Goths Discussion

Dedicated for all DNA, Analysis Results, History, Research topics related to: Goths

The Goths were a Germanic tribe whose origins stemmed from the island of Scandza in Scandinavia. Over the years they slowly migrated southwards eventually to the Black Sea and into the Roman Empire. They had a written language with Runic inscriptions. It is said they worshipped the god of war and would hang human arms from trees and perform human sacrifices of prisoners. In 395 AD, the Gothic leader Alaric rose to power and had a plan to seize good farmland and monetary rewards from Romans. He became an outlaw of both the Western and Eastern Roman Empires and eventually there was a massacre of Gothic settlers near Constantinople in 400 AD. Sensing weakness with the Western half, Alaric found supporters with other outlaws of Rome - as well as runaway slaves. He camped an army outside Rome and sacked the city in August 410 AD. In the 5th century the Gothic tribes had split clearly into two Kingdoms built on the ruins of the former Western Roman Empire. The Visigoths ruled in Iberia and the Ostrogoths ruled over Italy.