[gothic-l] Eruli in the West

[Søren Larsen]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bertil Haggman" <mvk575b at tninet.se>
To: <gothic-l at yahoogroups.com>

>
> As for the Gothic and Eruli ability to master the ships on the
> Black Sea it is asserted in the sources we have. There
> are a number of sources which attest to the pre-Viking nature
> of the Black Sea raids. Of course your view is of interest
> but it proves nothing. If the Goti and the Eruli had been
> void of sailing and shipping knowledge they would not
> have been able to undertake the massive raids at the end
> of the third century AD that took them all the way to
> the easterm Mediterranean from the bases on the Black
> Sea.
>

I dont see the problem. They arrived in an area with an ancient
but still thriving shipbuilding tradition. What would prevent them from
taking advantage of the local skills. The Black Sea/Mediterraenean
shipbuilding technology was old and the ships were not  that complicated.
The basic idea of warships had not changed much since Homer besides
fluctuations in size

An analogy would be the western Slavs who adopted the Norse shipbuilding
tradition almost from the very moment they reached the shores of the Baltic.

Cheers
Soren Larsen






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