Ostrogoths Discussion

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

Originating from Scandinavia, the Goths of Eastern Europe were shattered when Attila and the Huns blasted onto the scene. The Gothic kingdom was split - those who crossed the Danube to enter the Roman Empire became the Visigoths. The Ostrogoths who remained in Dacia to face the Huns became their vassals. They migrated into the Roman province of Pannonia (modern day Hungary, Austria and Croatia) and fought with their Hunnic overlords against the Romans, Visigoths and their allies. When the Hunnic empire was defeated, the newly independent Ostrogoths remained in Pannonia. When the western Roman empire collapsed to the warlord Odoacer, the Byzantines looked to the Ostrogoth King Theodoric to reclaim Italy in 488 AD. After liberating Italy, the Byzantines treated Theodoric as an equal. Under Theodoric's rule, Italy flourished and Roman laws and customs continued under Ostrogothic rule, becoming the strongest in western Europe. In 535 AD after Theodoric's death, the Gothic war with Byzantium began and Emperor Justinian won ending the Ostrogothic kingdom.