This article will talk about the Goths, but not about representatives of the youth subculture widespread in our time, shocking respectable citizens with their appearance, but about those barbarians of antiquity, whose tribes, having passed from north to south across all of Europe, founded one of the most powerful states of the Middle Ages - Kingdom of Toledo. The Goths (tribe) disappeared in the darkness of centuries as completely and mysteriously as they appeared, leaving historians with wide scope for research and discussion.
Europe of the first centuries AD
On historical scene this people appeared at a time when Europe was going through a kind of transition period. The previous ancient civilization was a thing of the past, and new states and nations were only in the process of formation. Huge masses of peoples constantly roamed across its vast expanses, driven by constantly changing living conditions.
What was the main reason for such active migration? According to scientists, two factors contributed to this. The first of them is the periodic overpopulation in previously inhabited and developed areas. And besides, they were forced to leave their homes by stronger and more aggressive neighbors who appeared from time to time, from whom they had to quickly move away, while attacking those who met along the way and could not give a proper rebuff.
Warlike Scandinavians in the vastness of Europe
So, according to him, the Goths are tribes of Scandinavian origin who moved across Europe in a southerly direction. In 258 they reached the Crimea, and some of them settled there, changing to sedentary life. According to some sources, about fifty thousand families then settled in the eastern part of the peninsula. A number of researchers note that up to late XVIII centuries in those areas continued to sound Gothic language, which had completely disappeared by that time in other parts of the world.
However, this was only an isolated case, and among other European nomads, the Goths (tribe) still occupied one of the leading places. The history of the people of that period is filled with continuous clashes with the inhabitants of the territories through which their path ran. The above-mentioned chronicler Jordan assures that as a result of this they literally did not have to spend the night in the same place twice. From generation to generation they were born, grew up and died on the road.
Barbarians on the Frontiers of the Roman Empire
Traveling in this way, at the beginning of the 4th century they approached the borders of the Great Roman Empire. Strange as it may seem, the best army in the world at that time was sometimes powerless against unexpected attacks these savages wrapped in skins, crushing the clear formation of the legions, fighting contrary to all existing rules, and then disappearing without a trace in the depths of the forest thickets.
Their numbers also inspired fear. It was not scattered detachments that appeared on the border of the state, but thousands of people with carts, women, children and livestock. If in summer period Their progress was hampered by two natural barriers - the Danube and Rhine rivers, but in winter, when they were covered with ice, the path was open to the barbarians.
By this time, the empire, torn apart by a severe crisis caused by the corruption and disintegration of its ruling elite, was still resisting the Goths, but in general was no longer able to restrain their advance. In 268, crossing the ice of the Danube, the Goths - Germanic tribes, replenished by some other small peoples who joined them, plundered the border province of Pannonia. This territory, which included parts of modern Hungary and Serbia, became the first battle trophy of the Goths in the Roman Empire.
At the same time, a second separation of families occurred, breaking with eternal wandering and giving preference to settled life. They settled in the provinces of Moesia and Dacia, now part of the borders of Bulgaria and Romania. In general, the Goths, a tribe whose history spanned more than two centuries by that time, became so strong that soon the Roman Emperor Valens considered it best to conclude a diplomatic non-aggression agreement with them.
The Huns are the scourge of God
In the second half of the 4th century, Europe suffered a terrible misfortune - countless hordes of Huns, led by the famous Attila, invaded its borders from the east. Even by the standards of that cruel and far from humanistic time, they amazed everyone with their unbridled ferocity and cruelty. The threat associated with their invasion is equally touched both the Romans and the Goths. No wonder they were called nothing more than “the scourge of God.”
Simultaneously with the invasion of the Huns, the Goths, ancient tribes that had previously constituted a single people, were divided into two independent branches, which went down in history as the Visigoths (western) and the Ostrogoths (eastern). The latter were completely defeated by the Huns in 375, and their king Ermanaric committed suicide out of grief and shame. Those who happened to survive were forced to fight on the side of their former enemies. With this, the history of the East German Gothic tribe was almost completed.
Alliance with the Romans
Having witnessed the death of their fellow tribesmen, and fearing to share their fate, the Visigoths turned to the Romans for help, which greatly pleased them. They were given the opportunity to freely settle in the border areas of the empire, provided that they defended its borders. For this, under the terms of the agreement, the authorities promised to supply them with food and everything necessary.
However, in reality everything was completely different. The extremely corrupt Latin officials took advantage of the opportunity to commit large-scale and brazen thefts. By appropriating the money allocated for the maintenance of the Gothic outposts, they kept their defenders and their families hungry, depriving them of the most necessary things. The Goths are a tribe accustomed during their wanderings to all kinds of hardships, but, in in this case, there was a humiliation of their dignity, and they could not come to terms with this.
Riot and capture of Rome
Officials did not take into account that by this time yesterday’s barbarians, having closely communicated with the Latins, had managed to assimilate many concepts of high civilization. Therefore, treating oneself as savages to whom one can sell dog meat under the guise of pork with impunity was considered an insult. In addition, the Goths are ancient tribes, from time immemorial accustomed to resolving all disputes with the sword. The result was a riot. The government sent regular troops to suppress it, but in August 378 they were completely defeated in the battle of Adrianople.
In general, the history of this people, whose very name conceals something epic and heroic, remains largely mysterious and completely unexplored. From the pages of ancient chronicles the names sound like a spell - Tulga, Wamba, Atanagild. But in this understatement lies that attractive force that attracts us again and again to peer into the mysterious depths of centuries.
2.2. Great Migration (Alan period: 200-800 AD)
In the first centuries new era, When western border Sarmatia had the Vistula River, and the eastern one reached the Indus and Ganges (according to Ammianus Marcellinus), in the lower reaches of the Volga and Don the emergence of a new statehood began.
About what's new here political unification, evidenced by a change in ethnonym: from the 1st century. n. e. residents of the Don region began to bear the name “Alans” instead of the old “Sarmatians”. Subsequently, all Sarmatians were called Alans, which clearly shows their key role in political life Great Scythia, which the Volga-Don region has always played.
Regarding the Alans, there is no doubt that they were Sarmatians who created new state entities. At the beginning of the century e. in the Volga-Don region the same Prokhorov culture continued to exist as in the previous Sarmatian time - archaeological continuity was preserved. Sources firmly consider the Alans and Sarmatians, as well as the Alans and Scythians, to be one and the same people.
Thus, describing the wars of the Alans against the Roman Empire in 68-69. n. e., a contemporary of the events, Josephus Flavius wrote: “THE ALAN TRIBE IS PART OF THE SCYTHIANS LIVING AROUND TANAIS AND THE MEOTIDA LAKE”88. According to Josephus, one of the Alan-Sarmatian armies in 68 AD. e. invaded Roman possessions in Moesia (the territory of modern Bulgaria), and another simultaneously broke through Derbent into Transcaucasia and Iran, with the Alans completely capturing this region. Active and successful military actions of the Sarmatian Alans in Transcaucasia, testifying to the power of their state, are also known from sources in the 30s and 130s. n. e.
