LIVING IN GOTHIA
Kathryn Hinds*
The region that became known as Gothia had at one time been the Roman province of Dacia. Even though the empire gave up trying to control this territory in the third century, many people still lived there who had embraced the Roman language (Latin) and way of life. The Goths who moved in brought with them their own language and customs, but they seem to have made little or no effort to interfere with their romanized neighbors’ lifestyles. Even though the Tervingi came to dominate these former Roman subjects, they must have had many peaceful interactions with them. In fact, there was much about Roman culture that the Goths admired, and the longer they were in contact with it, the more aspects of it they imitated or adapted.
VILLAGES, CRAFTS, AND TRADE
Gothia was a region with numerous rivers, large and small, that watered rich countryside, perfect for growing grain and other food crops. There were also nearby grasslands, the western edge of the great band of steppe that stretched across Asia and into central Europe. These plains were home to nomads who herded cattle, sheep, and horses. Nomad camps could be found in Gothia, and there was frequent interaction between nomads and farmers.
Farm families made up the majority of the population. They lived in villages near the rivers, with only a couple miles separating one settlement from another. An average village was home to around a dozen households, who raised not only crops but livestock. Cattle were the most important animals, followed by sheep or goats. Few if any villagers had horses, though, which were generally limited to especially wealthy and powerful people.
Village houses were typically arranged in rows. They were built of wood or wattle-and-daub and partially—sometimes almost completely—dug into the ground. With the surrounding earth as insulation, these houses kept cooler in summer and warmer in winter than would have been possible otherwise. Nevertheless, houses built entirely aboveground could also be found in Gothia. Such homes combined living space for both people and animals all under one roof. This way the animals were protected from harsh weather, and their body heat helped warm the house.
Most cooking was probably done over a central hearth in clay pots. The staple foods were wheat, barley, and millet. They could be boiled into porridge or ground into flour to make bread. Each household probably ground its own grain in a hand mill—a labor-intensive process that was usually part of women’s work. Besides food preparation, women also would have been responsible for making nearly all their family’s clothes, which were generally woven from wool.
Gothic villages seem to have been largely self-sufficient, producing most of the everyday items people needed. Tools of wood and iron were generally locally made, as were clay pots. The best-quality pots were thrown on a potter’s wheel. Additional things made in Gothia included jewelry, particularly bronze or silver brooches and buckles, and combs and other objects crafted from antler or bone.
Sometimes such items were produced in centralized locations—for example, archaeologists have excavated a village with nearly twenty buildings in which combs, assembled from several pieces of antler, were in the process of production. At another settlement, archaeologists found a fourth-century glass factory. There must have been a high demand for its products, for they have been found at sites from Norway to Ukraine.
The fact that there was a percentage of the population who did not need to support themselves by farming but could specialize in skilled crafts shows that Gothia was fairly prosperous during this time. An important element of Gothic prosperity was trade with the Roman Empire. Rome seems to have valued this trade, too, since the entire lower Danube frontier was opened to it—a great contrast to the past, when the empire had allowed
only a few, carefully controlled, frontier crossings for merchants.
Archaeologists have discovered large numbers of Roman bronze coins in Gothia, especially in settlements within twenty or so miles of the Danube. The residents of this border zone, at least, appear to have enthusiastically adopted the use of money (although they may also have continued the more traditional practice of bartering for goods). The local people even produced their own bronze coinage, imitating Roman models. Among the Roman imports purchased in Gothia were wine and perhaps olive oil, as shown by finds of large clay jars called amphorae, which were used to transport these liquids.
ELITE GOTHS
Roman imports were part of the lifestyle of the Gothic elite. Along with wine, the homes of high-ranking Goths were graced by elegant Roman pottery and glassware. Large gold Roman coins became medallions to adorn many of Gothia’s aristocrats. Gothic craftspeople, too, produced luxury items for the elite, such as gold brooches, sometimes inlaid with thin slices of garnet in intricate designs. Leatherworkers and metalworkers made bridles and other gear for the horses ridden by high-ranking Goths. Smiths forged helmets and swords for the leading warriors. (The average Goth went into battle with just a spear and a wooden shield.)
Archaeologists have found only a few sites that may have been the headquarters of Gothic leaders. Among these are the remains of three fortified settlements situated along important trade routes northwest of the Black Sea.
All of them were much larger than the average Gothic village and had stone walls or foundations. One showed clear signs that it had been surrounded by a ditch and a rampart of earth, and apparently it had also been guarded by three towers.
