Projekttitel: eManual Alte Geschichte
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Iord. Get. XIV, 82-XV, 88 – Original:
82 Nunc autem ad id, unde digressum fecimus, redeamus doceamusque, quomodo ordo gentis, unde agimus, cursus sui metam explevit. Ablabius enim storicus refert, quia ibi super limbum Ponti, ubi eos diximus in Scythia commanere, ibi pars eorum, qui orientali plaga tenebat, eisque praeerat Ostrogotha, utrum ab ipsius nomine, an a loco, id est orientales, dicti sunt Ostrogothae, residui vero Vesegothae, id est a parte occidua.
XV. 83 Et quia iam superius diximus eos transito Danubio aliquantum temporis in Mysiam Thraciamque vixisse, ex eorum reliquiis fuit et Maximinus imp. post Alexandrum Mamaeae. Nam, ut dicit Symmachus in quinto suae historiae libro, Maximinus, inquiens, Caesar mortuo Alexandro ab exercitu effectus est imp., ex infimis parentibus in Thracia natus, a patre Gotho nomine Micca, matre Halana, quae Ababa dicebatur. Is triennio regnans, dum in Christianos arma commoveret, imperium simul et vitam amisit.
84 Nam hic Severo imp. regnante et natalis die filii celebrante, post prima aetate et rusticana vita de pascuis in militiam venit. Princeps si quidem militares dederat ludos; quod cernens Maximinus, quamvis semibarbarus aduliscens, propositis praemiis patria lingua petit ab imperatore, ut sibi luctandi cum expertis militibus licentiam daret.
85 Severus, ammodum miratus magnitudinem formae“ erat enim, ut fertur, statura eius procera ultra octo pedes – iussit eum lixis corporis nexu contendere, ne quid a rudi homine militaribus viris eveniret iniuriae. Tum Maximinus sedecim lixas tanta felicitate prostravit, ut vincendo singulos nullam sibi requiem per intercapidinem temporis daret. Hic captis praemiis iussus in militiam mitti, primaque ei stipendia equestria fuere. Tertia post haec die, cum imperator prodiret ad campum, vidit eum exultantem more barbarico iussitque tribuno, ut eum cohercitum ad Romanam inbueret disciplinam. Ille vero, ubi de se intellexit principem loqui, accessit ad eum equitantemque praeire pedibus coepit.
86 Tum imperator equo ad lentum cursum calcaribus incitato multos urbes huc atque illuc usque ad suam defatigationem variis deflexibus impedivit ac deinde ait illi: ‚Num quid vis post cursum, Thracisce, luctare?‘ Respondit: ‚Quantum libet, imperator‘. Ita Severus, ex equo desiliens, recentissimos militum cum eo decertari iussit. At ille septem valentissimos iuvenes ad terram elisit, ita ut antea nihil per intervalla respiraret, solusque a Caesare et argenteis praemiis et aureo torque donatus est; iussus deinde inter stipatores degere corporis principalis.
87 Post haec sub Antonino Caracalla ordines duxit ac saepe famam factis extendens plures militiae grados centuriatumque strenuitatis suae praetium tulit. Macrino tamen postea in regno ingresso recusavit militiam pene triennio, tribunatusque habens honore numquam se oculis Macrini optulit, indignum ducens eius imperium, qui perpetrato facinus fuerat adquisitum. 88 Ad Eliogabalum dehinc quasi ad Antonini filium revertens tribunatum suum adiit et post hunc sub Alexandrum Mamaeae contra Parthos mirabiliter dimicavit. Eoque Mogontiaco militari tumulto occiso ipse exercitus electione absque senatus consultu effectus est imperator, qui cuncta bona sua in persecutione Christianorum malo voto foedavit, occisusque Aquileia a Puppione, regnum reliquid Philippo. Quod nos idcirco huic nostro opusculo de Symmachi hystoria mutuavimus, quatenus gentem, unde agimus, ostenderemus ad regni Romani fastigium usque venisse. Ceterum causa exegit, ad id, unde digressimus, ordine redeamus.
Projekttitel: eManual Alte Geschichte
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Übersetzung: Charles C. Mierow
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Übersetzung:
(82) But let us now return to the point whence we made our digression and tell how the stock of this people of whom I speak reached the end of its course. Now Ablabius the historian relates that in Scythia, where we have said that they were dwelling above an arm of the Pontic Sea, part of them who held the eastern region and whose king was Ostrogotha, were called Ostrogoths, that is, eastern Goths, either from his name or from the place. But the rest were called Visigoths, that is, the Goths of the western country.
