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A History of the Ostrogoths

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Thomas Burns' work on the Ostrogothic peoples is interesting, comprehensive, and full of abundant research material for individuals particularly inclined to the study of Germanic tribes and the Later Roman Empire. From the Goths early migrations, incursions, and relations with Rome, all the way to transient dominance under Theodoric the Great and his lesser successors, Burns, the accomplished scholar, artfully blends his deep knowledge of the original sources with contemporary archaeological lore. In doing so, he pieces together fragments of a civilization often clouded by obscurity and presents a work that grasps with clarity all aspects of Ostrogothic society: religion, warfare, art, administration, and the Goths social adaptations within the confines of the Imperial borders to name a few. This work is likely to be the best study of its kind; Thomas Burns has much to offer.

The Ostrogoths are best known for being the briefly in charge of the Italian part of the formerly Roman Empire in the very "Dark Ages" in the 5th and 6th century AD. They were eventually dispatched by the Greek-led Byzantine army in the mid 6th century, and they left little behind except a well known Gothic language Bible that has become a cornerstone of Indo-European comparative linguistics.

The Ostrogoths are often compared to their better known cousins, the Visigoths- the Visigoths were the conquerors of Spain until the Muslims wiped them out after the Ostrogoths lost Italy to the Eastern Roman Empire. If you look at a chart comparing the various branches of the Germanic language family (which includes English, yeah?) the Ostrogoths are in the "Eastern Germanic" branch. By Eastern Germanic linguists are not referring to the 20th century East Germany, rather the Goths had their roots in the Steppes of Russia. The general consensus is that they came west as part of the Hunnic armies, and probably first entered the Roman Empire during the great western raids Attila of the Hun.

After the Hunnic Emprie collapsed, the Ostrogoths perambulated about the Balkans, unable to settle down and farm (which is what they probably wanted to do) until their great leader Theodoric (one of several Gothic Theodorics who were running around at the same time.) Theodoric managed to unite a bunch of related Gothic tribes into the "Ostrogoths" and they stormed into the Italian peninsula, eventually establishing their capital in Ravena. The Ostrogoths settled inside of Italy, and Theodoric spent the next thirty ish years (490 AD-526 AD) trying to establish the kind of Indo-European Kingdom that is familiar to readers of the Rig Veda: a military elite ruling over a pre-existing domestic population. Theodoric was mostly a failure in this regard, but the fact that the conquered peoples were in the heartland of the Roman Empire means that we know a fair deal about Theodoric, his empire and Gothic society.

One of the main points that Burns makes is that the Ostrogoths were uncomfortable with what we moderns call "institutions." Loyalty to government was family and personality based: Most often both attributes needed to be embodied in a single individual for Ostrogothic government to actually exist in any substantial form. The Ostrogoths practiced the Germanic/Indo-European custom known as Comitatus, wherein a leader is supported by a small group of warriors (King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table is an English remnant of the larger Germanic concept.) These Warriors were bound to the LEADER, not to the "state" or "nation." Such was their loyalty that the death of the Leader meant the death of the remaining members of the Comitatus.

The Comitatus was remarkably successful both inside and outside Indo-European speaking traditions. For example, the Mamalukes of the Ottoman Empire (a Turkish speaking state) were as pure an example of Comitatus as any Indo European version. Another example is the so-called "Slave Empire" of the Mughals.(another Turkish speaking group) The Mughal Empire was called the "slave empire" because the Mughals had been in the Comitatus of the Persian speaking armies of Islam during their conquest of Central Asia.

The Establishment of Ostrogothic rule in Italy is one of the better documented transitions from "barbarian" Indo European traditions to the "civilized" Mediterranean/Greek/Roman model of government. Unfortunately, this book does little to explore that interesting development, being content to lay out the history, customs & culture of Ostrogoths in more or less conventional fashion. Honestly though, I couldn't find anything better. Not written in English, anyway.

This book covers the Ostrogoths from vague Tacitus-and-archaeology prehistory through the destruction of the kingdom in Italy. The writing is unengaging and confused; although the chapters are in chronological order, within each chapter decidedly not; sometimes poor editing is clearly to blame, like when the same sentence is the topic sentence of two consecutive paragraphs. There's many times when Burns will discuss the implications of an historical incident without telling us what the actual event was; he does nothing to make it easier to follow the rivalry between Theodoric Strabo and Theodoric son of Theudimer.