In this region, the Alans pursued an independent policy and entered into disputes with such “superpowers” as Parthia and Rome. On the other hand, the western group of Sarmatian Alans at the same time held back the onslaught of Rome in the Danube-Dniester region.
According to Tacitus, in the same 68-69 years. the Iazyge Sarmatians, who ruled the tribes on the border of Moesia, offered their cavalry to one of the rival parties in the Roman Empire; however, the Romans refused help, fearing the strengthening of Sarmatian influence89. From this evidence (as well as from many others) it follows that the Sarmatians dominated the Danube region north of the Roman possessions and were strong enough to hold back the onslaught of Rome and interfere in its internal affairs.
It is well known that the Sarmatians assisted the uprising of the Danube Dacians against the Roman Empire (beginning of the 2nd century AD); in essence, it was a war of the consolidated Mediterranean against Great Scythia-Sarmatia, and not just against its small Transdanubian region. The preponderance of forces was in favor of Rome: Emperor Trajan conquered Dacia and erected a famous column in honor of the victory, on which horsemen in scaly armor - the Sarmatians - were depicted among the enemies of Rome.
However, the Romans managed to hold out beyond the Danube for no more than one and a half hundred years. First centuries AD e. were a time of stable prosperity for Sarmatia: the country successfully defended its borders, prospered and reached a high cultural level, especially noticeable in the cities of the Azov-Black Sea region. Everything changed at the turn of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, from which the new “Alan” era should begin.
Aggression against Great Alania: Goths and Huns
In the 180s n. e., moving from the South Baltic Pomerania, the Goths invaded the territory of Ukraine. They broke Western groups Sarmatians and occupied lands in the east up to the Don River. The Alan state itself repelled the blow and retained independence in the region Lower Volga region, Don, Kuban and North Caucasus.
There has been a lot of speculation around the mysterious Goths in historiography. Since the first historian of the 6th century AD. e. Jordanes claimed that the Goths arrived on three ships from the island of Scandza and found that they were very similar to the Scandinavians. Until recently, it was argued that the Scandinavian people were ready to almost completely populate the territory of modern Ukraine.
But there are no traces left of this “Scandinavian people in the steppes of Ukraine,” even linguistic ones. Due to the lack of facts, they tried to pass off as “German-speaking” the names of two divisions of the Black Sea Goths, the Greutungs and Tervingi...
But evidence from an authoritative source has been preserved on this subject: the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus reported that Tervuniya in the Slavic language means “strong place”, for this country has many fortifications!90 (More precisely, “Tervingi” are Slavs, “dervinki” or “ancients ". " The etymology is clear, especially since the "Tervings" are characterized as "forest Goths". Our researchers have always been confused by suffix endings like "-ngi", which sound "Western". In fact, the Russian "-nki, - niks" naturally turns into “Western” “-ngi”. An example of this is not only “Derwinks” = “Tervings”, but also “Vikins” (inhabitants of Viki, Visey, Vesey) = “Vikings”.
Of course, the voiced consonant “g” gives Slavic ethnonyms and toponyms have a “foreign” sonority, so beloved among us, but the origins are archaic, folk and simple.
And secondly, most importantly, the author defends the theory of the absolute identity of the Scythians - Russians. This is right. But we must not forget that the same “Scandinavians” and “Western Rus”, from whom the author for some reason disowns, not recognizing their participation in the ethnogenesis of Russians, are still the same Russian-speaking Scythians-Indo-Europeans who left the Northern Black Sea region for the North and West, settled Northern and Central Europe, and then, without changing their ethnocultural, linguistic and anthropological characteristics, that is, remaining Scythian Rus, they returned to Eastern Europe and closed the ring: the northern Rus closed with the southern, southeastern.
And the fact that the Scythian Rus came from Scandinavia should not confuse us - there were no “Deutsch-speaking”, “English-speaking” tribes and nationalities in Scandinavia until the 13th-14th centuries. n. e., Scandinavia is the ancestral land of the Rus, and the Scandinavian Rus themselves have always considered Great Scythia their homeland. Again, and again! We must overcome the complex of Germanophilia and Germanomania imposed on us! There were no “Germans” of the modern “German” type in Tacitus’s “Germany”. Central and Northern Europe were inhabited by the Rus and the Slavs, who were isolated from their superethnos when mixed with relict autochthons.
This is extremely important to understand; the Slavs are secondary relative to the Rus-Aryans. That is why, among the linguistic array of the Slavs, we see the Slavic Finno-Ugric peoples, the Balkan-Caucasians, and the Celts. The Goths, without a doubt, were one of the powerful clans of the Rus-Scythians - the largest settlement to the west and north from the ethnocultural-linguistic core of the Rus-Indo-Europeans.
The young “German people”, formed by the 18th-19th centuries. and having found its own language only in the middle. XIX century, in her imperialist aspirations, she composed a German-centric “history” and, without hesitation, included among her ancestors all the clans and tribes of the Rus and Slavs who decided the destinies of Eurasia. This “history” is the fruit of compilation and usurpation of someone else’s, True History. The essence of the machinations of Romano-Germanic pseudo-historians became clear a long time ago. And we shouldn’t waste time discussing with apologists of Deutsche-centrism and political strategists. Our task is to identify our roots, create a clear picture of the ethnogenesis of the Russian people and cut off everything superfluous, unnecessary and not ours. We don't need someone else's. But we shouldn’t give away ours either.
And the Scandinavian Rus, the Vandal Rus, the Gothic Rus are ours, blood, ancestral, primordial, Russian, no less than the Scythian Rus... from which the above come. The Rus are a state-forming people. It was they, or rather, we who created all the significant states of Eurasia and gave it princely and royal dynasties- from the Rurikovichs to the Merovingians (Merovinians) - Note. Yu. D. Petukhova.)
Archaeological research has shown that there can be no talk of any “Swedes in Ukraine”. During the period when the Gothic state existed in the Black Sea steppes, a new culture really developed here - Chernyakhovskaya (III-IV centuries AD).
However, the bearers of this culture retained the previous, Sarmatian, anthropological type (almost no different from the type of modern inhabitants Southern Russia) and burial rite; Nothing actually “Scandinavian” could be found. The conclusion is clear: the bulk of the population who left this culture were, as before, Sarmatians91.
This is not surprising if we remember that Jordan talked about the “migration of the Goths” on only three ships. Not enough to populate Ukraine... But, as it turned out, it’s quite enough to establish new dynasty. Obviously, the ruling elite of the Gothic state was indeed of Scandinavian origin, as follows from the very name “Goths” (= Swedes) and from the historical tradition that traces them to the “island of Scandza.” (There were no Swedes. The Swedes as a people appeared by the 17th century.
