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WILLIAM T. LONG
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2008 with funding from
IVIicrosoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/contributionstow03wienuoft
■
Ly^b^ —
CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD
A HISTORY
OF
ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
VOLUME III
TACITUS' GERM AN I A
OTHER FORGERIES
By LEO WIENER
PROFESSOR OF SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES AT
HARVARD UNIVERSITY; AUTHOR OF "A COMMENTARY TO
THE GERMANIC LAWS AND MEDIAEVAL DOCUMENTS."
■'CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD A HISTORY OF ARABICO-
GOTHIC CULTURE." "HISTORY OF YIDDISH LITERATURE."
"HISTORY OF THE CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN DRAMA."
"ANTHOLOGY OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE." "INTERPRETA-
TION OF THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE;" TRANSLATOR OF THE
WORKS OF TOLSTOY; CONTRIBUTOR TO GERMAN. RUSSIAN.
FRENCH. ENGLISH. AND AMERICAN PHILOLOGICAL
PERIODICALS. ETC.. ETC.
INNES & SONS
129-135 N. TWELFTH ST., PHILADELPHIA, PA.
MCMXX
Copyright, 1920, by Innes & Sons
0.15
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
I. FOREWORD IX-XI
II. SOURCES QUOTED XIII-XX
III. ULFILAS 1-64
IV. JORDANES 65-173
V. PSEUDO-BEROSUS 174-218
VI. HUNIBALD 219-272
VII. THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS 273-299
VIII. PSEUDO-VENANTIUS 300-314
IX. WORD INDEX 316-320
X. SUBJECT INDEX 321-328
XI. TABLES 331
FOREWORD
My Commentary to the Germanic Laws and Mediaeval
Documents, I must confess, suffers from a serious draw-
back— it is too conservative. When I wrote it, I was
dimly conscious of the geological fault underlying the
structure of Germanic history, philology, palaeo-
graphy, and allied subjects, but I could not tear myself
away from many accepted scientific conclusions, be-
cause it had not occurred to me that the stupendous
scientific structure was reared exclusively on a foun-
dation that would collapse the moment the geological
fault led to an earthquake. Therefore I quoted Taci-
tus, Jordanes, and Auxentius as authorities, or, at
least, did not disturb the conclusions to which they
led. As my investigation proceeded, it became clearer
and clearer that there was something wrong in the
cherished authors, but I was totally unable to account
for the positive references to Goths in the Greek
authors, such as Procopius, and in the Greek synax-
aries and martyrologies. It seemed incredible that
such a distant subject as that dealing with the Goths,
who had little in common with the Greeks, should
have found its way so permanently into Greek thought.
A series of fortunate discoveries, many of them quite
accidental, solved the puzzling questions beyond any
expectation. The Graeco-Gothic relations became
obvious at a flash, when the Tetraxite or Crimean
Goths turned out to be a fraud. The whole history
of the Crimean Goths is based on the definite account
of John, the son of Photina, the bishop of the Goths,
who was sent to the Tetraxite Goths at the end of
the eighth century. All authors who have written on
X HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
the subject have taken pains to elaborate on the
importance of the story, and the presence of this saint
in the Greek synaxaries under June 26. When I
discovered, quite accidentally, that this saint was
purloined from John Bar-Aphtonia, the Syrian saint,
given in the Syrian synaxaries under June 26 as a
Syrian bishop in the first half of the sixth century, all
the other Gothic entries in the Greek calendars be-
came invalidated, such as the burning of the Gothic
church and the references to Ulfilas. There was no
escape — the Spanish Goths of the eighth and ninth
centuries not only furnished wholesale literary and
documentary frauds to the western world, but also
inspired interpolations and more important frauds in
Greek literature.
I still clung to Tacitus. I had been brought up in
the worship of Tacitus, especially of his Germania.
The more than seven hundred pages of A. Baum-
stark's Ausfiihrliche Erlduterung des allgemeinen Thei-
les der Germania des Tacitus, and the more than three
hundred pages of his Ausfiihrliche Erlduterung des
hesondern volkerschaftlichen Theiles der Germania des
Tacitus, filled me with awe. But one day, while con-
fined to my room by an attack of the grippe, I picked
up the Germania, to use it as an anodyne. Now, after
I had become acquainted with the literary and lin-
guistic balderdash of the Hispericists and had studied
minutely Virgil Maro the Grammarian and Aethicus,
I was struck by the amazing similarity in method in
the Germania and the writers who had fallen under
Arabic influence, and at a glance recognized that the
Germania was merely an elaboration of Caesar's
De hello gallico, where he deals with the manners of the
Gauls and Germans and the mysterious animals. The
investigation which followed proved this assumption
correct down to the minutest detail.
FOREWORD xi
The very great mass of material before me makes
it impossible to treat it all in one volume, hence I only
summarily refer to the forgeries and interpolations in
Cassiodorus, Bede, and Ammianus. All these and
many more will be analyzed in a future volume. The
next volume will give the proof that the Physiologus
is of Syrio-Arabic origin, and incidentally will confirm
the fact that Gregory of Tours has come down to us
highly interpolated and that a series of other works,
ascribed to Rufinus and others, are eighth century
forgeries. Meanwhile, I beg the reader to concentrate
his attention on Jordanes' Getica and Tacitus' Germania,
where the conclusions are final.
Again and again must I express my thanks to Mr.
J. B. Stetson, Jr., of Philadelphia, through whose
assistance my labors have brought such early fruition.
The last chapter, on an interpolation in Venantius
Fortunatus, is by Mr. Phillips Barry, who has followed
my investigations for years, and is now collecting
material on the origin of the Celtic Antiquitas.
The Author.
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Ughelli, F. Italia sacra, vol. I, Venetiis 1717.
Vegetius.
Venantius Fortunatus. Opera poetica, ed. by F. Leo, in MGH., Auctorea
antiquissimi, vol. IV.
XX HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Villanueva, J.
Virgil Maro.
Viage literario d las iglesias de Espana, Madrid
1806-1902,
Opera, ed, by J. Huemer, Lipsiae 1886.
Waitz, G.
Wherry, E. M.
Wiener, L.
Wimmer, L. F. A.
Wotke, C.
Wright, W.
Wuttke, H.
tJber das Leben und die Lehre des Ulfila, Hannover
1840.
A Comprehensive Commentary on the Qur&n,
London 1882.
Commentary to the Germanic Laws and Mediaeval
Documents, Cambridge 1915.
Contributions toward a History of Arabico-Gothic
Culture, vols. I and II, New York 1917-1919.
Die Runenschrift, Berlin 1887.
Sancti Eucherii Lugdunensis Formulae, Vindo-
bonae, etc., 1894, in CSEL., vol. XXXI.
A Short History of Syriac Literature, London 1894.
See Aethicus.
Zangemeister, C. See Orosius.
Zedler, J. H. Grosses voUstandiges Universal-Lexicon, Halle
and Leipzig 173^-50.
Zeno, Apostolo Dissertazioni Vossiane, vol. II, Venezia 1753.
Zeuss, K. Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstarome, Miinchen
1837.
Traditiones possessionesque wizenburgenses, Spirae
1842.
Ziegelbauer, M. Historia rei literariae Ordinis S. Benedict!, vol.
Ill, Augustae Vind. et Herbipoli 1754.
Zonaras. Epitome historiarum, ed. by L. Dindorf, vol. Ill,
Lipsiae 1870.
Zosimus. Bonnae 1837, in CSHB., vol. XXIX.
Zotenberg, H. Chronique de Abou-Djafar-Mo'hammed-Ben-
Djarir-Ben-Yezid Tabari, vol. I, Paris 1867.
ULFILAS
Not a single one of the contemporary writers on the
conversion of the Goths knows either of their early
Arianism or of Ulfilas, the Arian or Semi-Arian bishop
of the Goths.
Socrates mentions in his Historia ecclesiastica (11.41)
the Gothic bishop Theophilus, who was one of the
signers of the Nicene creed. We shall later see that
this passage is an interpolation of the eighth century,
but the fact is apparently correct, for Theophilus
Gothiae Metropolis is given as a signer for Provincia
Gothia in the Nicene Council of 325, and if this list is
genuine, the mention in Socrates is equally genuine.
Epiphanius tells how Audius, the founder of the
Audian monasteries, was, in the middle of the fourth
century, relegated to Scythia. He penetrated into
the interior of Gothia and taught Christianity to many
of the Goths, at the same time establishing there
monasteries, at which strict discipline was maintained.
In spite of the peculiar practices instituted by Audius,
Epiphanius praises him as a good Christian and
Catholic. After his death Silvanus was bishop of
Gothia. Then the Catholic Goths were driven from
Gothia, and they settled in Chalcis, near Antioch, and
on the Euphrates. This violent persecution was
instituted by a pagan king who hated the Romans
and so transferred his hatred to the native Christians,
who in his mind belonged to the same category as the
Romans. But the persecution did not avail much,
because wisdom cannot be eradicated.^
^ «'YjtE(iTT) 81 xol e|o^iav m)x6<; 6 yiQcav AvSiog, slg xd m-^OTJ tfis 2x\)-
^as vnb xoO 6aaiki(o<; l|o<?icrfrelg, 8id t6 dqrrjvid^siv TMobg, xal vnb xSrv i-
m.ax6ma\ T(p 6aotlei dvrrvlx^* 'Elxei 8^ \i6Xiaxa biaXQl6ayv xQ&voni It(ov,
2 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
As Epiphanius says that the Goths had emigrated
four years before, and his work on the heresies was
written between 374 and 377, it is clear that he refers
to the persecution by Athanaric, which is supposed to
have driven Ulfilas into exile. Yet there is no reference
here either to Ulfilas or to Arians. Indeed, St. Augus-
tine in his De civitate Dei, distinctly says that there
were none but Catholics there at the time: "Perhaps,
however, it was not to be reckoned as a persecution,
when the king of the Goths, in Gothia itself, persecuted
the Christians with wonderful cruelty, when there were
none but Catholics there, of whom very many were
crowned with martyrdom, as we have heard from certain
brethren who had been there at that time as boys, and
unhesitatingly called to mind that they had seen these
things? "1
OVK Ixw ^i-iysiv, Kal elg xa ngdaoi 6aivo>v, xal elg ra iaiaraxa Tfj? FoT'Oiag,
noX.>.oi)5 T(bv FoT^tov 'iiaxi\xr\ae-v' dqp' o^jieq >4al novaortrieia Iv Tfj avTfj
roT&iQi iyivExo, xal jco'kLXEiai xai naodevia Te xal aoxTjoig ovx "H xvxovaau
"EoTi yaQ T(p ovTi touto to xay]ia Jtdw Iv dvaoroocpfi d^aujiaotfi' xal xd
jidvxa avx&v Iv xotg avxtov fAovacmioiois xaXcog qteQexai, Jik^v x&v ipiKavsi-
xicav xouxtov, xf\<; xe KaQaXXayr[(; xov Ilaaxa, xfjg xe xaxd x6 l6uoxix6v
iyx6nievf\q xov xax' elxova ^hoJIoyiods JIoA-A-oi Se xal jiexd xtiv
ixEivou xeA-eimiv yey6fvaai crirv auxoig xe xal ftex* avx6v xov xdYM'a''^05 avxoO
^i<Txojtoi, Ovodviog xig xfis Mecrng xc6v noxancov xai ojto xfjg FoxftCas 6^
goxe Tivds, xal xaxeoxriaEv avxoug djuox6jtoug' dXXd xal 2dovav6g xig, xai
aXkoi xiveg, &v cn)^6e6Tixe xivag xov 6iov Jtauaacrd'ai, \iaXiaxa O&odviov.
Hux^i' Yao oJxog dvaneoov xoiouxov xdv^axog. Mexd fie xt)v xcov ^juoxojkov
auxtov xovxxov Ovpaviou xai 2dovavoi3 xov iv. Foxftiag xeXevxriv, jto^Xoi 6i-
eXvOrioav, xal el? bXiyov f\X^e x6 xovxov (TuoXTina, ev xe xoig nipeca XaX-
X1605 XT) 5 nQb<; 'AvxioxEiag, xal ^v xotg {xeoew. xov Eu(pQdxov. Kai ydg Anb
xfjs Foxdiag ^8i(oxflTi<Jav ol jtX,eiovg, ov [aovov, oKka. xal oi ■nM-^teooi ^xel
Xoi0xiavoi, SwoYHoij \iey6Xov tvax&vxoq vnb damX^co; 'EXXtyvoi;, Seivov xe
YEvoinevov xal kq6i; t^^ov xcov 'Pa>M.ai(ov, fiid x6 xovg 6aaiX.eig xmv 'Pco-
(taicov elvai Xoicrtiavovq, x6 otav Y^vog xdiv Xpicrtiavctfv djt' ^xeivcov djcE-
XaOiivau Ov XeIkei bk Ai^a oroqpiag, ov8l qrvxEUM-a jifoxECOs. *AXXd xal el 60-
xoiJoi jtdvxEg ajvt\k6xrdai, Jtdvxcog eIoIv IxetdEv G.v&Q(onoi. Oux iyxtnQtl ya.Q
Xeitl'ai XTiv jniYTiv xfjg Jticrxecog. IIoXXol o&v dvaxfopTiCTavxeg xwv avxcov Av-
fiiavcov xfig Foxdiag, xal xc&v ■nuExeecov jiEQwv ivxav^a iX'^&vxeq, n;aooixov-
mv djto xov x(?6vou xovxov ixGiv xeaad<?a)v,» Adversus haereses, in Migne,
Patrol, graeca, vol. XLII, col. 372 f.
1 "Nisi forte non est persecutio conputanda, quando rex Gothorum in
ipsa Gothia persecutus est Christianos crudelitate mirabili, cum ibi non
essent nisi catholici, quorum plurimi martyrio coronati sunt, sicut a quibus-
ULFILAS 3
In 404 St. Chrysostom was already in exile. While
there he heard from the Marsan Gothic monks, where
Serapion was bishop, that deacon Moduarius had
brought news from Gothia that "that wonderful man,"
Unilas, whom he had ordained bishop and sent to
Gothia, had died, after having accomplished many
wonderful things, and that the king of the Goths had
sent a letter in which he asked for another bishop. As
the season for sailing was unfavorable, St. Chrysostom
counseled delay, adding as another cogent reason that
he was anxious to send the best possible man.^
The Gothic monks are called Marsan because they
lived on the estate of Marsa. Palladius, in chapter IV
of the Life of St. Chrysostom, speaks of the woman,
the wife of Promotus, as a violent partisan against
him. In a letter to the same Goths in the same year,
Chrysostom speaks of them as the monks in Promotus*
field, and praises them for having abstained from dis-
turbances in the church of the Goths, which were,
no doubt, instituted by this Marsa with the purpose
dam fratribus, qui tunc illic pueri fuerant et se ista uidisse incunctanter
recordabantur, audiuimus?" in Corpiis scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum,
vol. XL2. p. 356.
1 c'ESifiXaxjdv jioi ol jtovd^ovreg oi MaQtyelg, ol rdtdoi, Ivda del neKQVJt-
To SeQCUtioov 6 bdayionoz, oti MoSoudoiog ^^•ftev 6 fiidxovog anayyehav.
8x1 ObviXaq 6 djticrxojtog 6 daujidaiog ^xEtvog, ov kqivv^v ixEiQoxcm\aa xal
ln;Bfit|>a dg Fox'friav noXkA xal neyala xaToo^cocJag Ixoinri^* xal fjJl^ <p^-
Qcav vgd^uara xou ^11765 tcov roT^cov d^ioijvTa Jtenqp^vai auToig ^Jtioxo-
nov. 'Ejtel o&v ou8^v Silo 6oc5 nqbt; xtjv ajiei'kov\ih/r\\ xaTacrcooq)T)v owxe-
hnjfv el? 8i6o*woiv, ^ iieXXr\aw xal dva6oX'nv (ou8e yoQ 8\rvaT6v avroig
jtX.evoai el? t6v Bdowooov wv, ov8e el? xA ueoii ^xeiva), ujte(?fte(yftai xdco?
a^ov? Sid xov xeinwva noQacmtvaaov aXka ]ii] ajt^oa? avx6 jcaoaSodjixi?,
xax6od(i>[ia y&Q iori niyiaxov. Avo ydp ioxiv a jidXicrxd ne Xxwtei el vevoixo,
8 JIT) viwHXo, x6 xe na,Qv. xouxcov pi^Xleiv yivecrf^ax, xcbv xocrauxa xaxd igya-
oojievov, xal jtap' &v ou O^eni?, x6 xe drtXcb? xiva yevia^ai. "Oxi 700 oi
cfKOfubatflvai xiva vewaiov Jioifioai, olcr&a xal avnri. E3, 8e xoCxo y^voixo, 8 \i.i\
yevoixo, xd e^fi? iniaxaaai. *Iv' o^ {iTjSlv xouxcov yivr\xai, Jtficrav crnwuSTiv
j«)iT)0ai* dt|)0(piixl 8e el 8wax6v ■?iv xal X,av&av6vx{0? xov Mo8oud^iov ngbg ^-
Hfi? ^Sganeiv, \iiyicna Sv fivuexo. ES 81 uti 8wax<W, ha xcov iyrrnQoxrvTrnv xd
fiirvaxd yivicrbvi,-* B. de Montfaucon, S. Joannis Chrysostomi Opera, Parisiis
1837, vol. III2, p. 722.
4 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
of annoying Chrysostom.^ It is quite likely that the
juxtaposition of Mapaelz ol Fordoi had later, in the eighth
century, some part in creating Germanic Marsi, as
introduced into Pseudo-Tacitus.^
In the contemporary writers there is no reference to
a martyrdom by fire, such as is mentioned later in
connection with the burning of a Gothic church. I
have already shown how the burning of Goths at Cor-
doba has given rise to the legend.^ The discordant
dates given for the burning in the synaxaries and the
Gothic calendar make it certain that we have here
only an attempt to connect the burning with the per-
secution of Athanaric. The Greek synaxaries^ place
the event under March 26, between 367 and 375.
The Gothic calendar puts it on October 29, while the
Chronicon Paschale places the killing of the Goths at
Laemomacellium and the burning of the Gothic
church on July 12 of the year 400, in the reign of
Arcadius.^ As the Chronicon Paschale contains inter-
polations up to the eleventh century, we have only
late and conflicting reminiscences of the eighth century
event, as recorded by the Arabic writers.
So far we have not heard a word of Arian Goths.
The first definite reference to them is in Italy, in the
time of Ambrose. In 386 the court party tried to
get Ambrose to leave Milan, but he remained for several
days in the Basilica, surrounded by a large congre-
gation, who would defend him against the soldiery
without. In the sermon against the Arian Auxentius,
^ «Tois novd^ouoi rolg FoT^oig ev T015 IIoohcotov .... Xolqiv 8e v\ilv
Exo) xal xfji; anovby\q f[v inebei'^aa^E iot^q xov nnSeva ^dQv6ov yevea&ax iv
xfj 'ExxA,Tioiqi Tfi Toov roTftcov,* ibid., p. 863 f.
2'See p. 160 f .
3 See my Contributions, vol. I, p. 142 ff.
* See Analecta Bollandiana, vol. XXXI, p. 274 S.
^ «Kal avT(p T^ exei iaqpaYnoav Foxdoi JioXXol ^v t(^ AamopioxeX^icp*
xal dxari ■n hivXriaia x&\ r<STO(ov oirv TdoKKc^ jtX.ridEi XouKiavoov UTivi navi-
|A(p KQb 8' I8c*v lovXitov.»
ULFILAS 5
which he then preached, he referred to the Goths who,
with the soldiers, assailed him; and in a letter to
Marcellina,^ written a year earlier, he spoke of the
Goths "who, as of old they made their waggon their
home, so now make the Church their waggon," that
is, he spoke contemptuously of the Goths, who as
mercenaries were serving the Arian empress Justina
and therefore supporting the Arian cause. ^ We do
not know what bishop was sent to Alaric after the
death of Unilas, but when Alaric came to Italy he
obviously favored the Arian cause, and naturally so.
To make his campaign more effective, he had to assure
himself of the support of the Italian Goths who had
already allied themselves with the Arians. But his
Arianism was not of the rabid anti-Catholic kind,
hence his moderation during the sack of Rome, which
was praised by all the Catholic writers of the time.^
St. Augustine was not inimically disposed toward the
Goths, because of their moderation, and he understood
full well that it was chiefly political reasons which
decided the adherence of the Goths to the Arian party.
Indeed, he saw clearly that the various sects were
trying to get the Goths on their side, even as did the
Donatists, "because the Goths were getting to be
powerful."^
1 The Letters of S. Ambrose, Oxford 1881, p. 131.
2 "Prodire de Arianis nuUus audebat; quia nee quisquam de civibus erat,
pauci de familia regia, nonnuUi etiam Gothi. Quibus ut olim plaustra sedes
erat, ita nunc plaustrum Ecclesia est. Quocumque femina ista processerit,
secum suos omnes coetus vehit," Migne, Patrol, lat., vol. XVI, col. 997.
' "Inmanitas barbara tam mitis apparuit, ut amplissimae basilicae
inplendae populo cui parceretur eligerentur et decernerentur, ubi nemo
feriretur, unde nemo raperetur, quo liberandi multi a miserantibus hostibus
ducerentur, unde captiuandi uUi nee a crudelibus hostibus abducerentur:
hoc Christi nomini, hoc Christiano tempori tribuendum quisquis non
uidet, caecus," De civitate Dei, I. 7; etc.
* "Aliquando autem, sicut audivimus, nonnuUi ex ipsis volentes sibi
Gothos conciliare, quando eos vident aliquid posse, dicunt hoc se credere
quod et illi credunt," Migne, Patrol, lot., vol. XXXIII, col. 793.
