Goths

A Germanic people whose two branches, the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths, for centuries harassed the Roman Empire. According to their own legend, the Goths originated in southern Scandinavia and crossed in three ships under their king Berig to the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, where they settled after defeating the Vandals and other Germanic peoples in that area. The split into two groups took place c 200 AD. Those Goths living between the Danube and the Dnestr rivers became known as Visigoths, and those in what is now the Ukraine as Ostrogoths. Under their king Alaric, the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410 AD. Later they moved to southern France and settled in Aquitaine before seizing control of Spain. The Ostrogoths helped defeat the Huns in Italy in 454. Under Oadacer and Theodoric there was a period of comparative peace until they were challenged and defeated by Justinian.

[Ostrogoth, Visigoth]. A group of Germanic tribes from the steppes of southeast Europe and southern Russia. In the 4th century food shortages and pressure from the Huns to their east caused the Goths to join other Barbarian tribes in attacks on the outlying Roman and Byzantine provinces. They comprised two distinct groups — the easternmost tribes known as the Ostrogoths who controlled the steppe lands between the Crimea and Rivers Don and Dniester, and the western tribes known as the Visigoths who came from between the Dniester and the Danube. Under their king Alaric the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410. Later they moved to southern France and settled in Aquitaine before seizing control of Spain. The material culture of the Visigoths is best exemplified by the Guarrazar and Torredonjimeno treasure hoards, which include a number of richly encrusted gold object such as the distinctive hanging crowns and pectoral crosses. Although Christians, both the Ostrogoths and Visigoths subscribed to the Arian sect. This was a matter of great contention with the Orthodox church of the Byzantine world and was possibly one reason why no help was given to the Visigoths in 711 when the Arabs invaded Spain and seized most of their kingdom. After a period of intermittent war with the Eastern Empire, the Ostrogoths helped the Imperial forces to defeat the Huns in Italy in 454, and under their leader Oadacer were asked by the eastern Emperor Zeno to take control of the country. Under Oadacer and Theodoric there was a period of comparative peace until they were challenged and defeated by Justinian. The Ostrogothic culture blended in with the Byzantine and as a result is virtually indistinguishable. However, since they were Arians their religious art banned the portrayal of the Virgin; examples are to be found in some of the mosaics at Ravenna.