Jordanes Getae
Here are some quotes on the Getae and Slavs, basically the same people.
| Quote: |
| There were many Gothic nations in earlier times, just as also at the present, but the greatest and most important of all are the Goths, Vandals, Visigoths, and Gepaedes. In ancient times, however, they were named Sauromatae and Melanchlaeni; and there were some too who called these nations Getic. -- Procopius |
| Quote: |
| We read that on their first migration the Goths dwelt in the land of Scythia near Lake Maeotis. On the second migration they went to Moesia, Thrace and Dacia, and after their third they dwelt again in Scythia, above the Sea of Pontus……………………..And thus a famous kingdom and most valiant race, which had long held sway, was at last overcome in almost its two thousand and thirtieth year by that conqueror of many nations, the Emperor Justinian, through his most faithful consul Belisarius. -- Jordanes |
Jordanes himself is of Getic descent, yet his whole history is written in the Latin language, furthermore, he links the Getae to the Greeks via culture, stating that they have ever
been:
| Quote: |
| …………..wiser than other barbarians and were nearly like the Greeks………….. |
To add to this, he tells us of the god called Mars, or Ares, the god of war, who is believed to be descended from the Getae, and moreover, of the Getic king Telefus, who was:
| Quote: |
| …………a son of Hercules by Auge, and the husband of a sister of Priam. |
Telefus, a descendant of Hercules?! Alexander III of Macedon is claimed by Greeks due to such reasons, surely then, Telefus and the Getae must also be Greek!
| Quote: |
| …………king of theirs named Telefus. Let no one say that this name is quite foreign to the Gothic tongue, and let no one who is ignorant cavil at the fact that the tribes of men make use of many names, even as the Romans borrow from the Macedonians, the Greeks from the Romans, the Sarmatians from the Germans, and the Goths frequently from the Huns.. -- Jordanes |
Jordanes refers to the Trojans and Priam as Phrygians, and states that this Getic king was married to the sister of the Trojan king. He also mentions that Phillip II of Macedon to a Getic wife called
Medopa who was a daughter of the Getic king Gudila.
| Quote: |
| But Thiudimer the king, perceiving his own good fortune and that of his son, was not content with this alone, but set forth from the city of Naissus, leaving only a few men behind as a guard. He himself advanced to Thessalonica, where Hilarianus the Patrician, appointed by the Emperor, was stationed with his army. When Hilarianus beheld Thessalonica surrounded by an entrenchment and saw that he could not resist attack, he sent an embassy to Thiudimer the king and by the offer of gifts turned him aside from destroying the city. Then the Roman general entered upon a truce with the Goths and of his own accord handed over to them those places they inhabited, namely Cyrrhus, Pella, Europus, Methone, Pydna, Beroea, and another which is called Dium. |
Macedonia's regions are populated NOT by Greeks but by what Jordanes termed as Goths, which strengthens the argument that names such as Getae and Slavs were tribes of related peoples, with the Slavic
name eventually pre-dominating above the rest, the author is alluding to the Macedonians being of the same type as the Getae.
Theophylact Simocatta considers the Slavs and Goths/Getae as one in the same.
| Quote: |
| As for the Getae, that is to say the herds of Sclavenes, they were fiercly ravaging the regions of Thrace…………. – Theophylact Simocatta |
There were Slavs who fought under Avar leadership
| Quote: |
| For the Avars let loose the nation of the Sclavenes, who ravaged very many areas of the Roman territory, suddenly invaded like lightning as far as the Walls named Long………… -- Theophylact Simocatta |
Slavs who came from the West
| Quote: |
| ……..three men, Sclavenes by race…..they replied that they were Sclavenes by nation and that they lived at the boundary of the western ocean……… -- Theophylact Simocatta |
And Slavs who were already in the Balkans
| Quote: |
| ……..on reaching Marcianopolis he ordered one thousand men to advance beyond the camp. These, therefore, encountered six hundred Sclavenes who were escorting a great haul of Romans, for they had ravaged Zaldapa, Aquis and Scopi……….. The Romans drew near to the Getae (for this is the older name for the barbarians)……………… -- Theophlact Simocatta |
Some Getic names cited by Jordanes that look similar to Slavic are Gradivus, Filimer, Thuidimer, Valamir and Vidimer.
| Quote: |
| (268) Let us now return to the tribe with which we started, namely the Ostrogoths, who were dwelling in Pannonia under their king Valamir and his brothers Thiudimer and Vidimer. Although their territories were separate, yet their plans were one. For Valamir dwelt between the rivers Scarniunga and Aqua Nigra, Thiudimer near Lake Pelso and Vidimer between them both. Now it happened that the sons of Attila, regarding the Goths as deserters from their rule, came against them as though they were seeking fugitive slaves, and attacked Valamir alone, when his brothers knew nothing of it. (269) He sustained their attack, though he had but few supporters, and after harassing them a long time, so utterly overwhelmed them that scarcely any portion of the enemy remained. The remnant turned in flight and sought the parts of Scythia which border on the stream of the river Danaper, which the Huns call in their own tongue the Var. Thereupon he sent a messenger of good tidings to his brother Thiudimer, and on the very day the messenger arrived he found even greater joy in the house of Thiudimer. For on that day his son Theodoric was born, of a concubine Erelieva indeed, and yet a child of good hope. - Jordanes |
