[gothic-l] Re: Ostrogoths and Eagles

[dirk at SMRA.CO.UK]

>
> Hello Dirk,
>
> I was wondering what you meant by
> "legitimately". Do you mean that they wanted to rule according
> to Roman law? I am asking, because later, with the Langobards
> there seem to have existed a special "Langobard law" that
> presumably differed from the older Roman law.


Hello Keth,

what I meant was that Theoderic, who was called Flavius Theodericus to
 connect him to the Flavian dynasty (I think) recognised the
overlordship of the East Roman Emperor. Although, he pretty much did
what he wanted, he normaly avoided infringing upon the suzerainity of
Byzantium. Thus he ruled as a client king of Byzantium,
which had send him to Italy to deal with Odoacer. The Langobards which
you mentioned are a different matter. They entered Italy as conquerers
who simply took possession of the country.


>
> On Vendel helm plaques you see, for example,
> warriors dressed in wolves hides. In later skaldic poetry
> you hear about "Ulfhednar" (=wolf warriors) and Snorri
> describes "berserks" (=warriors who went absolutely raving
> mad)


Has that a paralell in the Gothic culture? I mean wolf warriors etc.?


>
> I do not know how "civilized" the Romans were either.
> They often strangled prisoners of war in temples dedicated
> to their gods, and you also hear about cruel torture,
> whereas your description seems to describe them as
> compleat gentlemen (today politically correct =
> big smile on TV)
>
>


I totally agree. By this measure the Romans were probably not more
civilised than the rest of the lot. What I meant was the existence of
a superior social structure, bureaucracy, but also more refined arts,
education and learning etc.

greetings
Dirk

>
>


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