The Scandinavians were Russians, the Old Norse language was inflected, Slavic. The Suevi-Svei were Rus. By the way, even Normanists admit that the ethnonym “Svey” is from the Slavic “our own”. And therefore, if anyone could “come out of Skandza,” it would only be the Rus, the Slavs - the descendants of those Rus-Scythians who had previously settled Scandinavia - taking into account, of course, the boreal ethnic inclusion of Rus of more ancient origin - the first, pre-classical settlements from the Northern Black Sea region . — Note. Yu. D. Petukhova.)
The beginning of the expansion of the real Goths-Scandinavians dates back to the 1st century. n. e. It was at this time on the southern coast of the Baltic, inhabited by the Wends, that a new, Wielbar-Ciezel culture arose with elements indicating Scandinavian influence92. This is quite comparable with Jordan’s story about how the Goths landed troops in the South Baltic Pomerania, defeated the local Wends and Rugs and founded their own state. (We must not forget that the Russians Kievan Rus they took Kyiv in battle, and Ivan the Terrible took Novgorod in battle... in the era of fragmentation, the Rus beat the Rus, these were internecine wars.
And when the Antes fought with the Goths, it was civil strife, a war between different clans of the Rus. While learning about our history, we should not idealize it. Sometimes the Rus fought with the Rus, the Russians with the Russians, so that the earth trembled and the surrounding wild pre-ethnic groups and ethnic groups composed tales about “battles of gods with titans,” etc. - Note. Yu. D. Petukhova.)
In the II century. n. e. the spread of the Wielbar-Tsetzel culture to the southeast is clearly visible, which can be associated with the expansion of the Goths. Of course, by the 3rd century. n. e., when the wave of invasion reached the Dnieper, there was little actual “Gothic” left in it. In essence, the elite of the Gothic state in the Black Sea region was not so much “Gothic” as “Wendish”.
In fact, in the III-IV centuries. n. e. Western Sarmatia fell under the rule of the Wends, that is, it entered the sphere political influence Slavic (Vendish) Germany. How far did the Gothic-Wendish influence extend to the east? Jordan reports that during the reign of King Germanaric (mid-4th century AD), the state of the Goths became extremely stronger, and the peoples “Merens”, “Mordens”, “Tiudans”, “Rogi”, “Kolds”, “ Vasinabronki”... - Merya, Mordovians, Chud, Ugrians, all. They occupied vast lands from the Eastern Baltic to the Upper Volga and Kama basin to the Urals93.
Considering that the Goths subjugated the entire territory of modern Ukraine, so border town in the east Tanais became in the lower reaches of the Don, then their power in the 4th century occupied most of the East European Plain, except for its steppe southeast from the Don to the Caucasus and the Volga-Urals, which remained with the Rus-Alans. It is customary to question such a huge size of the “Empire of Germanarich”: they say, the “northern barbarians” could not have had such large states.
But if the “barbarians” did not have large and strong states, how would they, I wonder, manage to defeat the huge Roman Empire? It’s not clear that small and weak states defeated large and strong ones, rather the opposite, and there is no reason to doubt that things were different in ancient times... The creation of a huge state of the Goths on the East European Plain had negative consequences for Great Scythia. The Alans were unable to hold on to their empire and the power vacuum was immediately filled.
Events in the west must be compared with the catastrophic deterioration of the situation in the east. Already in the first centuries AD. e. the southern Siberian center of Great Scythia was defeated and subjugated by “unknown” peoples. great empire Eurasia was falling apart. Only the Volga-Don Alans, located in its very center, still maintained independence until the final collapse occurred in 370. The end of the Alan state came simultaneously with the end of the Gothic state. They were replaced by the Hun Empire, which dominated Eastern Europe from the Volga to the Danube for almost eighty years (from 370 to 450), invading France and threatening Rome.
There are as many myths about the Huns as there are about the Goths. The most common legend connects their origin with the Central Asian Mongoloid tribe of the Xiongnu, defeated in the 2nd century. n. e. another Mongoloid tribe, the Xianbei; The supposedly defeated Xiongnu galloped north to Siberia, where for some reason they became incredibly stronger and conquered almost all of Europe94.
The Huns' march on Rome almost from the Chinese border looks even more fabulous. Nevertheless, these tales are repeated and replicated. Some people really want to imagine the territory of Russia as a passage yard through which all and sundry passed. Yes, it seems, that’s what they write: supposedly the lower reaches of the Volga-Don were in the past a “corridor” through which barbarian invasions fell on Europe one after another!
It was not easy to go through this “corridor”. And it cost a lot of blood. How did the Huns manage to break through the defenses and crush the Alan state? The sources clearly indicate that the Huns' aggression came not from the east, but from the north. Near the Jordan, the Huns are a local, Black Sea people; supposedly they are the descendants of certain women expelled by the king of the Goths “for witchcraft.” It follows from this that the Huns were originally part of the Gothic state.
It is known that the Huns were in the Northern Black Sea region already in the 160-180s. n. e. (they are mentioned by Dionysius Periegetes and Ptolemy - in the Dnieper region, west of the Roxalans). This excludes the possibility of traveling from the Chinese border, because there is simply no time left for it... If the Huns ended up on the Dnieper in the middle of the 2nd century. n. e., from which side was the blow struck on the Alan-Sarmatians of the Volga, Don and Azov region, a blow that resulted in the fall Bosporan Kingdom(late 4th century AD)? Certainly not from the east...
Obviously, the Huns were originally participants in the Gothic movement from the shores of the Baltic to the shores of the Black Sea. This movement covered many nations Central Europe, and it seems that the Huns were the most western of them. In fact, in ancient times one of the tribes of Friesland was called “Huns”; all the names of the leaders of the Huns are European, of the Celtic type.
The historical-epic tradition of Western Europe has always considered the Huns “ours,” unlike the Slavs. Thus, the monument of the German epic, “The Saga of Thidrek of Berne,” describes the Huns quite friendly, Attila is depicted as a positive hero and is called a native of Friesland; at the same time, the Russians in this saga appear as the main opponents of the Huns and “Germans”95. The Huns appear to be just as “positive” in the “Song of the Nibelungs”...
Real facts indicate that the HUNS CAME TO THE BLACK SEA REGION NOT FROM THE EAST, BUT FROM THE WEST. But why then do all sources note the “Mongoloid” appearance of the Huns and call their hordes after the names of Ugric tribes? If we remember that the Gothic state was part of the 2nd-4th centuries. n. e. included almost the entire East European Plain, then this is understandable.
Obviously, the Huns (as part of the Gothic political community) inherited dominion over the northern forest periphery, inhabited mainly by Finno-Ugric people (“Merens”, “Mordens”, “horns”, mentioned by Jordan as subordinates of King Germanarich). It was the Finno-Ugric peoples of the Upper Volga region and the Urals, organized by the Huns into a state, who formed the very “horde” that attacked the Alans and the Black Sea Goths, crushing their cities.
The Hun-Goth-Alan wars should be considered as intra-system, in a sense, “civil”. Invasion of the Huns southern Russian steppes was a powerful pressure from the periphery of the empire on its center, usually manifesting itself in moments of acute crisis. The consequences were most catastrophic.
