Goths Facts for Kids

Goth can also stand for a member of the Goth subculture

The Roman empire under Hadrian (ruled 117-38) according to Tacitus's Germania (written ca. AD 100) and Ptolemy's Geographia (ca. AD 130). The map shows the location of the Gothones East Germanic group, who inhabited the east bank of the Visula (Vistula) river, Poland at the time

Gothic artifacts

The Goths (Gothic: , Gutans) were an East Germanic tribe. Jordanes is a scholar from the 6th century. He wrote a summary of a twelve volume work by Cassiodorus about the Goths. Jordanes work is commonly called Getica. As the original work by Cassiodorius was lost, Getica is the only surviving contemporary account about the Goths. According to this work, they left Scandinavia via Gotland and settled close to the mouth of the Vistula river (in present day Poland). In the 3rd and 4th centuries they settled Scythia, Dacia and parts of Moesia and Asia Minor. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, they fought with the Roman Empire and later adopted Arianism (a form of Christianity).

In the 5th and 6th centuries, they split into the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths. With this move, they established powerful successor-states of the Roman Empire in Italy and on the Iberian peninsula (now Spain & Portugal). Traces of Gothic blood can be found in many people .

Images for kids

Depiction of a Gothic warrior battling Roman cavalry, from the 3rd century Ludovisi Battle sarcophagus
A stone circle in the area of northern Poland occupied by the Wielbark culture, which is associated with the Goths
The Roman Empire under Hadrian, showing the location of the Gothones, then inhabiting the east bank of the Vistula
Gothic invasions in the 3rd century
The 3rd-century Great Ludovisi sarcophagus depicts a battle between Goths and Romans.
Europe in AD 300, showing the distribution of the Goths near the Black Sea
Ring of Pietroassa, dated AD 250 to AD 400 and found in Pietroasele, Romania, features a Gothic language inscription in the Elder Futhark runic alphabet
Athanaric and Valens on the Danube, Eduard Bendemann, 1860
Gizur challenges the Huns by Peter Nicolai Arbo, 1886.
Europe in AD 400, showing the distribution of the Goths in the aftermath of the Hunnic invasion
An illustration of Alaric entering Athens in 395 (the depiction, including Bronze Age armour, is anachronistic)
The maximum extent of territories ruled by Theodoric the Great in 523
The Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna, Italy. The frieze includes a motif found in Scandinavian metal jewellery.
Ruins of the citadel of Doros, capital of the Crimean Goths
An Ostrogothic eagle-shaped fibula, AD 500, Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nuremberg
Detail of the votive crown of Recceswinth, hanging in Madrid. The hanging letters spell [R]ECCESVINTHVS REX OFFERET [King R. offers this].
Visigothic – Pair of eagle fibulae found at Tierra de Barros (Badajoz, southwest Spain) made of sheet gold with amethysts and coloured glass
Ulfilas explains the gospel to the Goths, 1900
Germanic spearheads
Visigothic crypt of Saint Antoninus, Palencia Cathedral
In Spain, the Visigothic nobleman Pelagius of Asturias who founded the Kingdom of Asturias and began the Reconquista at the Battle of Covadonga, is a national hero regarded as the country's first monarch.

Goths facts for kids

Images for kids

See also