XV (83) As already said, they crossed the Danube and dwelt a little while in Moesia and Thrace. From the remnant of these came Maximinus, the Emperor succeeding Alexander the son of Mama. For Symmachus relates it thus in the fifth book of his history, saying that upon the death of Caesar Alexander, Maximinus was made Emperor by the army; a man born in Thrace of most humble parentage, his father being a Goth named Micca, and his mother a woman of the Alani called Ababa. He reigned three years and lost alike his empire and his life while making war on the Christians. (84) Now after his first years spent in rustic life, he had come from his flocks to military service in the reign of the Emperor Severus and at the time when he was celebrating his son’s birthday. It happened that the Emperor was giving military games. When Maximinus saw this, although he was a semi-barbarian youth, he besought the Emperor in his native tongue to give him permission to wrestle with the trained soldiers for the prizes offered. (85) Severus marvelling much at his great size–for his stature, it is said, was more than eight feet,–bade him contend in wrestling with the camp followers, in order that no injury might befall his soldiers at the hands of this wild fellow. Thereupon Maximinus threw sixteen attendants with so great ease that he conquered them one by one without taking any rest by pausing between the bouts. So then, when he had won the prizes, it was ordered that he should be sent into the army and should take his first campaign with the cavalry. On the third day after this, when the Emperor went out to the field, he saw him coursing about in barbarian fashion and bade a tribune restrain him and teach him Roman discipline. But when he understood it was the Emperor who was speaking about him, he came forward and began to run ahead of him as he rode. (86) Then the Emperor spurred on his horse to a slow trot and wheeled in many a circle hither and thither with various turns, until he was weary. And then he said to him „Are you willing to wrestle now after your running, my little Thracian?“ „As much as you like, O Emperor,“ he answered. So Severus leaped from his horse and ordered the freshest soldiers to wrestle with him. But he threw to the ground seven very powerful youths, even as before, taking no breathing space between the bouts. So he alone was given prizes of silver and a golden necklace by Caesar. Then he was bidden to serve in the body guard of the Emperor. (87) After this he was an officer under Antoninus Caracalla, often increasing his fame by his deeds, and rose to many military grades and finally to the centurionship as the reward of his active service. Yet afterwards, when Macrinus became Emperor, he refused military service for almost three years, and though he held the office of tribune, he never came into the presence of Macrinus, thinking his rule shameful because he had won it by committing a crime. (88) Then he returned to Eliogabalus, believing him to be the son of Antoninus, and entered upon his tribuneship. After his reign, he fought with marvellous success against the Parthians, under Alexander the son of Mama. When he was slain in an uprising of the soldiers at Mogontiacum, Maximinus himself was made Emperor by a vote of the army, without a decree of the senate. But he marred all his good deeds by persecuting the Christians in accordance with an evil vow and, being slain by Pupienus at Aquileia, left the kingdom to Philip. These matters we have borrowed from the history of Symmachus for this our little book, in order to show that the race of which we speak attained to the very highest station in the Roman Empire. But our subject requires us to return in due order to the point whence we digressed.
Projekttitel: eManual Alte Geschichte
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Autor_in: Falk Wackerow
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Iord. Get. XIV, 82-XV, 88
Leitfragen:
1) Wer sind die Goten?
2) Wie kamen sie mit dem Römischen Reich in Konflikt?
3) Wie verlief die weitere Geschichte der Goten?
Kommentar:
Der Autor der Gotengeschichte, Iordanes, schrieb diese wahrscheinlich um die Mitte des sechsten Jhdts. n. Chr. hauptsächlich basierend auf der älteren und ausführlicheren Gotenbeschreibung des Oströmers Cassiodor. Nach der Darstellung des Iordanes hatten die Goten ursprünglich in Skandinavien gelebt, bis sie sich irgendwann unter ihrem Anführer Berig nach Gothiscandza (der heutigen polnischen Ostsseeküste) aufgemacht hätten. Jedoch sind weder die Person Berigs noch die Herkunft aus Skandinavien anderweitig belegt, sodass die heutige Forschung von der These der Herkunft aus Skandinavien, die von der älteren Forschung noch vertreten worden war, Abstand genommen hat. Man vermutet nun stattdessen eine Ethnogenese im Bereich der südlichen Ostseeküste. Es gilt als gesichert, dass es sich bei den Goten um einen östlichen Zweig der Germanen handelte, wofür vor allem sprachgeschichtlich argumentiert wird, und nicht um einen Ableger der Skythen bzw. Geten, wie Iordanes schreibt. Relativ unstrittig ist ebenso die erstmals von Iordanes erwähnte Südwanderung zur Schwarzmeerküste. Lediglich über den Zeitpunkt – entweder im dritten Jhdt. n. Chr. oder schon deutlich früher – gibt es geteilte Ansichten. Die erste gesicherte Begegnung mit den Römern fand 238 n. Chr. statt, als sie sich anschickten, die Donau zu überschreiten. Danach finden sich häufigere Verweise auf Kämpfe zwischen Römern und Goten, aber auch für das Dienen in römischen Auxiliareinheiten.Dennoch überwogen zunächst die Konflikte zwischen den neuen Nachbarn. Im Jahre 251 fiel gar der römische Kaiser Decius in den Kämpfen. Nach wechselhaften Auseinandersetzungen beruhigte sich die Lage erst wieder gegen Ende des Jahrhunderts unter Aurelian und Diokletian. Irgendwann in diesem Zeitraum muss die Teilung des Volkes in Ostro- und Visigoten stattgefunden haben (die häufig in Deutschland und den Niederlanden genutzten Bezeichnungen Ost- und Westgoten beruhen auf diesen Namen, sind aber inkorrekt). Durch den stetigen Kontakt mit den Römern übernahmen beide Teilstämme das Christentum arianischer Prägung. Unter anderem durch zunehmenden hunnischen Druck im Rahmen der Völkerwanderung gezwungen, die Siedlungsgebiete an der Donau zu verlassen, machten die Visigoten sich auf den Weg nach Westen, während die Ostrogoten sich zunächst zu behaupten versuchten, jedoch von den Hunnen unterworfen wurden. Erst nach dem Tode König Attilas gelang es ihnen, die Unabhängigkeit zurückzuerlangen und schließlich ein eigenes Herrschaftsgebiet in Italien zu erobern, wodurch sie wesentlich zum Untergang des Weströmischen Reiches beitrugen. Kein Jahrhundert später wurden sie allerdings erst von den Oströmern und anschließend von den Langobarden besiegt. Die weitere Geschichte der Visigoten verlief gänzlich anders: Nach gewonnenen Schlachten gegen die Weströmer und der berühmten Plünderung Roms unter Alarich I. gründeten sie im von der „Völkerwanderung“ bis dahin weitgehend verschont gebliebenen Hispanien das später nach der Hauptstadt benannte Toledanische Reich, das bis ins Frühmittelalter überdauerte.