The Goths

The Peoples of Europe

by Peter Heather

The volume is divided into three parts, corresponding to the three main phases in Gothic history: their early history down to the fourth century, the revolution in Gothic society set in motion by the arrival of the Huns, and the history of the Gothic successor states to the western Roman Empire. At its heart lies a new vision of Gothic identity, and of the social caste by whom it was defined and transmitted.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, European History, Medieval, Ancient, Medieval History

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 1996

About the author

Peter Heather is currently Professor of Medieval History at King's College London. He has held appointments at University College London and Yale University and was Fellow and Tutor in Medieval History at Worcester College, Oxford until December 2007.

Reviews

[WarpDrive · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent, academically impeccable, thoroughly enjoyable book about the fascinating Gothic history, starting from the first dimly recognizably "Gothic" evidence in the first century AD, all the way to the end of the Ostrogoth and Visigoth kingdoms in the sixth and early eight centuries AD.

Peter Heather is one of my favorite authors - an eminent historian of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and one of the most knowledgeable experts in Gothic history. His competence and depth of specialist knowledge clearly transpire in this book, also in his rigorous scholarship supported by extensive analysis of archeologically evidence (starting from the Wielbark and Cernjachov cultures) and by a nuanced and critical investigation, very convincingly argued, of the available primary sources.

The writing style is equally excellent, with many interesting and sometimes surprising insights, and always well supported by documentary and archaeological evidence .

I also like the general investigative approach of the author, who refuses to jump into hurried conclusions when they are not supported by convincing evidence, and who always tries to address specific subject from many different perspectives, and occasionally contrasting (if not openly contradictory) sources: it is also highly commendable that the author makes the effort to analyse in detail a wide multiplicity of sources, not being limited to just to the usual “Getica” by Jordanes.

Excellent work, highly recommended to anybody interested in a nuanced treatment of this fascinating "barbarian" group, which played a very important role in Late Antiquity, both before and after the “fall” of the Western Roman Empire.

A well deserved 5 stars. I am happy that I bought this book rather than just borrowing it.

[Ilya Scheidwasser · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book covers the history of the Gothic people of Europe over the course of several centuries in the first millennium AD. I came into it as someone very much new to the world of historical writing and scholarship and utterly ignorant about the Goths, and found it an immense struggle to get into.

The early chapters of the book discuss the Goths as a large number of individual groups in central Europe. The records of these people are very limited, so the author goes to great pains to discuss the Roman writings about them and why they are likely inaccurate, as well as the rather obscure archaeological evidence of their activities. This section of the book is a terrible slog: it's very technical and open-ended, without a coherent narrative, and with a huge number of names and terms to keep track of. Only my own stubborness got me through it.

I was rewarded with the next section of the book, which discussed how the arrival of the Huns caused a number of Gothic groups to migrate into Roman land, form alliances with each other, and establish the eastern Ostrogothic and western Visigothic kingdoms. Here we are treated to stories of individual Gothic leaders and how their campaigns led them to succeed over the Roman empire, as well as how they subsequently ran their kingdoms.

The book kind of peters out at the end: by the 700s, the Ostrogoths had been wiped out by the eastern Roman empire, and the Visigothic kingdom in Spain had merged with their Roman subjects to such an extent that Gothic identity seemed to have largely disappeared. This illustrates one of the major themes of the book: how ethnic identity is formed and how it dissolves. It was an interesting lesson to learn, for someone who saw ethnicity as something relatively fixed, how Goths only really established a group identity in response to Romans, and how that identity dissolved when it became irrelevant to their lives. The other major lesson for me from this book was the extent to which questions of succession can throw empires into chaos and destroy them.

Overall, a very dense and difficult read, especially the first few chapters, but with some more interesting content towards the middle of the book, and thought-provoking discussions of ethnicity and empire management. Check this out if you have a particular interest in the Goths and are able to handle highly technical historical writing; otherwise, probably better to read something else.

