Gettica - The Deeds of the Goths
 

The Origin and Deeds of the Goth by Jordanes
translated by Charles C. Mierow


Introductory Note:

Jordanes, as he himself tells us a couple of times, was of Gothic descent and wrote this work as a summary of Cassiodorus' much longer treatment of the history of the Goths. Because Cassiodorus' book no longer survives, Jordanes' treatment is often our only source for some of the Gothic history it describes. He wrote the Getica during the later stages of the reign of Justinian, not too long after the demise of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy.


The text of the translation presented here was scanned from a printed copy of Mierow's book and checked carefully for errors (a few misprints in that book have been corrected as well). This hypertext version has been provided by J. Vanderspoel, Department of Greek, Latin and Ancient History, University of Calgary
 

 [Click here for the Manuscipt]

Contents

Preface

Geographical Introduction

The United Goths

The Goths in the Third Century A.D.

Origin of the Huns

The Divided Goths (Visigoths)

Attila the Hun; The Battle of the Catalaunian Fields

The Divided Goths (Ostrogoths)

Conclusion