6 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Only some time after the fifth century did the
perplexed Greek church historians ask themselves how
it all happened that the Goths became Arians. Soc-
rates says that the Goths were divided into two fac-
tions, that of Fritigern, who had fled to the Romans,
and that of Athanaric, across the Danube. Fritigern
received aid from the Romans against Athanaric, and
after a victory over him, the Goths out of gratitude
became Arians, like Valens, who had aided them. At
that time, Ulfilas invented the Gothic letters and
translated the Bible into Gothic; but because he also
converted the Goths of Athanaric, who was a pagan,
the latter persecuted them, so that even Arians be-
came martjrrs.^ This account is not only in total
disagreement with the contemporary account of Athan-
aric's persecution of Catholic Goths only, but with
Socrates' own account of Ulfilas, who had subscribed
to the compromise creed of Constantinople, after hav-
ing followed the Nicene creed of Bishop Theophilus.^
Sozomenus says that the Goths fleeing across the
Danube from the Huns sent a legation, headed by
Ulfilas, the bishop of the Goths, asking permission
to settle in Thrace. Then the Goths split up into the
party of Fritigern and Athanaric, and the people of
Fritigern became Arians, in gratitude for the aid
received from Valens. Ulfilas had originally not in
any way differed from the Catholic communicants,
but, having come to Constantinople and having met
the Arians, either out of policy or conviction turned
Arian, drawing the whole people with him. Ulfilas
gave the Goths a translation of the Bible. Then
Athanaric persecuted the Christians. He carried a
statue on a carriage to the Christian sanctuaries and
ordered the Christians to worship it. If they did not
1 Historia ecclesiastica, IV. 33.
>/6tU, II. 41.
ULFILAS 7
do so, they were burned in their churches.^ Sozo-
menus, too, knows of the presence of Ulfilas at the
conciliabulum of Constantinople, where he subscribed
to the modified creed of Ariminum.
When St. Augustine spoke kindly of the Goths,
though they were Arians, it did not occur to him to
speak of Arian martyrs, first, because, according to
his own statement, there were only Catholic martyrs
in Gothia, and secondly, because it was inconceivable
for a Catholic to class Arians as martyrs. The Arians
were Christians, and as such they stood high above
the pagans, is what St. Augustine repeatedly says,
but, if he had classed Arians who were burnt to death
as martyrs, he would have had to call Valens a martyr,
since he was burnt to death by the pagan Goths. Yet
here, in Socrates and Sozomenus, we hear of Arian
martyrs who were burnt to death in their churches,
an exceedingly improbable statement for Catholic
writers to make. Besides, neither St. Augustine nor
the Greek synaxaries nor the Chronicon Paschale know
of anything but Catholic martyrs who were burnt to
death. Obviously something is wrong in the accounts
of Socrates and Sozomenus.
Theodoretus knows nothing of the martyrdom, and
confines himself only to instructing the ignorant as to
how the Arian contagion reached the Goths. Accord-
ing to him, the infamous Eudoxius persuaded Valens to
try to convert the Goths to Arianism, although here-
tofore they had been true Catholics. At that time
Bishop Ulfilas was a man of great power among them.
Eudoxius bribed him with sweet words and with money
to accept fellowship with the Arians. Hence the Goths
consider the Father to be greater than the Son, but
deny that the Son is created, although they commune
with those who say so. Thus the Goths did not depart
»VI.37.
8 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
from their ancestral religion, although they communed
with Eudoxius and Valens.^ Here we have a totally-
different account. We hear nothing of martyrs and of
the invention of letters by Ulfilas, and Ulfilas is
represented as a man bribed by Eudoxius to commune
with the Arians, without departing from the Catholic
religion, although the creed is, to say the least, Semi-
Arian.
The most comfortable view would be to assume
that the three Greek ecclesiastical writers of the fifth
century, Socrates, Sozomenus, and Theodoretus, drew
upon their imagination and a hazy account of a
Gothic bishop Ulfilas, in order to explain the origin of
Arianism among them; but there are a number of
disquieting factors in such an assumption, which com-
pel us carefully to investigate the story of Ulfilas as
to its possible origin in the fifth century.
Ulfilas is absent from Orosius' Historiae adversus
paganos, and I shall now show that this work is a for-
gery, based to a considerable extent on Isidore.
Many parallel passages have been noted in Orosius
and Isidore, and from the established fact that Orosius
died about the year 418, while Isidore died in 636, it
has been assumed that the latter everywhere bor-
rowed from the Historiae of Orosius; but an exami-
nation of these parallel passages totally dispels such an
assumption. Nothing can be done with identical
passages in the two or with passages so divergent that
the borrowing may have gone in either direction. I
shall, therefore, confine myself to all such passages
only as give us definite results one way or another.
The eighth and ninth century manuscripts of
Orosius^ have for a title: "Haec insunt in hoc codice
historiarum Pauli Horosii praesbiteri adversum pa-
iIV. 33.
2 C. Zangemeister, Pauli Orosii Historiarum adversum paganos libri VII,
in Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum, vol. V, p. 1.
ULFILAS 9
ganos libri numero septem lege feliciter: Ormista g
miser abilis I metiens sonaV Wild guesses have been
made as regards the origin of the title Ormista, by
which Orosius was frequently quoted,^ but there can
be no doubt jis to the gloss: ''Ormista g miserabilis
1 metiens." G means **gotice," the glossator thinking
of Goth, armosta "very poor;" but the second expla-
nation, ** metiens," shows that both the meaning
'*poor" and ** measuring" are derived from the Arabic
source from which Goth, arms and the corresponding
OHGerman, ASaxon, etc., words are obtained. We
have Arab. (», ^ ^jc 'drim, 'arim "evil in disposition,
bad, corrupt, wicked, abominable," from r-^ 'aram "to
bring calamity upon, be soft;" r-^ 'arim also means "a
heap of grain," hence (^.j" ta'rlm "to heap up, fill up
the measure." In the latter sense the word is found
in all the Semitic languages. We have Heb. _2.
'aram "to be heaped, be clever, shrewd," Chald.
5: ••-: 'ciremtd "a heap of grain," Syr. >cJiJi^ 'arim
"shrewd," >^U 'aram "he swelled, heaped up," etc. It
is evident that the Arabic sense of "hardhearted, bad,
miserable" developed from the idea "to swell up, be
shrewd." The late Lat. gremium "acervus,"^ found
in Bible translations of the Itala type, is unquestion-
ably derived from the same Semitic word, if not from
Arabic, certainly from Syriac or Phoenician.
After the Prologue, the Historiae begin with an ac-
count of the miseries of the world. The oldest manu-
scripts here have as a title, in red letters, " Ormestae
1 Th. von Moerner, De Orosii vita eiusqtie Historiarum libris septem ad-
versus Paganos, Berolini 1844, p. 180.
2 Archiv fiir lateinische Lexikographie und Grammatik, vol. VIII, p. 191.
10 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
incp uolumen prium de trium partium terrae indicio."^
Similarly, the second book begins with "incipit eiusdem
secundum de mundi erumpnis.''^ Thus there cannot
be a shadow of a doubt that the title Ormista is the
Gothic or Arabic for "the miseries of the world," as
which the work was known. ^ In Gothic only the
adjective armosta '' kXBuv6repo<:, most miserable" is
recorded. From this was formed by the Goths the
title Ormista "misery," or, rather, "the greatest
miseries."* Thus we have the positive proof that
Orosius was the preoccupation of the Spanish Goths
in the eighth century.
The Arabo-Gothic arm passed into OHGerman as
arm, aram "aerumnosus, pauper, inops," armida
"penuria, paupertas," etc. In ONorse armr never
acquired the sense of "inops," but preserved only the
Gothic sense of "wretched." The AS. earm, arm
"poor, miserable, wretched" remained only a book
word and has not survived in English. Thus the
artificial origin of the group from an Arabo-Latin
gloss is made obvious. We now have an additional
proof, if such were necessary, that the Gothic Bible
could not have been written before the eighth century,
for it was Arab. *arim that led to Goth, arms "miser-
abilis," and Lat. misericorsy not Gr. iXeecUc:, produced
Goth, armhairtei and the whole Germanic group
which belongs here.
' Zangemeister, op. dl., p. 8.
» Ibid., p. 79.
' Indeed, as late as the end of the ninth century, ormesta had the meaning
of "miseria, excidium:" "necnon et sanctum Gyldara cujus sagacitate ingenii
industriaque legendi atque in sacris canonum libris peritia, liber ille arti-
ficiosa compositus instructione, quem Ormestam Brittaniae vocant declarat,"
Analeda Bollandiana, vol. I, p. 215.
* Of course, Lat. aerumna "misery" may have aided in the adoption of
the Arabic word, but there is no evidence of it. The Latin word first
occurs in Plautus, hence it is most likely of Phoenician origin, and, like
gremium, belongs to our group.
ULFILAS 11
In the Prologue of Orosius there is an expansion of a
perfectly clear passage in the Etymologiae of Isidore:
Orosius. Isidore.
Ex locorum agrestium conpitis et Pagani ex pagis Atheniensiura
pagis pagani uocantur siue gentiles dicti, ubi exorti sunt. Ibi enim in
quia terrena sapiunt, qui cum futura locis agrestibus et pagis gentiles
non quaerant, praeterita autem aut lucos idolaque statuerunt et a tali
obliuiscantur aut nesciant, prae- initio vocabulum pagani sortiti sunt,
sentia tamen tempora ueluti malis Gentiles sunt qui sine lege sunt, et
extra solitum infestatissima ob hoc nondum crediderunt. Dicti autem
solum quod creditur Christus et gentiles, quia ita sunt ut fuerunt
colitur Deus, idola autem minus geniti, id est, sicut in came descen-
coluntur, infamant, Prologue, 9. derunt sub peccato, scilicet idolis
servientes et necdum regenerati,
VIII. 10. 1-2.
Isidore got his definition from a Servius gloss to
Georgica, II. 382, 383, **ingentes pagos et compita
circum Thesidae posuere," which runs as follows:
'* Pagos et compita circum, id est per quadrivia — quae
compita appellantur ab eo quod multae viae in unum
confluant — et villas, quae pagi dnd vwu n-^ycbv appellan-
tur, id est a fontibus, circa quos villae consueverant
condi: unde et pagani dicti sunt, quasi ex uno fonte
potantes. . . Thesidae Athenienses qui primi ludos
instituere Liberalia. . . compita . . . ubi pagani
agrestes, bucina convocati, solent inire concilia."
The gloss for conpita is given in Isidore in XV. 16. 12:
'*conpeta, quia plures in ea conpetunt viae," and in
XV. 2. 15: ** conpita sunt ubi usus est conventus fieri
rusticorum; et dicta conpita quod loca multa in agris
eodem conpetant, et quo convenitur a rusticis." How
closely Isidore followed the Servius gloss is seen from
the fact that he distinctly says that the pagi were
first established by the Athenians. The statement
that the gentiles placed groves and idols in the pagi is
mentioned by Isidore in another place, where he
derives nemus from numen: "nemus a numinibus nun-
cupatum, quia pagani ibi idola constituebant" (XVII.
12 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
6. 6). This etymology, as well as that of gentiles,
shows conclusively that Isidore did not quote from
Orosius, because there gentiles is left unexplained and
hampering the sense. How is gentiles derived there
from pagusf Obviously the statement in Orosius is a
senseless condensation from Isidore. The rest of the
passage in Orosius is a free and stupid rendering of
St. Augustine's statement in the Retractationes} As
the Retractationes were written after 426, when Orosius
was dead, it is obvious that Orosius could not have
quoted St. Augustine. Besides, in the Retractationes
St. Augustine speaks of Orosius as a "certain" Spanish
presbyter who wrote to him about the Priscillianists
and about Origen.^ Had Orosius really written his
Historiae at St. Augustine's request, we should have
heard something about it from St. Augustine, who is
silent on the matter. He quotes Orosius very fre-
quently, but only in connection with the Priscillianist
and Pelagian heresy, and would have been the last
man to characterize the author of so wretched a
Latinity as in the Historiae adversus paganos as "vigil
ingenio, promptus eloquio," with which he recommend !j
him to Jerome.^
1 "Interea Roma Gothorum inruptione agentium sub rege Alarico adque
impetu magnae cladis euersa est, cuius euersionem deorum falsorum multo-
rumque cultores, quos usitato nomine paganos uocamus, in Christianam
religionem referre conantes solito acerbius et amarius Deum uerum blas-
phemare coeperunt. Unde ego exardescens zelo domus Dei aduersus eorum
blasphemias uel errores libros de ciuitate Dei scribere institui. Quod opus
per aliquot annos me tenuit, eo quod alia multa intercurrebant, quae dififerre
non oporteret et me prius ad soluendum occupabant. Hoc autem de
ciuitate Dei grande opus tandem uiginti duobus libris est terminatum.
Quorum quinque primi eos refellunt, qui res humanas ita prosperari uolunt,
ut ad hoc multorum deorum cultum, quos pagani colere consueuerunt,
necessarium esse arbitrentur, et quia prohibetur, mala ista exoriri adque
abundare contendunt. Sequentes autem quinque aduersus eos loquuntur,
qui fatentur haec mala nee defuisse umquam nee defutura mortalibus, et
ea nunc magna, nunc parua locis temporibus personisque uariari, sed deorum
multorum cultum, quo eis sacrificatur, propter uitam post mortem futuram
esse utilem disputant," in CSEL., vol. XLi, p. 1.
2 Migne, Patrol, lat., vol. XXXII, col. 648.
^Ibid., vol. XXXIII, col. 720.
ULFILAS 13
The forger of the Historiae used for his geographical
material Isidore's Etymologiae, expanding the extracts
with bits from various authors, chiefly Pomponius
Mela and Pliny. This is illustrated in the very be-
ginning of the geographical part:
Orosius. Isidore.
Maiores nostri orbem totius terrae, Undique enim Oceanus circum-
oceani limbo circumsaeptum, tri- fluens eius in circulo ambit fines,
quetrum statuere eiusque tres partes Divisus est autem trifarie: e quibus
Asiam Europam et Africam uocaue- una pars Asia, altera Europa,
runt, quamuis aliqui duas hoc est tertia Africa nuncupatur. Quas tres
Asiam ac deinde Africam in Europam partes orbis veteres non aequaliter
accipiendam putarint, I. 2. 1. diviserunt. . . Quapropter si in
duas partes orientis et occidentis
orbem dividas, Asia erit in una, in
altera vero Europa et Africa, XIV.
2. 1-3.
Fortunately we have Isidore's own assertion that he
got the first part of the statement out of Hyginus,^
and the second part from St. Augustine.^ As the
St. Augustine passage is from De civitate Dei, XVI. 17,
which was written about ten years after the death of
Orosius, and Hyginus' Poeticon astronomicum is un-
questionably of a much later date, it is as clear as
daylight that the forger cribbed the whole out of
Isidore, where alone the two passages are combined.
Observe the shrewd way in which the forger tried to
cover his tracks. The parts are transposed; veteres is
changed to maiores nostri; instead of undique enim
Oceanus circumfluens eius in circulo ambit fines we have
oceani limbo circumsaeptum; instead of divisus trifarie
we have triquetrum statuere (which, by the way, is an
* De natura rerum, XLVIII. 1.
2 Ibid., XLVIII. 2.
14 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
idiotic statement) ; instead of Europa et Africa we have
Africam in Europam accipiendam.
Orosius. Isidore.
Europa incipit ut dixi sub plaga Europa autem in tertiam partem
septentrionis, a flumine Tanai, qua orbis divisa incipit a flumine Tanai,
Riphaei montes Sarmatico auersi descendens ad occasum per septen-
oceano Tanaim fluuium fundunt, trionalem Oceanum usque in fines
qui praeteriens aras ac terminos Hispaniae; cuius pars orientalis et
Alexandri Magni in Rhobascorum meridiana a Ponto consurgens, tota
finibussitosMaeotidasaugetpaludes, man Magno coniungitur, et in
quarum inmensa exundatio iuxta insulas Gades finitur, XIV. 4. 2.
Theodosiam urbem Euxinum Pon- Gadis insula in fine Baeticae pro-
tum late ingreditur. Inde iuxta vinciae sita, quae dirimit Europam
Constantinopolim longae mittuntur ab Africa, in qua Herculis columnae
angustiae, donee eas mare hoc quod visuntur, et unde Tyrrheni maris
dicimus Nostrum accipiat. Europae faucibus Oceani aestus inmittitur,
in Hispania occidentalis oceanus XIV. 6. 7.
termino est, maxime ubi apud Gades
insulas Herculis columnae uisuntur
et Tyrrheni maris faucibus oceani
aestus inmittitur, I. 2. 4-7.
Isidore, XIV. 6. 7 is directly borrowed from Solinus,
XXIII. 12-13, "in capite Baeticae, ubi extremus est
noti orbis terminus, insula a continent! septingentis
pedibus separatur, quam Tyrii a Rubro profecti mari
Erythream, Poeni lingua sua Gadir, id est saepem
nominaverunt . . . sed Gaditanum fretum, a Gadibus
dictum, Atlanticos aestus in nostrum mare discidio
inmittit orbis. nam Oceanus . . Europam radit, Africam
dextero, scissisque Calpe et Abinna montibus quos
dicunt columnas Herculis, inter Mauros funditur et
Hispaniam." That the Orosius passage is not older
is proved by Isidore's in fine Baeticae provinciae sita,
which proceeds directly from Solinus' in capite Baeticae,
which is absent from Orosius, and from quae dirimit
Europam ab Africa, which is equally absent from
Orosius. Hence Pseudo-Orosius took the last passage
from Isidore, and not vice versa. He did not take it
directly from Solinus, on account of the phrase,
Tyrrheni maris faucibus, which Isidore, in the same
ULFILAS 15
passage, evolved out of Solinus. The beginning of the
passage is composite. It contains Isidore, and is filled
up with scraps from various authors, loosely hung
together, and by the qua apparently dependent on
"plaga septentrionis."
Orosius. Isidore.
In capite Syriae Cappadocia est, Cappadociam urba propria nomi-
quae habet ab oriente Armeniam, navit. Haec in capite Syriae sita ab
ab occasu Asiam, ab aquilone oriente Armeniam tangit, ab occasu
Themiscyrios campos et mare Cim- Asiam minorem, ab aquilone mare
mericum, a meridie Taurum mon- Cimmericum et Themiscyrios cam-
tem, cui subiacet Cilicia et Isauria pos, quos habuere Amazones; a
usque ad Cilicium sinum, qui spectat meridie vero Taurum montem, cui
contra insulam Cyprum, I. 2. 25. subiacet Cilicia et Isauria usque
ad Cilicium sinum, qui spectat
contra insulam Cyprum, XIV. 3. 37.
It is obvious that one has copied the other. That
Isidore is the original is made immediately clear by
the phrase, Themiscyrios campos, quos habuere Ama-
zones, which is taken from a gloss of Servius to Aeneid,
XI. 659. To "quales Threiciae" of Virgil, Servius
writes " Quales Threiciae Tanais fluvius est, qui separat
Asiam ab Europa, circa quem antea Amazones habi-
taverunt; unde se postea ad Thermodonta, fluvium
Thraciae, transtulerunt : quod etiam Sallustius testa-
tur, dicens dein campi Themiscyrei, quos habuere
Amazones, ab Tanai fiumine, incertum quam ob causam,
digressae.'* But Thermodon is in the Pontus, and
Themiscyrium is nearby, as Mela has it, **ad Thermo-
donta campus, in eo fuit Themiscyrium oppidum"
(I. 19). According to Mela, there was a city Cimme-
rium in Thrace, near the Tanais River (ibid.), and Ovid
spoke of a Cimmerian Sea somewhere indefinitely in
that region, possibly meaning the Azov Sea. Now
Isidore, in trying to describe the border of Cappadocia
as extending as far as Themiscyrium, thought of the
16 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Servius gloss, in which he took the Themiscyrei campi
to refer, not to the new region whither the Amazons
went into the Pontus, but to a region close to the
Tanais River, and so added the "Mare Cimmericum,"
which is not anywhere near Cappadocia, but near the
Tanais River. That this mistake was made by Isidore
is made certain by the reference to the Amazons, who
came from the region of the Tanais River. Pseudo-
Orosius dropped off the reference to the Amazons, as
he generally avoided anything but strictly geographical
references, and preserved both the Mare Cimmericum
and the Themiscyrei campi^ which are quite absurd
without the omitted note.
Orosius. Isidore.
Asia regio uel, ut proprie dicam, Asia minor ab oriente Cappadocia
Asia minor absque orientali parte cingitur, ab aliis partibus undique
qua ad Cappadociam Syriamque pro- mare circumdatur; nam a septen-
greditur undique circumdata est trione pontum Euxinum habet,
mari: a septentrione Ponto Euxino, ab occasu Propontidem, a meridie
ab occasu Propontide atque Helles- Aegyptium mare, XIV. 3. 38.
ponto, ad meridiem mari Nostro,
ibi est mons Olympus, I. 2. 26.
As the last phrase, a meridie Aegyptium mare, is
from Solinus, XL. 1, Isidore cannot have copied from
Orosius, who changed it to mari Nostro. Pseudo-
Orosius had Solinus before him and from Isidore and
Solinus created the blunder, Asia regio uel, ut proprie
dicam, Asia minor. What Solinus says is this: " Sequi-
tur Asia: sed non eam Asiam loquor, quae in tertio
orbis divortio terminos amnes habet ab Aegyptio mari
Nilum, a Maeotio lacu Tanaim: verum eam quae a
Telmesso Lyciae incipit, unde etiam Carpathius aus-
picatur sinus" (XL. 1). But it did not occur to him
to say that Asia Regio was another name for Asia
ULFILAS
17
Minor, although Asia in the poets frequently stands
for Asia Minor.
Orosixis.
