Kicking Roman Butt

[P. Lilius Frugius Simius]

Khairete!

Thank you for your enlightening reply.
I was thinking of Gothic mercenaries in the same manner like the later Varangians.
Your are right the church has been accused some times with good reason of meddling with the facts or with holding info. (Just try to read an authentic byzantine codex from a monastery!!!)

I bet it is close to impossible . . .

On language and national origin you have strong points and I will add some info not directrly relating to ancient times:

[...]

I mentioned that to show that some time ethincity and language do not coinside. I can mention Austrians and Germans - Spaniards and Latinamericans.
The problem with some ancient people is that we cannot meet them and ask them waht they thought of themselves!!!!
OK hope this is not too far fetched!

Kind regards

Not far fetched at all, thanks for sharing it. History is not just ancient times, and we should learn from all the times, ancient, past and, specially, present (who said those not knowing their History are damned to repeat it?).

I agree with you wholeheartedly. In the late Roman Republic, the gauls in the "Province" (a.k.a. Provenza, i.e. Narbonensis) conducted themselves in a very roman way, wore tunica and even toga, and also spoke latin, as well as their national celtic languages. The gauls in the Gallia Comata (the "Longhaired Gauls", the Free Gaul) often depised them for not being "true" celts, but they considered themselves gauls, and did so for a good while.

Anyway, the problem we have at hand (with the Goths, but it can probably be extended to many other Barbarian populi) is that historical accounts are very untrustworthy, even roman historians are dubious in their veracity, and linguistic considerations can only hint us some answers while giving us a whole lot of questions. I wish we could find some clear archaeological site, easily dated, that connected the Tervingi (a.k.a Visigoths) that crossed the Danube circa 376CE with previous populi in Europe. It would help us clear a bit of mist, and even to throw some healthier hypothesis about their origins. Simply connecting with some archaeological certainty the hypothesized connections between Scythes, Sarmatians and Goths would go a long way into clarification, I think. Tools, and weapons, can explain a lot about the life way and culture of those populi and how they managed to do their deeds in a time Europe was having massive migrations due to the Huns' pressure towards the West.

Anyway, I will get my hand at Wolfram's book in a month or so, and then I'll be able to explore the issue more deeply. Maybe then I'll be able to do a crossfire between linguistic, hoplological, and historical data and throw some plausible hypothesis that would allow me to go ahead with my novel. I'll let real Science to those who have the knowledge, the time and the means to do real investigation, "good enough" will have to suffice for my novel :-) )

thanks a bunch!