In the third century AD, a Germanic tribe had reached the Roman frontier. These people
were the Goths and according to legends, they came from South Scandinavia, though this is
hardly believable. The oral tradition, tales and songs of the Goths tell that they crossed
the sea and settled on the Baltic shores. They waged war upon the native tribes and
drove them away. When they became too many, they left in search of a better land. They
arrived in Scythia, defeated the native tribes and reached the Black Sea. There is no proof
yet of a Scandinavian homeland but there is evidence of a group of people living in the
banks of the Vistula river in the first and second century AD. Gothic tombs and rocks
were found both at the Vistula and near the Black Sea set a century apart. They are somewhat
distinctive compared to the neighbouring tribes that were settled there and they prove that
a migration from the Goths did take place during that time. According to Tacitus the
Goths of that period had a more autocratic rule compared to other Germanic tribes and
were also distinguished by their round shields and short swords. In their way south, the
Goths pushed other tribes westward in to the Roman empire. The tribes were those that Marcus
Aurelius fought as we disscused in the relevant video.\par
In the beginning of the third century AD the Goths had already settled on the shores of
the Black Sea and the Danube. As the power of the Goths expanded the rich Roman provinces
started to look very promising. The Sassanid empire having overthrown the Parthians led
an invasion on the eastern border of the Roman empire in 232. Alexander Severus, the Roman
emperor at that time, after defending the border and heading back, was killed by his
own troops. In 235 the Roman empire went into a crisis which would continue until 284. The
army had become the main source of power and the soldiers would often kill their own emperor
if they were displeased with him. Several emperors were crowned during those years,
some were killed in battle against invading tribes, others against usurpers but most were
killed by their troops, like Alexander Severus. \par
While other Germanic tribes from the North-West had started to raid the Rhine frontier, the
Goths led the first raids on Roman territory, plundering the North-East Balkans. The general
Decius was put in charge of the Roman army to drive off the invaders. He then proceeded
to overthrow the emperor Phillip and started solidifying his position. More raids occured,
which where more succesful this time as the Goths reached and plundered the city of Phillipopolis.
Decius started a counter attack and met the Goths near Abritus. The Roman army was not
familiar with the area and they found themselves trapped in a swamp. The Goths surrounded the
Romans and defeated them. In this battle Decius and his son were killed and Gallus became
the emperor. \par Meanwhile the Sassanid empire launched an
attack against the Romans, emperor Valerian went to fight them but was defeated, captured
and killed. While the Roman-Sassanid war was taking place, the Goths along with other Germanic
tribes raided the south shores of the Black Sea and the Danube sacking many cities. In
267 a coalition of Goths and other tribes with their newly made ships and boats, launched
new raids, this time in Greece and West Asia Minor, sacking many cities, including Athens,
Argos, Sparta and Corinth. An Athenian militia drove the Goths away and pushed them to the
north. In their return to their homeland, the Goths met with the Romans and were defeated
in battle. The Goths helped by Roman engineers manufactured siege engines and using them,
nearly took the cities of Thessalonica and Cassandreia but were driven off by armies
of the emperor. A huge confontation took place when the Goths met with the Romans at Naissus.
They were utterly defeated with a blow so devastating that it would take them many years
to fully recover. In the meantime, a plague had struck the Roman empire, killing thousands,
Romans and Goths alike. The majority of the Goths returned home, some sea raids were attempted
on the South eastern islands of the Meditteranean but with little success. As the third century
crisis ended with Diocleatian stablising the empire, the Goths were paid off, to cease
hostilities against the Romans. A large part of them served in the Roman army. The Goths
expanded in their own homeland and drove off neighbouring tribes like the Vandals, the
Sarmatians and the Heruls. In the reign of Constantine a few battles which included the
Goths took place, in some of them the Goths supported Constantine against Licinius and
in others they fought against the Romans, who had sent an army because they feared their
expansion southwards.\par By the time of emperor Constantine, many of
the Romans had converted to Christianity. The emperors that followed Constantine were
all christians with the exception of the emperor Julian. Ulfilas, who was a a son of captive
Romans but was raised up as a Goth, was a bishop in Antioch. He was sent to spread Christianity
to the Goths. He translated the Bible in to Gothic and started teaching about the Christian
ways. Some Gothic leaders converted right away but it would take a long time for all
the Goths to become Christians. Christianity was seen as a way of Romanizing the Gothic
tribes, some Gothic leaders wanted that but others saw it as an indirect threat to their
tribe so a certain resistance did take place in the beginning. The version of Christianity
that the Goths were converting to was Arian Christianity, the one which in a few years
would be branded as heretic, when all the Romans adopted the Nicene Dogma. This would
be one of the factors that distinguished the Goths from the Romans. In 365 Procopius rose
against the new eastern emperor, Valens, with a fraction of the Gothic army and 3000 Goths.
Valens defeated and killed Procopius. He then led two punitive expeditions against the Goths.
The first one was a failure, as the Goths retreated to the Carpathian Mountains and
the land was empty when the Roman army arrived. The second one was hardly succesful as a few
battles took place in which Valens defeated a fraction of the Goths and one of their leaders,
Athanaric. The Goths by now were nearly fully depended on the Romans with trade and gold
so they sought for peace. Eventually a treaty was made between Athanaric and Valens, so
peace ruled once again in the empire.