Igitur a monte Imauo hoc est ab
imo Caucaso et dextra orientis parte
qua oceanus Sericus tenditur, usque
ad promunturium Boreum et fiumen
Boreum, inde tenus Scythico mari
quod est a septentrione, usque ad
mare Caspium quod est ab occasu,
et usque ad extentum Caucasi
iugum quod est ad meridiem,
Hyrcanorum et Scytharum gentes
sunt XLII, propter terrarum in-
fecundam diffusionem late ober-
rantes, I. 2. 47.
Isidore.
Postea vero minor effecta, a dextra
orientis parte, qua Oceanus Sericus
tenditur, usque ad mare Caspium,
quod est ad occasum; dehinc a
meridie usque ad Caucasi iugum
deducta est, cui subiacet Hyrcania
ab occasu habens pariter gentes
multas, propter terrarum infecun-
ditatem late vagantes, XIV. 3. 31.
We see at a glance that Isidore could not have quoted
from Orosius, because Boreum promunturium is, accord-
ing to Solinus, in Africa, and not in Asia, even as
Isidore correctly states in XIV. 7. 7. It so happens
that in the particular passage of Solinus there is no
reference to Africa, hence Pseudo-Orosius made the
blunder of thinking it somewhere in the extreme north.
Solinus says (XXVII. 7): '' Borion promunturium
quod aquilone caeditur Graeci advenae sic vocaverunt."
A river Boreon is not mentioned anywhere in Latin or
Greek, but Aethicus, speaking of the region of the
Caspian Sea, says, **in illis regionibus famosissimam,
gyratam amnem Beomaron usque duorum iuga mon-
tium, conlocatam intra mare Caspium et oceanum
horricum'' (LX). No doubt it is this Beomaron, which
Pseudo-Orosius read as Boreon and placed in the same
region. Pseudo-Orosius quoted the whole passage
from Isidore, and, as usual, added a worthless note.
Orosius.
Nunc quidquid Danuuius a bar-
barico ad mare Nostriim secludit
ezpediam, I. 2. 54.
Isidore.
Provincias autem quas Danubius
a Barbarico ad Mediterraneum mare
secludit, XIV. 4. 5.
18 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
The a barbarico in Pseudo-Orosius makes no sense
without a further explanation, whereas in Isidore it
is due to his previous statement, which Pseudo-Orosius
forgot to quote, "Prima Europae regio Scythia in-
ferior, quae a Maeotidis paludibus incipiens inter
Danubium et Oceanum septentrionalem usque ad
Germaniam porrigitur; quae terra generaliter propter
barbaras gentes, quibus inhabitatur, Barbarica dicitur"
(XIV. 4. 3).
Orosius.
Thracia habet ab oriente Pro-
pontidis sinum et ciiiitatem Con-
atantinopolim quae Byzantium prius
dicta est, a septentrione partem
Dalmatiae et sinum Euxini ponti,
ab occasu et Africo Macedoniam, a
meridie Aegaeum mare, I. 2. 66.
Isidore.
Thraciae Thiras laphet filius
veniens nomen dedisse perhibetur:
alii a saevitia incolaptim Thraciam
appellatam dixerunt. Huic ab ori-
ente Propontis et urbs Constanti-
nopolis opposita est, a septentrione
vero Ister obtenditur, a meridie vero
Aegeo mari adhaeret, ab occasu
Macedonia illi subiacet, XIV. 4. 6.
Isidore quotes Solinus (X. 23), "finibus Thraciae a
septemtrione Hister obtenditur, ab oriente Pontus ac
Propontis, a meridie Aegaeum mare." Pseudo-
Orosius uses neither "Hister" nor "obtenditur" (for
"ostenditur"), and introduces a number of words not
found in Isidore or Solinus.
Orosius.
Et quoniam oceanus habet in-
sulas, quas Britanniam et Hiberniam
uocant, quae in auersa Galliarum
parte ad prospectum Hispaniae
sitae sunt, breuiter explicabuntur.
Britannia oceani insula per longum
in boream extenditur; a meridie
Gallias habet, I. 2. 75-76.
Isidore.
Insulae dictae quod in salo sint, id
est in mari. Ex his quoque notis-
simae et maximae, quas plurimi
veterum sollerti studio indagave-
runt, notandae sunt. Brittania
Oceani insula interfuso mari toto
orbe divisa, a vocabulo suae gentis
cognominata. Haec adversa Galli-
arum parte ad prospectum Hispaniae
sita est, XIV. 6. 1-2.
It hardly needs any proof that Isidore's statement
is original, as introducing the general subject of islands.
Pseudo-Orosius took this for his introduction to Britain
ULFILAS 19
and Ireland, producing a Latinity which was impossible
in the fifth century.
Oroeius. Isidore.
Tingitana Mauretania ultima est Mauretania Tingitania a Tin^i
Africae. haec habet ab oriente flu- metropolitana huius provinciae civi-
men Maluam, a septentrione mare tate vocata est. Haec ultima
Nostrum usque ad fretum Gadi- Africae exsurgit a montibus septem,
tanum quod inter Auenae et Calpes habens ab oriente flumen Malvam,
duo contraria sibi promunturia a septentrione fretum Gaditanum,
coartatur, ab occidente Athlantem ab occiduo Oceanxim Athlanticum,
montem et oceanum Athlanticum, a meridie Gaulalum gentes usque ad
sub Africo Hesperium montem, a Oceanimi Hesperium pererrantes,
meridie gentes Autololum, quas XIV. 5. 12.
nunc Galaules uocant, usque ad
oceanum Hesperium contingentes,
1. 2. 94.
The Gaulales is a blunder in Isidore for Autololea.
Solinus says, "Ab hoc per Autolorum {Auctolorum,
Tutulorum) gen tern iter est in Atlanticas solitudines"
(XXIV. 7). Pliny has '^Autololum {Autolorum) gente,
per quam iter est ad montem Africae vel fabulosissi-
mum Atlantem" (V. 5), '' Autoteles {Autololes, Auto-
lales)" (V. 9), "gentes in ea (Tingitana provincia) . . .
multoque validissimi Autololes {Autolales, Autolodes)"
(V. 17), *' Autololum {Autololiam, Antholiam)" (VI.
201). It is clear that the Autololes were a nation on
the western coast of Africa, beyond the Strait of
Gibraltar. The multiplicity of spelling led to a nation
Galaulas, not further defined, in Prudentius, Contra
Symmachum, 808. Apparently from there Isidore got
the form Galaulas or Gaulales, as he wrote it. But
Isidore committed the blunder of deriving the name
from the island of Gauloe, south of Sicily: "Gaulalum
gentes sunt a meridie usque Oceanum Hesperium
pervagantes. his nomen Gauloe insula dedit" (IX.
2. 124). Having identified the Autololes with a nation
south of Sicily, he was obliged to make them roam up
to the Atlantic ocean, in order to get them in the
location where they are unanimously mentioned as
20 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
settled, and not as roaming. Pseudo-Orosius, who
had Solinus and Pliny at hand, corrected Gaulales to
Autololes, but absurdly added that now they are
called Gaulales, which is quite untrue, and forgot to
delete the unfortunate phrase, "who roam as far as
the Hisperic Ocean," thus giving himself away com-
pletely.
Orosius. Isidore.
Ninus rex Assyriorum 'primus' Primus bella intulit Ninus Assy-
ut ipsi uolunt propagandae domi- riorum rex. Ipse enim finibus suis
nationis libidine arma foras extulit nequaquam contentus, humanae so-
cruentamque uitam quinquaginta cietatis foediis inrumpens exercitus
annis per totam Asiam bellis egit, ducere, aliena vastare, liberos popu-
I. 4. 1. los aut trucidare aut subicere coepit,
universamque Asiam usque ad Li-
byae fines nova servitute perdomuit,
XVIII. 1. 1.
That Isidore did not quote from Orosius is proved
by "usque ad Libyae fines nova servitute perdomuit,"
which is taken directly from Justin, I. 1. 5, "terminos
usque Libyae perdomuit." That Pseudo-Orosius,
besides quoting Justin, had Isidore before him, is proved
by per totam Asiam, which is not in Justin, but appears
in Isidore as universamque Asiam.
Orosius. Isidore.
Sciendum tamen est maxime, Lacedaemonia condita a Lace-
ipsam esse Spartam quam et Lace- daemone Semelae filio. Sparta ab
daemonam ciuitatem, atque inde Sparto filio Phoronei vocata, qui
Lacedaemonios Spartanos dici, I. fuit filius Inachi. Ipsam autem
21. 12. esse Spartam quam et Lacedae-
moniam civitatem, atque inde Lace-
daemonios Spartanos dici, XV. 1. 47.
Isidore did not take the passage out of Orosius,
because it was conditioned by the two previous etymo-
logies for Lacedaemonia and Sparta, both taken out of
the Chronicon of Eusebius-Hieronymus. Justin speaks
indiscriminately of the Spartans and Lacedaemonians,
taking it for granted that anyone would know the
ULFILAS 21
identity of the terms. Pseudo-Orosius cribbed the
passage, which is here out of place, from the ety-
mologies given by Isidore.
Orosius. Isidore.
Urbem nominis sui Romanorum Constantinopolim urbem Thraciae
regum uel primus uel solus in- Constantinus ex nomine suo insti-
Btituit. quae sola expers idolorum tuit, solam Romae meritis et potentia
ad hoc breuissimo tempore condita adaequatam. Hanc conditam pri-
a Christiano imperatore prouecta mum a Pausania rege Spartanorum,
est, ut sola Romae, tot saeculis et vocatam Byzantium, vel quod
miseriisque prouectae, forma et tantum patet inter Adriaticum mare
potentia merito possit aequari, VII. et Propontidem, vel quod sit re-
28. 27. ceptaculum terrae marisque copiis.
Unde et eam Constantinus aptissi-
mam condere iudicavit, ut et re-
ceptaculum sibi terra marique fieret,
XV. 1. 42.
Misled by ''solam . . adaequatam" and "conditam
primum'* of Isidore, Pseudo-Orosius wrote the absurd
sentence, "Romanorum regum uel primus uel solus
instituit;" then, paraphrasing St. Augustine's De
civitate Dei, V. 25, "cui etiam condere ciuitatem
Romano imperio sociam, uelut ipsius Romae filiam,
sed sine aliquo daemonum templo simulacroque con-
cessit, ' ' he wrote, * * quae sola expers idolorum. ' ' Pseudo-
Orosius forgot that he had already given a description
of Constantinople, which is correct, and does not
contain the absurd statement that it alone had no
idols. He wrote in III. 13. 1, 2: "Byzantium, nobilem
ciuitatem, aptissimam iudicauit, ut receptaculum sibi
terra marique fieret, eamque obsistentem ilico obsidi-
one cinxit. haec autem Byzantium quondam a
Pausania rege Spartanorum condita, post autem a
Constantino Christiano principe in mains aucta et
Constantinopolis dicta, gloriosissimi nunc imperii sedes
et totius caput Orientis est." The extremely stupid.
22 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
way in which Pseudo-Orosius pasted together passages
from Isidore and Justin is well illustrated in this pass-
age: Isidore took from Justin as much as he needed
for the description of Constantinople, but Justin has
nothing whatsoever to say about Constantine. He is
talking of King Philip: "ad cuius emolumentum
egregie pertinere ratus, si Byzantium, nobilem et
maritimam urbem, receptaculum terra marique copiis
suis futurum, in potestatem redegisset; eamdem
claudentem sibi portas obsidione cinxit. Haec namque
urbs condita primo a Pausania, rege Spartanorum, et per
septem annos possessa fuit" (IX. 1). Isidore quite sen-
sibly took from Justin what could be used in the descrip-
tion of Constantinople. He assumed that Byzantium
was built in a spot where it could hold a large fleet,
even as Justin said, "receptaculum terra marique."
Hence he went on to say that Constantine wanted
similarly to make this city "receptaculum sihi terra
marique," a port for himself. Out of this and of
Justin Pseudo-Orosius got the phrase, "receptaculum
sibi terra marique fieret," which in Isidore refers to
Constantine and not to Philip. Then Pseudo-Orosius
went on to talk of the city as increased by Constantine,
later, in VII. 28. 27, to make Constantine the founder
of the city, if the phrase, "urbem nominis sui Romano-
rum regum uel primus uel solus instituit," means any-
thing at all. As a matter of fact, this extremely awk-
ward sentence is taken out of Eutropius, X. 8, "pri-
musque urbem nominis sui ad tantum fastigium evehere
molitus est, ut Romae aemulam faceret," where it has
a perfectly sensible meaning. It is obvious that
Isidore took nothing whatsoever out of Eutropius,
and could have made nothing out of Orosius, if such
had existed. Isidore got everything he needed out of
Justin, while Pseudo-Orosius tried to improve Isidore
ULFILAS
23
with passages from Justin,
tine.
Orosius.
Praeterea Athanaricus rex Goth-
orum Christianos in gente sua
cnidelissime persecutus, plurimos
barbarorum ob fidem interfectos
ad coronam martyrii sublimauit,
quorum tamen plurimi in Romanum
solum non trepidi, uelut ad hostes,
sed certi, quia ad fratres, pro
Christi confessione fugerunt, VII.
32. 9.
Eutropius, and St. Augus-
Isidore, Historia Gothorum, 6.
Gothorum gentis administrati-
onem suscepit Athanaricus, regnans
annos XIII, qui persecutionem
crudelissimam adversus fidem com-
motam voluit exercere contra Gothos,
qui in gente sua Christiani habe-
bantur ex quibus plerique, quia
idolis immolare non adquieverunt,
martyrio coronati sunt: reliqui
autem coacti sunt de regno buo
exire et in Roman am transire
regionem, MGH., Auctor. antiq.,
vol. XI, p. 269 f.
That Isidore quoted directly from Jerome's Chroni-
con, "Athanaricus rex Gothorum, in Christianos per-
secutione commota, plurimos interfecit, et de pro-
priis sedibus in Romanum solum expellit," is proved
by persecutionem crudelissimam adversus fidem com-
motam, which is based on persecutione commota of
Jerome; while Pseudo-Orosius, on account of crude-
lissime and ob fidem, could have borrowed only in-
directly through Isidore.
Orosius.
Urbem Constantinopolim uictor
intrauit et ne paruam ipsam Romani
exercitus manum adsidue bellando
detereret, foedus cum Athanarico
Gothorum rege percussit. Athanari-
cus autem continuo ut Constanti-
nopolim uenit, diem obiit. uni-
uersae Gothorum gentes defuncto
aspicientes uirtutem benignitatem-
que Theodosii Romano sese imperio
dediderunt, VII. 34. 6-7.
Isidore, Hist. Goth., 11.
Athanaricus cum Theodosio ius
amicitiamque disponens mox Con-
stantinopolim pergit ibique quinto-
decimo die quam fuerat a Theodosio
honorabiliter susceptus, interiit.
Gothi autem proprio rege defuncto
adspicientes benignitatem Theodosi
imperatoris inito foedere Romano
se imperio tradiderunt, ibid., p. 272.
Isidore's account is based on Hydatius, chap. 6,
" Aithanaricus rex Gothorum aput Constantinopolim
XV die, ex quo a Theodosio fuerat susceptus, interiit,"
and Marcellini Comitis Chronicon, sub 381, "Atha-
24 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
naricus rex Gothorum, cum quo Theodosius imperator
foedus pepigerat, Cons tan tinopolim 'mense lanuario*
venit 'eodemque mense' morbo periit," sub 382,
''Eodem anno universa gens Gothorum Athanarico
rege suo defuncto Romano sese imperio dedit 'mense
Octobrio. '" Isidore could not possibly have derived
from Orosius " quintodecimo die," etc., which is not
there, but in Hydatius; hence only the reverse process
of a borrowing from Isidore is possible.
Orosius.
Gothi antea per legates
supplices poposcerunt, ut
illis episcopi, a quibus
regulam Christianae fidei
discerent, mitterentur.
Valens imperator exiti-
abili prauitate doctores
Arriani dogmatis misit.
Gothi primae fidei rudi-
mento quod accepere ten-
uerunt. itaque iusto
iudicio Dei ipsi eum
uiuum incenderunt, qui
propter eum etiam mor-
tui uitio erroris arsuri
sunt, VII. 33. 19.
Isidore, Hist. Goth., 7-9.
Gothi in Istrium adversus semet ipsos in
Athanarico et Fridigerno divisi sunt, alternis
sese caedibus populantes. sed Athanaricus
PYidigernum Valentis imperatoris suflfragio
superans huius rei gratia legatos cum muneribus
ad eundem imperatorem mittit et doctores
propter suscipiendam Christianae fidei regulam
poscit. Valens autem a veritate catholicae
fidei devius et Arrianae haeresis perversitate
detentus missis haereticis sacerdotibus Gothos
persuasione nefanda sui erroris dogmati ad-
gregavit et in tam praeclaram gentem virus
pestiferum semine pernicioso transfudit sicque
errorem, quem recens credulitas ebibit, tenuit
diuque servavit. Tunc Gulfilas eorum epis-
copus Gothicas litteras condidit et scripturas
novi ac veteris testamenti in eandem linguam
convertit. Gothi autem, statim ut litteras et
legem habere coeperunt, construxerunt sibi
dogmatis sui ecclesias, talia iuxta eundem
Arrium de ipsa divinitate documenta tenentes,
ut crederent filium patri maiestate esse minorem,
aeternitate posteriorem, spiritum autem sanc-
tum neque deum esse neque ex substantia
patris existere, sed per filium creatum esse,
utriusque ministerio deditum et amborum
obsequio subditum. aliam quoque patris sicut
personam, sic et naturam adserentes, aliam
filii, aliam denique spiritus sancti, ut iam non
secundum sanctae scripturae traditionem unus
deus et dominus coleretur, sed iuxta idolatriae
superstitionem tres dei venerarentur. cuius
blasphemiae malum per discessum temporum
regumque successum annis CCXIII tenuerunt.
qui tandem reminiscentes salutis suae renuntia-
verunt inolitae perfidiae et Christi gratia ad
unitatem fidei catholicae pervenerunt.
ULFILAS 25
Aera CCCCXVI, anno XIIII imperii Valen-
tis Gothi, qui primum Christianos a 'sedibus
suis' expulerant, rursus ipsi ab Hunis 'cum rege
suo Athanarico' expulsi sunt transitoque Dan-
uvio Valentis imperatoris potestati sese non
depositis armis tradunt 'Thraciam ad inha-
bitandiun accipiunt.' sed ubi viderunt se
opprimi a Romania contra consuetudinem
propriae libertatis, 'ad rebellandimi coacti
sunt:' Thraciam ferro incendiisque depopu-
lantur deletoque Romanorum exercitu ipsum
Valentem iaculo vulneratum in quandam villara
fugientem succendunt, ut merito ipse ab eis
vivens temporali cremaretur incendio, qui tam
pulchras animas ignibus aeternis tradiderat,
ibid., p. 270 f.
The account in Isidore is an elaboration of 349 and
350 of Isidore's Chronica: "Gothi apud Strium bifarie
in Fridigerno et Atarico divisi sunt, sed Fridigernus
Ataricum Valentis auxilio superans huius beneficii
gratia ex catholico Arrianus cum omni gente Gothorum
effectus est. Tunc Gulfilas eorum episcopus Gothicas
litteras repperit et utrumque testamentum in lin-
guam propriam trans tulit." There is, however, some-
thing exceedingly queer about these passages in the
Chronica. They are taken out of the Historia tri-
partita (VIII. 13), ascribed to Cassiodorus. Now the
reference to Ulfilas is absent from manuscripts BPSVW,
that is, from the best ninth and tenth century manu-
scripts of the enlarged edition, although it is found
in all of the abbreviated manuscripts, even of the eighth
century. The item 349, which is also from the His-
toria tripartita, is also absent from BPSVW, where,
instead, we have, "Gothi suadente Valente haeretici
efficiuntur." More strangely still, V has no quotations
from the Historia tripartita at all, Nos. 337, 347, 349,
350, 351, 360, 366, 379 being marked as "omitted,"
while, apparently by oversight. No. 345 is not men-
tioned as "omitted," but does not occur in the notes
and so is certainly absent. There is only one con-
clusion possible from this extraordinary fact, namely,
26 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
that V represents an earlier, possibly the earliest, text
of Isidore's Chronica, in which the Historia tripartita
was not quoted; also, that there was an intermediate
text, in which the Historia tripartita was quoted, but
the Ulfilas passage was still absent. Of the Historia
Gothorum no manuscript of an earlier date than the
ninth century has come down to us. It is clear that
it contains interpolations from the enlarged Chronica,
after the passages from the Historia tripartita were
added to it. Pseudo-Orosius, however, must have had
before him a Historia Gothorum, which quoted passages
from the Historia tripartita, but not the one about
Ulfilas, for most likely he would have given it, if it
had been in his copy. In any case, it is clear that
Pseudo-Orosius either misunderstood or purposely
corrupted Isidore, for Isidore states that the Goths
were made Arians by Valens, that the Goths became
Arians only after they had their own written language,
that the Goths remained Arians for 213 years, and
at last became Catholics. Then follows the story of
the just burning of Valens. Out of the whole story
Pseudo-Orosius got the short account that Valens sent
Arian bishops, that the Goths held to the rudiments
of the first faith which they received, and that Valens
was justly punished. Gothi primae fidei rudimento
quod accepere tenuerunt either means that they re-
mained Catholics, or, having become Arian, remained
Arians. In either case, it is an impossible sentence.
If it means the first, which it should, if Pseudo-Orosius
did not forget that he already mentioned Gothic
Catholics under Athanaric, then the Goths did not
become Arians, which is contrary to fact and the state-
ment that the Goths would burn in hell. If it means
the second, then the statement as to Athanaric, in
VII. 32. 9, is wrong, for the first faith they received
was from the Catholics. But it is clear that Pseudo-
ULFILAS 27
Orosius merely botched matters, taking tenuerunt
from Isidore's statement of their having held the
Arian dogma for 213 years, and, changing Isidore's
'*ad unitatem fidei catholicae pervenerunt" to "a
quibus regulam Christianae fidei discerent, " produced
an impossible farrago.
