the Romans, cut off the head of
Oppius Sabinus, and invaded and boldly plundered many
castles and cities belonging to the Emperor. In this plight 77
of his countrymen Domitian hastened with all his might
to Illyricum, bringing with him the troops of almost
the entire empire. He sent Fuscus before him as his
general with picked soldiers. Then joining boats together
like a bridge, he made his soldiers cross the river
Danube above the army of Dorpaneus. But the Goths 78
were on the alert. They took up arms and presently overwhelmed
the Romans in the first encounter. They slew
Fuscus, the commander, and plundered the soldiers' camp
of its treasure. And because of the great victory they
had won in this region, they thereafter called their leaders,
by whose good fortune they seemed to have conquered,
not mere men, but demigods, that is Ansis. Their
genealogy I shall run through briefly, telling the lineage
of each and the beginning and the end of this line. And
do thou, O reader, hear me without repining; for I speak
truly.
[Sidenote: GENEALOGY OF THE ANSIS OR AMALI]
XIV Now the first of these heroes, as they themselves 79
relate in their legends, was Gapt, who begat
Hulmul. And Hulmul begat Augis; and Augis begat
him who was called Amal, from whom the name of the
Amali comes. This Amal begat Hisarnis. Hisarnis
moreover begat Ostrogotha, and Ostrogotha begat Hunuil,
and Hunuil likewise begat Athal. Athal begat
Achiulf and Oduulf. Now Achiulf begat Ansila and
Ediulf, Vultuulf and Hermanaric. And Vultuulf begat
Valaravans and Valaravans begat Vinitharius. Vinitharius
moreover begat Vandalarius; Vandalarius begat 80
Thiudimer and Valamir and Vidimer; and Thiudimer
begat Theodoric. Theodoric begat Amalasuentha; Amalasuentha
bore Athalaric and Mathesuentha to her husband
Eutharic, whose race was thus joined to hers in
kinship. For the aforesaid Hermanaric, the son of 81
Achiulf, begat Hunimund, and Hunimund begat Thorismud.
Now Thorismud begat Beremud, Beremud begat
Veteric, and Veteric likewise begat Eutharic, who married
Amalasuentha and begat Athalaric and Mathesuentha.
Athalaric died in the years of his childhood, and
Mathesuentha married Vitiges, to whom she bore no
child. Both of them were taken together by Belisarius to
Constantinople. When Vitiges passed from human affairs,
Germanus the patrician, a cousin of the Emperor
Justinian, took Mathesuentha in marriage and made her
a Patrician Ordinary. And of her he begat a son, also
called Germanus. But upon the death of Germanus, she
determined to remain a widow. Now how and in what
wise the kingdom of the Amali was overthrown we shall
keep to tell in its proper place, if the Lord help us.
But let us now return to the point whence we made our 82
digression and tell how the stock of this people of whom
I speak reached the end of its course. Now 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.
[Sidenote: MAXIMINUS, THE GOTH WHO BECAME A ROMAN EMPEROR]
[Sidenote: Septimius Severus A.D. 193-211]
[Sidenote: Antoninus Caracalla A.D. 198-217]
[Sidenote: Macrinus A.D. 217-218]