Ostrogoths: Map & History
The Ostrogoths were a Roman-era Germanic people who, in the 5th and 6th centuries, established one of the two major Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire.
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The Ostrogoths were a Roman-era Germanic people who, in the 5th and 6th centuries, established one of the two major Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire. The Ostrogoths were associated with the earlier Greuthungi mentioned by Roman authors such as Ammianus Marcellinus, and later identified by the historian Jordanes with the realm of Ermanaric in the 4th century. Ancient sources often referred to them simply as "Goths," but modern scholarship distinguishes them as one of the two main branches of the Gothic peoples, alongside the Visigoths. They drew on large Gothic populations settled in the Balkans and rose to prominence under Theodoric the Great, who in 493 founded the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy after defeating Odoacer.
Modern Countries Once Part of Ostrogoths
At its mapped extent, Ostrogoths covered territory in 10 present-day countries. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina455–499 CE · nearly all
- Slovenia490–499 CE · nearly all
- Liechtenstein490–499 CE · nearly all
- San Marino490–499 CE · nearly all
- Austria455–499 CE · most
- Croatia455–499 CE · most
- Hungary455–499 CE · a large part
- Italy490–499 CE · a large part
- Switzerland490–499 CE · a small part
- Germany490–499 CE · a small part
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Ostrogoths's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Ostrogoths in Depth
History
Ostrogoths in the sense of the group led by Theodoric to Italy stand at the end of complex processes of fragmentation and unification involving a variety of groups—mostly but not solely Gothic it seems—and the better, more contemporary, evidence argues against the implication derived from Jordanes that Ostrogoths are Greuthungi by another name.
Some historians go much further than Heather, questioning whether we can assume any single ethnicity, even Gothic, which united the Ostrogoths before they were politically united by the Amal clan.
One dubious early mention of the Ostrogoths is found in the Historia Augusta, which was written centuries later, and is known to contain fabricated materials. It can be interpreted as distinguishing the Ostrogoths and Greuthungi.
Culture
Surviving Gothic writings in the Gothic language include the Ulfilas Bible translation and other religious writings and fragments. In terms of Gothic legislation in Latin, one finds the edict of Theodoric from around the year 500, and the Variae of Cassiodorus, which may also pass as a collection of the state papers of Theodoric and his immediate successors. Among the Visigoths, written laws had already been codified by Euric. Alaric II published a Breviarium of Roman law for his Roman subjects; but the great collection of Visigothic laws dates from the later days of the monarchy, being promulgated by the Visigothic King Reccaswinth about 654.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Ostrogoths (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Ostrogoths Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 417,631 km² in 494 CE.
Ostrogoths: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Ostrogoths exist?
Ostrogoths is dated to 455 CE – 499 CE, in the Classical Antiquity era.
How large was Ostrogoths at its peak?
At its peak in 494 AD Ostrogoths covered about 417,631 km².