Jordanes

Jordanes (also: Jornandes, Jordanis and Iordanes, Iordanis; † after 552 ) was a late antique Roman- Gothic scholar and historian of the 6th century.

Life

Little is known about Jordanes ' lives. He apparently came from the Balkans and ruled alongside Latin and Greek. From his work shows that he was in contact with the senatorial elite of the Eastern Roman Empire. Before he went to the transcript of his works, he served as secretary ( notarius ) a senior Roman general, the magister militum per Thraciam, works.

Works

The in the early 6th century ruling over Italy Ostrogoth Theodoric the Great commissioned by 520 the Roman Senator Cassiodorus with a transcript of the history of the Goths. This work in 12 books was not published until after the death of Theodoric ( 526). In consideration of that work, but that he could see in his own words just three days, then wrote about the middle of the century Jordanes in Constantinople Opel own, highly abbreviated version and added some extent by other sources (including Ablabius ) and to current events - in the meantime I had led two wars against the Goths, the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian, and the conquest of Italy was close to completion. Jordanes ' version, De origine actibusque Getarum ( Theodor Mommsen ), short Getica, posterity has been preserved; Gothic history of Cassiodorus, however, was lost.

Jordanes ' written in Latin Getica (apparently completed by March 31 551 and published 551/52 ) are one of the most important sources for Gothic history. However, several problems with the plant are connected. When evaluating the Getica is to be observed, for example, that political reasons in their writing played a role: first, the monopolization of the Gothic story by Amal Ostrogoths. Secondly, the experiment, the Gothic History now be let to a part of the Roman; in this sense, Jordanes wrote not from the Gothic, but rather from (East ) Roman perspective. Modern scholars, particularly Arne Soby Christensen, Peter J. Heather and Michael Kulikowski have very strongly on the difficulties of using the Getica as a source for Gothic history, especially for the early period, pointed out.

Jordanes claims about, the Goths were originally from Scandinavia ( presumably after Cassiodorus ). It is, however, a topos; archaeological finds its representation, according to which there has been a greater immigration, no support. Jordanes tells Moreover, the Goths were identical with the ancient civilizations have long been familiar Getae ( a Thracian tribe ). This error also explains the title Getica (for origin myth see also Origo gentis ). In addition, he was like many other Greek and Roman historians believe that the Goths to the People of the Scythians, but that was due to the tradition of ancient historiography, according to which the term Scythians has been applied to almost all the barbarian peoples of the area of the Black sea ​​appeared. Also, the pedigree of the Amali ( Getica, 79) is a scholarly construction, which probably goes back to Cassiodorus. Jordanes ' report on the later stages of the Gothic story is told in the recent research, however, often more positively than before. However, the work generally contains some factual errors.

The research also is controversial among other things, to what extent reflect the Getica the content of Cassiodorus's historical work. Walter A. Goffart argues that the Getica are largely a product of Jordanes, who have been using Cassiodorus and other sources, however, changed the fabric and have greatly enriched their own reviews, so that was a new work. The contrary is held by several other researchers that this contradicts the self-expression of Jordanes and content (including linguistic- stylistic ) no compelling reason exists to doubt that Jordanes has served the historical work of Cassiodorus as the main template in particular, although he probably supplement other sources has used ( directly or indirectly). Unique statements are not always possible, especially since it is often uncertain whether loanwords by other authors ( like maybe from the works of Dexippos ) back to Jordanes himself or whether it was already to be found in the work of Cassiodorus.

Jordanes wrote before the Getica also a world chronicle, to which a Roman history from the time of Augustus to the 24th year of the reign of the eastern emperor Justinian joined ( the so-called Historia Romana ). The latter also had a slightly older template, probably (but not certainly ) of the same work by the younger Symmachus, the Gothic history of Cassiodorus as is now lost and resorted to the Jordanes in the Getica. It is considered likely that the Historia Romana should form a conceptual whole with the Getica.

Bavarians

Jordanes is considered to be the earliest surviving source, in which the national of the Bavarians is mentioned, namely, as neighbors of the Suevi (ie Alemanni ), east of the Lech.

Issues / translations

• Theodor Mommsen (ed.): Auctores antiquissimi 5.1: Iordanis Romana et Getica. Berlin 1882 ( Monumenta Historica Germaniae, digitized )
• Francesco Giunta, Antonino Grillone: Iordanis de origine actibusque Getarum. Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medio Evo, Rome 1991 ( Fonti per la Storia d' Italia, 117).
• Hans -Werner Goetz, Steffen Patzold, Karl- Wilhelm Welwei: The Germans in the Great Migration. Excerpts from the ancient sources about the Germans from the middle of the 3rd century until the year 453 AD Selected sources on German history of the Middle Ages, Freiherr- vom-Stein memory issue. Part I. Darmstadt 2006; Part II Darmstadt 2007. [ Draws heavily with German translation]
• Alexander Heine ( eds.): Jordanis Gothic history, together with extracts from his Roman History. Translated by William Martens. Dunker, Leipzig 1884; Dyk, Leipzig 1913; Phaidon, food / Stuttgart 1985/1986, ISBN 3-88851-076-7.
• Jordanes: The Gothic history. Translated, introduced and explained by Lenelotte Möller. Marix, Wiesbaden 2012, ISBN 978-3-86539-288-6