Goths

The Goths^[a] were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe.^[1][2][3] They were first reported by Graeco-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 concentrated upon the Roman border at the Lower Danube, seeking refuge inside the Roman Empire. After they entered the Empire, violence broke out, 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 group of these, initially led by their king Alaric I, were the precursors of the Visigoths, and their successors eventually establishing a Visigothic Kingdom in Spain at Toledo.^[3] 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 an Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy at Ravenna.^[4][3]

The Ostrogothic Kingdom was destroyed by the Eastern Roman Empire in the 6th century, while the Visigothic Kingdom was largely conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate in the early 8th century, with a remnant in Asturias which would go on to initiate the Reconquista under Pelagius. Remnants of Gothic communities in Crimea, known as the Crimean Goths, established a culture that survived for more than a thousand years,^[5] although Goths would eventually cease to exist as a distinct people.^[6][7]

Gothic architecture, Gothic literature and the modern-day Goth subculture ultimately derive their names from the ancient Goths, though the Goths themselves did not directly create or influence these art forms.^[8]

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).