At another site, along the Dniester River, archaeologists have found a walled village with eight houses, a pottery workshop, and an unusual central building. This large structure—whose purpose is unknown—featured a row of Roman-style columns and was also roofed like a Roman building, with clay tiles. Moreover, it had glass windows. Scholars can only conclude that it was built by some wealthy and powerful Goth who had spent time in the Roman Empire and brought back an admiration for its architecture.
Historical records do not give us enough information to know how much of an aristocracy or noble class existed in Gothia, nor can we know how formal or rigid any Gothic class system was. We are not even entirely sure how the Goths were governed.
Greek and Roman writers referred to several Gothic leaders as kings. The Latin word rex is related to the Gothic term reiks, and both have been translated as “king.” But while for the Romans a rex was an absolute monarch, the Goths of this time seem to have used reiks to mean a distinguished man or, in general, a leader—but not someone with sole governing power in all circumstances.
It may be that a reiks had command over a certain number of men who were bound to him by family relationships and personal ties of loyalty. He may have had real authority only during wartime, while in everyday life he had to rely more on the power of persuasion to get his followers to do as he wished. Whether or not a reiks inherited his position or was chosen by some kind of assembly of warriors is an issue that scholars have not settled. Perhaps in some Gothic groups at some times leaders were elected, while in other times and places inheritance was the normal practice. Or perhaps reiks was not even a formal rank among many of the Goths, but simply a title used to honor prominent and influential men.
In addition to kings, the Tervingi had a leader whom the Romans called a judge (iudex in Latin). The Gothic title for this person was thiudans—the word one later Gothic writer chose when he translated Greek basileus, meaning “emperor.” This use of the term shows that the Tervingi’s judges ranked higher than their kings. We also know the Tervingi could have a number of kings at the same time, but apparently only one judge. Although Greeks and Romans regarded the judge as the leader of the entire Tervingi, we don’t actually know just how much authority he had. We also can’t be sure how he was chosen, although
the position may have been passed down from father to son.
THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY
Ancient authors wrote very little about Gothic religion. From what they did record, we gather that wooden images sometimes represented the deities, who included a god of war. As in most ancient cultures, worship might involve sacrificing animals, who provided the meat eaten at religious feasts. Some of these feasts evidently celebrated seasonal holidays.
The Goths encountered Christianity through their contact with the Romans. The new religion had spread throughout the empire during the first and second centuries. By the time of the Gothic raids on Asia Minor in the mid-200s, Christianity was well established in many communities there. Not surprisingly, then, Christians were among the people taken captive during the raids. These Christians continued to practice their religion among the Goths, and they also passed it on to their descendants, who may well have intermarried with the Goths in some cases. Moreover, the Christians taught their beliefs to the Goths they lived with. Philostorgius, a fifth-century church historian, tells us, “They converted many of the barbarians to the way of piety and persuaded them to adopt the Christian faith.”In 313 the emperor Constantine gave Christianity legal recognition.
It was still a minority religion in the Roman Empire, but by the 320s he was favoring it over other faiths. A Christian himself, he may have influenced some of the Tervingi to adopt Christianity when they made peace with him in 332. In any case, a leader of Gothia’s Christian community soon rose to prominence. His name was Ulfila, Gothic for “little wolf.” We do not know how Ulfila got his education, but he knew Gothic, Latin, and Greek, and was said to have written religious works in all three languages. Sometime between the late 330s and 341 he was chosen by the Tervingi judge to go on a diplomatic mission to the emperor Constantius II (Constantine’s son) in Constantinople. While there, he was made “bishop of the Christians in the Gothic land”—that is, he was put in charge of all the priests and churches of Gothia.
Ulfila fulfilled this responsibility for seven or eight years, but then, according to Philostorgius, the Tervingi judge conducted “a tyrannical and fearsome persecution” against the Christians. The reasons for this may have been more political than religious, since Christianity was always closely associated with Roman power—the leaders of the Tervingi may have suspected that Gothic Christians were more loyal to Rome than to their own people. In any case, Ulfila and much of the Gothic Christian community left Gothia and were granted land inside the empire by Constantius himself. There they were known for generations afterward as the Gothi minores, or “little Goths.”Once settled in his new home, Ulfila began the work that made him most famous: the translation of the Bible into Gothic. This was a huge endeavor, for the Bible had been translated into only a couple of languages at this point, both of which had long been in literary use. But Gothic had never really been written down before. Philostorgius described Ulfila’s achievement: “He was the inventor for them [the Goths] of their own letters,” which he had to create first before he could even begin to write his translation. Ulfila did, however, leave out the Old Testament books of Kings. Philostorgius explained why: “These books contain the history of wars, while the Gothic people, being lovers of war, were in need of something to restrain their passion for fighting rather than to incite them to it.” Indeed, the little Goths became known as “peace-loving and unwarlike” shepherds. But as we shall see, other groups of Goths were far from giving up warfare.
