[gothic-l] Re: Goths, Bavarians and Heruls

[dirk at SMRA.CO.UK]

Hi Troells,

one more question if I may. Are you aware of any interpretation of the
name of the Herulic king 'Datius', who according to Procopius
travelled from Thule to the Danube area? Do you think that it is
likely his real name, a corruption of his real name or a name given to
an otherwise unknown king?

It is interesting to note that a pagan Herul from Thule would share a
name with the famous bishop of Milan, who died in 552AD. The Bishop St
Datius was expelled from Italy by the Ostrogoths and lived most of the
 time in Constantinople. As he was highly criticle of Justinian, he
was likely of great interest to Procopius. Like an earlier Saint
Datius in Africa, Datius of Milan was also sanctified. Using his name
might have been an important political message at the time. This is of
course pure speculation. The name itself means probably the Dacian,
i.e. man from Dacia, as Dacia was also written Datia.


thanks
Dirk




------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Small business owners...
Tell us what you think!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/wWMplB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

You are a member of the Gothic-L list.  To unsubscribe, send a blank email to <gothic-l-unsubscribe at egroups.com>.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/