The Goths were a Germanic people first attested north of the Danube in the 3rd century AD. They were frequently at odds with the Roman Empire, targeting Greece and Asia Minor in raids and invasions. They enjoyed a level of power over many other Germanic tribes during the fall of the Roman Empire, though dynastic splintering and Hunnic invasion broke Gothic power. The Goths continued to rule in former Dacia and along the Black Sea coast for centuries after (see: Kingdom of Oium)
When discussing the Goths, historians tend to use the terms Ostrogoth and Visigoth, meaning eastern and western Goth respectively. This split took place around the late century and early 4th century as the Goths came into hostilities with other peoples in Scythia. Though this divide is not as pronounced until much later in the Vastator Orbis ATL, the distinction grows increasingly pronounced over the 5th century.
Early History & Sub-Groups[]
An OTL map of early Gothic migrations from the Baltic into the Balkans.
Most of what we know about the Goths prior to their arrival to the Danube region is told primarily through the 5th century OTL account Getica and through archaeology. According to Getica, the Goths originated in Scandza (Scandinavia). Sometime in the first century AD, the Goths arrived in a region named Gothiscandza at the mouth of the Vistula river. They are first attested by Roman sources around this time under the name Gutones. Strabo, and later Pliny the Elder and the historian Tacitus (not to be confused with the emperor) all place the Gutones in the same general region. The Goths are typically associated with the Wielbark culture, which began a large, southward migration in the 2nd century AD. In doing so, the Goths displaced and absorbed a number of peoples in the region, possibly contributing to the migrations that led to the Marcomannic Wars. They arrived in Scythia, which they named Oium.
Over the 3rd century, the Goths established something of a hegemony over the peoples in the region, inhabiting a region spanning much of the northern Black Sea. In the region were also a myriad of Roman, Greek, Iranian, and proto-Slavic peoples, who may have been subjects of the Goths. It has been proposed that the Goths were not a people, but more an amalgamation of different groups that existed along the Danube River united against the Roman Empire. Regardless of the true origin of the Gothic peoples, frequent wars with the Roman Empire brought more Gothic leaders into prominence. Perhaps the most notable is Cniva, who invaded the Roman Empire around the year 250. Over the next few decades, the Romans and the Goths would trade hostilities. In the late 260s, Emperor Claudius II was named Gothicus Maxiumus for his role in defeating a major Gothic invasion led by Cannabaudes.
As of the PoD, the Goths are nominally united by Ovida, who is cited in OTL sources as being one of the last people to unite the Goths in such a way. The son or brother of Cniva, Ovida is possibly related to Cannabaudes. Though the latter was described as a king of the Goths, it is unknown whether this is a regional kingship or if he was in opposition to Ovida. In OTL, Cannabaudes dies in 271. In the Vastator Orbis ATL, he survives until 277. Unlike in OTL, the Tervingi do not splinter to their OTL extent and remain a formidable opponent of Rome, yet there does remain a distinction between eastern and western Goths.
Greuthungi (Ostrogoths)[]
See also: Kingdom of Oium