Some coverage of material culture, but it's mostly tangential. Indecisive on the question of 'hospitalitas': Burns seems to think it really meant taking possession of a literal third of each estate followed presumably by some kind of re-arrangement and re-shuffling, since he acknowledges that the Goths in Italy tended to live in distinct districts and that the agricultural system needed a full balance of arable, pasture, and woodland in each estate. The one chapter that did very much interest me was on the period of Hunnic overlordship, from the death of Ermanaric to the death of Attila: so much of this clicked with the stories and sagas from early Germanic history with which I'm more familiar that it was most engaging.

Not enough forest, too many trees and not enough trails. I would recommend Peter Heather's books on the Goths by preference. Good notes and bibliography, though.

`A History of the Ostrogoths' by Thomas Burns attempts to survey the Ostrogoths, rather broadly at times, through their short but eventful history. What I mean by rather broadly is that we are forced to use approximations from literary and archaeological sources because Ostrogothic history is not well documented, as the author himself states... "Combining archaeological data and the Greco-Roman literary sources can never produce a truly uniform and consistent historical vision." (Introduction XV) A goal of this book is to look at the Ostrogoths as a group rather than individuals and their long-term interaction with Rome. According to the author "... This study is a history of the Ostrogoths, not of the late Roman Empire. Nor is it an archaeological survey; rather it is a history based on a synthesis of traditional sources and relevant archaeological materials. The emphasis on the Ostrogoths is clear and deliberate. Roman developments set the stage for much of Ostrogothic history, but only in that respect do purely roman events and personalities enter the narrative. The Ostrogoths merit their own history." (Introduction XVI) That being said I found that most of the book had more references to Visigoths, Romans, and non-Germanic groups like the Huns, and Alans, than the Ostrogoths. For an example the first reference to the Ostrogoths does not come until the eleventh page of the first chapter, when they are mentioned in passing... "Another source of influence was the cultural ganglion of central Asian groups in the area of south-central Russia. The artistic influence of the Steppes was most prominent among groups in direct contact with this area, for example, the Ostrogoths in their early period." (Page 11) I did find this book to be really informative and I cannot begin to list all I garnered from this book in such a short paper, so I will give a condensed version. By 375 A.D. the Huns had conquered the Gruethingi/Ostrogoths ruled by Ermanaric, who committed suicide rather than lead his people into Hunnic slavery. The Ostrogoths were subject to the Huns until the death of Attila in 453 A.D. "The memories of their subjection were bitter long after they had escaped from the Huns following the decisive battle of Nedao in 454." (Page 45), But Burns also says that "The Ostrogoths had been fortunate, for Attila had favored the Amali Valamir and his brothers Thuidmir and Vidmir. In fact, it seems that despite occasional hunger and growing animosity, at least the Ostrogothic nobility, and presumably their personal followers, did reasonably well under the Huns." (Page 45) The Ostrogoths spent the next 34 years after the battle of Nedao engaged in securing the Balkans for Rome and finding a permanent land to settle. By 489 A.D. the Emperor Zeno and Theodoric the Great were severely at odds with each other and the Ostrogoths began the final phase of their history as they began a trek to Italy. They entered in 489-490, and by 493 Theodoric had killed his rival Odacer and set up the Ostrogothic kingdom, with Ravenna as his capitol. After Theodoric's death in 526 A.D. his daughter Amalasuntha became regent for her son Athalric after his death in 534 A.D., she mistakenly placed herself under the protection of her cousin Theodahad. Her death in 535 A.D. gave the Emperor Justinian a pretext for sending Belisarius to reconquer Italy. "When Justinian launched his armies against the Ostrogoths, he may have envisioned a quick victory of Belisarius, like that he had achieved over the Vandals. If so, the Emperor was gravely mistaken but not foolishly naïve." (Page 204) In 552 A.D. the Byzantine general Narses defeated Totila, who died in battle. The survivors of the Ostrogoths chose Teja (or Teias) as their king, but were practically wiped out in the battle at Mons Lactarius in which Teja was also killed. "By 554 the Ostrogothic Kingdom was gone." (Page 215) The few survivors mingled with other peoples and nations; some were romanized in Italy, and others wandered north where they disappeared among the various Germanic tribes. In conclusion, again I cannot state everything I have taken away from this book but I think the author Thomas Burns says it best in his introduction, "The Ostrogoths developed as a people over the course of at least three centuries of direct and indirect contact with the Roman Empire. In essence, Rome nourished Gothic civilization throughout a long life and ultimately destroyed and buried her mature creation." (Introduction Xiii)