Here is what contemporaries report about how the Huns treated their opponents: “The DEFEATED SCYTHIANS WERE EXTERIORTED BY THE HUNNS AND MOST OF THEM DIE. SOME WERE CAUGHT AND BEATEN TOGETHER WITH THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN, AND THERE WAS NO LIMIT TO THE CRUELTY IN THEIR BEATING; OTHERS, GATHERED TOGETHER, TOOK AWAY.”96
Archeology fully confirms this message. The Scythian cities of Crimea were suddenly abandoned by residents who did not have time to take the necessary things. The cities were completely destroyed; some died forever, others were restored only after several centuries. The Ural Ugrians - indeed “barbarians” - did not need cities.
As a result of the 80-year Gothic-Hunnic wars, a significant part of the steppe population was “swept out” to the west. Rome, or rather Byzantium, turned out to be an involuntary victim of the events in the southern Russian steppes. The “barbarian invasion of Rome” is quite well known from sources; however, not everyone knows that Alans appear in them not only under their own name, but also under the name “Goths” (since they were the “simple Goths”), and under common name"Scythians".
Representatives of the “civilized Mediterranean” in the IV-VI centuries. n. e. They understood perfectly well that the so-called barbarian Goths who put an end to the Roman Empire were, in fact, a very large but united people. Thus, a contemporary of the events, Procopius of Caesarea (VI century), directly wrote that the Goths are none other than the former Scythian-Sarmatians, only under new names: “In the past there were many Gothic tribes, and there are many of them now, but the largest and the most important of these were the GOTHES, VANDALS, VIZYGOTHES, and GEPIDS.
IN THE PREVIOUS TIMES, TRUTH, THEY WERE CALLED SAUROMATES AND MELANCHLENES. Some called these tribes GETHI. All these peoples, as was said, DIFFER FROM EACH OTHER ONLY IN NAMES, BUT IN EVERYTHING REST THEY ARE SIMILAR. THEY ARE ALL WHITE IN BODY, HAVE BROWN HAIR, LONG AND GOOD IN LOOKING; THEY HAVE THE SAME LAWS AND THEY PROFESS THE SAME FAITH. They are all Arians and SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE, the so-called Gothic; and, as it seems to me, in ancient times they were of the same tribe, but later they began to be called differently”97.
The numerous “Gothic” people described by Procopius (mid-6th century AD) are, of course, the same numerous Alan people who were described shortly before by Ammianus Marcellinus (late 4th century AD). It is obvious that the Gothic language, common to all the “barbarians” who attacked Rome, had nothing to do with the modern Germanic group98. After all, this language was spoken by the people formerly called Scythians and Sauromatians. The language of the Sauromatian Goths could not belong to Iranian group: after all, in Europe, through which a wave of invasion swept back and forth, there were no “Iranian” traces left. And Procopius, and other authors, emphasized that the Goths were very numerous and remained so already in the early Middle Ages.
The Greco-Romans perceived the Huns in exactly the same way. As the same Procopius wrote, Attila invaded the territory of the Roman Empire with an army of “Massagetae and other Scythians”...99 The ethnic composition of the Hunnic army was no different from the composition of the Gothic army; the only difference was in the state-political organization.
We have more accurate information regarding the “Hunnic” language than regarding the “Gothic” language. The Byzantine ambassador Priscus (mid-5th century AD) recorded a couple of words that Attila’s warriors used: “honey”, “kvass” (the “Huns” had such drinks), “strava” (a funeral meal among the Slavs)… One conclusion follows from this: Gothic language = Hunnic language = Slavic language, Goths and Huns = Slavs, Slavs = Scythians = Sarmatians = Alans...
Why historians adhering to the pro-Western tradition did not want and do not want to make this conclusion is quite clear. It should also not be surprising that this Russophobic tradition put forward an absurd thesis: “Gothic” tribes in IV-Vbb. supposedly completely left the steppes of Southern Russia and settled in Europe (where they “dissolved in local population"...). There was supposedly no continuity with the subsequent medieval period.
The Gothic-Alan invasion wave went far and reached France, Spain and North Africa. But it does not follow from this that the Alans completely abandoned the southern Russian steppes. Armies were sent to the west, and not everyone returned home... But most of the people, as always happens, remained in their homeland.
And not only remained, but preserved the memory of the past. Moscow sources of the XV-XVI centuries. They mention, as a matter of course, the wars of the Roman Emperor Theodosius (380s AD) with the Russians. Thus, the official historical and genealogical directory of the Moscow kings, “The Book of Degrees” (XVI century), reports: “Even more anciently, Tsar Theodosius the Great had a war with the Russians”... Coming from official church circles, “Teaching of Metropolitan Photius to Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich,” written at the beginning of the 15th century, also contains the statement that Theodosius “had a fight with the Russians before they were baptized”...100 There is no doubt that these messages refer to the invasion of the Balkans by the Gothic-Alan army at the end of the 4th century AD . e. This means that truly national Russian historiography directly identified the Goths and Alans with the Russians.
88 Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, VII, 7, 4 // VDI, 1947, No. 4, p. 277.
89 Tacitus, History, III, 5. Tacitus. Essays. L.: Nauka, 1969. T. 2, p. 97.
90 Konstantin Porphyrogenitus. About managing an empire. M., 1991, p. 490.
91 Sedov V. Scythian-Sarmatian elements in the funeral rite of the Chernyakhov culture // VDIS of Eastern Europe, p. 99, 107; Alekseeva T. Slavs and Germans in the light of anthropological data // VI, 1974, No. 3, p. 65.
92 Shchukin M. B. Wandering Goths // Knowledge is power, 1995, No. 8, p. 58-59.
93 Sedov V.V. Ethnogeography of Eastern Europe in the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. according to archeology and Jordan. M.: Nauka, 1978, p. 9-15.
94 For novels about the “passionate” Huns, see the works of L. N. Gumilyov.
95 Kuzmin A.G. Comments. In the collection: Where did the Russian land come from. M.: Young Guard, 1986, book. 1, p. 542, 547.
96 See: Latyshev V.V. News of ancient writers, Greek and Latin, about Scythia and the Caucasus. T. 1. St. Petersburg, 1893, p. 726.
97 War with the Vandals, book. 1, II (2-6). See: Procopius of Caesarea. War with the Persians. War against vandals. Secret history. M.: Nauka, 1993, p. 178.
98 All attempts to “find” Gothic written monuments came to nothing. But the Goths IV-Vbb., Christians, undoubtedly had writing. The fact is that they were looking for the Germanic language, but it did not exist on the territory of the Roman Empire at that time...
99 Procopius of Caesarea. War with the Vandals, book. 1, IV, 24., p. 187.
100 Kloss B. Nikonovsky vault and Russian chronicles of the 16th-17th centuries. M.: Nauka, 1980, p. 186-187.
Yuri Dmitrievich Petukhov; Nina Ivanovna Vasilyeva
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Chapter Three
Huns, Goths, Gauls
Let's start our analysis from the Scythians.