We now have the difficult task of explaining how
Orosius' Historiae adversus paganos got mentioned in
works presumably of the fifth and sixth centuries.
Zangemeister mentions one manuscript of Orosius, the
Laurentianus (L), which they claim to be of the sixth
century, because of its being written in uncials. But
uncial manuscripts cannot be dated by the script alone,
and the Laurentianus is by no means a good copy, as
far as the text goes. At the end of Book V there is
the following notice: "Confectus codex in statione
magistri uiliaric antiquarii ora pro me scribtore sic dnm
habeas protectorem." Thus we see that a Goth was
the copyist. There can be little doubt that it was a
Spanish Goth of the eighth century, one of those who
used the title Ormista for the book.
We can pursue the interpolations about Orosius
step by step. We first find one in the Decretum Gela-
sianum de libris recipiendis et non recipiendis'} "item
Orosium virum eruditissimum conlaudamus, quia valde
necessarium nobis adversus paganorum calumnias or-
dinavit historiam miraque brevitate contexuit."^ But
the Decretum Gelasianum is a well-known forgery, of
which the oldest manuscript is of the eighth century.^
The same statement, taken out of the Decretum, is
found in Pseudo-Isidore's De numeris,'^ the oldest
manuscript of which is also of the eighth century.
^ E. von Dobschiitz, in Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geachichte der
altchriatliehen Literatur, Dritte Reihe, vol. VIII, part 3.
2 Ibid., p. 46.
» Ibid., p. 136.
* Ibid., p. 72.
28 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
The strange thing is that "one would have expected,
in connection with the preceding titles, not the mention
of the Historiae, but his apologetic writings;"^ but it
was the school of forgers that forced Orosius into the
Decretum and into Pseudo-Isidore. In the real Isidore
the name of Orosius does not occur.
Gennadius' De viris inlustribus has a whole chapter
(XL) on Orosius.^ The oldest manuscript is A,
Codex Parisinus B. N. Lat. 12161, a palimpsest,
supposedly of the seventh century.' The lower
writing, where Gennadius is found, has the Codex
Theodosianus and the Leges Visigothorum, and hence is
of Spanish origin. Another old manuscript is T,
Codex Vaticanus Regin. Lat. 2077, supposedly of the
sixth or seventh century.* Now the superscript of A
is in Merovingian cursive, **of the end of the seventh
century,"^ that is, it may as well be of the beginning
of the eighth century. The story is clear: a Spanish
Goth, no longer having any use for the Leges Visigo-
thorum on French territory, wrote out the more inter-
esting Gennadius, introducing Orosius into Gennadius.
But Gennadius has admittedly come down to us inter-
1 Ibid., p. 281.
* "Orosius presbyter Hispani generis, vir eloquens et historiarum cog-
nitor, scripsit Adversus quaerulos Christiani nominis, qui dicunt defectum
Romanae reipublicae Christi doctrina invectum libros septem, in quibus
totius paene mundi temporis calamitates et miserias ac bellorum inquie-
tudines replicans, ostendit magis Christianae observantiae esse, quod contra
meritum suum res Romana adhuc duraret et pace culturae Dei pacatum
teneret imperium. Sane in primo libro descripsit positionem orbis Oceani
interfusione et Tanais limitibus intercisam, situm locorum, nomina et nume-
rum moresque gentium, qualitates regionum, initia bellorum et tyrannidis
exordia finitimorum sanguine dedicata. Hie est Orosius, qui ab Augustine
pro discenda animae ratione ad Hieronymum missus, rediens reliquias
beati Stephani, primi martyris, tunc nuper inventas, primus intulit Occi-
dents Claruit extremo Honorii paene imperatoris tempore," E. C. Richard-
son, Gennadius, Liber de viris inlustribus, in Texte und Uviersuchungen,
vol. XIV, p. 76.
3 Ibid., p. XII.
*■ Ibid., p. XIII.
^ Archiv der Gesellschaft fiir altere deutsche Geschichtskunde, vol. VII,
p. 719.
ULFILAS 29
polated, hence a number of chapters have been brack-
eted;^ and the information about Orosius is unusually
meager.^ There is no choice in the matter; the chapter
on Orosius is an interpolation, like so many other
chapters. Manuscript T need not trouble us, as the
superscription is in uncials, of which naturally the
date must be established on internal evidence alone.
A paraphrase from Gennadius on Orosius is found
in Marcellini Comitis Chronicon, under the year 416.^
It is generally assumed that this Chronicle was
written in the middle of the sixth century. The
palaeographic proof is based on manuscript T, sup-
posedly of the sixth century.^ Fortunately we have
a reproduction of this manuscript.^ A glance at it
shows that it cannot be earlier than of the eighth
century, on account of the use of long ^ in the uncials.
On the historical side, the proof is based on the fact
that it quotes Orosius profusely. If, indeed, Marcel-
linus quotes Orosius, and not vice versa, Marcellinus
cannot be earlier than the end of the seventh or of
the eighth century. Marcellinus is generally unknown
in the Middle Ages.^ He is apparently excerpted by
Jordanes, but Jordanes is an eighth century forgery.
The citations in Bede are too late to be of any use;
besides, Bede has come down to us in interpolated
editions of the end of the eighth century.' Similarly,
the quotations in Paulus Diaconus are of no avail.
There is reference to Marcellinus in Cassiodorus'
1 B. Czapla, Gennaditis als Litter arhistoriker, Munster i. W. 1898, p. 3.
2 Ibid., p. 87 S.
'"Orosius presbyter Hispani generis septem libros historiarum de-
scripsit. missus ab Augustino episcopo idem Orosius pro discenda animae
ratione ad Hieronymum presbj^erum reliquias beati Stephani tunc nuper
inventas rediens primus intulit Occidenti," MGH., Auctor. antiq., vol. XI,
p. 73.
< Ibid., p. 56.
« Ibid., after p. 506.
* Ibid., p. 55.
^ In a future work I shall prove this by documentary evidence.
30 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
De institutione, chapters XVII and XXV, but this
work, to say the least, is full of interpolations. In
this Chronicon there are quotations from the expanded
Gennadius, which, as I have shown, is of a late date.
Orosius, in a quotation from Gennadius, is also
mentioned in the Chronicon of Prosper of Aquitaine,
but as this also contains interpolations from Paulus
Diaconus, the date of the Orosius interpolation cannot
be ascertained from it. That he was not in the original
Prosper is proved by the fact that a large number
of items from Prosper have found their way into
Isidore's Chronica, such as references to Priscillianus,
Martin of Tours, St. Jerome, John the Anchorite, St.
Augustine, Theophilus of Alexandria, Pelagius, Cyril
of Alexandria and Nestorius; but of Orosius, the
Spanish historian, whom he should have mentioned
above all, there is nowhere a trace to be found in
Isidore.
We can now approach the interpolations and for-
geries connected with Cassiodorus, at least such as
refer to the Historia tripartita and the De institutione.
Of neither have we any early texts, the manuscripts
of the latter not remounting above the twelfth century,
and of the first not much farther back.
In the Preface of the Historia tripartita^ we are
informed that Cassiodorus read Socrates, Sozomenus,
and Theodoretus and found that there was too much
material in them, also that by the aid of Epiphanius
Scholasticus he reduced the three to one work.^ This
' I quote from Garet's edition of Cassiodorus, Rotomagi 1679.
* "Haec igitur historia Ecclesiastica, quae cunctis Christianis valde
necessaria comprobatur, a tribus Graecis auctoribus mirabiliter constat
esse conscripta; uno scilicet Theodoreto, venerabili Episcopo, et duobus
disertissimis viris, Sozomeno, et Socrate; quos nos per Epiphanium Scho-
lasticum Latino condentes eloquio, necessarium duximus eorum dicta de-
florata in unius stili tractum, Domino juvante, perducere, et de tribus auc-
toribus unam facere dictionem. Sciendum plane, quod praedicti scriptores
a temporibus divae memoriae Principis Constantini usque ad augustae
recordationis Theodosii junioris, quae sunt gesta, digesserint. Nos autem
ULFILAS 31
is contradicted by the statement in De institutione
divinarum literarum that he ordered Epiphanius to
translate the works and bring them together into one
volume.^ It is now generally admitted that Cassio-
dorus could not have written such horrible Latinity
and have committed the many blunders contained in
the Historia tripartita, and that Epiphanius Scholasti-
cus must be guilty of the atrocious translation, Cassio-
dorus being merely responsible for its edition.^ But
it is inconceivable that Cassiodorus, with his limpid
style, could have fathered a work which Beatus
Rhenanus calls a perversion, not a version.^ Curiously
enough, in De orthographia, where Cassiodorus gives
a list of all the books written by him, there is no
reference to the Historia tripartita, although De
institutione is mentioned. Worse still, a Historia
tripartita, composed from the same three ecclesiastic
writers in Greek by Theodorus the Reader in the
beginning of the sixth century, was already in existence,*
and it is quite impossible that Cassiodorus would
have claimed to be the first to have such a work done,
the more so, since Cassiodorus translates verbatim
and most shamelessly up to chapter 7 of Book II from
Theodorus' Tripartita. Only after that does the
Latin Tripartita begin to differ from Theodorus, and
"it would take a monograph to enumerate and de-
corum relectis operibus, et unumquemque cauta mente tractantes, cog-
novimus, non aequaliter omnes de unaquaque re luculenter ac subtiliter
explanasse: sed modo hunc, modo alterum aliam partem melius expediisse.
Et ideo judicavimus de singulis doctoribus deflorata colligere, et cum auctoris
8 i nomine in ordinem collocare," ibid., vol. I, p. 203.
* "Post historiam vero Eusebii apud Graecos Socrates, Sozomenus, et
Theodoretus sequentia conscripserunt, quos a viro disertissimo Epiphanio
in uno corpora duodecim libris fecimus, Deo auxiliante, transferri: ne in-
sult et se habere facunda Graecia necessarium, quod nobis judicet esse
suttracum," chap. XVII, ibid., vol. II, p. 550.
^ A. Franz, M. Aureliiis Cassiodorus Senator, Breslau 1872, p. 106 ff.
» Ibid., p. 108.
* J. Bidez, La tradition manuscrite de Sozomdne et la Tripartite de Theodore
le Leeteur, in Texte und Untersuchungen, Dritte Reihe, vol. II, part 2 b.
32 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
scribe the varieties of nonsense committed by him."^
When we consider that there is no evidence that
Isidore knew of the existence of the Tripartita of Cas-
siodorus, which is first mentioned only in Sigebert of
Gemblaux, and observe the decadent and faulty
Latinity of the translation, we are forced to the con-
clusion that it cannot be of any earlier date than the
eighth century, when it appears in extracts in all of
Isidore's Chronica but one, and in the Historia Gothorum
only in the passage in which Ulfilas is mentioned,
that is, in 7 and 8. It is even doubtful whether the
Ulfilas episode existed in Greek in Socrates, Sozomenus,
and Theodoretus, until introduced there synoptically
from an eighth century interpolation of the Tripartite
History of Theodorus the Reader. The total silence
of all but the synoptic writers, and also of John
Chrysostom, who, if anybody, should have known
about Ulfilas, is a potent reason for such an assump-
tion. What is remarkable is that the reference to
Ulfilas having been present at Ariminum, as given in
Socrates, is found in a detached form and ascribed to
Theodorus the Reader,^ although it apparently was
absent from at least some of the manuscripts of his
Historia tripartita.
Orosius is several times mentioned in Gregory of
Tours. Cointe has long ago pointed out that there
were interpolations in Gregory of Tours, but Arndt
and Krusch think that Cointe's theory has been
exploded, because we possess uncial manuscripts of
Gregory's works.' This is the weak point in the
reply, since it must now be accepted as settled that no
uncial manuscript can be dated on the basis of its
script. The Orosius passages all sound like interpol-
ations. After the statement that Eusebius and Jerome
1 Ibid., p. 73.
2 Migne, Patrol, graeca, vol. LXXXVI, col. 225 ff.
* MGH., Scrip, rer. merov., vol. Ii, p. 17 ff.
ULFILAS 33
had written chronicles, comes the limping sentence,
"Nam et Horosius diligentissime haec inquaerens,
omnem numerum annorum ab initio mundi usque ad
suum tempus in unum coUigit" (Prol. I).^ Similarly,
after the mention of Babylon, comes an Orosius
passage, again beginning with the tell-tale et: '* Et^
sicut Horosi narrat historia" (I. 6).^ Another queer
sentence is "Hucusque Hieronymus, ab hoc vero
tempore Horosius presbyter plus scripsit" (1. 41).^
The same tell-tale et (this time as atque) is found in
"Sic et Eusebius, Severus Hieronimusque in chronicis
atque Horosius et bella regum et virtutes martyrum
pariter texuerunt" (Prol. II).* The same tail end
addition is found in II. 9, where, after all the sources
have been given, we get: "Haec hi de Francis dixire.
Horosius autem et ipse historiograffus in septimo
operis sui libro ita commemorat: Stilico, congregatis
gentibus, Francos proteret, Rhenum transit, Gallias
pervagatur et ad Pyrenius usque perlabitur."^
In this case we can study the progress of the forgeries.
The same passage is found in Isidore's Historia Van-
dalorum, 71, where we have correctly: "transiecto
Rheno Gallias inruunt. Francos proterunt directoque
impetu ad Pyrenaeum usque perveniunt."® Orosius
puts the cart before the horse and makes them destroy
the Franks, then cross the Rhine, etc.'^ In the con-
tinuation of this passage in Orosius we have a good
illustration of Pseudo-Orosius' idiotic expansions. Isi-
dore says simply and directly: "sed postquam iidem
fratres, qui privato praesidio Pyrenaei claustra tue-
1 Ibid., p. 34.
2 Ibid., p. 36. The same passage, but in full, is also found in De curau
stellarum ratio, ibid., p. 858.
3 Ibid., p. 52.
* Ibid., p. 58.
6 Ibid., p. 76.
" MGH., Auclor. antiq., vol. XI, p. 295.
' VII. 40. 3.
34 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
bantur, ob suspicionem tyrannidis insontes et nulla
culpa obnoxii a Constantio Caesare interfecti sunt."
Out of this we get in Pseudo-Orosius : "duo fratres
iuuenes nobiles et locupletes Didymus et Verinianus
non assumere aduersus tyrannum quidem tyrannidem
sed imperatori iusto aduersus tyrannum et barbaros
tueri sese patriamque suam moliti sunt." Then comes
a discussion in impossible Latinity on what "tyrannis"
is, and ultimately "absque cuiusquam inquietudine ad
Pyrenaei claustra tendebant," etc. It is clear that
Pseudo-Orosius is an elaboration of Isidore, and not
vice versa.
In the Prologue of Book V of Gregory of Tours we
have a long reference to Orosius, but it is chiefly the
Prologues that Cointe considered as interpolated.
There is also an added note to Orosius in Gregory's
Liber de virtutibus S. luliani}
The passage in his Liber de gloria confessorum,
"lubet, inquid, fieri, ex annonis aqua infusis atque
decoctis messoribus poculum praeparavi, hanc enim
coctionem Orosius a coquendo caeliam vocari narravit,''^
gives us a good chance to study the devious ways of
Pseudo-Orosius.
Speaking of the Numantians, Pseudo-Orosius says,
"larga prius potione usi non uini, cuius ferax is locus
non est, sed suco tritici per artem confecto, quem
sucum a calefaciendo caeliam uocant, — suscitatur enim
igne ilia uis germinis madefactae frugis ac deinde
siccatur et post in farinam redacta molli suco admis-
cetur, quo fermento sapor austeritatis et calor ebrie-
tatis adicitur."^ The story of the Numantians going
to battle after filling themselves with food and all, is
told in Florus' Epitoma, II. 18. 12, where we have
"caeliae, sic vocant indigenam ex frumento potionem."
1 MGH., Scrip, rer. merov., vol. I^, p. 568.
* Ibid., p. 748.
» V. 7. ia-14.
ULFILAS 35
Isidore has no such story, but, after discussing all kinds
of wines, he gives etymologies for cervisia and caelia:
"Cervisia a Cerere, id est fruge vocata; est enim
potio ex seminibus frumenti vario modo confecta.
Caelia a calefaciendo appellata; est enim potio ex
suco tritici per artem confecta. Suscitatur enim igne
ilia vis germinis madefactae frugis ac deinde siccatur
et post in farinam redacta molli suco admiscitur, quo
fermentato sapor austeritatis et calor ebrietatis adicitur.
Quae fit in his partibus Hispaniae cuius ferax vini
locus non est."^ Isidore derived cervisia from ** Ceres,"
and, with as much justice, caelia from "calefacere."
Pseudo-Orosius never gives etymologies, and, con-
sidering the enormous mass of etymologies of Isidore's
own invention, it is absurd to assume that he would
have gone out of his way to find a description and
etymology for caelia. We might as well look in Orosius
for Isidore's etymology for sicera, which precedes it,
and where we find the sentence, "ex suco frumenti vel
pomorum conficiatur," which gave him the parallel
sentence, "ex suco tritici per artem confecta." Thus
it is seen that we have in Gregory of Tours a late
interpolation.
It is easy to understand how the story about Ulfilas
may have made its way into the synoptics and the
Historia tripartita. At a time when there was a revival
of Greek interest in the Goths, which was when they
once more appeared in the eighth century, this time
as Catholics, in Ravenna and in Greek territory in
general, stories of their Catholic ardor, such as the
burning of the Goths in the church, found their way
back into Greek synaxaries. The same interest brought
out the question, never insisted upon at the time of
their conversion, as to why they had become Arians.
1 XX. 3. 17-18.
36 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
The Historia tripartita^ in its tenth book, chapters
5 and 6, has an account of Gaina, the barbarian leader
of Roman foederati and rebels about the year 400.
Chapter 5 has the title, "De conversione Celticorum
per Joannem," and claims to be a translation or extract
from Theodoretus, V. 30. Similarly, chapter 6 bears
the title, "De Gaina magistro militum ejusque rebel-
lione," and claims to be based on Theodoretus, V. 32, 33
and Socrates, VI. 6. We are told that the Celts had
become Arian, and that John Chrysostom, to bring
them back to Catholicism, ordained presbyters, deacons,
and lectors who knew their language. That the trans-
lator confused the Scythians with the Celts, is evident
from his frequently using "Scythians" instead of
"Celts" in the same fifth chapter. Gaina, a Celt,
that is, a Scythian, was then "magister militum,"
who had not only men of his own race under him, but
also Romans. He asked the emperor to give him an
Arian church in the city. John Chrysostom, who was
called in, declined to give him a church, saying, among
other things, "See what garment you used before you
crossed the Ister, and what garment you use now."
Gaina plotted against the emperor and sent his bar-
barians to burn the palace, which was saved by a host
of angels appearing as soldiers. He went to Thrace.
There he collected a band of soldiers against Con-
stantinople. John Chrysostom was sent to him and
succeeded in assuaging him.
We have precisely the same account in Theodoretus,
but the caption of chapter 30 is "nspc r^c ^xxX-^aia^ r&v
rdrdtov,'' instead of " De conversione Celticorum." It
is inconceivable that the Latin translator of the pas-
sage would have omitted to state that the Scythians
were Goths, if he had found such a caption. Nor would
Theodoretus consistently have used ^xudrj<:, if he had
the slightest idea that Gaina was a Goth. Gaina is
ULFILAS 37
mentioned in the excerpts from Eunapius, but not as a
Goth.^ Zosimus, who wrote some time in the fifth or
sixth century, says that Gaina and Saul were placed in
charge of the barbarians, and that with them was
associated Bacurius, an Armenian.^ Gaina was sent
by Eutropius, the eunuch, to Thrace and the Hellespont,
to fight Tribigildus. Later Gaina rebelled against the
empire and went back to wage war against the city.'
More than seven thousand barbarians were caught in
the city, and they retired to a church, hoping to get there
an asylum. No one dared to drag them out of the
asylum, for fear the barbarians would defend them-
selves. Hence it was decided to destroy the roof and
to throw burning fagots down on the barbarians.
Thus they were killed. But the Christians thought
that a great crime had thus been committed.^
Zosimus does not call Gaina a Goth, and Theo-
doretus calls him a Scythian, and his people
Sxodcxbc: o/ido(:, a Scythian crowd. While a Goth was
a Scythian, it appears from all the writers of the time,
a Scythian was not identical with a Goth. Thus, for
example, Zosimus speaks of the Scythians, who,
uniting with the Heruli, Peuci, and Goths, made an
invasion in the Pontus.^ He justly calls Athanaric
the chief of the Scythian region,^ because there were,
no doubt, others than Goths under his dominion.
Photius, in his r^sum^ of Philostorgius, refers to Gaina
as a barbarian, while Tribigildus, with whom he was
associated, is referred to as a Scythian, of those called
Goths (for there are many different tribes of Scyth-
* Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae, vol. XIII, pp. 91, 92, 103, 117.
2 IV. 57, ibid., vol. XXIX, p. 242.
» V. 18, ibid., p. 270.
« v. 19, ibid., p. 272 f.
» I. 42.
® «'AdavdQtx<W TS Jca'VT6g xoC 6aaiXeiou tcov Sxvdcav aQ^ovxa,* IV. 34.
38 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
ians).^ Philostorgius tells of the massacre of Gaina's
soldiers, but of the burning of the church there is not
a trace. ^
The story about burning the Goths in the church,
as given by Zosimus, is obviously a later interpolation.
It is quite improbable that the right of asylum should
have been so flagrantly violated, without a word of
it occurring in contemporary writers or in Theodoretus.
