Who Were the Ancient Goths?

Who Were the Ancient Goths?

by Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | March 18, 2016 05:20pm ET

The Goths were a people who flourished in Europe throughout ancient times and into the Middle Ages. Referred to at times as “barbarians,” they are famous for sacking the city of Rome in A.D. 410.

Ironically, however, they are often credited with helping preserve Roman culture. After the sacking of Rome, a group of Goths moved to Gaul (in modern-day France) and Iberia and formed the Visigothic Kingdom. This kingdom would eventually incorporate Catholic Christianity, Roman artistic traditions and other aspects of Roman culture. The last Gothic kingdom fell to the Moors in A.D. 711.

Our knowledge about the Goths before they interacted extensively with the Romans is limited. They had a written language of sorts that made use of runic inscriptions; however, few of these inscriptions have been found and those that survive are quite short. Their religion may have made use of shamans, people who could have acted as intermediaries between themselves and the gods.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, a genre of dark, romantic literature called "Gothic fiction" flourished. Characterized by novels such as Bram Stoker's "Dracula," Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and the works of Edgar Allen Poe, the genre got its name from the Gothic locations in which the stories took place — for example, Dracula's dark, foreboding castle.

More:
http://www.livescience.com/45948-ancient-goths.html