Just wanted to get the ball rolling with a brief overview of who the Goths were.


According to their own traditions, the Goths originated in a land called 'Gothiscandza', identified as southern Scandinavia. It was population pressure, which, according to their legends, caused them to move en masse to what would become their long-standing homeland between the Oder and the Vistula, in what is now Poland. Unfortunately, there is no archaeological evidence to support that legend. What does seem to have happened is that there was a slow, steady drift from the Oder-Vistula region to include Scythia. This region contained an already mixed population, which would intermingle with the new Goths to create a heterogeneous populace.

By the middle of the Third Century AD, they had a formidable martial power, and in 238 a Gothic army crossed the Danube in 238 extracting heavy tribute before withdrawing. With their growth of influence, they ended up with positions in the Roman army and at some point there may have been a formal treaty with the Emperor Gordian III. However, this did not prevent a second invasion in 250, when the Goths, led by Kniva, along with some members from other tribes such as the Vandals, as well as a number of Roman deserters. Kniva led his army to sack Philippopolis and overwhelmed a Roman army at Abrittus in 251 resualting in the killing of Decius and his son Herennius

Further incursions would follow, including sea-borne raids, culminating with the taking of Trebizond. A massive invasion of Asia Minor followed, resulting in the acquisition of massive plunder and many slaves, who may have been instrumental in the conversion of the Goths to Arian Christianity.

When their leader Cannabaudes is killed by Emperor Aurelian (270-275), this precipitates a major shift in the balance of power in Eastern Europe. The appearance of the Gepids to fill the vacuum drives a wedge between the Tervingi branch of the Goths, west of the Dniester, and the Greutungi, east of the Sea of Azov. While the Tervingi consolidate their realm between the Dniester and the Danube, and become known to the Romans as the Visigoths. The Greutungi, or Ostrogoths, are conquered by the Huns, who sweep into Europe from the Asiatic steppes in the latter half of the fourth century.