Who are the Scythians? Bilyk:
“Let’s take a look at the dictionary of the already-famous Kiev Hellenist Pospimil. There, all the words that have the root “Scythian” mean very similar concepts: “Scythian-ropos” - frowning, angry; “skifradzo” - if we are frowning, angry, doubtful; “skifropadzo” - to marvel angrily, frown or summarily.”
“In Latin “suvori” means “severi”, the root of three sounds “s-v-r” ...
“The kingdom of the Scythians was the kingdom of the Severians, who, according to the rules of modern phonetics and literary language, are now known as the Severians. The northerners concentrated their army on the ancient cordons of the land - on the way to the Dnieper, because the entire Left Bank of Ukraine was, from time immemorial, northern land...”
Seriousness, silence, depth in the eyes... Depth of the Ice... Northernity... North Pole, Normans... Norths... N-V-R... The left bank of the Dnieper right up to the Ocean... Sullenness...
Note: Swer's trait is gloominess, seriousness, depth...
Further, Ivan Bilyk:
“...the ancient Celts came to the islands of Great Britain from above Scythe Great (the Scots still call themselves “cattle”, and this is what they mean; I guess they would like Herodotus’ “knots”.”
The Scots (look at their costumes and druidic customs!!!) are “cattle”. “Cattle” - KHOT - GOT. “Chipped” - KHOL - GALL. And further:
“And it seems that one of the Scythian tribes was called Galatians by Dobu Protagon. This is approximately what the Romans called the ancient inhabitants of present-day France - Gauls. Why is it not possible to say to what root the “Galicians” lie? Even so, our Nestor calls the current French “Galicians.”
Galicia, the Gauls of France... I’ll add Poles and right-bank Ukrainians... Also Alans-Volynians. Alans - Ollans - Khollans. Ivan Bilyk:
“The deer are being deprived of their ignorance...
...Wolin, obviously, was the settlement of the Slovak military camp, a kind of ancient Cossacks, who protected the riches of the earth, who served the self-government and did not accept any taxes, tribute, or any other duties. This is evidenced by Ammian: “The Alans did not endure slavery, for all the smells were of noble blood.”
Flavius confirms their ethnic affiliation: “The Alani lie before the Scythian tribes and live near Tanais and Lake Maeotis.”
The noble blood of the Olan-Khall...
I will explain this below. Further:
“…Lukian: “The language and the code are both in the Alans and in the Scythians, however. There’s only a hair in them.” That haircut... Ammian... calls the Alans ugly people with blond hair, tall hair, thick hair, and a dirty look, like the others, because in their gaze there is a frown and a shadow fierce. Alani may not be bothered by anything about the guns, maybe, at least, a little stream.”
The Alans have the same seriousness, depth and determination in their views and actions. It is noted that they are worse than the Goons(!). What does it mean - more decisive and courageous in battles. That is why they were considered the pure blood of the Whites, were not subject to taxes and were settled as border guards on the outskirts of the lands of Rus'. (Later - Cossacks - Cossacks - Cossacks).
Freemen, freemen, Volynians...
Kosatskaya volost…
Liberty, Volost, Will - KHOLYA-KHOL.
The main word is KHOL!
Kholots are chipped.
So, let's systematize, but first, one more quote:
“They talk about the lands under the control of the Scythians, Herodotus says: there are the leading tribes here: the Scythian royals, the Scythian oracs, the Scythian farmers, and the Scythian cattlemen.”
Royal Scythians: clan of warriors(?).
Scythians-Orii: clan of elders(?).
Scythian grain farmers: a clan of freemen(?).
Scythian pastoralists: clan of Craftsmen(?).
The last quotation introduces ambiguity, making it difficult to rely on. But something can be concluded from the above: the royal ones ruled, were administrators; Oriyas - elders, protected the spirit of the Ancestor, shouted “serpent shafts”, determined cordons and judged the people; grain growers and cattle breeders were economic managers.
There are already more affirmative conclusions. So, in ancient times The Slavs were called Hyperboreans. Then - the Scythians. At the beginning of our millennium, chroniclers most often described the GOTHS, HUNNS and GALLS. This is the Truth!
Age of Taurus. From time immemorial they were purebred and constant, Slavic tribes who did not eat meat, did not kill animals and were engaged in agriculture. They had the Word - soft, but Strong, Magical speech. Their name comes from KHOL, which means basic, original, dominant. These tribes had monogamy and matriarchy. Grandfather, the Elder, ruled the settlement as a judge. A Voivode, an administrator, was elected annually. In the houses the Wife ruled. They lived on the right bank of the Dnieper. The left bank was occupied by the Siver Slavs, who were mostly hunters and ate meat, but made vegetable sacrifices, like the Skolot tribes. But... From among the Sivres, particularly gloomy and strong tribes stood out, who made bloody sacrifices (even human ones), and also raped women in every possible way. Because of this scale of bloody sacrifices, also in connection with the violence of male meat-eaters against herbivorous women, there was a “non-acceptance” of the sperm of meat-eaters by herbivorous Slavic women. A general pestilence arose... Diseases... The epidemic swept huge territories sivrov and skolot...
Yes, yes, Rama! Rama brought some of the cleaved people from the banks of the Dnieper to the Caucasus, Turkey and Iran, then to India.
Over time, the white Slavs of Rama began to return to their native lands, bringing with them New Culture, which Rama brought to Asia. Here are the gunas (forces, gunas in India), or tsy-guns, tsy-ganes...
Horsemen in chain mail and sheepskins...
Whites returning from India, Turkey, Iran, Georgia...
People, when they want to curse evil, say “cattle.” Even the word “swearing” comes from the root “swearing”, “horn”. Age of Taurus. Remember the game of bull being smashed with a club, or the bullfight of bullfighters. Cattle - horns... A meat eater who makes bloody sacrifices. Dressed in animal skins and wearing horns on his head.
KHOT- GOT: Hunter, non-resident, meat, blood sacrifices and usurpation of women.
KHOL- GALL (base, beginning): Agriculture, grains, sura, vegetable sacrifices, monogamy, constancy, loyalty to home and traditions.
KHON- VCO (strength, energy, fire): warriors, sheep (goat) breeders, the permissibility of polygamy and mercenarism in the army.
So it happened: in the center - Slavic farmers, craftsmen, permanent and faithful people; on the one hand, the GOTHS - VARS are fighting for them (for power over them), on the other - the GUNS.
Here you have, Dear Ones, the eternal enmity of the READYS and the GUNS, and their eternal unity...
They are fighting for their smaller permanent brother Ivanushka...
Two brothers are at enmity... The third is their hostage...
German-Slavs... Kherts (Goths) and Khons (Huns)...
Forgetting that once upon a time they were all broken, only three brothers of Father Targitai...