[Jim Chevallier · Rating 4 out of 5]

If the Goths interest you at all, this book is pretty much a must-read. It is thorough and methodical and carefully lays out the details of a dauntingly complex history. It is also important enough that some scholars have disputed aspects of it. Be warned however that it is not one of those works - like Clendinnen's work on the Aztecs - which will draw in readers without an initial interest in the subject. The author is deep into his subject and never comes up for air to consider the general readership, which probably is not going to be as deep into these details. Notably, when he describes the fall of Rome - an event with an iconic, and often distorted, place in popular history - he does not take the time to acknowledge widespread ideas about the event and how they are contradicted by the facts he lays out. Notably, few people will know that Romans slaughtered the wives and children of one group of Goths shortly before the Goths stormed the city, or that Alaric tried several times to get the (very arrogant) Romans to treat with him. Nor that Theodoric largely protected and revived Rome after its "fall". While it is fair enough to present these events in proportion to the Goths' own view of them, it is a missed opportunity to look beyond the book's (very specialized) focus to subjects of wider interest. Still, as a practical matter, the nuances of this history are dizzyingly complex and the book does include various tables that are meant to clarify it. Also, it is a rich source of references to prime sources (I especially recommend Cassiodorus' Variae) and for those of us with a deep interest in early medieval history a very valuable work.

[Nicolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Identity is an evanescent situational construct, not a solid enduring fact”.
The book has three incredible parts, considering the Goths north of the roman frontiers; the goths inside the roman empire and the Gothic Kingdoms. Working through the cultural and political history of the Goths with the aid of the main sources of this periods and through the latest archeological records the author evaluates the possible origins of the Goths and ther main charateristics across different centuries: Its social and political structures; the big question of ethnicity and nationhood, which will be a strong discussing point across the book into the roman and post roman times; their settlements and their relationship with other groups surrounding them.

It is fascinating how he dives into different types of records to first present us with the written accounts, then refuting or putting some of them in doubt while confirming others along archeology findings from the XX Century. The book is also a revisionist side of the goth’s history, in which the author presents the gothic “people” more as a conglomerate of different nations subdue by an ethnic gothic ruling class since the beginning of the common era, in which different cultures and peoples were at least influenced or constituted by a gothic core from the Baltic see all the way south and west in their subsequent migrations.

“The Huns merely pushed one group (The visigoths) across the roman frontier in 376, and conquered the other (the ostrogoths). The reality was much more complicated and much more interesting”. The words of the authors are very well argumented in recounting the fate of different groups of goths, both that cross into the roman empire and those who were left to be subjugated by the Huns. A way more complex succession of events ended up tearing up the social constructs of the gothic groups during the 4th and 5th centuries, fragmenting then and subsequently uniting them into the two known groups that many other sources had taken for granted. The fluidity in narration in which all these events are described just adds to the value of this book.

The final analysis on the gothic Kingdoms of the Visigoths in Gaul and Hispania, and the Ostrogoths in Italy during the 6th and 7th century ends the book with an almost perfect closing, where the notions of gothicness and of historical scrutiny are presented until the end to study the impact of the new migrants into the roman lands and into the power positions. A comparing of the situation of the romans with that of those goths where is known, and the theories about the life in the gothic kingdoms on what’s not sure is also presented. A final description of the book in which the last years of the kingdoms could have been more considered unfortunately doesn’t exist. Knowing the fate of the goths during and after the Arab conquest, the eastern roman restauration of Italy or the Lombard Kingdom would have rendered it perfect.

