[gothic-l] Re: Eruli-Scandinavian Relations

[andreas.schwarcz at UNIVIE.AC.AT]

Dear Dirk,
of course you are right. Germans were employed in the guards 
already by the principate (see the old, but still valuable book of 
Martin Bang, Die Germanen im römischen Dienst bis zum 
Regierungsantritt Constantins I. Berlin 1906, and a wealth of 
literature since then). Most of the Erul soldiers mentioned by 
Procopius were not "mercenaries", they were professional soldiers 
in the Roman army and citizens of the empire. And they did not 
fight against Theoderic. When Justinians Gothic war broke out, the 
king of the Ostrogoths was Theoderic's nephew Theodahad. 
Theoderic died in 526 AD. But some gothomanes cannot get even 
the dates and the kings into the right order, but dream of  gothic 
empires from the Black Sea up to Sweden..
Kind regards
                Andreas   
Ao.Univ.Prof.Dr.Andreas Schwarcz
Institut für österreichische Geschichtsforschung
Universität Wien
Dr.Karl Lueger-Ring 1
A-1010 Wien
Österreich
Tel.0043/1/42-77/272-16
Fax 0043/142-77/92-72


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