Gothograecia
Gothograecia (
The Gothograeci probably originated as an elite mercenary unit in the late 6th century, the Optimates. They garrisoned Constantinople before being resettled in the region of Mysia in the 7th century. By the early 8th century, their "identity based in military activity as well as ethnic differentness [had] evolved [into] a strong sense of communal identity, and a reputation" as warriors.[1] They were still considered Goths at the time, but this part of their identity was gradually diluted. They gave their name to the region they inhabited and its imprint can still be detected as late as the 12th century.
Origins
There is only one reference to the settlement of Goths in Asia Minor. The
The elite unit of the Optimates, first attested in the late 6th century under the Emperor
John Haldon argues that, while the original Maurician Optimates were predominantly recruited mainly from among the Goths and to a lesser extent
In the 8th century, the Gothograeci were the leading element of the army of the Opsikion thema, although they may have still belonged to the Optimaton until the reorganization of Constantine V (741–775).[5] Moving the Gothograeci, still renowned for the martial skill, from the Optimaton to the Opsikion may be responsible for the downgrading of the former to a logistical rather than fighting unit. It was probably punitive also for the Gothograeci, who lost prestige when incorporated into a thema that already included other elite units. This was probably because they were regarded as a threat to the capital owing to their proximity and their participation in a rebellion in 715.[7] It is also probably only with Constantine V's reform that the Optimates' (and hence Gothograeci's) presence in Constantinople is brought to an end.[8]
Attestations
Writing in the final years of the seventh or first half of the eighth century,
For there is a place next to Thrace, dry land six miles wide standing between [two] seas. From there, Thrace is easily accessible to the Goths and Gothia to the Thracians. And the Goths get on their ships—they are made from a single trunk—and cross to Thrace, while the Thracians often drag their ships through there towards Gothia overland.[10]
The language of this passage suggests that the Gothic ethnic identity of the Gothograeci was still current in the 670s or even into the 8th century.
There is a surviving early 8th-century
In 844 or 845,[15] Archbishop George of Mytilene is said to have spent two stormy days and nights at sea sailing from Lesbos to Gothograecia. This account is found in the Life of George and his saintly brothers David the Monk and Symeon the Stylite, which was probably compiled in the 11th century.[12][16] The location of Gothograecia is not entirely clear from the text. On a certain reading of the text, Gothograecia is on Lesbos. On the other hand, it may be read as saying that George sailed to Lesbos to attend to a friend who hailed from Gothograecia.[17] On any reading, Gothograecia is not far from Lesbos.[16]
The next reference to the Gothograeci is of little historical value except as an attestation of the existence of a people of this name. In the early 10th century,
A reference to the Gothograeci occurs in
On the basis of all the evidence, Constantin Zuckerman suggests that the most likely location for Gothograecia was between Lampsacus and Cyzicus.[3] John Haldon identifies it simply as Mysia, littoral Bithynia and a part of Phyrgia.[2]
Notes
- ^ a b c Brubaker & Haldon 2011, p. 631.
- ^ a b c d Haldon 1984, pp. 96–97.
- ^ a b c d e Zuckerman 1995, p. 241.
- ^ a b Haldon & Kennedy 2012, pp. 338–339.
- ^ a b Haldon 1984, pp. 201–202.
- ^ Haldon 1984, p. 478 n477.
- ^ Haldon 1984, p. 226.
- ^ Brubaker & Haldon 2011, p. 643n.
- ^ Haldon 1995, p. 53.
- ^ Zuckerman 1995, pp. 234–235.
- ^ a b Zuckerman 1995, p. 239.
- ^ a b c d Haldon 1995, p. 46.
- ^ Haldon 1984, p. 200.
- ^ Brubaker & Haldon 2011, p. 72.
- ^ Abrahamse & Domingo-Forasté 1998, p. 240.
- ^ a b Zuckerman 1995, p. 240.
- ^ Abrahamse & Domingo-Forasté 1998, p. 236n.
- ^ Zuckerman 1995, pp. 239–240.
- ^ a b Haldon 1984, p. 369 n24.
- ^ a b Zuckerman 1995, pp. 240–241.
- ^ a b Hasluck 1910, p. 118 and n.
- ^ a b Haldon 1995, p. 47.
Bibliography
- Abrahamse, Dorothy; Domingo-Forasté, Douglas (1998). "Life of Sts. David, Symeon, and George of Lesbos". In Alice-Mary Talbot (ed.). Byzantine Defenders of Images: Eight Saints' Lives in English Translation. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. pp. 143–242.
- Brubaker, Leslie; Haldon, John F. (2011). Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era, c. 680–850: A History. Cambridge University Press.
- Haldon, John F. (1984). Byzantine Praetorians: An Administrative, Institutional and Social Survey of the Opsikion and Tagmata, c. 580–900. Bonn: Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH.
- Haldon, John F. (1995). "Kosmas of Jerusalem and the Gotthograikoi". Byzantinoslavica. 56 (1): 45–54.
- Haldon, John F.; Kennedy, Hugh (2012). "Regional Identities and Military Power: Byzantium and Islam, ca. 600–750". In Walter Pohl; Clemens Gantner; Richard Payne (eds.). Visions of Community in the Post-Roman World: The West, Byzantium and the Islamic World, 300–1100. Ashgate. pp. 317–353.
- Hasluck, F. W. (1910). Cyzicus. Cambridge University Press.
- S2CID 162205022.