Besides, the story in Zosimus is in conflict with what
precedes and follows. Zosimus says that when Gaina
appeared before the gates of Constantinople, the
Greeks killed the barbarians in the city with swords,
stones, or anything they could lay their hands on,
then withdrew within the walls and by hurling
weapons on Gaina and his soldiers without, averted
the calamity. Gaina, having failed in his attempt,
now became an open enemy to the state. Just before
talking of Gaina's failure and after having mentioned
that the barbarians had been killed, we get the grue-
some and impossible story that more than seven thou-
sand barbarians took refuge in a church, where they
were burnt. The story is incredible, because it is
unlikely that a church holding seven thousand people,
even closely packed, existed in Constantinople.
Indeed, Philostorgius, who would have reveled in
telling of such an act of cruelty against the Arians,
has not a word to say about it. Theodoretus does not
know a thing about it. Neither the Historia tripartita,
with Theodoretus, Socrates, and Sozomenus, nor the
Greek Tripartita, before the translator, knows of it.
Marcellinus, apparently quoting Zosimus, says that
the barbarians rushed up to "our" church, where they
were killed by stones being hurled upon them from
1 c'AvTio 2xv6ii5 n^v yivoi; x&v vvv ImxaXovn^vcov r6Tfl'cov (TtXEuna
ycLQ -Kox 6iA(pooa tovtcov iaxhr xGyv "S-nv^atv yiyn\) ,* XI. 8, in J. Bidez, Phi-
lostorgius Kirchengeschichte, Leipzig 1913, p. 138.
* «Kal q)6vos avrcov eQQvi\ jtoWg,* ibid., p. 139.
ULFILAS 39
the church through the dismantled roof;^ that is, the
whole story is reversed, the Greeks being, as well might be
the case, within the church, and the barbarians without.
Neither Socrates nor Sozomenus has anything to
say about the burning of Goths in the church. So-
crates says that Gaina pretended to go to the church
of the Apostle John, which was seven miles from the
city. Many barbarians tried secretly to carry arms
out of the city, and, being caught by the guards,
killed the guards. Such of the barbarians as were in
the city were ordered by the emperor to be killed.
The barbarians fled to the church of the Goths. The
church was burnt and many Goths were killed.'^
Precisely the same is told by Sozomenus, but whereas
Socrates says that the church of Apostle John ''knra. dk
ai^fxdoez dnij^ei tooto t7j<^ ttoXswi;,^' Sozomenus says "o rob
^aacXicoi; KUTTjp (jJXod6fjtrja£7rp6(: T(jj 'E^do/Kp/^^ Apparently the
interpolator of Zosimus had before him a Latin trans-
lation of the story where "septem milibus" was used
instead. He thought there were seven thousand men
in the church, which he wrongly placed near the
palace, and from the eighth century account of the
burning of the Goths in the church at Cordoba and
the Gaina rebellion arose the story of the burning of
the Goths in the church in Constantinople in 400, as
recorded in the Chronicon Paschale. Indeed, we are
not certain that Gaina was a Goth, even though So-
crates and Sozomenus say that he drew the Goths
from his country to Constantinople.* These refer-
^ "Gaina comes apud Constantinopolim ad praeparandum civile bellum
barbaros suos occulte ammonet: ipse valitudinem simulans urbe digreditur.
coepto adversum Byzantios proelio plurimi hostium cadunt, ceteri fugientes
ecclesiae nostrae succedunt ibique detecto ecclesiae culmine iactisque
desuper lapidibus obruuntur," MGH., Auctor. antiq., vol. XI, p. 66.
2 VI. 6.
3 VIII. 4.
* <Kai Jtav jjiv t6 r6T-0-oyv eOvoq iy. xr\z axnov xtoo«S nexejt^lxtpaTo,
Socrates, VI. 6; «Tot)s b'\wq)vXov(; avtou FoTftov? iy, twv ISicov \6\ioyv eiz
'Poonaiovg nexeniy.y^a.To,^ Sozomenus, VIII. 4,
40 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
ences to Goths may have been made by Socrates and
Sozomenus through a mistake, or they may be later
interpolations, even as the reference to the Gothic
church which was burnt sounds like an interpolation.
It is only in Socrates and Sozomenus that we have
the specific reference to a Gothic church. If Gaina
was a Goth, or even a Scythian of some undefined
nationality, it is extremely curious that all authorities
agree that he went to worship in a Greek church. It
certainly indicates that at least there existed no sharp
division between the churches of the Greeks and the
barbarians. We have the specific statement that
Gaina asked St. Chrysostom for a separate church,
not because he was a Goth, but because he was an
Arian, and that St. Chrysostom definitely declined to
let him have a church.^ Again, while in Theodoretus
the heading to V. 30 is ";:£/>« r^c ixxXrjoiai: xiov rbzdiov^^''
the corresponding heading in the Historia tripartita is
"De conversione Celticorum per Joannem." Whoever
the author of the Tripartita was, he did not know
anything about the Gothic church in Constantinople.
But John Chrysostom himself gives us all the
necessary information on the subject. We learn from
his eighth homily^ that he was present in a church
where there was some reading in a foreign language.
Chrysostom says that the Bible was translated in
Scythia, Thrace, Sarmatia, Mauretania, and India.
It was he who told the barbarians to get up and speak
in the church.^ In the beginning of the homily
Chrysostom says he wishes the Hellenes were present
to hear,^ and it is clear from what follows that he
uses "EU^vei: in the then usual sense of "ancient,
1 Theodoretus, V. 32.
2 Op. cii., vol. XII, p. 512 flf.^
'«Mti Toivirv axdiinrft xiz, fiYei<Tft(o Tfjs ixxXtjoias, oti 6ao6do(n)g eI?
\i,iao\ dvaaxfjvat xai e'uteiv naosCTxeudaa^ev,* ibid., p. 514.
* Ibid., p. 512.
ULFILAS 41
pagan Greeks." It is, therefore, clear that the
homily was addressed to the Greeks present, and that
the reading in the foreign language was intended to
captivate the foreigners present. In any case, we have
not a distant reference to a Gothic church, and we are
absolutely sure from Chrysostom's answer to Gaina
that there was no Arian Gothic church in Constanti-
nople in his time.
The heading of this homily reads as follows: " Too
auTOU bfidia Xtydtiaa Iv r^ ixxXrjaiq. ttj Ittc Ilaukov, Fordwu
duayvovTiov^ xai 7:pta^OTepou Fordou 7zpooficX7jaa'uTO(^.''^ There
is no certainty that the foreign language was Gothic,
and from the corroborative account of Theodoretus
in V. 30 it appears that only barbarian presby-
ters, deacons, and readers were ordained by him in
Constantinople, while he himself addressed them with
the aid of interpreters. The heading was put in at a
later time, when the Scythians, mentioned by Theo-
doretus, were identified with the Goths, who undoubt-
edly were then present in Constantinople, but had
neither any representation by a bishop, nor any Arian
Gothic church.
We can see in another place in the Historia tripar-
tita and its antecedents how a Gothic tradition at a
later time found its way into them. The Historia
tripartita in IX. 40 quotes from Socrates, V. 22, 23,
and 24, where we are told of the division in the Arian
church at Constantinople, caused by Marinus, who
insisted that God could be called Father, even if the
Son did not exist. This sect was called Psathyriani or of
the Goths, the first, because a Syrian vender of rolls
favored it, the second, because Selenas, the bishop of
the Goths, followed it. Selenas was of double birth,
his father being a Goth, his mother, a Phrygian, there-
fore he taught both languages in the church. After
twenty-five years the division of the Arians at Con-
42 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
stantinople was made up, but the sects continued to
exist outside the city. The same account is given by
Sozomenus, but we have the fuller statement that the
Goths obeyed Selenas the more readily, since he was the
amanuensis and successor of Ulfilas, their former bishop,
and was particularly fit to teach them in the church,
not only in their own language, but also in Greek.
As usual, there is absolutely nothing about it to be
found in Theodoretus, but in his Alpsrtxrj xaxojuudca we have
the story of a heretical sect of the Arians called Psythy-
riani at Antioch, who called God the Father, because the
Son was always created by God. This is in total dis-
agreement with Socrates and Sozomenus as to the creed
of the sect and its habitat. It is clear that the original
Socrates and Sozomenus had no story about the Psythy-
riani, any more than it is in Theodoretus ' Ecclesiastical
History. At a later time, before the Tripartite was
made up, a Goth, drawing from an Antiquitas, put into
Socrates and Sozomenus the incorrect story, and added
the totally out of the way statement that Selenas
spoke two languages, hence the Goths had particular
faith in him, and became Psythyriani. No wonder
that Philostorgius does not know anything about
Psythyriani, Marinus, Selenas, or anything connected
with the story. Indeed, we have already seen that there
was no Arian Gothic bishop at Constantinople, and
if Selenas was somewhere else, he was not in Gothia,
where in 404 we find Unilas, and his knowledge of two
languages could have had nothing whatsoever to do
with the fabulous Psythyriani at Constantinople.
We can now investigate the presence of Ulfilas at the
conciliabulum of Constantinople. As usual, Theo-
doretus knows knothing of Ulfilas.^ Ten bishops
were called to Constantinople, among them Eustathius
of Armenia, Basil of Galatia, Silvanus of Tarsus,
» II. 23.
ULFILAS 43
and Eleusius of Cyzicus. Socrates speaks of fifty
bishops who were present, among them Maris of
Chalcedon. After an account of the creed, there comes
a recapitulation of the nine creeds, ending with the
one adopted at Constantinople; and here we are in-
formed that this was the creed signed by Ulfilas,
bishop of the Goths, who, before that, following The-
ophilus, bishop of the Goths, had subscribed to the
Nicene creed. Sozomenus begins at once by telling us
that they called for the bishops from Bithynia, among
whom were Maris of Chalcedon and Ulfilas, the bishop
of the Goths. Philostorgius mentions Maris, Basil,
Eustathius, Eudoxius, but has no reference to Ulfilas.
As Sozomenus is generally made up from Socrates,
we have here only one reference to Ulfilas, and that
only in the recapitulation, where it is obviously the
same kind of interpolation as we found in the passage
mentioning Selenas.
This brings us now to the general passage on Ulfilas,
found in the four writers. According to Socrates^
and Sozomenus,^ Ulfilas was the bishop of the Goths
when they were still across the Danube, and petitioned
Valens to allow his people to settle in Thrace. It was
then that he became an Arian. In Theodoretus we
have a totally different story. When Valens made
his expedition into Scythia, the bishop of all of Scythia
was Bretanio. He tried to dissuade Valens from the
expedition and to bring him back to orthodoxy. But
Valens paid no heed to him and made the attack.
Being defeated, he fled to a village, where the bar-
barians burnt him alive in a house. ''Thus he was
punished in this life for his misdeeds."^
Everything, as usual in Theodoretus, is direct and
plausible. The Scythians had only one bishop, and this
» IV. 33.
» VI. 37.
» IV. 31-32.
44 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
we know to be correct from a statement made by
Sozomenus. The Scythians, as far as they were
Christians, were Catholics. Valens received his just
punishment, because of his Arianism. After this per-
fectly clear account we get in Theodoretus a chapter,
the last in that book, which begins with the words:
"I think it my duty to inform those who may not
know how the barbarians were infected by the Arian
pest." After the Goths had crossed the Danube, the
infamous Eudoxius persuaded Valens to give the Goths
his communion. Valens proposed this to the Gothic
leaders, but they would not give up their paternal
doctrine. Then Ulfilas, the Gothic bishop, was bribed
by Eudoxius with money, and so Ulfilas persuaded
them to commune with the Arians; hence they even
now say that God is greater than the Son, but they
deny that the Son is created, although they communi-
cate with those who say so.
After we are informed that Bretanio was the sole
bishop of the Scythians, we hear of Ulfilas, the bishop
of the Goths, who persuades his people nominally to
have communion with the Arians, although remaining
Catholics. This, however, is far from being an ex-
planation of how the Arian pest reached them. It is
merely an insoluble contradiction. Leaving out the
account about Ulfilas, we have the identical state-
ment as in Orosius, which would indicate that Theo-
doretus was interpolated independently of Socrates and
Sozomenus. The Historia tripartita gives the ac-
counts from Socrates and Theodoretus side by side,
making it quite impossible to see how they justify
the reading, "quemadmodum se Gothi contulerint
ad Valentem, et quomodo ad Gothos pestis Ariana
pervenerit."^
» VIII. 13.
ULFILAS 45
We have the same account about Bretanio in Sozo-
menus. "Wherever the churches were in charge of
good and honorable men, the people, as is natural,
did not change their former faith. For that reason,
they say, the Scythians remained in their old faith.
This province has many cities, villages, and fortresses.
Its metropolis is Tomes, a large and prosperous city,
situated on the sea, on the left of the Euxine Sea. The
old custom still prevails there, that one bishop rules
the churches of the whole province. At that time
Bettranio was in charge of the churches, when Valens
approached the city of Tomes. When he entered the
church, and, as was his wont, tried to persuade the
bishop to have communion with the Arians, Bettranio
spoke to him constantly and freely of the Nicene creed,
and, leaving him, went to another church, followed by
his people. Nearly the whole city had come there, in
order to see the emperor, and because they thought
something new would happen. Valens, being left with
his own men, resented the insult. Therefore he ordered
Bettranio to be seized and sent into exile. But, after
a while, he allowed him to return, because he saw the
anger of the Scythians and was afraid that they would
start a revolt. He knew that they were brave and
considered them useful to the empire, on account of
their situation, as serving as a barrier to the neighbor-
ing barbarians. Thus Bettranio overcame Valens,
he being a good and irreproachable man, as the Scyth-
ians themselves testify."^
There is no place anywhere for Ulfilas. That the
Scythians here mentioned include Goths is clear from
the mention of their city, Tomes, for later, in the ninth
century, Walafrid Strabo claimed that Gothic was
still preached in the church of Tomes. When we look
at the Pseudo-Orosius reference to the Goths in Valens'
» VI. 21.
46 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
time we have an amazing coincidence, except for the
last sentence, where it is said that Valens was burnt
by the Goths, who in death would burn for their
Arianism. Up to this last sentence the accounts in
Pseudo-Orosius and Sozomenus are identical. From
this it may be concluded that the original Isidore had
the story from Sozomenus, which was followed by the
statement that the Goths became Arians, hence suf-
fered after death. It is exactly what appeared to have
been in Isidore, before the Ulfilas account from the
Historia tripartita reached it.
One would expect to get some kind of reliable account
of Ulfilas from Philostorgius, but one is disappointed
at every step. The statement made that the Goths
became Arians or Semi- Arians from the start and that
Ulfilas was their first bishop, is flatly contradicted by
every contemporary source. That Ulfilas did not
translate the Book of Kings is obviously apocryphal.
The rest is a rehash of a laudatory account of Con-
stantine, the apocryphal growth of which we can
follow in detail. Eusebius of Caesarea in his De vita
Constantini tells how Constantine conquered the
Scythians and Sarmatians, who formerly exacted
tribute from the Romans and now were made to pay
tribute to them. Constantine wisely brought the
barbarians from a savage life to one of civilization.^
Not a word is said here of their being converted to
Christianity. Socrates has the same story, but here
the Scythians are called Goths, and we are informed
that the barbarians then for the first time became
Christians.^ Sozomenus has a much enlarged account.
In Constantine's time the nations along the Rhine,
the Celts, the Gauls, the Goths, and their neighbors
near the Danube, having been Christianized earlier,
» IV. 5.
« I. 18.
ULFILAS 47
now became civilized and meek. The barbarians had
become acquainted with Christianity during the wars
waged by the Romans with them in the reign of Gal-
lienus and the subsequent emperors. When an in-
numerable host of them crossed over from Thrace to
Asia, many Christian priests were captured by them
and taken back to their country. These cured the sick
and drove out unclean spirits, and on account of the
miracles thus performed among them, the barbarians
became Christians.^
This development and embellishment of the original
story in Eusebius is obviously apocryphal, since Justin
Martyr^ and TertuUian^ know of Christianity
among the Scythians much earlier; but the account in
Philostorgius is so clearly a development of the chance
references in Sozomenus to Gallienus, Asia Minor, and
captives, that the first can only have borrowed from
the second. Sozomenus wrote about 450, when
Philostorgius was most likely dead. At any rate, the
history of Philostorgius goes up to 424, that of Sozo-
menus, at least up to 439. It is, therefore, certain that
Philostorgius had nothing whatsoever to do with the
account of Ulfllas. Photius was not above distorting
facts, and his lying propensities have been fully dis-
cussed. His tendency to insert passages of his own
into the work of other people is well known.* Just
as he appropriated whole passages from Theodoretus,^
without even mentioning the fact, so we may be quite
sure that he similarly plagiarized Sozomenus for his
passage in Philostorgius. The testimony of Photius,
for we have not the original Philostorgius, is worthless
and must be abandoned.
1 II. 6.
* Dialogus cum Tryphone, CXVII.
3 Adversus Judaeos, VII.
* Migne, Patrol, graeca, vol. CI, col. 6 fif.
* Ibvi., col. 7.
48 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
We now come to the last stronghold of those who
have written on Ulfilas. Here we have a very detailed
work on the source,^ and so can investigate the great
forgery minutely, and in the same order in which
Kauffmann has discussed the work.
Cod. Paris, lat. 8907 contains, in two columns,
Ambrosius' De fide and Gesta Aquileia, written in
beautiful uncials. Around the margin there is the
account of Auxentius about Ulfilas, written in semi-
uncials. Both the uncials and semiuncials have been
located anywhere from 381 to the seventh century.^
Fortunately, we have a "splendid"^ reproduction of
an uncial part and of fol. 342' in semiuncial in Delisle's
Le Cabinet, Planche VIII. Here we can study the
palaeography. The uncial part, with its flourishes
and ivy leaf ornamentation, bears a striking resem-
blance to the Ada Manuscript^ and to the Utrecht
Psalter,^ hence cannot be of an earlier date than the
end of the eighth century. This is emphatically
proved by the semiuncial writing, which, being replete
with instances of the long i, cannot be of an earlier
date. Thus the question of palaeography is settled,
at least as regards the semiuncial writing, with which
we are dealing.
Kauffmann finds a confirmation of the Italian origin
of the writing in the sixth century in the writing
Hisdrael, which he compares with Sdrael in the Brixi-
anus.^ As Hisdrael is also a Spanish form and the
Brixianus is of the eighth century,^ Kauffmann's
argument falls flatly to the ground. He finds another
' F. Kauffmann, Aus der Schule des Wulfila. Auxenti Dorostorensia
Epistula de fide, vita et obitu Wulfilae, Strassburg 1899.
2 Ibid., p. XIX.
" Ibid., p. XX.
^ See my Contributions, vol. II, pp. 272-3, 276.
» Ibid., p. 277.
6 Op. cit.. p. XXII.
^ Contributions, vol. II, p. 271; see also Index, s. v.
ULFILAS 49
confirmation in the Itala readings of Bible quotations.
As I have already shown their presence in Joannes
Scottus,^ and have similarly pointed out that the
Codex Bezae and similar Latin texts are of the eighth
century, it is useless to adduce this as a proof of anti-
quity.
When one comes to the subject matter itself, one is
perplexed at the whole performance. Around the
borders the semiuncial writing begins by repeating the
Gesta Aquileia up to fol. 303', where it breaks off
with "et reliqua" and enters upon an original com-
position, beginning with "si quis uult legere sequen-
tiam, que abrupte et stulte prosecuti sunt, legat intus
in plenario qui in hoc ipso corpore et inueniet quod
rectum est sanctum Palladium prosecutum fuisse."
Kauffmann thinks that "qui in hoc ipso corpore" is a
late addition, there having existed an older text.^
If this is so, the older text must equally have been
written around the text of the Gesta Aquileia, other-
wise the words "legat in plenario," "let him read in
the full text," have no meaning, as there is no refer-
ence to the title of another text. Incidentally, ple-
narium, in the sense of "full text," as opposed to
"breviarium," is in Ducange recorded only from the
ninth century on.
After a short discussion of the Arian creed, we get
the sentence, "hoc secundum diuinum magisterium
Arri cristiana professio; hoc et Theognius episkopus,
hoc et Eusebius storiografus et . . . quorum professiones
et nomina in seque . . eenda sunt nam et ad oriente
perrexisse memorato episcopos cum Ulfila episkopo ad
comitatum Theodosi inperatoris epistula decla . ."^
After that, two lines are cut off. Kauffmann supplies
them as follows: "rat Auxenti episkopi Dorostorensis,
1 Ibid., p. 270 f .
2 Ov. at., p. XXII.
3 Fol. 304, ibid., p. 15.
50 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
ibique imperatorem adisse adque eis promissum fuisse
concilium. Erat quidem Ulfila conuersacione epis-
kopus satis p . . eloquio."^ This emendation or
reconstruction is not merely problematic, but it is
false, for toward the end of the semiuncial writing^
we have the phrase: *'et quamuis aucxenti ita me-
ministi ut non indicares de quo dixeris utrum de super-
stite id est Dorostorensi an de Mediolanensi qui sine
successore decessit tamen scito tarn Palladium Rati-
arensem Auxentium inter ceteros consortes sancto et
omni reverentia digno ac fidelissimo doctori Demofilo
ubicumque examen haberi placuerit domino omnipo-
tente per unigenitum suum lesum dominum nostrum
auxilium ferente glorioso ac salutari certamini non
defuturos."
Obviously there was no statement made before that
Auxentius was from Dorostorum. If it was, then the
whole commentary is a worthless jumble from the
start. One can see how the forger (for it can only be
a forger who wrote this Commentary) came to make
the final statement. He made Auxentius, the friend
and associate of Demophilus, write the letter about
Ulfilas, and later^ made both accompany Ulfilas to
Constantinople. Now, the Auxentius who was the
associate of Demophilus was Auxentius of Milan, ^
who died in 374. The forger, noticing toward the end
of his Commentary that he had made a blunder in
date, created a new Auxentius, of Dorostorum, to
present a letter about Ulfilas in or after 381, although
no such Auxentius is known to history.