[Uyar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got tarihi ile ilgili herhalde en kapsamlı kitap bu olsa gerektir. 20 küsür sene önce yazılmasına rağmen hala temel referans olarak neredeyse bütün yeni yayınlarda karşıma çıktığı için eziyetli teferruatlı sürekli araştırma isteyen içeriye sahip olmasından dolayı biraz zorlandım ama bitirdim. Jordanes’in Gotica’sını bu kadar çok referans alacağını ummuyordum ama anladığım kadarıyla zaten onu temel almak zorunda başka başlangıç eser yok. Arkeoloji ise galiba yazıldığı döneme bakılınca şimdilik sadece bir destek gibi duruyor. Tabi muhteşem bir eser olduğunu belirtmeme de gerek yok sanırım zaten temel kabul ediliyor bir çok kişi tarafından. Ayrıca tercüme eden Erkan avcı’yı da kutlarım çok zor bir işi başarmış.
Jordanes dediği doğruysa İskandinavya‘dan kalkıp Karadeniz kıyılarına gelip oradan da Roma ve Bizans ile kontağı geçerek tuna nehrini geçmeye denemiş bir güruh aslında bu Gotlar.. o dönemi Wielbark ve Černjachov arkeolojik bulguları ile desteklemeye çalışıyor ancak o dönem gayet muğlak anladığımız kadarıyla. Yazar gold kimliğini sonradan bu güruhun zamanla oluşturduğunu söylüyor Özellikle batı romanın yıkılmasında belirli rolleri olan bu barbar gruplar zamanla yine batı romanın kültürünü benimsemeye çalışıyorlar. Aslında [Got] “kimliği üçüncü yüzyıl sonları ve altıncı yüzyıl başları arasında geçen süre içersinde özgür adamlar dediğimiz ve belli politik ve hukuksal haklara sahip bir seçkinler grubunun ürünüdür.” Amallar ve Balthlar Olarak başlangıçta ütopik olarak şekillenen Ostrogotlar veya Vizigotlar İtalya ve İspanya da Roma ve Galya kökenli diğer zengin elit toprak sahipleri ile Hıristiyanlığın da harmanlandığı bir kimliğe doğru evriliyorlar.
“Aynı sembollerin kaynakların got varlığından bahsettikleri her dönemde kullanıldığını söylemenin bir mantığı olmadığıdır. Gotların tarih boyunca süreklilik gösterdiklerini belirtmek için sabit kültürel değişmezler bulmak zorunda değiliz”
Yazarın Hunlarla ilgili hiç teferruata girmemesi hatta sanki yokmuş gibi davranması biraz bana ilginç geldi sanki Hunlar içinde hiç got grubu yokmuş gibi veyahut olan gotların bir an evvel bunlardan kopmak istiyorlarmış gibi bir intiba söz konusu. Bu biraz garip aslında.
Ancak kitabın en beğendiğim yönü tarihi kişiler üzerinden değil olaylar çevre toplum üzerinden değerlendirmesidir. Hatta kişileri anlatırken bile o kişiye Özel de değil de genellemeleri önem vermesidir. Bunu en güzel gotların ve krallarının Hıristiyanlığın Aryan mezhebinden katolikliği geçmesinde görüyoruz.
Tabii kitap sadece Gotlarla ilgilendiği için o dönemde yaşayan diğer kavimler özellikle Franklar Lombardlar Avarlar Hunlar vs O kadar az dikkate alınmış ki acilen o grupları da okumam gerektiğini anladım. Ancak batı Roma ve Bizans oldukça yoğun olarak anlatılmıştır. Bu kitabı okumak isteyenler daha önceden geç Roma tarihi ile erken orta Çağ tarihini bilmek zorunda bence. Ama tarihle ilgileniyorsanız okunması gereken olmazsa olmazlar arasında.. Okuyanlara kolay gelsin

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dry but readable history of the Goths, based on the fragments of evidence still extant.

[Ravanagh Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, but somewhat dry, history of this pivotal people.

(But no mention of Robert Smith from The Cure.)

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must-read for those interested in the history of late Antiquity and the Germanic peoples of the early Middle ages.

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a relatively few years, Heather has become perhaps the leading living expert on the Goths during Late Antiquity and the early medieval period, and especially on their relations with the Roman Empire. This is also one of the best entries in the long-running and high-quality “Peoples of Europe” series, which makes it doubly worth reading. The last survey (in English) of the whole three centuries of the Gothic period was published in 1888, and not much really new literary material has come to light in that time -- but the sheer quantity of archaeological discoveries regarding the Goths in the past century is phenomenal, and the author seems to have attempted to take all of them into account. Our principle source for Gothic history has always been Jordanes, a 6th century Gothic government bureaucrat in Constantinople who became an amateur historian after retirement, and whose treatment of the “barbarians” leaves a good deal to be desired. Heather reconsidered Jordanes’s work in his first major book, Goths and Romans, published in 1991 and based on his dissertation, and he continues that rethinking process here. The book’s organization is straightforward: An introductory chapter on the “Gothic problem” -- who were they, really, and did they really feel the self-identity we’ve assigned to them? -- is followed by three parts. The first investigates the origins of the Goths, almost certainly on the shores of the Baltic, and their early kingdoms. The second follows the Goths in the trail of the Huns, their early relations with the Romans, and the ways in which they transformed themselves into a nation to be reckoned with during most of the 5th century. The third part considers the later Ostrogothic and Visigothic kingdoms in Italy and Spain, and why they eventually failed (a matter of both internal and external forces). Two appendices discuss Procopius’s view of the Goths (not to be trusted, the author believes) and the place of non-Goths in the Gothic army. The bibliography is quite extensive, especially for books in this series. There are numerous illustrations (none in color, unfortunately) and the author’s style, while academic, is perfectly comprehensible, even for the nonspecialist. Anyone beginning a study of the Goths, or even of the centuries of the Germanic migrations generally, really has to start with this book.

