The Gothic Confederation & The Attack of 3rd Century A.D.
Also towards the end of the second century A.D., one of the East German groups, the Goths, had begun a migration from the lower Vistula southward towards the shores of the Black Sea. The Gothic kings, interestingly, held more military authority that was typical for the looser central government of other Germanic tribes. The emerging royal family formed a seeding crystal for the integration of other groups under the Gothic banner. In other words, a Goth was not necessarily made at birth, but rather by an allegiance to fight alongside the Gothic king. This meant that the migration of the Goths was less of a physical movement than a gradual absorption of other peoples, including Germans and Slavs, living around the Black Sea.
The resultant Gothic Confederation was strong enough in the third century A.D. to challenge a Roman Empire weakened by internal troubles and the disturbing rise of a new Persian Empire in the east. Records show that the attacks by the Goths on the Roman Empire began around 247 A.D. In 251 A.D., they decimated the troops of Emperor Decius at the mouth of the Danube, and killed the emperor himself. Later they took control of ports in southern Russia and greatly hindered Roman shipping in the Black Sea. These attacks continued until the reign of Emperor Claudius I, who earned the moniker Claudius Gothicus for his decisive quelling of the Goths.
Also towards the end of the second century A.D., one of the East German groups, the Goths, had begun a migration from the lower Vistula southward towards the shores of the Black Sea. The Gothic kings, interestingly, held more military authority that was typical for the looser central government of other Germanic tribes. The emerging royal family formed a seeding crystal for the integration of other groups under the Gothic banner. In other words, a Goth was not necessarily made at birth, but rather by an allegiance to fight alongside the Gothic king. This meant that the migration of the Goths was less of a physical movement than a gradual absorption of other peoples, including Germans and Slavs, living around the Black Sea.
The resultant Gothic Confederation was strong enough in the third century A.D. to challenge a Roman Empire weakened by internal troubles and the disturbing rise of a new Persian Empire in the east. Records show that the attacks by the Goths on the Roman Empire began around 247 A.D. In 251 A.D., they decimated the troops of Emperor Decius at the mouth of the Danube, and killed the emperor himself. Later they took control of ports in southern Russia and greatly hindered Roman shipping in the Black Sea. These attacks continued until the reign of Emperor Claudius I, who earned the moniker Claudius Gothicus for his decisive quelling of the Goths.
| Updated >> 21 September 2004 |