The forger speaks of the first Auxentius as having
died without a successor. Kauffmann finds in this
the *' objective proof" that the Commentary was first
1 Ibid., p. 73.
2 Fol. 348', p. 56.
3 Fol. 349, p. 57.
* Socrates, II. 37.
ULFILAS 51
composed before 385, when the second Bishop Auxen-
tius of Milan was ordained. But the conclusion is
absurd. "A bishop died without a successor" is
merest nonsense. It could have been written only
by a forger who knew that there was another Auxentius
later. As a matter of fact, the confusion arose in him
through the statement made by Ambrose, "Palla-
dium uel Demofilum adque Auxentium uel perfidiae
eius heresis (for heredes),''^ which made him believe
that Auxentius had an heir.
The two passages quoted from the Commentary are
replete with stupidities. Eusebius is mentioned as a
historiographer. Kauffmann observes correctly that this
is impossible,^ and so concludes that storiographus is
a later insertion. After what we have heard of Aux-
entius of Dorostorum we need not assume anything
more than a blunder by the forger. Indeed, in the
Historia tripartita Eusebius is mentioned in this context
without specifying where he came from,^ hence the
forger, who may have had the History before him,
made the confusion. That the forger had some such
source before him is the more likely, since the same
passage in the Historia tripartita, quoting from Sozo-
menus, III. 1, says "praecipue vero Arii sectatores
Eusebius et Theogonius, cuius dogma se firmare
credebant," which led the forger to say "hoc secundum
diuinum magisterium Arri cristiana professio; hoc et
Theognius episkopus, hoc et Eusebius storiografus."
Kauffmann^ says that Arri is a blunder of a later
copyist, because Ambrose quotes Palladius as saying
(fol. 302'), "dicitis quod Arrium non sequamini."
There is no blunder here. The forger simply quoted
from the Historia tripartita or a similar source.
1 Fol. 336', p. 32.
2 Op. cit., pp. XXIV, XLIX.
3 IV. 1.
* Op. cit., pp. XXIV, 96.
52 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
''Ad comitatum Theodosii" is a late expression. In
the fourth century ad comitatum meant "at the court."
But Sievers had already noticed, though timidly, that
here it must mean "a journey with the intention of pre-
senting a petition."^ This expression occurs again on
folio 282:^ "Nam et ad Oriente perrexisse memoratos
episkopos cum Ulfila episcopo ad comitatum Theodosi
imperatoris epistula declarat." We have it also on
folio 327,^ "unde et cum sancto Hulfila ceterisque
consortibus ad alium comitatum Constantinopolim
venissent ibique etiam et imperatores adissent, adque
eis promissum fuisset concilium, ut sanctus Auxentius
exposuit." Here it is clear that " ad comitatum venire"
means "to go to petition." Sievers correctly draws
the conclusion that it means "to go with a petition,"
because we have instead postulate on folio 286,'*
"sanctorum episkoporum nostrorum, ut non solum in
partibus occidentalibus de Illirico advenirent postulantes
concilium (dari ut?) gesta ab ipsis ereticis confecta
indicant," and again, folio 286, "recitatae, etiam ad
orientem perrexerunt idem postulantes." What Sievers
did not notice is that ad comitatum is clearly defined
in the Commentary itself. Maximinus objects to Am-
brose's assumption of authority over the Arians.
"Do you not know that Peter's see is equal and com-
mon for all bishops, since that holy apostle dedicated
it with divine consecration not only for the bishop of
Rome, but also for all others? He did not vindicate
to himself any special prerogative, but was obliging
to those whom he considered to be elected by an equal
consecration of the Lord to the apostolic office. He
was obliging when, joining unto himself John, he was
sent to Samaria ad comitatum, as the Acts of the Apostles
1 Paul und Braune, Beitrage, vol. XX, p. 310 ff.
2 G. Waitz, Vber das Leben und die Lehre des Ulfila, Hannover 1840, p. 9.
' Ibid., p. 23, and fol. 349, Kauflfmann, op. cit., p. 57.
* Sievers, op. cit., p. 312.
ULFILAS 53
teach us, saying: *Cum audissent autem qui Hiero-
solymis erant apostoli, quod Samaria quoque recepit
uerbum dei, miserunt ad eos Petrum et Johannem,
qui descenderunt et orauerunt pro eis, ut acciperent
spiritum sanctum.' "^
It is clear that here comitatus means "a meeting at
which one speaks or prays." One will look in vain
for such a meaning in the fourth or fifth century.
We find it in the Graeco- Latin glosses, "comitatus
ffuvodia,''^ in Isidore, "synodum autem ex Graeco
interpretari comitatum vel coetum," in Eucherius'
Instructiones, "synodus comitatus vel coetus,"^ in the
Leyden glosses De canonihus, "synodus graece, latine
comitatus vel coetus,"* in the Placidus glosses,
"synodus comitatus vel coUectio."^ Wherever we have
the word, we have a mere etymological speculation,
namely, (tuu + odo^ = com + itus, co + etus. The un-
mistakable meaning, ** meeting, convention," which
it has in our Commentary, marks the language of the
Commentary as of a much later date than the fourth
century.
We know nothing of Auxentius, except what appears
here. The case is no better with Maximinus, who,
apparently, is the first writer of the Commentary.
Kauffmann has shown conclusively that this Maxi-
minus is identical with the bishop who in 427 or 428
had a dispute with St. Augustine at Hippo. ^ As he
speaks of St. Augustine **aetate praecedis et auctori-
tate maior," and Augustine was at that time 74 years
old, Maximinus can at most have been 24 years old
in 381, when the meeting at Aquileia took place. He
1 Fol. 344', Kauffmann, op. cit., p. 87.
2 Goetz, II. 104, 446, 510, etc.
3 C. Wotke, Sancti Eucherii Lugdunensis Formulae, etc., in CSEL., vol.
XXXI. p. 161.
* Goetz, V. 412.
* Ibid., p. 150.
« Op. cit., p. LIV ff.
54 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
cannot possibly have been a bishop at that time, ** hence
an interpolator put in the frequent references, 'Maxi-
minus episcopus disserens dixit. '"^
The more natural conclusion is that the forger
blundered and put words into the mouth of a man who
could not have said them at Aquileia. Indeed, H.
Bohmer,^ who has no doubt about the authenticity
of the Commentary, says of Maximinus that he did
not know what he was talking about, when he said
that Theodosius was influenced by Ambrose of Milan
to go back on the promise made to Ulfilas and Pal-
ladius of calling a council ; because we know for certain
that Theodosius did invite the heretical bishops of
his realm, consequently also Ulfilas, but not Palladius
and Secundianus, and because we also know that it
was Nectarius of Constantinople, and not Ambrose,
who persuaded him to abandon the council. Still
worse informed was the glossator of Maximinus, who
makes Theodosius pass two laws, one of the year 388,
the other of 386, in order to frustrate the meeting
many years earlier.
But the case is far worse still. The Commentary
ends by quoting a law from the Codex Theodosianus,
which was not published until 438. Even Kauffmann
has to exclaim: ''This law (XVI. 4, 1, of the year 386)
could have been quoted only by a silly man who stood
so far away from the things treated at that time that
he was unable to comprehend the ecclesiastic and polit-
ical legislation of Valentinianus. Thus, contrary to all
sense, he referred to a law which was in favor of the
Arians and threatened the followers of Ambrose with
punishment, for this law was promulgated, not in
order to deprive the Arians of the right of meeting,
1 IMd., p. LVI.
^ Realencyklopddie fur protestantische Theologie und Kirche, Dritte Auflage,
vol. XXI, p. 553 f.
ULFILAS 55
but in order to leave it unimpaired. The two laws are
as useless in this place as the false conjecture."^
Sievers tried in vain to harmonize the contradictions
between Maximinus, Philostorgius, and Auxentius.^
Thus by rejecting as interpolations everything which
interfered with the assumption of the Ulfilas legend,
and building on d.7ia^ Uybyitva^ such as on an unknown
Auxentius of Dorostorum, who is mentioned immedi-
ately before the "silly" quotations from the Codex
Theodosianus, have the Germanic scholars saved from
the wreck what was not worth saving.
What happened in all probability is this. The forger
had before him, not only the Gesta Aquileia, but also
some Arian commentary on the text. To this he added
from his imagination, or, more likely, from a Gothic
Antiquitas, the story of Ulfilas, and, jumbling together
dates and persons, came to discordant and impossible
conclusions. Thus he had to stretch the years of
Maximinus, to create a new Auxentius, to send Ulfilas
on journeys impossible in the days before the railways
and steamboats,' to adduce the Codex Theodosianus,
which appeared nearly fifty years later, and to quote
ex post facto laws, which unfortunately had the oppo-
site effect. Idiocy cannot go farther.
The story about Ulfilas in Auxentius is as meager
and useless as all the rest. Sievers has already shown
that the division of Ulfilas' life into thirty years up to
his ordination as a bishop and forty years afterwards,
is merely schematic and improbable.^ What Auxen-
tius tells of Ulfilas is this: he was learned, a true con-
fessor of Christ. Then we get an overlong account
of his creed. He was bishop for forty years, writing
in Greek, Latin, and Gothic. A Gothic king perse-
1 Op. cit., p. 109.
2 Op. cit., p. 321.
3 Ibid., p. 318.
*Ibid., p. 321,
56 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
cuted the Christians, and Ulfilas, driven from his
country, as Moses drew his people away from the
violence of Pharaoh, took his Goths across the Danube
and made them worship God in the mountains as did
the saints. He taught on Roman soil for thirty-three
years. After preaching for forty years, he was called
to Constantinople to fight some heretics, and there he
died. Then comes his own Creed, where he says that
he has always believed that way.
One would have expected from a pupil and follower
of Ulfilas to hear something about the city where he
was bishop, about the writings which were attributed
to him, some incidents in his life beyond the mere
skeleton of his ordination and death. Of all that there
is not a word. There are many statements in this
account which resemble those of Philostorgius, as, for
example, the reference to Ulfilas being a Moses. One
can see how this phrase arose. We learn from Jordanes
that Ulfilas took his people across the Danube into
Moesia. Reading Moesia as Moises, we get the pretty
story, that, like Moses, Ulfilas took his people across
the Danube. But not a single one of the old accounts
connected the crossing of the Danube with Ulfilas.
This event took place between 369 and 373, and if
Ulfilas lived thirty-three years after that, he must have
died about 404. This coincides entirely with the story
of Unilas, the Catholic bishop of the Goths in Gothia,
whom John Chrysostom had ordained and sent there,
"admirandum ilium episcopum Unilam, quem non
ita pridem ordinavi atque in Gotthiam misi, multis ac
magnis rebus gestis, diem suum extremum clausisse."^
There can be no doubt that we have here a confusion,
a misreading, of Ulfilas for the Unilas of John Chry-
sostom, and transference of the true account of the
death of the Gothic bishop to the imaginary person
* Montfaucon, Joannis Chrysostomi Opera, vol. Ill', p. 722.
ULFILAS 57
who invented the Gothic letters and wrote so much
in three languages.
When we examine Ulfilas' creed, and keep in mind
that Socrates and Sozomenus said that Ulfilas sub-
scribed to the creed of Ariminum, we at once see why
the forger expanded so lavishly on the creed and last
will of Ulfilas. Here he could easily follow the re-
corded opinion of Bishop Maximinus, the very man
who is made to contradict Ambrose on all points.
That the language of Auxentius has amazing resem-
blances, though in a much inferior style, to that of
Maximinus, has already been noticed by Kauffmann,
but it has never occurred to him that the whole Com-
mentary is to a great extent a plagiarism, with profuse
additions, from Maximinus' defence before St. Augus-
tine. I shall, therefore, go into greater detail on this
point.
The Arians at the end of the fourth and in the begin-
ning of the fifth century renounced Arius^ and claimed
adherence to the compromise creed of Ariminum.
Maximinus says: "si fidem meam postulas, ego illam
teneo fidem quae Arimini a trecentis et triginta epis-
copis, non solum exposita, sed etiam subscriptionibus
firmata est."^ Similarly Auxentius of Milan said:
"ex infantia, quemadmodum doctus sum, sicut accepi
de Sanctis Scripturis, credidi . . sic credidi, et credo. . .
omnes ergo haereses, quae adversus catholicam fidem
veniunt, semper quidem congregati episcopi catholici
condemnaverunt et anathematizaverunt, specialiter au-
tem ccnvenientes Arimino, et inde condemnavimus."^
For that reason, the juxtaposition in our Commentary
of "hoc secundum diuinum magisterium Arri cristiana
1 "Numquam scivi Arium, non vidi oculis, non cognovi ejus doctrinam,"
Auxentius of Milan, Migne, Patrol, lat., vol. X, col. 617; "Palladius dixit:
Arrium nee uidi nee scio qui sit," Kauffmann, op. cit., p. 92.
^ Migne, Patrol, lat., vol. XLII, col. 710.
3 lUd., vol. X, col. 617 f.
58 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
professio" with a creed which is based on the com-
promise creed of Ariminum, is absurd and cannot
belong to that period. The confession "semper sic
credidi et in hac fide sola et uera transitum facio ad
dominum meum," is contradicted by the statement
made by the Greek historians that Ulfilas first followed
the Nicene creed. It contradicts itself, since Ulfilas
could not have been brought up in the beginning of
the fourth century in a creed which did not yet exist.
It is simply a formula compounded from Maximinus
and Auxentius of Milan, where the two claimed
adherence to the same creed of Ariminum, in order
to avoid the accusation of being fullfledged Arians.
The forger did not notice that, although being Arian,
neither Maximinus nor Auxentius could have said
'' Arri professio," although this is found in the Historia
tripartita, that is, in a Catholic source.
The Credo of Ulfilas is made up from statements of
Maximinus. Ulfilas says: "Credo unum esse deum
patrem; solum ingenitum et inuisiuilem et in unigeni-
tum filium eius dominum et deum nostrum, opificem et
f actorem uniuerse creature non habentem similem suum
ideo unus est omnium deus pater, qui et dei nostri est
deus."^ Christ is God, the Maker of all creatures.
So Maximinus says: "Nos Christum colimus ut Deum
omnis creaturae,"^ and "Pater enim in ilia immensa
potentia potentem creatorem genuit."^ Hence
"Christ is our God," "an solus Pater unus Deus
dicendus est, cujus Filius Christus noster est Deus."^
God is not merely "one," he is "solely one," even as
Maximinus says, "ego Patrem solum secundum ante-
lata testimonia, non cum altero et tertio dico quod
1 Kauffmann, op. cit., p. 76.
« Migne, Patrol, lat., vol. XLII, col. 724.
» Ibid., col. 729.
* Ibid., col. 738.
ULFILAS 59
unus est, sed quod solus unus est Deus,"^ and "quo-
modo ergo solus potens Pater? sed solum dicit ob
hoc, quia nullus ei comparatur, quia solus est tantae
magnitudinis, tantae potestatis, tantae potentiae."^
God is invisible, "invenies quemadmodum est unus
invisibilis Deus Pater. "^ Similarly, Christ is uni-
genitus, ''consideranda est virtus Unigeniti Dei, et in
ipso admiranda est magnitudo omnipotentiae Dei
Patris, qui tantum ac talem genuit Filium."* That
God is ingenitus follows from "verus innatus Pater
verum genuit Filium."^ Ulfilas' "qui et Dei nostri
est Deus" follows from the same statement, and from
the preceding sentence, "Deus Deum genuit." That
Christ has no one similar to Him is expressed thus:
"nihil est in coelo quod non genu flectat Christo."^
Ulfilas says of the Holy Ghost, "et unum spiritum
sanctum, uirtutem inluminantem et sanctificantem . . .
nee deum nee dominum sed ministrum Cristi (fidelem) ,
nee (equalem) sed subditum et oboedientem in omni-
bus filio." We find in Maximinus, "unus est Spiritus
sanetus paracletus, qui est illuminator et sanctificator
animarum nostrarum,"'^ and "nos enim Spiritum
sanctum eompetenter honoramus ut doctorem, ut
ducatorem, ut illuminatorem, ut sanctificatorem,"^
where the very words are used as in the Commentary.
To the statement made by St. Augustine that the
Holy Ghost is equal to the Son, Maximinus says:
"Dicis Spiritum sanctum quod aequalis sit Filio.
Da testimonia, ubi adoratur Spiritus sanetus."^ When
Ulfilas further says, " et filium subditum et oboedientem
1 Ibid., col. 728.
2 Ibid., col. 729.
3 Ibid., col. 728.
* Ibid., col. 727.
" Ibid., col. 733.
« Ibid., col. 724.
'Ibid., col. 711.
8 Ibid., col. 725.
9 Ibid., col. 724.
60 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
suo in omnibus deo patri," we at once get this from
Maximinus' **si parentibus subditus, ut divinarum
Scripturarum auctoritas luce clarius praedicat, quanto
magis utique illi suo genitori est subditus, qui tantum
ac talem genuit."^
The creed in regard to the Holy Ghost is greatly
reduced in Ulfilas, for in another place Auxentius
says,^ "uno enim deo ingenito extante et uno domino
unigenito deo subsistente spiritus sanctus aduocatus
nee deus nee dominus potest dici, sed a deo per domi-
num ut esset accepit: non auctor neque craeator, sed
inluminator et sanctificator, doctor et ducator, adiutor
et postulator, pre . . tor et (informa)tor, Cristi minister
et gratiarum diuisor, pignus hereditatis in quo signati
sumus in diem redemtionis." The phrase, "inlumina-
tor et sanctificator, doctor et ducator," is identical
with that of Maximinus already quoted. The ampli-
fications in Ulfilas are due to quotations from Arian
texts, which are adduced in full by Kauffmann. But
it must be clear from what has already been said that
the relation between our Commentary and Maximinus
is far more intimate than between the Commentary
and any other known source. It is inconceivable that
Maximinus, in his dispute with St. Augustine, should
have quoted from the unknown and blundering Auxen-
tius, who wrote fifty years earlier. The deposition of
Maximinus before the ecclesiastic court was spon-
taneous and it was taken down by Antonius, the notary,
so that St. Augustine himself had to refer to the
deposition.^ It is, therefore, more natural to suppose
that the forger, who made Maximinus annotate the
Gesta Aquileia, also quoted his language and arguments
whenever his other Arian sources failed him.
1 Ihid., col. 735.
2 Fol. 306, Kauffmann, op. cit., p. 74.
3 Migne, Patrol, lat., vol. XLII, col. 713.
ULFILAS 61
The forger was not an Arian, because then he would
not have confused the creed of Ariminum with an
Arian profession of faith. Least of all could he have
written as an Arian in the fifth century, when the
Arians, like Maximinus and Auxentius before him,
renounced Arius and claimed adherence to the creed
of Ariminum, We can now see how hopelessly bad
the accounts of Socrates and Sozomenus are about
Ulfilas. According to both, Ulfilas subscribed to the
Ariminum creed at Constantinople. Yet Sozomenus
tells us that Ulfilas became Arian when he came to
Constantinople, and persuaded his people to become
Arians. Theodoretus more specifically says that
Ulfilas was bribed to hold communion with the Arians,
when Valens invaded his country, but that he did not
depart from his paternal religion.
Apart from the hopeless contradiction, the story is
impossible. If Ulfilas subscribed to the Ariminum
creed, he was an Arian from the Catholic standpoint,
but considered himself to be a true Catholic, even as did
Auxentius of Milan and Maximinus. Hence, neither
from his nor from the Catholic standpoint did he
become an Arian when he went to Constantinople or
when Valens came to Moesia.
On the other hand, while the account of the per-
secution of Athanaric and the Gothic settlement in
Moesia are given correctly as to date in Socrates,
Sozomenus, and Theodoretus, it is, as connected with
Ulfilas, removed to about the year 348, instead of
approximately 371, in Auxentius. Here Auxentius is
totally wrong.
One can see how the whole series of blunders arose.
The chronicles, including the first edition of Isidore's
Chronica and Historia Gothorum, had a correct account
of Athanaric, the Gothic settlement in Moesia, and,
possibly, the Arianism of the Goths after Valens. In
62 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
the beginning of the eighth century a Gothic Anti-
quitas related the story of Ulfilas, the famous Gothic
bishop who invented the Gothic alphabet and trans-
lated the Bible into Gothic, the name Ulfilas arising from
a misreading of the name of the Catholic Gothic bishop,
Unilas, who, according to John Chrysostom, had done
so much for the Goths and died in 404, in conjunction
with the fact that the newly invented Gothic alphabet
was ascribed to the famous Gothic bishop.
As the Goths had been Arians before becoming
again Catholics, the conclusion was drawn that Ulfilas
was an Arian, and from the specific statement of Maxi-
minus, the bishop of the Arians, who was accessible to
Catholic writers in St. Augustine, that he subscribed to
the Ariminum creed, it was concluded that Ulfilas' Arian-
ism was of the same kind. Thus there must have been
a stage preceding that of Auxentius (of Dorostorum),
in which we had a correct account of Athanaric and
the migration of the Goths to Moesia, connected with
the spurious Arianism of Ulfilas and his subscription
to the creed of Ariminum.
The editors of Socrates, Sozomenus, Theodoretus,
and the Historia tripartita interpolated the account of
Ulfilas, his signing the Ariminum creed of Constanti-
nople, and his Arianism in the correct account of Athan-
aric and the migration to Moesia. But the forger of
the Commentary to the Gesta Aquileia wanted to be
more clever than these, and got himself inextricably
into a bog.
He knew that thirty-three years had passed between
the migration of the Gothic Moses (instead of "into
Moesia") across the Danube and the death of Ulfilas
(Unilas), also that Ulfilas had been in Constantinople.