[Harold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heather's analysis of the primary sources (Jordanes, Cassiodorus, Procopius, Ammianus, and about 75 others) is incredible, and his presentation of archeological evidence (notably the material from Wielbark and Cernjachov excavations) is likewise impressive. My only real complaints are: 1) While he makes a convincing argument for placing the Goths point of origin somewhere in what's now northwestern Poland/eastern Germany (based mostly on Tacitus and grave finds) - instead of Sweden (the legendary Gothic homeland)- he still fails to provide an explanation as to WHY there is a "Gothland" in said Scandinavian country...did a splinter group move north across the Baltic while the bulk of the tribe moved south/southeast on their migration to the Black Sea?; 2) There is absolutely no analysis of the Gothic language or comparisons of same with other Germanic languages to shed anymore light on origins (indeed, there's VERY LITTLE in the way of cultural history here, as Heather's focus is mainly on politics, military engagements, and social stratification...the whole "what did it mean to be Gothic" schtick*); and 3) while it's hardly a fault of the author (this book appeared in 1996), the absence of DNA evidence is distressing (I'd love to see an update!).
The book is divided into three sections: Origins/first migrations; settlement north of the Black Sea (in what's now Ukraine) & subsequent displacement by Huns and attempts (by individual Gothic tribal followings) to integrate into Roman society; the establishment, development, and collapse of the western Gothic kingdoms (Ostrogothic Italy, Visigothic Spain and southern Gaul).
Despite these nitpicks, this is a very erudite political history that deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the people or the period.

*For some time there's been a general consensus among historians that "Gothicness" was defined by small ruling "noble" elites, but Heather's position is that Gothic cultural identity and sense of nationhood was handed down from generation to generation by a large strata of "free" people comprising between 1/5th and 1/2 of the adult male population. His arguments are sound and grounded solidly in the available evidence.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, interesting. Informative. If you're looking for a narrative history of the Goths, this isn't it - but that's not what it is trying to be. Problem is, I'm not sure quite *what* this is trying to be (though granted, this is at least as likely to be due to my own lack of experience in this field as it is to any deficiency in the book itself).

Much of the book is spent discussing the question of whether there ever existed a Gothic ethnicity - to which the answer, according to the author, appears to be something like, "Sure, probably" - but no picture is offered of what such an ethnicity may have looked like. Because of that, I don't feel as though I came away from this book really understanding anything more about who the Goths were beyond the narrative bits that had to be included in order to follow the author's argument in the first place. In other words, I got the sense that I would have been better off (more entertained, anyway) reading Jordanes and Procopius, despite their flaws.

I also must admit the central thesis(?) just doesn't thrill me. To ask, "Did the Goths have a sense of 'Gothicness'?" and then to answer somewhat tepidly in the affirmative doesn't itself seem worthy of a 300-odd page book. And anyway, isn't that answer basically what we'd expect?

All this isn't to say that I didn't learn anything or didn't enjoy parts of this book - because I did, on both counts. But for a somewhat-informed general reader like myself, this is too abstract to be of much use when trying to flesh out an actual picture of this important group of people who transformed the late Roman/early medieval world.

[Jose Esquibel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the material in this book is somewhat dense, this scholarly work provides the most detailed account of the various tribal groups known collectively as Goths up to the time of its publication in 1996. In particular, Peter Heather supplemented the findings from the written historical record with archaeological discoveries to document both the migration of the various groups of Goths from the Baltic region of Europe to the Balkans and then across the Danube into the regions that were once in the domain of the western Roman Empire all the way to the Iberian Penninsula.

With the modern advances in DNA, it would be intriguing to further supplement Heather’s work through the analysis of remains thought to be Goth.

[Luka Novak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book covers period from the time when proto Goths emerged as somewhat distinct group in northern Poland and Ukraine until destruction of Ostrogoth kingdom in Italy in 6th century and evolution of Visigoth kingdom in Spain into something not so distinctly gothic. Book spends a good deal on identity, what made Goths Goths and what separated them from their neighbours. In this manner it covers burial methods, dress, language and religion.

Overall a nice, concise and broad look at this interesting and important group, well suited as a starter book.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the Goths as an entity from their 1st century appearance on along the shores of the Baltic through the end of the Visigoth kingdom in Iberia. I prefer Heather's reading of the evidence (Goth's as distinct cultural entity through most of the time period) to O'Donnell's (Ostrogoths as essentially Roman).

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to the history of the Goths by Peter Heather. This book traces the movements of the Goths from the Baltic to the Balkans, their invasion and settlement of Italy and Iberian Peninsula, to their final entanglements with the eastern empire and ultimate pacification.

[Peter Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Amazon review -

http://www.amazon.com/review/RPWJRH29...

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. It's an amazing insight into the Gothic culture, before, during and after their time within the Roman Empire.