The border between the possessions of the Goths and the Roman Empire ran along the Danube. In 250, a huge army of Goths crossed the river and attacked the provinces of the empire. This is how the series began bloody wars between the Germans and the Romans. The allies of the Goths in these wars were various tribes and tribal unions, for example, the Sarmatians. To save the important Balkan provinces, the Romans were forced to use all their reserves. In particular, the legionnaires who made up the garrisons of Chersonese and Charax were transferred to the aid of the Danube armies.
Thus, the position of the empire on the Crimean peninsula was seriously weakened, which the Goths did not fail to take advantage of. The barbarians who participated in the events on the Danube soon appeared in Crimea. They brought with them trophies captured in battles with the Romans. One of the barbarians buried near the modern village. Dolinnoye, Bakhchisarai district, 119 Roman silver coins, a silver fibula and a glass vessel. For some reason, he never returned for his property, and only in 1971, when laying a new river bed. Kachi, the treasure was brought to the surface of the earth. The latest coins from the treasure are dated 251, i.e. the Goths appeared in Crimea this year or a little later.
The late Scythians failed to provide worthy resistance to the Goths. Their settlements were destroyed, and their inhabitants were killed or captured. Then the Goths attacked the Bosporus. Some Bosporan cities suffered serious damage from the barbarians. Even the clever move of King Reskuporidas IV (242/243 - 276/277), who took Farsanza as a co-ruler, probably the leader of one of the Iranian tribes living nearby, who concluded an Antigothic alliance with the Bosporans, did not help.
The Goths did not come to the Bosporus in search of land for settlement. The barbarians well understood the strategic importance of these places: from here they could launch campaigns against rich cities and provinces located on the Black Sea coast. For such campaigns, the Bosporan fleet would have been very useful, because the Goths did not have their own. The Germans forced Rheskuporidas to provide them with ships and crews. Probably, the Bosporan king simply had no other choice - he could not defeat the Goths on his own, and he could not count on the help of Rome. So the Bosporus became the base from where during the third quarter of the 3rd century. The Germans carried out a series of raids on the Roman provinces.
The goal of the first campaign (255/256) was the rich city of Pitiunt in the Eastern Black Sea region. The siege of the fortress did not bring the expected results, and the Goths, having plundered the unfortified surrounding settlements, returned to the Bosporus. A year later they did new trip, captured Pitiunt and other nearby cities. In 264, the Goths on ships reached south coast Black Sea, from here they made a lightning-fast transition into the depths of the Asia Minor Peninsula, devastated the Roman provinces of Cappadocia and Bithynia and returned to the Bosporus with rich booty. In 268, the Goths living in the Crimea took part in a campaign organized by a coalition of various Germanic tribes living in the Northern Black Sea region against the Roman provinces on the western bank of the Pontus. As a result of this expedition, vast territories were devastated and dozens of cities were plundered. In 276, the Goths set out on a new campaign, this time again against the provinces of Asia Minor. However, now they were opposed by selected detachments of the Roman army. In the battle with them, the barbarians were defeated. The defeat of the Goths returning to the Bosporus was completed by King Teiran (275/76 - 278/79). He managed to restore the Bosporan kingdom to its previous limits and establish friendly relations with the Roman Empire. At the same time, the Roman emperors inflicted several defeats on the Danube barbarians and thus eliminated the Gothic threat. Now the Romans had the opportunity to resume their military presence on the Crimean Peninsula. At the end of the 3rd century. A Roman garrison reappears in Chersonesus. Defeated in the fight against the empire, the Goths settled in the Northern Black Sea region and Crimea. By the beginning of the wars with Rome, the Goths were pagans. They worshiped various deities who personified the forces of nature. Supreme God Thor was the lord of thunder and lightning. In the 3rd century. Christianity quickly spread among the population of the Roman Empire. During trips to Asia Minor The Germans captured many prisoners, including Christians. From these prisoners the Crimean Goths also adopted the new religion. After some time, it became necessary to streamline the activities of the church in their domain. For this purpose, in 400, the Patriarch of Constantinople, the famous John Chrysostom, decided to create a separate church district - a diocese. Unila became the first bishop of the Goths.
Gradually, the Christian faith spread among the inhabitants of Bosporus and Chersonesos. Probably not last role Contacts with Christian Goths played a role in this process. The first Christian community arose in the Bosporus in the first quarter of the 4th century. When the first Ecumenical Council was convened in the Asia Minor city of Nicaea in 325 to resolve controversial theological issues, the representative of the Bosporan Christians, Bishop Cadmus, also took part in it. In the 5th century Christianity already existed official religion Bosporan Kingdom: images of the cross were placed on the inscriptions of kings and senior government officials.
In Chersonesus, the first Christians faced significant difficulties. During the 4th century. most of the city's population remained pagans. It was mainly representatives of the city elite who converted to Christianity, hoping to receive various privileges from the Byzantine authorities who patronized Christians. In 381, the Bishop of Kherson, Epherius, participated in the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople. An attempt to baptize the inhabitants of the city by force was made under Emperor Theodosius I (379-395). This emperor sought to convert the entire population under his control to Christianity. Therefore, when Epherius’s successor, Capito, began to eradicate paganism in Chersonesus, the troops sent by the emperor to the city provided him with great help. According to legend, in order to prove the correctness of Christian doctrine, Capito entered a burning furnace and came out unharmed. The amazed pagans immediately decided to be baptized, although it is not entirely clear that in to a greater extent prompted them to this decision, because while Capito performed his miracle, Byzantine soldiers took the children of the Chersonesos hostage. Legends about the life and activities of the first Christians of Chersonesos were revised much later, in the 7th or 8th centuries, and formed the basis of the so-called “Lives of the Bishops of Cherson.” The memory of the “feat of Bishop Capiton” was preserved among the city residents. During excavations of Chersonesos, the remains of a 6th century temple were discovered, built over a lime kiln, which, as the Chersonesos believed, included Kapiton. Christianity finally established itself in the city at the end of the 5th-6th centuries, primarily thanks to the efforts of the Byzantine administration.
In the second half of the 4th century. The ruler of the Ostrogoths, Germanarich, united various tribes and founded a vast state, called the “power of Germanarich.” It included numerous tribes of barbarians who lived in the Northern Black Sea region, including the Germans who lived in the Crimea. The new association existed for a very short time, already in the mid-70s. IV century The Goths were defeated in the fight against the Huns who came from the east.
The Huns formed in the steppes located to the west and north of the borders of China.
In the 1st century n. e. The migration of the Huns to the west begins, and by the 70s. IV century they reached the borders of Eastern Europe. The Huns belonged to the Mongoloid race and spoke one of the languages of the Turkic group. The basis of the Huns' economy was nomadic cattle breeding, and military spoils played a significant role.
The appearance of the Huns in Europe marked the beginning of the era of the Great Migration, an era when huge masses of barbarians began en masse to invade the Roman (later Byzantine) Empire in search of places to settle. The Huns became the catalyst for this process. Their invasion of Europe caused a kind of “domino effect” - some barbarians begin to drive others away from their inhabited places. Here is what a contemporary wrote about this: “... And what huge battles and what ideas about battles we learned about! The Huns rebelled against the Alans, the Alans against the Goths, the Goths against the Taifals and Sarmatians. Even we [the Romans]... were made... exiles from our fatherland, and there is no end...”