Placing his presence in Constantinople in 383, and let-
ting him die there instead of Athanaric, he subtracted
33 years from 381, and found that Ulfilas must have
ULFILAS 63
crossed the Danube under Constantius, having suf-
fered then persecution under a Gothic "judex."
To make his camouflage perfect, he quoted all of
the arguments of the Ariminum creed from Maximinus,
and ascribed to him also the criticisms on the Gesta
Aquileia, without observing that the bishop who was less
than 70 years old in 428 could not possibly have been a
bishop at Aquileia in 381. The forger also knew that
Auxentius was a good name for an Arian bishop, and
so he made him the student of Ulfilas. It was only
when his forgery was completed that he observed that
Auxentius of Milan died "without heir" in 374 and
that he had made him write a letter to Bishop Maxi-
minus, who in 381 was at most 24 years old. So he
promptly corrected the blunder by inventing an
Auxentius of Dorostorum, in Thrace, closer to, but
not in, the Gothic country, to make the case more
plausible. Pour la bonne houche, he finished up his
work by quoting from the Codex Theodosianus, pub-
lished after 438, two laws, one of 386, the other of 388,
which proved precisely the opposite of what he intended
to say.
Philostorgius is obviously based on Auxentius.
Here we have the same reference to Moses and to
Eusebius, who now is made to baptize Ulfilas. We
have here also the apocryphal story of not translating
the Canonical Book of the Kings, and the pretty story,
told by the older historians of all the Barbarian Chris-
tians, of having derived his Christianity from Asia
Minor, more especially, from Cappadocia.
When all the impossible and contradictory accounts
are eliminated from all these sources, we return to
the authenticated and absolutely uniform story that
the Goths were chiefly Catholic in the fourth century,
that as late as 404 they had a Catholic bishop Unilas,
that there was in Gothia a persecution of Catholic
64 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Goths under Athanaric, that only the soldier rabble
in Constantinople, more especially, in Rome, adhered
to the Arian court party, and that Alaric did not
seriously consider the Arian party until his expedition
into Italy and sack of Rome.
Of Ulfilas, the Arian bishop, who discovered the
Gothic alphabet and translated the Bible into Gothic,
not a trace is left. It is true, there is a poem ascribed
to Eugene of Toledo in which Ulfilas is mentioned:
"Moyses primus Hebraeas exaravit litteras,
mente Phoenices sagaci condiderunt Atticas;
quas Latini scriptitamus, edidit Nicostrata,
Abraam Syras et idem repperit Chaldaicas;
Isis arte non minori protulit Aegyptias,
Gulfila promsit Getarum quas videmus ultimas."^
This poem is not found in the important Madrid Codex,
and the fragment in J, in which only
**M(oyses
re)perta est
mine cepit
discit
Gulfila Gotus"
can be read, shows that the verses were handled freely
by interpolators, for here not a line agrees with the
above. Besides, it is clear that all but the last line
are taken directly out of Isidore's Etymologiae, I. 3. 5
and I. 4. 1, but the reference to Ulfilas is absent from
the Etymologiae. It is found only in the Chronica 350,
and this has already been shown to be an interpolation.
The poem is repeated in Julian's Ars grammatica, in
which it is unquestionably as much an interpolation
as in the poems of Eugene.
» MGH., Aucior. antiq., vol. XIV, p. 257.
JORDANES.
Mommsen ventured the guess that Jordanes' Getica
was known to Secundus, who in 612 wrote a History of
the Langobards,^ but he cautiously added that the
passages thus borrowed are too few in number to admit
anything more than, a conjecture. Since Jordanes
supposedly used Cassiodorus' work for his Getica, such
borrowing may have been made directly from Cassi-
odorus, and Secundus cannot be adduced as a proof
that Jordanes was already known in 612.
The next mention of Jordanes, according to Momm-
sen,^ is to be found in the Scholia Statiana, where
strava of Jordanes' Getica, XLIX (258) is quoted.
Mommsen himself admits that the Scholia must be
later than Lactantius, or are interpolated in the sixth
century. Now Jahnke^ is far more careful. He
does not undertake to determine what is genidne and
what is interpolated later. As the oldest MS. of the
Scholia is of the eleventh or twelfth century, the
Scholia are no evidence for the age of Jordanes.
Next Mommsen finds a reference to Jordanes in
the Gesta abbatum Fontanellensium (MGH., Scrip-
tores, vol. II, p. 287), where it says that Wando, who
was abbot from 742 to 747 and died in 756, left to the
Monastery of S. Wandregisilus his library, and
among these books was "Historia lordanis episcopi
Ravennatis ecclesiae Getarum."^ As among these
books we also find a commentary to the Gospels by
* Neues Archiv, vol. V, p. 75.
2 MGH., Audor. antiq., vol. Vi, p. XLV.
' Lactantii Placidi qui dicitur Commentarii in Statii Thebaida, Lipsiae
1898, p. IX.
* MGH., op. cit., p. LXIII. ,
66 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Sedulius, obviously Sedulius Scottus, who lived in the
middle of the ninth century, and the Gesta were
written after 833, the reference to Jordanes is value-
less.
Mommsen assumes that Paulus Diaconus quoted
Jordanes in his Historia Lang ohar dor um, which was
written before 774. That is possible, but, of course,
he may have quoted from the same sources from which
Jordanes drew his information, namely, from the
Antiquitas, Ablabius, and Cassiodorus. The oldest
and best MS. of Jordanes is of the end of the eighth
or beginning of the ninth century (Heidelbergensis) ,
and the oldest definite reference to Jordanes is found
in the Cosmography of the Ravenna Anonymus.^
Thus we have so far only the definite proof that Jor-
danes was known before the ninth century, possibly
at the end of the eighth century.
In the Getica there is a reference to Jordanes' origin,
but when we consider that the very introduction to
the work is a bold forgery, as has long ago been recog-
nized by Sybel,^ we cannot place any faith in what
the author has to say about himself. According to his
statement, he, although **agrammatus," that is, with-
out knowledge of letters, had been a notary of Gunthiges
or Baza, a nephew of Candac, apparently an Alan
chief, ^ although, according to his own statement, he
himself was a Goth. He also says that he wrote his
book in the year 551. All these statements may have
been cribbed by the author from older sources, even as
he cribbed the introduction out of Rufinus.
Mommsen has given a list of the sources mentioned
or used by Jordanes. Among these are Fabius, who
^ "Quam et lordanus sapientissimus chronographus Scanzan appellat,"
Pinder and Parthey, Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia, Berolini 1860,
p. 29; also pp. 168, 179, 185, 205, 221, 422.
2 MGH., op. ciL, p. 53.
»/6id., p. VI.
JORDANES 67
wrote of Ravenna, and of whom we know nothing, and
Ablabius, who is three times mentioned as a historian
of the Goths, of whom we equally know nothing. But
the information they give us is insignificant and need
not trouble us. Far more important is the informa-
tion which Jordanes drew from the legendary lore,
which he claims to have received from the Antiquitas.
That the Antiquitas was a real collection, now lost, is
proved by the references to it. Speaking of the Gothic
bards, Jordanes says that the "miranda Antiquitas"
hardly boasts of any heroes equal to them.^ Here
"miranda," as an epithet of Antiquitas, can refer only
to a book, and not to a tradition. Speaking of the
Huns, the author quotes Orosius with the words,
"ut refert Orosius." Immediately afterwards he
goes on to give an elaborate account of the Huns as
born of witches, "ut refert Antiquitas." Obviously
this account, which is not mentioned in any history,
is taken from a legendary book account.^ We have
also the definite statement that the Antiquitas relates
marvelous and extraordinary accounts.^
In a similar way Paulus Diaconus speaks of a collec-
tion of stories, when he says, "in this place the Anti-
quitas tells a ridiculous story. "^ It has been assumed
that the reference is to the Origo, attached to the
Langobard laws, but even so, why does Paulus talk
not of the Origo, but of the Antiquitas? Besides,
Meginhard similarly quotes the Antiquitas for the
origin of the Saxons, and this obviously cannot be
identical with the Origo Langohardorum} Thus it
1 "Quales vix heroas fuisse miranda iactat Antiquitas" V (43).
* "Post autem non longi temporis intervallo, ut refert Orosius, Hunnorum
gens omni ferocitate atrocior exarsit in Gothos. nam hos, ut refert Antiquitas,
ita extitisse conperimus," XXIV (121).
* "Bellum atrox multiplex immane pertinax, cui simile nulla usquam
narrat Antiquitas, ubi talia gesta referantur," XL (207).
* Historia Langobardorum, I. 8.
^ "Saxonum gens, sicut tradit Antiquitas, ab Anglis Britanniae incolis
egressa," MGH., Scriptores, vol. II, p. 674.
68 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
is evident that the Antiquitas was a collection of
legendary Germanic lore in general, from which the
Origo, Meginhard's account, and Jordanes' history of
the Goths drew their information.
Jordanes several times refers to Dio, the historian,
as his source of information,^ but since some of the
references are to Dio Cassius, one to Dictys, and at
least one to Dio Chrysostom, it is certain that Jor-
danes did not quote at first hand.^ The assumption
that the source from which he drew had extracts from
a work of Dio Chrysostom, called Getica, is not borne
out by the evidence. There never was such a work, and
Dio is credited with it on the basis of interpolated
passages. The reference in Jordanes to the Getica of
Dio' is false, because the story of Telephus is found
in Dictys. Philostratus says that Dio Chrysostom
wrote a Getica,^ but this is not supported by any other
evidence and is contradicted by Suidas, in whose
dictionary some manuscripts have no reference to
it at all, while others credit Dio Cassius with it. On
the other hand, all the passages in Jordanes which
are certainly from Dio Chrysostom, are all from his
known orations.
**Ut ergo ad nostrum propositum redeamus, in
prima sede Scythiae iuxta Meotidem commanentes
praefati, unde loquimur, Filimer regem habuisse nos-
cuntur. In secunda, id est Daciae, Thraciaeque et
Mysiae solo Zalmoxen, quem mirae philosophiae eru-
ditionis fuisse testantur plerique scriptores annalium.
1 "Dio auctor est celeberrimus scriptor annalium," II (14); "ut refert
Dio, qui historias eorum annalesque Greco stilo composuit," V (40); "Dio
storicus et antiquitatum diligentissimus inquisitor, qui operi suo Getica
titulum dedit, . . hie Dio regem illis post tempora multa commemorat
nomine Telefum," IX (58); "Dio storico dicente," X (65).
2 J. de Arnim, Dionis Prusaensis quem vacant Chrysostomum quae exstant
omnia, Berolini 1896, vol. II, p. IV ff.
' IX (58).
* " 'Qi; be xal icrxootav Ixavoc -fiv |i>YY0«<pei'v, 8ti1oi xa rexijcd, xal ya.Q
tr\ xai elg rexag fiXd^ev, bnoxe f)XaTo,» Bioi aoqjiOTtov, ^'.
JORDANES 69
Nam et Zeutam prius habuerunt eruditum, post etiam
Dicineum, tertium Zalmoxen, de quo superius diximus.
Nee defuerunt, qui eos sapientiam erudirent. Unde et
pene omnibus barbaris Gothi sapientiores semper
extiterunt Grecisque pene consimiles, ut refert Dio, qui
historias eorum annalesque Greco stilo composuit.
Qui dicit primum Tarabosteseos, deinde vocatos Pil-
leatos hos, qui inter eos generosi extabant, ex quibus eis
et reges et sacerdotes ordinabantur " (Getica, V. 39-40).
One reference is to Dio Cassius, LXVIII. 9. 1: ''ou
6 dzxe^aXoc; i^rsno/Kpei [xku xal Tzpo Trj(; rjzvyj^ Trpecr^si^, ouxin xoiv
xofxTjrcov wamp npozepov, dXXd tcov 7:do(p6pa)u voh^ dpcffvoui;;^'
"Decabalus sent, not haired messengers, as before,
but the best of the hat-wearers." The borrowing from
this source is made clearer in one fragment of Petrus
Patricius:^ '^Ttpiffj^ec^ e7T£/jt</>£ rrdocpopou^. ouzoc ydp elac nap''
ahTolz o\ Tcpccortpoc. rtporepov yap xopijra^ iTtepne, euTeXearipoo^
Soxouurat: nap' auroic: dvac^ The name Tarabosteseos, also
spelled strabostes eos, zarabostereos, etc., can only be a
corruption of roue dpcazou;: of the text. The statement
made in Jordanes as to the superiority of the pilleati
over the capillati, repeated from Dio Cassius, is based
on a misconception. The passage in Dio Cassius is
unquestionably interpolated, for in the corresponding
extract of Xiphilinus we read, *'nip<pa<; roue dpiazoo<: zwv
ndo(p6p(ou,'' and there is no reference to the inferiority
of "haired" men; and in another fragment of the same
passage in Petrus Patricius there is not even any ref-
erence to nd6(popoi,^ nor is there anything said about
them in the corresponding passage in Zonaras, XI. 21.
We have here in Jordanes a confusion of Dio with
his grandfather, and, apparently, the same confusion
was introduced into the Greek. In his Bopuadtvczcx6<;
^ U. p. Boissevain, Cassii Dionis Cocceiani Historiarum Romanarum quae
supersunt, Berolini 1901, vol. Ill, p. 194.
» Ibid., p. 195.
70 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Dio Chrysostom tells of the Greeks of Borysthenis
that they imitated the older Greek fashion of Homer's
time. When Dio visited that city, the citizens invited
him to talk to them near the temple of Jupiter. "The
oldest and most distinguished of the Borysthenitae
sat in a circle on the steps. The rest of the people
stood up, for there was a large plain in front of the
temple. Any philosopher would have taken pleasure
in the sight, because they all wore long hair and beards
in the old fashion, even as Homer tells of the Greeks,
and there was only one among them who was shaven,
and he was the butt of ridicule to all."^ All, both
nobles and simple folk, wore their hair long. In his
oration, Hspl zoo afrjuaroa^ he refers to Thracian Getae
who wear hats, while others wear tiaras and trousers.^
It did not occur to him to oppose the pilleati to the
capillati, for it was the Greek Borysthenitae who wore
long hair and the Getae who wore hats. It is only in
the passages quoted from Dio Cassius and Jordanes that
the juxtaposition exists. In another place Jordanes
says; "nomen illis (sacerdotibus) pilleatorum contra-
dens, ut reor, quia opertis capitibus tyaris, quos pilleos
alio nomine nuncupamus, litabant: reliquam vero
gentem capillatos dicere iussit, quod nomen Gothi pro
magno suscipientes adhuc odie suis cantionibus reminis-
cent."^ The two passages put together at once show
us that the confusion arose in Jordanes' source from a
total miscomprehension of Dio Chrysostom.
1 <Kal ol n^v n;oE06irtaToi xal ol yvoQiiKoxaxoi xal ol iv xaig doxal;
KuxX(p xa^i^ovTo iai 6ddo(ov to 8^ Xouiov rtA.fjdog eqpEtnrixeaav ■f]y y«(? ev-
QV/,(OQia noWi] nQo toC veto* Jtdvu ovv S.y Tig rio^ Tfj oiIjei q>iX6o'oqx)i; dvriQ,
OTi ojtavTE? fiaav toy dp^xaiov xQonov, dig qjTiai'v "Oixrioog xovg "EXXriva?,
xojMOVTeg xal Td veveia dqpeixoTcg, tig 8e tv avxoiq jiovog e^uoil'^iEvog, xal
TovTov iXoiSoQoirv TE xal i\jdaovv &xavTEg,>op. cit., p. 5.
^ ♦"Evi&a ydo eviote ^Xinovaiv dv&Q<jojtovg, Tovg ^iv xivag JtiXovg im
xaig xz(paXalq exovtoc, (bg vOv t65v ©pqixtbv Tiveg tcov FEToiv Xeyoixevcov,
nQoxEQOfv be AaxEfionnavioi xal MaxE6avEg, dXX.oug be Tido^av xal dva^x)-
Oi8ag,> ibid., p. 184 f.
'XI (71, 72).
JORDANES 71
The long hair, according to Dio, is a sign of their
primitiveness, which a philosopher, that is, one versed
in the lore of antiquity, could not help but admire,
because Homer called the Greeks the longhaired ones.
From this arose the absurd statement that the Goths
still speak in their songs with respect to the longhaired
ones. Indeed, the very passage where the forger or
Jordanes speaks of the pilleati (V. 40), contains the
statement that the Goths are wiser than nearly all
the barbarians and almost similar to the Greeks, a
statement which refers to the love of Homer found
among the Borysthenitae, and which is taken out
directly from Dio Chrysostom's Bopoadtvatxdz.
Dio went to Borysthenis in order to travel further
into Scythia and study the Getae on the spot. "The
city of the Borysthenitae is not as large as it was reputed
anciently to be, on account of the frequent wars and
having been captured so often. Lying, as it does, amidst
the barbarians, and having existed in the most warlike
of times, it has always been waging war, and has fre-
quently been captured. The last and greatest defeat
it suffered not more than one hundred and fifty years
ago. It was the Getae who seized it, together with
other cities on the left of the Pontus, as far as Apollonia.
Thus the Greeks living there were in sore straits,
since there were as yet few colonies and most of them
were overrun by the barbarians. Many parts of the
Greek country fell into their hands, because the Greeks
were scattered over a large territory. Then the
Borysthenitae again colonized the city, with the per-
mission of the Scythians, I think, because these were
in need of commercial relations with Greece.^ But
^ This very sentence from Dio Chiysostom was incorporated by Jordanes:
"in eo vero latere, qua Ponticum litus attingit, oppidis haut obscuris in-
volvitur, Boristhenide, Olbia, Callipolida, Chersona, Theodosia, Careon,
Myrmicion et Trapezunta, quas indomiti Scytharum nationes Grecis permi-
serunt condere, sibimet commercia prestaturos," V (32).
72 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
the newcomers had to stop, because there was a revolt
in the city and they could find no countrymen of their
own to help them, and the Scythians could not and
would not help them to build an emporium in the
Greek fashion. The result of this revolt was a shrinking
of the city to its present form."^
The forger whom Jordanes quoted misunderstood
this very simple and correct account, because he knew
from Herodotus that Borysthenitae was the name of
agricultural Scythians above Borysthenis;^ hence he
jumped to the conclusion that the Borysthenitae, that
is, the inhabitants of Borysthenis, whom Dio visited,
were those very Getae who were almost like Greeks.
That the source which Jordanes quoted drew directly
from Dio Chrysostom is proved by the continuation
of the passage in Jordanes, where we suddenly hear that
the Getae or Gothi worshiped Mars, which made them
very warlike and bloodthirsty, but it was only along the
Pontus that they became more civilized and wise and
were divided into families, the Visigoths being of the
family of Balthi, the Ostrogoths, of the family of Amali.
' «'H 6e KoXiq r\ tcov Boqi'o^fvitwv to jievE^og eoriv ov jtQog ttiv jta-
Xcadv 86|av 8ia tag mrvexeig ahaaen; xal xovg jtokE\iov<;' axe yaQ ev ne-
aoiq olxoOaa Toig 6ao6docRg toooutov ^br] XQ&vav, xal toutoi? oxtbov ti
Toig jtoXEfiixcoTaxotg, del nev n;o^eM.eiTat, noXkoMic, be. xal ed^co* ttiv 8e te-
X.EUTaiav xal neyiavf]v dXcoaiv ov kqo jiXeiovow ti rtEvrnxovTa xal exaTov
Itcov elXov 8^ xal Taurnv Fexai xal xdg SXXaq xdg iv xoig doiaxEooig xov
IIovTou KoXeiz \iexQi ' AKoXXcawiaq' o#ev bi] xcd ocpoSpa TajtEivd Td ngdy-
^aTa xaxEOTti tcov xaiJTxi 'E^^tivcov, twv uev ouxeti cnrvoixiadEiCTcbv toXecov,
xGyv be qjauXcog, xal tcov nXelcnoiv 6ao6doa)v slg awdg ouoquevtcov jtoXXai
ya.Q 8t| xivEg dJtcooEig xaTa Jto^d \ieQr\ YEYOvaoi Tfjg 'EXXdSog, cite hr rtoX-
Jioig Tojtoig 8iean;aonEVTig. 'AXovTEg 8e tote ol BogvcrftsviTai jidXiv cnrv4>-
XTyaav, e^eXovtcov ehoI 8o%eIv twv 2xirda)v 6id to Selo^ai Tfig djiTtoQiag xal
Tov xaxdjtXou TCOV 'EXXrivcov IjiaucravTO yaQ Elare^EovTEg dvatTTaTou Tfig
jio^Ecog YEvonevng, Ste ovx Ixovxeg a^ocpoovovg xovg um>8£xonEvoug ou8e xtov
Sxv^cov d^iomrtcov ov8e dmcxajiEvoov Ejutooiov auxcov xaTaaxEvdaaaf^ai tov
'EXXtivlxov TQOJtov. Stiueiov 8e xfig dvacrxdoEcog y\ xe q)auX,6xTig xcov (hxo8o-
UTindxcov xal x6 mrvECTxdXdai xtjv noXw ig 6oaxu,» oP- cit., p. 2.
^ «'Ajt6 8e xauxTig uvo) lovxi olxEoum 2xi)^ai yeuiQyoi xoiig "EXXTivEg
ol (KXEovTEg EJtl x(p 'Yjtdvi jtoxanQ* KaXeovcn Boov<TftevEtxdg, ocpiaq be av-
Tovg 'OX.6iojio>.ixag,» IV. 18.