* In the book 'The Barbarians! Goths, Marshall Cavendish- Benchmark, New York, 2010, p. 21-28
VILLAGES, CRAFTS, AND TRADE
Gothia was a region with numerous rivers, large and small, that watered rich countryside, perfect for growing grain and other food crops. There were also nearby grasslands, the western edge of the great band of steppe that stretched across Asia and into central Europe. These plains were home to nomads who herded cattle, sheep, and horses. Nomad camps could be found in Gothia, and there was frequent interaction between nomads and farmers.
Farm families made up the majority of the population. They lived in villages near the rivers, with only a couple miles separating one settlement from another. An average village was home to around a dozen households, who raised not only crops but livestock. Cattle were the most important animals, followed by sheep or goats. Few if any villagers had horses, though, which were generally limited to especially wealthy and powerful people.
Village houses were typically arranged in rows. They were built of wood or wattle-and-daub and partially—sometimes almost completely—dug into the ground. With the surrounding earth as insulation, these houses kept cooler in summer and warmer in winter than would have been possible otherwise. Nevertheless, houses built entirely aboveground could also be found in Gothia. Such homes combined living space for both people and animals all under one roof. This way the animals were protected from harsh weather, and their body heat helped warm the house.
Most cooking was probably done over a central hearth in clay pots. The staple foods were wheat, barley, and millet. They could be boiled into porridge or ground into flour to make bread. Each household probably ground its own grain in a hand mill—a labor-intensive process that was usually part of women’s work. Besides food preparation, women also would have been responsible for making nearly all their family’s clothes, which were generally woven from wool.
Gothic villages seem to have been largely self-sufficient, producing most of the everyday items people needed. Tools of wood and iron were generally locally made, as were clay pots. The best-quality pots were thrown on a potter’s wheel. Additional things made in Gothia included jewelry, particularly bronze or silver brooches and buckles, and combs and other objects crafted from antler or bone.
Sometimes such items were produced in centralized locations—for example, archaeologists have excavated a village with nearly twenty buildings in which combs, assembled from several pieces of antler, were in the process of production. At another settlement, archaeologists found a fourth-century glass factory. There must have been a high demand for its products, for they have been found at sites from Norway to Ukraine.
The fact that there was a percentage of the population who did not need to support themselves by farming but could specialize in skilled crafts shows that Gothia was fairly prosperous during this time. An important element of Gothic prosperity was trade with the Roman Empire. Rome seems to have valued this trade, too, since the entire lower Danube frontier was opened to it—a great contrast to the past, when the empire had allowed
only a few, carefully controlled, frontier crossings for merchants.
Archaeologists have discovered large numbers of Roman bronze coins in Gothia, especially in settlements within twenty or so miles of the Danube. The residents of this border zone, at least, appear to have enthusiastically adopted the use of money (although they may also have continued the more traditional practice of bartering for goods). The local people even produced their own bronze coinage, imitating Roman models. Among the Roman imports purchased in Gothia were wine and perhaps olive oil, as shown by finds of large clay jars called amphorae, which were used to transport these liquids.
ELITE GOTHS
Roman imports were part of the lifestyle of the Gothic elite. Along with wine, the homes of high-ranking Goths were graced by elegant Roman pottery and glassware. Large gold Roman coins became medallions to adorn many of Gothia’s aristocrats. Gothic craftspeople, too, produced luxury items for the elite, such as gold brooches, sometimes inlaid with thin slices of garnet in intricate designs. Leatherworkers and metalworkers made bridles and other gear for the horses ridden by high-ranking Goths. Smiths forged helmets and swords for the leading warriors. (The average Goth went into battle with just a spear and a wooden shield.)
Archaeologists have found only a few sites that may have been the headquarters of Gothic leaders. Among these are the remains of three fortified settlements situated along important trade routes northwest of the Black Sea.
All of them were much larger than the average Gothic village and had stone walls or foundations. One showed clear signs that it had been surrounded by a ditch and a rampart of earth, and apparently it had also been guarded by three towers.
At another site, along the Dniester River, archaeologists have found a walled village with eight houses, a pottery workshop, and an unusual central building. This large structure—whose purpose is unknown—featured a row of Roman-style columns and was also roofed like a Roman building, with clay tiles. Moreover, it had glass windows. Scholars can only conclude that it was built by some wealthy and powerful Goth who had spent time in the Roman Empire and brought back an admiration for its architecture.