The light cavalry of the Huns terrified their contemporaries. The Huns brought with them new types of weapons and equipment, new (or rather, well-forgotten old) combat tactics. Every adult man was a warrior, always ready for battle, so preparing for war did not take the Huns much time. The surprise of the attack allowed the Huns to take their enemies by surprise. They entered the battle in a wedge-shaped formation and, if it was not immediately possible to put the enemy to flight, they used a feigned retreat to lure the enemy into an ambush. Before the hand-to-hand combat began, the Huns showered the enemy with a hail of arrows from afar. They brought a new type of bow to Europe, glued together from several pieces of wood and reinforced with additional bone plates. This design of the bow made it possible to hit the target at very long distances and use large and heavy arrowheads that pierced any armor. In close combat they fought with throwing spears, swords and lassos, with which they entangled the enemy, deprived him of mobility, threw him off his horse or knocked him down.
Myself appearance Huns (pictured), their characteristic Mongoloid appearance amazed Europeans. It is no coincidence that the legend that the Huns were the descendants of witches expelled from one Gothic tribe and entered into contact with swamp spirits was popular. The way of life of the nomads, who did not even have a hut covered with reeds, and were always moving across the steppe following their large herds, caused bewilderment. Christian writers described with disgust the religion of the Huns - idolaters who, if they needed to get a prediction about the future, sacrificed animals and told fortunes by the entrails or the position of the veins on scraped bones. All these facts led to the fact that in medieval literature a very peculiar idea of the Huns was formed as fierce, ruthless, ignorant pagans who had no homeland, state power, ideas about honor and dishonor, and the word “Huns” itself became a common noun .
The Huns came to the northern Black Sea steppes in two ways. One group of them moved along the eastern and northern shores of the Sea of Azov. Along the way, they encountered Alans living on the banks of the Tanais (Don). Many Alans fell in the battle, and the rest were forced to conclude an agreement with the Huns and join them. The next victim of the Huns was the state of Germanaric. According to legend, the Gothic leader committed suicide, convinced that the battle with the Huns was lost. The Ostrogoth tribes submitted to the Huns, retaining their tribal leaders and internal self-government, but pledging to support the nomads in foreign policy in all respects and provide them allied army. The Visigoths fled west, crossed the Danube and settled in the territory of the Roman Empire.
While some Huns established their dominance in the northern Black Sea steppes, others began to conquer the Crimea. Having got over Kerch Strait(they say that the way was shown to them either by a bull pursued by a gadfly, or by a doe fleeing from hunters), they, without entering into battle, conquered the Bosporan kingdom. Probably, the forces of the Bosporan rulers were limited at that time, and therefore they preferred to recognize the supremacy of the Huns and pay them tribute. Population foothills of Crimea left their habitable places and fled to inaccessible mountainous areas. Perhaps some of the Crimean Alans joined the Huns. Most of the peninsula was depopulated and became a place of nomadism for the Hunnic tribe of the Altsiagir.
Chersonesus managed to avoid danger, and the Roman Empire provided considerable assistance to the city, allocating money to repair the city walls. During the 5th century. The Romans settled the Goths and Alans on the approaches to Chersonesus, who entered into an alliance with Rome and pledged to protect the city in exchange for land and periodic monetary assistance. The Romans and Byzantines called such barbarians “federates.” Probably, the emperors perfectly understood the strategic importance of Chersonesus and did not want to lose their last outpost in the Northern Black Sea region.
In the middle of the 5th century. the leader Attila united numerous tribes of the Huns and their allies and declared war on Rome. The Romans were defeated in several battles, but in 453 Attila suddenly died. Soon after this, his power collapsed, and many Huns chose to return to the Northern Black Sea region. The Utigur tribe moved to Crimea.
The Byzantine emperors did not give up hope of gradually restoring their influence on the Crimean peninsula. To achieve this goal, various methods were used - from bribing Hun leaders and pitting various tribes against each other to promoting Christianity. From the point of view of the Byzantines, barbarians who adopted a new religion automatically became subjects of the empire. Therefore, missionaries who regularly went to the nomadic camps of the Huns enjoyed the patronage of the Byzantine authorities. One of these preachers convinced the leader of the Huns living in the Bosporus, named Gord, to convert to Christianity and become a vassal of Emperor Justinian I (527 - 565). By that time, the Bosporan kingdom no longer existed - it was probably eventually destroyed by the Huns.
Gord, who visited Constantinople, was given a great honor - the emperor himself became his godfather. Then Gord left for his homeland. Byzantine troops were stationed in the Bosporan cities (of course, in agreement with the Hun leader). The conclusion of the treaty with the empire displeased many influential Huns, especially the priests, who feared that the Christian ruler would not respect their authority. A conspiracy was drawn up, to which Gorda’s brother also joined. The reason for the performance was the attempt of the Hun leader to destroy pagan idols. Having killed Gord, the Huns attacked the Bosporan cities, destroyed them, and killed the Byzantine soldiers. Having learned about these events, Justinian sent parts of the regular imperial army to the Bosporus. The Huns were driven out, the Bosporus became part of Byzantium.
Under Justinian I, the position of Byzantium in Crimea strengthened enormously. The emperor understood perfectly well that the strife between the Huns themselves could protect northern borders Byzantium is almost better than the most reliable fortresses and elite troops. Therefore, he did not hesitate to bribe the Hun leaders and set one tribe against another. As a result, he managed to secure his possessions in Crimea from attacks by barbarians. In the 70s VI century In the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region, a new association of nomads appears - the Eastern Turks, or Turkuts. The Hunnic tribes that survived the strife quickly mixed with the Turkuts.
Encyclopedia “Sights of Crimea”
LinksThe era of the Great Migration of Peoples, according to European historical tradition, began at the end of the 4th century. - the invasion of the Hunnic hordes from Asia into Europe. But the movement of the peoples of Eurasia at the borders of world civilizations - the Great Chinese wall and the Roman limes, border fortifications on the Rhine and Danube, began much earlier.
The further the Roman legions advanced into barbarian Europe, the more the barbarian periphery of the ancient world came into movement. Rome established its borders on the Rhine and Danube and waged endless wars with the Celts, Germans and Dacians. Along with the soldiers, artisans and traders settled on the borders of Rome - Roman culture began to spread among the barbarian tribes of Europe. In the East
In Europe at the turn of the new era, the traditions of Roman culture (clay and glassware, coins, etc.), the culture of the Celts (their weapons and jewelry) and the nomads - the Sarmatians and their descendants of the Alans - began to intersect. These traditions also reached the tribes that lived in the forest belt - the ancestors of the Balts and Slavs, as well as the Germans.
