[gothic-l] Re: Re : on Jordanes

[dirk at SMRA.CO.UK]

--- In gothic-l at y..., "José Van der Haegen" <jvdh28 at h...> wrote:
> Wouldn't it be fair to suppose that Jordanes might have been some 
sort of 
> cultural "collaborator", who thought himself ideally suited / 
situated to 
> write about his own people, and, at the same time, try to convince 
the world 
> (and the Goths) that the Roman culture and social structure were 
something 
> to be emulated ?


Hello Jose,

I think that this is not far from the truth. At any rate,  Jordanes 
was keen to promote the intergration of the Goths into the Roman 
Empire. Thus, he condemned apparently boths Romans (like Domitian who 
fought against the Getae who Jordanes wrongly identified as Goths) and 
Goths (like Totila who took up the Gothic cause after Vitigis' 
surrender) who seemed to disturb this fateful but inevitable joining 
of Goths and Romans. Jordanes seems to exemplify this joining ot Goths 
and Romans with the marriage of  Germanus of the Roman Anicii dynasty 
and Matasuentua of the Gothic Amal dynasty and the birth of their 
child Germanus who is the example of a perfect Romano-Gothic 
symbiosis.





> I believe that a lot of the historians or commentators in Antiquity 
rather 
> wrote to justify and/or glorify the actions of the strongest party 
of the 
> moment. For all we know he may have thought his own people a tad too 
> barbaric. I suppose that not everyone in the tribes and regions 
conquered by 
> the Romans was necessarily a fierce opponent to the Roman propensity 
for 
> expanding.




This view extents even to people like Theoderic himself, who is quoted 
with saying that : a Goths who strives to become Roman is to be 
applauded, while a Roman who seeks to become a Goths is worth nothing. 
 Whether or not he really said this remains an open question, but some 
of his actions indicate that Theoderic sought to reestablish the glory 
of the old Roman empire rather than a new Gothia in Italy. Thus, 
Theoderic ordered the minting of coins that alude to Roman republican 
ideals and symbolism (e.g. She-wolf with Romulus and Remus, Roma-Head 
with Roma Invicta inscription etc.)


cheers
Dirk 




 
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