Lost Greek-Goth battle discovered in Austrian library text
Posted On: Apr 21st, 2016 at 12:51
Greece
At least two “lost battles” have been discovered on an ancient manuscript in the Austrian National Library.
The text, written in the 11th Century and copied from an original that was contemporaneous with the actual battles, talks of a Goth invasion of Greece. The text even describes a battle at the pass at Thermopylae, infamous for the battle of the 300 Spartans in the Greco-Persian Wars of the 5th Century BC.
The original text was written by an Athenian writer called Dexippus, and it starts with a description of ranks of Goths lined up at Thessalonica, much further to the north of Thermopylae. Unable to capture the city, the Goths then turned south towards Athens.
It seems later at Thermopylae, judging by the text, that the Greeks were unusually under-armed and their commander, a general named Marianus, had to remind his soldiers of the famous battles fought by their ancestors to instil morale. The outcome of that battle is uncertain.
The Goths were invading armies from northern and central Europe that proved to be a real pain for the Roman Empire. It was in fact the Goths who caused the empire to fall (along with internal empirical corruption) with their constant attacks and invasions into empire territory. The Goths tended to sack cities, rather than inhabit them, as they were more interested in rape and plunder than territorial control. The Goths eventually settled into the northern lands of the empire; many Roman military commanders were of Goth origin and this may have diluted the empire through misguided loyalties. Certainly the Battle of Adrianople in 378 AD was a telling scene and a turning point in the downfall of the empire.