Goths. The warlike Germans turned out to be no less capable of mass migrations than the nomads of the Eurasian steppes. They threatened Rome itself more than once. In the 3rd century. n. e. The situation in the Black Sea steppes changed dramatically. The German tribe of Goths from Povislenye breaks through to the Danube and the Black Sea region. The Goths pushed back the Sarmatian Alans, some of whom retreated to Central Europe, some retreated beyond the Don, and reached Tanais, ravaging the city. The Goths and Germanic tribes allied with them penetrated the Crimea and destroyed Scythian kingdom, captured the Bosporan cities; they began to use them as bases for sea voyages to Athens, Ephesus and other ancient cities of Greece.
On the Danube the Goths fought the Romans. The Gothic Empire emerges in the Northern Black Sea region. In 332, the Goths concluded a peace treaty with the Roman Emperor Constantine, became allies of the Romans, supplied them with troops, and themselves received cash subsidies and food.
For the first time, not nomads, but squads of settled farmers and herders seized the initiative in this region, where the Gothic state arose. It united those spaces, from the Carpathians and the Middle Dnieper region to the Lower Don and the Black Sea region, where the activity of the Slavic tribes would subsequently unfold, and even later - the history of the Russians and Ukrainians. The Goths had their own runic writing and a unique, albeit “barbaric” art, represented mainly by jewelry - buckles with teratological and other motifs. In the 4th century. the Goths adopted Christianity.
He glorified the power of the Gothic state in the 6th century. historian Jordan, himself a Goth by origin.
Jordan - Gothic historian of the 6th century, came from a “barbarian” - provincial Roman environment. Latin was his native language. Jordan served as a secretary (notary) for one of the Alanian leaders in the Eastern Roman Empire. There were probably both Goths and Alans in Jordan’s family, but he was a Gothic “patriot” and attributed to the Goths the deeds that the Scythians had committed in ancient times. But Jordan knew historical works his predecessors were ancient authors and Gothic legends, so the history he wrote remains a valuable source of knowledge about the era of the Great Migration.
He listed the peoples subject to the Gothic king Germanarich (Ermanarich), the ruler of the third quarter of the 4th century: Goltescythians, Tiudos, Inaunxes, Vasinabronki, Merens, Mordens, etc. Most of these ethnonyms (names of peoples) are not known to scientists - Gothic a historian writing two centuries after the death of the Gothic state may not have understood or distorted the list of tribes subject to the Goths. However, those ethnonyms that researchers allegedly managed to decipher force us to expand the borders of the Gothic state to almost the entire Eastern Europe. Indeed, under the name Tiudos they strive to see the Chud, as the Finnish tribes of Estonia are called in the Russian chronicle; under Merens they want to see the ancient Merya in the Upper Volga region, under Mordens - Mordovians, etc. But ancient ethnonyms, even if they are well known modern researcher, cannot be directly transferred to historical reality. The ethnonyms designating the Finnish peoples Mari (Meryu) and Mordovians are of Iranian origin and it is completely unclear which peoples were meant by these designations - etnikons, in ancient times. As for the miracle, it is not mentioned at all in the list, because tiudos should not be understood ancient tribe, and the Gothic word is “people”.
The most logical reading of the beginning of the list of peoples in Jordanes is “Celto-Scythian peoples”; This is followed by a list of tribes unknown to modern historiography. Celto-Scythians here is a general name for the barbarian peoples east of the Celts, the inhabitants of Western and Central Europe, where the Scythians and other “barbarians” lived.
About the origin of the Huns, the terrible enemies of the Goths, Jordan wrote that they were given birth to by witches expelled by the Gothic king into the desert. Ideas about foreign and hostile peoples as barbarians and even demonic creatures characteristic of ancient and medieval eras.
Huns. During the era of Roman hegemony in the West in the steppes East Asia- in Transbaikalia and Mongolia near the northern borders of China - an association of nomadic tribes of the Xiongnu (Xiongnu) was formed; it is believed that this multi-tribal association included the ancestors of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples, the Tungus and Manchus, even the ancestors of the Yenisei people of the Kets. This community was not strong - by the 3rd century. she fell apart and western tribes The Xiongnu began to move further to the west, involving Turkic-speaking and Iranian-speaking nomads, part of the Ugrians and Samoyeds in their movement. All these tribes became known in Europe under the name of the Huns. At the end of the 4th century. the nomadic steppe regained its power in the Black Sea region. The Huns invaded from the east along the traditional route - from beyond the Don/Tanais and directly through the Bosporus - into the Black Sea region. The devastation they caused exceeded, judging by the reaction of contemporaries, the invasions of other barbarian hordes. The Huns defeated the Sarmatian tribes of the Alans, destroyed the Bosporan kingdom, destroying ancient cities, defeated Germanaric in 375 and destroyed the Gothic state; small communities of Goths remained only in Crimea. Western Europe, who had converted to Christianity by that time, recalled in the face of the Huns bible prophecies about wild nomads coming from the north - Gog and Magog. However, in late Roman and early Byzantine literature the Goths could also be associated with Gog: all barbarians, including the Goths and Huns, could be called Scythians - this traditional name later it was also applied to the Slavs.
The Europeans marveled at the unusual and terrifying appearance of the Huns, among whom there were many people Mongoloid race- with slanted eyes and prominent cheekbones. Roman author of the late 4th century. Ammianus Marcellinus wrote in his “History”: “They are all distinguished by strong and dense limbs, thick napes and generally such a terrible and monstrous appearance that one can mistake them for two-legged animals... Roaming through the mountains and forests, they are accustomed from the cradle endure hunger, cold and thirst.” On their hardy, but “ugly-looking” horses, “each of this tribe sleeps and sleeps, buys and sells, eats and drinks.” Light cavalry, armed with bows, was the main fighting force of the Huns - they shot the enemy from a distance, without engaging in hand-to-hand combat.
Like other barbarians, the Huns either acted as allies of Rome or devastated the lands of the empire. Eastern Roman Empire - Byzantium (as it is commonly called in modern science), separated from the Western by the end of the 4th century, strengthened at the beginning of the 5th century. Danube cities and its capital Constantinople, but the Hunnic power forced it to pay tribute. Nevertheless, Attila, who became the sole ruler of the Hunnic state in the middle of the 5th century. captured the Danube lands - the Roman province of Pannonia (present-day Hungary) - and prepared for a campaign to the West. However joint forces- by the Romans and their allies the Germans, as well as the Sarmatians-Alans - under the command of the Roman commander Aetius in 451 in the north-east of France on the Catalaunian fields, the hordes of the Huns of Attila and the Goths, Gepids and others subject to them were defeated . The Hunnic state still existed in the Eastern and Central steppes. Europe, but new waves of Turkic nomads - Avars, Bulgarians, and then the Khazars - were already pressing in from the East. Not everything sank in these waves: the ancient cities of the Northern Black Sea region survived - Chersonesus, Bosporus (as Panticapaeum came to be called), Phanagoria. Through these waves “across the current”, the Slavic tribes more and more persistently made their way south, to the Danube.