[gothic-l] Tracing the Heruli

[Егоров Владимир]

Hi, George!

I can't understand you. You quite rightly doubt settlements
of the Heruli "on the southern coast of the Black Sea,
on the Argean sea, in Greece". No Germanic settlements
are found in Greece and on the Aegean Sea and probably never will.
But how can be doubted Herulian presence in the Bosporian Kingdom
if Heruli used its ships? Or did Bosporians bring up their vessels
to any point on any call like taxis?

Regarding the settlements on NE coasts of the Black Sea,
I do not know such archaeological finds. But there are
two attestations I have found:
a) of Procopius on tetraxites;
b) of an anonymous author of 5th c., which described ethnic changes
in that region.
The latter is quoted below (sorry, in my translation from Russian,
and I beg your pardon in advance for possible misspellings
of geographical and ethnic names):
"From Sindum harbor (now Anapa) to Pagres harbor (now Gelengik)
there dwelt earlier peoples named querketes and toretes,
and nowadays there live so called Eudusians speaking Gothic
or Tauric language".
I do not know the source where this citation is from
(maybe someone could point out a reference?) and realize that
it is not a reliable evidence, but let's put it nevertheless
down on memory margins.

Regarding the nautical Heruli.
Roman sources spoke at the end of 3rd c. about nautical Gothic
pirates as regularly attacking continental Greece and Aegean islands.
Byzantium, the future capital of the East Roman Empire,
had been founded that time intentionally to lock up
the Bosporus Strait and prevent the attacks. Yes, nautical Herili
disappeared like land Heruli as well. But as to nautical Goths...
It's another question. I suppose those nautical Goths to keep save
as dromites (like and along with land Goths trapezites/tetraxites
in Crimea). But this is another question, and I'm not sure
it is subject to the Gothic List. (Though I believe the dromites
to be subject to my conjectural Russes-seafarers.)

Vladimir



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