Jordanes
Jordanes (
He wrote two works, one on Roman history (
Life
Jordanes writes about himself almost in passing:
The
Scythia Minor and Lower Moesia. Paria, the father of my father Alanoviiamuth (that is to say, my grandfather), was secretary to this Candac as long as he lived. To his sister's son Gunthigis, also called Baza, the Master of the Soldiery, who was the son of Andag the son of Andela, who was descended from the stock of the Amali, I also, Jordanes, although an unlearned man before my conversion, was secretary.[1][2]
Paria was Jordanes's paternal grandfather. Jordanes writes that he was secretary to Candac, dux Alanorum, an otherwise unknown leader of the Alans.
Jordanes was asked by a friend to write Getica as a summary of a multi-volume history of the Goths by the statesman
Jordanes was notarius, or secretary to
That was ante conversionem meam ("before my conversion"). The nature and the details of the conversion remain obscure. The Goths had been converted with the assistance of
Alternatively, Jordanes's conversio may mean that he had become a monk, a religiosus or a member of the clergy. Some manuscripts say that he was a bishop, and some even say bishop of Ravenna, but the name Jordanes is not known in the lists of bishops of Ravenna.
Works
Jordanes wrote Romana, about the history of Rome, but his best-known work is his Getica, which was written in Constantinople[c] about 551 AD.[d] Jordanes wrote his Romana at the behest of a certain Vigilius. Although some scholars have identified this person with Pope Vigilius, there is nothing else to support the identification besides the name. The form of address that Jordanes uses and his admonition that Vigilius "turn to God" would seem to rule out this identification.[5][6]
In the preface to his Getica, Jordanes writes that he is interrupting his work on the Romana at the behest of a brother Castalius, who apparently knew that Jordanes possessed the twelve volumes of the History of the Goths by Cassiodorus. Castalius wanted a short book about the subject, and Jordanes obliged with an excerpt based on memory, possibly supplemented with other material to which he had access. The Getica sets off with a geography/ethnography of the North, especially of Scandza (16–24).[7]
He lets the history of the Goths commence with the emigration of
Controversy
Jordanes wrongly equated the Getae with the Goths. Many historical records which originally related to Dacians and Getae were thus wrongly attributed to Goths.[8][9][10][11]
Arne Søby Christensen[5] and Michael Kulikowski[12] argue that in his Getica Jordanes also supplemented his Gothic history with many fictional events such as a Gothic war against Egypt.[5]
Caracalla in 214 received the titles "Geticus Maximus" and "Quasi Gothicus" after battles with Getae and Goths.[citation needed]
See also
Notes
- ^ According to Schanz-Hosius (Geschichte der Römischen Literatur, 4, vol. 2 (1920), pp. 115, 118) the best MSS of his work present his name as Jordanes, as does the 'Geographus Ravennas'. Jordanis is a 'vulgar' form that is also used, while Jornandes appears only in lesser MSS. The form Jornandes, however, was often used in older publications.
- ^ "If Jordanes was a bishop (as is frequently assumed) and if he lived in Italy (also frequently assumed), those elements of his background have left no trace in his two histories." (Croke 1987, p. 119)
- ^ "Constantinople is 'our city'" (Getica 38).
- ^ He mentions the great plague of 542 as having occurred "nine years ago" (Getica 104). Still, there are some modern scholars who opt for a later date, see Peter Heather, Goths and Romans 332-489, Oxford 1991, pp. 47-49 (year 552), Walter Goffart, The Narrators of Barbarian History, Princeton 1988, p. 98 (year 554).
Citations
- ^ Getica, 266.
- ^ Getica (Latin) 266.
- ^ Croke 1987.
- ^ Getica 132, 133, 138, noted by Croke 1987:125
- ^ a b c Christensen 2002.
- ^ O'Donnell 1982.
- ^ Thunberg 2012, pp. 44–46.
- ^ Walter Goffart, The Narrators of Barbarian History, Princeton 1988, p. 70.
- ^ Pârvan, Vasile (1928). Dacia: An Outline of the Early Civilization of the Carpatho-Danubian Countries. The University Press
- ^ Oțetea, Andrei (1970). The History of the Romanian people. Scientific Pub. Hoose.
- ^ Ioan Bolovan, Florin Constantiniu, Paul E. Michelson, Ioan Aurel Pop, Christian Popa, Marcel Popa, Kurt Treptow, A History of Romania, Intl Specialized Book Service Inc. 1997
- ^ Kulikowski 2007, p. 130.
Sources
- Bradley, Dennis R. (1993). ""In Altum Laxare Vela Compulsus": The 'Getica' of Jordanes". Hermes. 121 (2): 211–236. JSTOR 4476955.
- ISSN 0344-3418.
- ISBN 978-8-772-89710-3.
- Croke, Brian (1987). "Cassiodorus and the Getica of Jordanes". S2CID 162232630.
- Croke, Brian (2005). "Jordanes and the Immediate Past". JSTOR 4436790.
- Doležal, Stanislav (2014). "Who was Jordanes?". JSTOR 44173397.
- S2CID 163064058.
- Grillone, Antonino (December 2004). "Altri apporti della terza famiglia ai "Getica" di Giordanes". JSTOR 24825243.
- S2CID 162977685.
- Jordanes. Vanderspoel, J (ed.). Getica: The Origin and Deeds of the Goths. Translated by Charles C. Mierow. 266.
- Jordanes. De origine actibusque Getarum L (in Latin). Archived from the original on 13 February 2008.
- ISBN 978-052184633-2.
- Mierow, Charles Christopher (1966). The Gothic History of Jordanes: In English with an Introduction and a Commentary. Speculum Historiale.
- O'Donnell, James J. (1982). "The Aims of Jordanes". Historia. 31: 223–240. Archived from the original on 9 November 2007.
- ISBN 978-91-981859-4-2.
- Van Hoof, Lieve; Van Nuffelen, Peter (2017). "The Historiography of Crisis". S2CID 232343702.
External links
- Works by Jordanes at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Jordanes at Internet Archive
- Jordanes, The Origins and Deeds of the Goths, translated by Charles C. Mierow. alternative.
- The Origins and Deeds of the Goths
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Jordanis (Jornandes)". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