Historical records do not give us enough information to know how much of an aristocracy or noble class existed in Gothia, nor can we know how formal or rigid any Gothic class system was. We are not even entirely sure how the Goths were governed.
Greek and Roman writers referred to several Gothic leaders as kings. The Latin word rex is related to the Gothic term reiks, and both have been translated as “king.” But while for the Romans a rex was an absolute monarch, the Goths of this time seem to have used reiks to mean a distinguished man or, in general, a leader—but not someone with sole governing power in all circumstances.
It may be that a reiks had command over a certain number of men who were bound to him by family relationships and personal ties of loyalty. He may have had real authority only during wartime, while in everyday life he had to rely more on the power of persuasion to get his followers to do as he wished. Whether or not a reiks inherited his position or was chosen by some kind of assembly of warriors is an issue that scholars have not settled. Perhaps in some Gothic groups at some times leaders were elected, while in other times and places inheritance was the normal practice. Or perhaps reiks was not even a formal rank among many of the Goths, but simply a title used to honor prominent and influential men.
In addition to kings, the Tervingi had a leader whom the Romans called a judge (iudex in Latin). The Gothic title for this person was thiudans—the word one later Gothic writer chose when he translated Greek basileus, meaning “emperor.” This use of the term shows that the Tervingi’s judges ranked higher than their kings. We also know the Tervingi could have a number of kings at the same time, but apparently only one judge. Although Greeks and Romans regarded the judge as the leader of the entire Tervingi, we don’t actually know just how much authority he had. We also can’t be sure how he was chosen, although
the position may have been passed down from father to son.
THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY
Ancient authors wrote very little about Gothic religion. From what they did record, we gather that wooden images sometimes represented the deities, who included a god of war. As in most ancient cultures, worship might involve sacrificing animals, who provided the meat eaten at religious feasts. Some of these feasts evidently celebrated seasonal holidays.
The Goths encountered Christianity through their contact with the Romans. The new religion had spread throughout the empire during the first and second centuries. By the time of the Gothic raids on Asia Minor in the mid-200s, Christianity was well established in many communities there. Not surprisingly, then, Christians were among the people taken captive during the raids. These Christians continued to practice their religion among the Goths, and they also passed it on to their descendants, who may well have intermarried with the Goths in some cases. Moreover, the Christians taught their beliefs to the Goths they lived with. Philostorgius, a fifth-century church historian, tells us, “They converted many of the barbarians to the way of piety and persuaded them to adopt the Christian faith.”In 313 the emperor Constantine gave Christianity legal recognition.
It was still a minority religion in the Roman Empire, but by the 320s he was favoring it over other faiths. A Christian himself, he may have influenced some of the Tervingi to adopt Christianity when they made peace with him in 332. In any case, a leader of Gothia’s Christian community soon rose to prominence. His name was Ulfila, Gothic for “little wolf.” We do not know how Ulfila got his education, but he knew Gothic, Latin, and Greek, and was said to have written religious works in all three languages. Sometime between the late 330s and 341 he was chosen by the Tervingi judge to go on a diplomatic mission to the emperor Constantius II (Constantine’s son) in Constantinople. While there, he was made “bishop of the Christians in the Gothic land”—that is, he was put in charge of all the priests and churches of Gothia.
Ulfila fulfilled this responsibility for seven or eight years, but then, according to Philostorgius, the Tervingi judge conducted “a tyrannical and fearsome persecution” against the Christians. The reasons for this may have been more political than religious, since Christianity was always closely associated with Roman power—the leaders of the Tervingi may have suspected that Gothic Christians were more loyal to Rome than to their own people. In any case, Ulfila and much of the Gothic Christian community left Gothia and were granted land inside the empire by Constantius himself. There they were known for generations afterward as the Gothi minores, or “little Goths.”Once settled in his new home, Ulfila began the work that made him most famous: the translation of the Bible into Gothic. This was a huge endeavor, for the Bible had been translated into only a couple of languages at this point, both of which had long been in literary use. But Gothic had never really been written down before. Philostorgius described Ulfila’s achievement: “He was the inventor for them [the Goths] of their own letters,” which he had to create first before he could even begin to write his translation. Ulfila did, however, leave out the Old Testament books of Kings. Philostorgius explained why: “These books contain the history of wars, while the Gothic people, being lovers of war, were in need of something to restrain their passion for fighting rather than to incite them to it.” Indeed, the little Goths became known as “peace-loving and unwarlike” shepherds. But as we shall see, other groups of Goths were far from giving up warfare.
* In the book 'The Barbarians! Goths, Marshall Cavendish- Benchmark, New York, 2010, p. 21-28
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