JORDANES 73
This reference to Mars and the warlike spirit of the
Goths is again due to a misunderstanding of a passage
in Dio Chrysostom. He says that the Borysthenitae
are particularly fond of Homer, whom they know by
heart, because they themselves are still warlike, and that
they for the same reason built a temple to Achilles on
an island of that name. Then Dio asked Callistratus,
to whom he was speaking, whether Homer was a
better poet than Phocylides; to which Callistratus
answered that he did not even know that name and
that he only knew Homer, whom all their poets men-
tioned in their poems, especially when they were about
to go to war."^
The forger, Jordanes or his source, showed no critical
acumen when he made Dicineus precede Zamolxis,
because Zamolxis is already mentioned by Herodotus
and in another passage Jordanes tells us that Dicineus
lived in the days of Sulla. This passage runs as follows :
"When Buruista was king, Dicineus came to Gothia,
in the days when the Roman Sulla seized the govern-
ment. Buruista received Dicineus and gave him
almost royal power. By his advice the Goths laid waste
the lands of the Germans which the Franks now occupy.
But Caesar, who was the first to vindicate to himself
the Roman Empire and subjected nearly the whole
world to his rule and conquered all kingdoms, so that
he occupied the islands of the sea beyond our world
^ <2xe86v 8e xai Jtdvrei; ol Bogucr&Evixai jteqI tov jtoiiittiv e0ro)u8dxacriv
lortog 8id to JtoXenixoi elvai eti vvv, el jiti aga xal 8id ttiv jtQog tov 'Axik-
"kea evvoiav toOtov \iev vdp iijreoqa'djg xi\L<bcfi, jtai veojv tov nev ev Tfj vr|cr(p
Tfi 'AxiKXimq xoiXounevn iSQuvTai, t6v 8^ ^v Tfj ndXei* &axs ovbt dxo-uEiv
ujtEO ovSevog akXov deXouaiv t] 'Om-tiqcv xal TdX,Xa ouxexi aacpcog eA.^T|Vi-
^vTEg 8id TO iv (iEoroig oIxeIv Toig 6ao6dooi5 oucog rnv ye 'IX.id8a oXiyav
jidvTeg iaaaiv ojtb OTOnaTog. Elnov ouv regoartai^oyv nobq avxov, Hoteoov
ooi 8o%Ei, & KakXiaxQortE, d|xetva)v jtoiriTTig "OnriQog f] ^vncvXibriz; xal og
yeXaaaq ecpr\, 'AXX' ovbs ejticrtanai eyioys tou irzQOv jtoititou to ovojxa, ol-
nai 8e tA"n8e tovtcov ^'n8Eva* ov8e yaQ TjYovne^a finei? &XXov Tivd ^oitittiv ^
"OnTiQOv TOUTOV 8e oxebov Ti ou8e dX.Xos ou8elg dYvoer jtovov vdp "OjiriQou
HvriixovEt'ouaiv ol JtoiT^Tal auToiiv ev xoig jtoirinaoiv, xal aXXax; jiev Elcodaoi
Xiytw, del 8^ 6ji6Tav [liXXcoai fidxEcrdai,» op. cit., p. 3 f.
74 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
and made those tributaries of Rome who had never
heard the name of Rome, none the less, in spite of
frequent trials, was unable to subjugate the Goths.
Gains Tiberius now rules as the third over Rome,
but the Goths persevere even under his reign." Then
follows a long list of things which Dicineus, the con-
siliarius of the Goths, taught the people. He instructed
them in philosophy and ethics. "He taught them
physics and made them live naturally by their own
laws, which were written down and still exist under the
name of belagines.^' He taught them logic, theoretice,
practice, astronomy. He elected the noblest and
wisest among them, instructed them in theology, and
appointed them priests, and "gave them the name of
pilleati, because, I think, they sacrificed with their
heads covered with tiaras, which we call by another
name, pillei. But the rest of the people he ordered
to be called capillati, which name the Goths considered
honorific and still praise in their songs. "^
1 "Dehinc regnante Gothis Buruista Dicineus venit in Gothiam, quo
tempore Romanorum Sylla potitus est principatum, quern Dicineum
suscipiens Buruista dedit ei pene regiam potestatem; cuius consilio Gothi
Germanorum terras, quas nunc Franci optinent, populati sunt. Caesar vero,
qui sibi primus omnium Romanum vindicavit imperium et pene omnem
mundum suae dicioni subegit omniaque regna perdomuit, adeo ut extra nostro
urbe in oceani sinu repositas insulas occuparet, et nee nomen Romanorum
auditu qui noverant, eos Romanis tributarios faceret, Gothos tamen crebro
pertemptans nequivit subicere. Gaius Tiberius iam tertius regnat Romanis:
Gothi tamen suo regno incolume perseverant. quibus hoc erat salubre,
hoc adcommodum, hoc votivum, ut, quidquid Dicineus eorum consiliarius
precepisset, hoc modis omnibus expetendum, hoc utile iudicantes, effectui
manciparent. qui cernens eorum animos sibi in omnibus oboedire et natura-
lem eos habere ingenium, omnem pene phylosophiam eos instruxit: erat
namque huius rei magister peritus. nam ethicam eos erudiens barbaricos
mores conpescuit: fysicam tradens naturaliter propriis legibus vivere fecit,
quas usque nunc conscriptas belagines nuncupant; logicam instruens
rationis eos supra ceteras gentes fecit expertes; practicen ostendens in
bonis actibus conversare suasit; theoreticen demonstrans signorum duo-
decem et per ea planetarum cursus omnemque astronomiam contemplari
edocuit, et quomodo lunaris urbis augmentum sustinet aut patitur detri-
mentum, edixit, solisque globum igneum quantum terreno orbe in mensura
excedat, ostendit, aut quibus nominibus vel quibus signis in polo caeli
vergente et revergente trecentae quadraginta et sex stellae ab ortu in
occasu precipites ruant, exposuit. qualis erat, rogo, voluptas, ut viri for-
JORDANES 75
The story of King Buruista and Dicineus arose in
an amusing way out of Dio's Bopuadevatx6(:. Dio
says that the city of the Borysthenitae was seized by
the Getae more than one hundred and fifty years ago.
As Dio lived at the end of the first century A. D., this
incident falls in the days of Sulla. Borysthenis pro-
duced the eponymous hero, Buruista, but whence
comes Dicineus, who is not mentioned by anyone else?
We know of but one great Dacian who extended his
rule very far and was considered with awe by his
people, and that was Decebalus, that very man, who,
in the interpolated passage in Dio Cassius, at first sent
capillati as messengers, and then sent the nobler
pilleati. This is precisely what Dicineus does, when
he divides his people into pilleati and capillati. There
cannot, therefore, be a shadow of a doubt that Dicineus
and Decebalus are one and the same person.
This Decebalus lived at the end of the first century
A. D. Dio Cassius says that he was a remarkable man,
a great engineer, and a worthy antagonist of the
Romans. "I call them Dacians, although I am aware
that some Greeks, whether right or wrong, call them
Getae, but I know that the Getae live above the Haemus,
near the River Ister."^ Apparently, Decebalus, also
tissimi, quando ab amis quantolumcumque vacassent, doctrinis philo-
Bophicis inbuebantur? videris unum caeli positionem, alium herbarum
fruticumque explorare naturas, istum lunae commoda incommodaque,
ilium solis labores adtendere et quomodo rotatu caeli raptos retro reduci
ad partem occiduam, qui ad orientalem plagam ire festinant, ratione
accepta quiescere. haec et alia nonnuUa Dicineus Gothis sua peritia tradens
mirabilis apud eos enituit, ut non solu mediocribus, immo et regibus im-
peraret. elegit namque ex eis tunc nobilissimos prudentioresque viros,
quos theologiam instruens, numina quaedam et sacella venerare suasit
fecitque sacerdotes, nomen illis pilleatorum contradens, ut reor, quia oper-
tis capitibus tyaris, quos pilleos alio nomine nuncupamus, litabant: reliquam
vero gentem capillatos dicere iussit, quod nomen Gothi pro magno sus-
cipientes adhuc odie suis cantionibus reminiscent," XI (67-72).
1 tMeyiOTog 6e 8ti jtoXEfioi; 'Pwiaaioiq xoxe jtQog xovq Aaxovg iyiyexo,
&v TOTE Ae)tE6a>.05 i6aaiXevz, beivbg |xev oWEivai Tot noXeiiia Seivog 8^ xal
jiQoL^ai, imTj&Eiv euatoxo? dvaxcoQfjaai xaipio?, IvEfiQag texvitt)? ^iCLxr^q sq-
YoiTTjg, xai xa^cog hev vixxi xO'HC'tto^oii xa^dig 8e xai fixtav fiio'&Eoiftai el-
76 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
written Decibalus, reached the forger in the form
Deciualus, which he read Decinaius, which produced
Decinaeus and Dicineus, as recorded in Jordanes.
Buruista, read Burvista, produced Bopt^iara<:^ Boipe-
/9/<Trac in several interpolated passages in Strabo,
where he is also associated with Decaeneus. After
telling the story of Zamolxis, who lived in a cave,
where, as a counselor of God, he promulgated his
edicts and himself became a counselor of the king,
there comes, as a postscript, the statement that when
Byrebistas was king of the Getae, against whom divine
Caesar fought, Decaeneus held that office.^ In an-
other passage we have a more elaborate account of
Byrebistas and the magician Decaeneus. Here the
statement that Byrebistas was oppressed by sedition
at once shows that the sedition of Borysthenis has now
become a sedition against Byrebistas.^ In another
8a)S* acp' ov 8ti xai a.vtay(i)vi<nr\i; d|i6M.axos ^Jtl reoXu toii; 'Pcoixaioig iyi-
VETO. Aoxous 88 avTovg n;oooraYooEvo>, &okeq jtou xai auxoi eatrtovg xal ol
'Pojfwxioi oqpa? 6vond^oiKnv, om dYvo&v oxi 'E^A.r|vo)v xivfeg Tsxaq auxou?
Xiyovaw, eixe iQ^&g eixe xai ^e Xeyovxei;' iyto y«0 olba F^xoig xovg vnkQ
xov Ainou jtaod xov "Itrxgov olxoOvxac;,* op. cit., p. 170 f.
1 «AEYExai Ydp i^iva xcov FExoav, ovona Za\io'ki,iv, bovXevaai 'n.v^ay6-
Qq., xai xiva xcov ovQavi(ov koq' Ixeivou ^lafl'eiv, xd 88 xal naq' Alyvnxioiv,
nXaviT&Evxa xal \iixQi Bevoo* ^jtavEXfrovxa 8* elg ttiv olxEiav ajtou8a<j©fivai
Jtaod X0I5 'r\ye\wai xal x(p edvEi, jtQo^EYOvxa xdg iKior\\iaaia(;' xE^Evxcovxa
8e jtEioai xov 6aai,XEa xoivcovov xfig dpx^S auxov latelv, (bg xd rtaod xaiv
Oecov i^ayyt'K'ktw lxav6v xal xax' dox«? M*v lEQ^a xaxaoxadiivai xov jid-
Xiaxa xt|j,(0|XEVOu Jtap' auxolc; deoij, jAExd xavxa 8e xal ©eov KQoaayoQev-
dfjvai, xal xaxaXa66vxa dvxowSE? xi xiOQiov d6axov xoi^ dX^oig ivxaT3da
8iaixd(Td^ai, OJidviov ivxvyxoycyvxa X0I5 Exxog, jtXrjv xoi5 6aoikioiq xal xc6v
©EQaJtovxcov (Tu^JtQdxxEiv 8^ xov 6aoiXEa, OQC&vxa xoix; dv&of^^ov? Jtooae-
xovxag Eaux(p, noXv nXiov ti rtooxEpov, wg ExqpEQOvxi xd jtooaxdYnaxa xaxd
(Tuji6ou^T|v ■&E(bv. Tovxl 8e x6 £§05 8iEXEivev dxQi xal Elg i)\iaq, ati xivog £u-
Oioxonevov xoiouxot) x6 fjfl^og, og xtp hev 6aaikti (Ti)(x6ouXog vjtf[Qxe, Jiagd bk
xoig FExaig wvondtExo SEog* xal x6 oQog vjtE^riq)^ Ieqov, xal jiQOcaYOOEU-
ouaiv ovxcog* ovona 8' auxcp KooYaiovov, 6|xa)vujA0v xcp KagaQQiovxi Jtoxajxcp'
xal 8ti oxe Bx)OE6L0xag floxe xcov rEXoiv, iq>' ov ribt] jtapEcwtEudaaxo KaiaaQ
6 ©Eog oxoaxEUEiv, AExaivEog elxs xavxriv ttiv xiiiiyv xai Jtcog x6 xcov i\Ly^-
XO)v djtEXEOI^ai nu^aYOQEiov xou Za^o^liog eheive jtaQa8o^ev,» VII. 3. 5.
='«T(bv 8f) Fexcov xd jiEv jtaXaid dqpEiodo, xd 8' Elg fifidg Ti8n xoiauxa
viJcfiQlE. BoiQE6i(Txag, dvrio FEXTjg, ^jtioxdg im. xriv xoij EOvoug Irticrxacriav,
dvEXa6E xExaxwjiEvoug xovg dvftQCOKOvg vjtb (Tuxvcov jto7.EH(ov xal xoaouxov
ijtfjeEv d(Txr|0Ei xal vr|\|>ei xal x(0 itoooEXEiv xoig jtoo<rxdYJAa(Jiv, &ax' bXiymy
JORDANES 77
place, where there is reference to great seers, we have
the interpolation: ^^rtapa toIq Fdrai^ ^eoc, to fxkv nalacbv
ZdfioX^a;-, nudayopuo!; tk;, xad^ ^/^oi^ Se 6 T(p Bupe^cffT^ deam^wv
Atxaiv£.o(^y^
As Decinaeus, from his association with the pilleati
and capillati, could have arisen only from the inter-
polated passage in Dio Cassius, through a misunder-
standing of Dio Chrysostom's reference to hairy
Borysthenitae and Getae wearing hats, the passage in
Strabo can be nothing but an interpolation, because
Strabo died before either of them wrote. As the state-
ment in Jordanes that the reign of Buruista fell in the
reign of Sulla is identical with the statement in Dio
Chrysostom that Borysthenis was captured by the
Getae about the time of Sulla, the assertion of Strabo
ixcov nEYtt^iTv aox'Hv xatEcrxriaaTO, xal t(ov 6}i6ooyv Towg nXziaxovg vnixa^e
tolg Fexaiq* tiSt) be xal 'Pconaioig (poSeQog riv, 8ia6aivcov dSeto^ xov "Iotqov
xcd TT|v QQ-iy.Y\v Xer\kaT(bv jxexQi MaxeSoviag xal xfj? 'IXX.V01805, xoug xe
KeX,xo{)5 xoug dvanejuvM'Evovg xoi? xe Oo<y|l xal X015 'IA.Xvowhs i^en6Q{h\at.
Botov? 6e xal aoStiv "nqpavLoe xovq ujto Koii-xaxTio<t) xal TavQioxovg- jigog be
XTjv eiJJtetO^eiav xovi e^ovg cmvaYMvicrxTiv e<Txe AexaCveov fivfi^a y6i\xa, xal
n;EJtXavT|nevov xaxa xtjv Aivujixov xal Jtooorpaaiag EX|xena^iix6xa xivdg, 61'
&v vKEKQwexo xd •fl-eia- xal 61' oXiyov xaMaxaxo ©eog, xaftdjtEg eqpanEv ne-
ol xov Za^o^^Ecog SiTiYouixevof xfjs 8' EUJtEidEiag oriifiEiov ejieicrSriaav y«C
ixx6\l)ai xi^v dnjreXov xal t;fiv oivou xtOQi?' 6 \iev ouv BoioeSiaxag e<p&Ti xa-
xoXvOelg in;ava(rxdvx(ov auxQ) xivoov, jtQiv r\ 'PojAaioug oxeiXai ax^axEiav
in' avx&v <A be SiaSE^d^Evoi xriv doxV Elg jt^Eio) n^Qfl 6iE(JTTi0av xal br\
xal vuv, Tivixa ercEntpev en' avxoug oxoaxEiav 6 2e6a(n;65 Kaloag, Elg jtEVxe
|XEQi6ag, xoxE 6e Elg xeaoagag SiEdxwxEg exvyx^'vov oi ixev ovv xoiovxoi [le-
Qianoi JtoooxaiQoi xal oXXox' dXXoi. Feyove 8e xal &X.Xx>g xfjg xt^oa^ ne-
QiG\Ji6g av\i\iev(av ex jca^aioii- xovg \iev ya.Q Aaxovg nQoaayoQevovai, xoug 8^
Fexag. FExag jaev xovg itpog xov itovxcv xex^inevovg xal JtQ^g xtiv eoo, Aa-
xoug 8e xovg Elg xdvavxia rtgog xtiv Feojiaviav xal xdg xou "laxQOv nriYdg,
oCg ol|xai Adoug xaXeioOai x6 nakaiov a.(p' ov xal naga. xoig 'Axxixoig ^e-
fioXaoe xd xwv olxexoav 6v6naxa Fexai xal Adoi* xoCxo yaQ md^avcoxEQOv fj
djto x{bv Sxv^cbv, oBg xaXoijm, Adag* noQQm ya.Q exeivoi jieqI xr\v 'Ygxa-
viav, xal oux Elxog ^xei^ev Ko\iiC,ecTdax dv8Qdjto8a elg xfiv 'Axxixr|v e| &v
yag ^xohl^exo, fi xoig e#veoiv EXEivoig oncovufxoug ExdXotrv xovg olxExag, cog
Au66v xal Suqov, r\ xoig EJTijtoX.d^ot)oiv exfi ovonaoi nQ0<Tr\y6Qev(yv, (bg Md-
vTiv fi Mi8av xov ^quyoi, Ti6iov 8e xov Ilaqj^aYdva' ^l xooovxov 8' VTxb
xov BoLQeGioxa x6 eflvog E^apdEv Exajteivtodri XEX,ea)g vjto xe xcbv (ndcretov xal
Twv 'PoHtaifflv Ixavol 6' ojiwg elcAv exi xcd virv oxeXXew Texragiag |ivQid8ag,>
VII. 3. 11-12.
' XVI. 2. 39.
78 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
that Byrebistas lived in his time is impossible, even if
there existed such a king. Hence the whole story is
a late interpolation in Strabo.
Who does not see that, according to Jordanes, Dicin-
eus teaches the Goths the Aristotelean categories as
understood by the Arabs? The forger fortunately
gives himself away when he informs us that the laws
given by Dicineus still exist in written form and
are called helagines, for here we have a Koranic
story. Here we frequently find the word t?^. haldgun
"the bringing, conveyance, delivery, or communi-
cation of a message ; what is communicated or announ-
ced of the Koran and of the statutes and ordinances."
Even Muellenhoff had to acknowledge that it was
quite impossible for the statement in Jordanes to be
true, because, according to Isidore of Seville, there
were no written Gothic laws before 484.^ Thus we
get the positive and incontrovertible proof that Jor-
danes wrote his Getica after 711.
It is most likely that AS. lagu "law" is merely a
contraction of belago. Lagu does not occur in ASaxon
before the end of the tenth century, and bilage "by-
law," recorded later, is, no doubt, older. The total
absence of the word from OH German and the presence
of bylag in Scandinavian, by the side of ONorse log
"law," make it certain that AS. lagu is a late book
word, which passed into ONorse.
The sources from which Jordanes quoted had made
a mess of Decebalus, by associating him as Dicineus
with Buruista, on account of the statement in Dio
Chrysostom that the Getae sacked Borysthenis in the
days of Sulla. The forger still had Decebalus on hand
in connection with Domitian's Dacian wars. To fill
out the space from Sulla to Domitian, he invented two
^ MGH., op. cit., p. 181, sub belagines.
JORDANES 79
Gothic kings, Comosicus and Coryllus, of whom
Jordanes has not much to say.^ He merely uses them
as fillers to pass over to Decebalus in the days of
Domitian, through the significant phrase, **longum
namque post intervallum Domitiano imperatore reg-
nante." Here we can again see that the original
source from which Jordanes, or Ablabius, whom he
quotes as a historian of the Goths, drew his information,
was written in Arabic. Decebalus is once recorded as
Aexi^avo^} This dtxi^avo(: would be written in Arabic
as u-^^. Reading o as -> this cr^^ would be trans-
cribed as Durpanus, or some such word. So, all of a
sudden, we have in Jordanes a story about King
Dorpaneus, who defeated the Romans under Domitian.
The Goths then seized much booty and called their
chiefs, by whose fortune they carried off the victory,
not simple men, but demigods, that is, Anses.^
Here the forger once more gave himself away, for
Anses is nothing more than Arab, r^ ' 'anas, ^J^ I Hn^
"a chosen, select, particular friend or companion, one
with whom one is sociable," ^J^'^ 'anls **a sociable,
companionable, familiar person," u^ ' 'anas **a
1 XI (73), XII (74, 75).
* Boissevain, op. cit., p. 191.
' "Longum namque post intervallum Domitiano imperatore regnante
eiusque avaritiam metuentes foedus, quod dudum cum aliis principibus
pepigerant, Gothi solventes, ripam Danubii iam longe possessam ab iniperio
Romano deletis militibus cum eorum ducibus vastaverunt. cui provinciae
tunc post Agrippam Oppius praeerat Savinus, Gothis autem Dorpaneus
principatum agebat, quando bello commisso Gothi, Romanos devictos,
Oppii Savini caput abscisum, multa castella et civitates invadentes de
parte imperatoris publice depraedarunt. qua necessitate suorum Domitianus
cum omni virtute sua lUyricum properavit et totius pene rei publicae
militibus ductore Fusco praelato cum lectissimis viris amnem Danubii
consertis navibus ad instar pontis transmeare coegit super exercitum
Dorpanei. tum Gothi haut segnes reperti arma capessunt primoque con-
flictu mox Romanos devincunt, Fuscoque duce extincto divitias de castris
militum spoliant magnaque potiti per loca victoria iam proceres suos,
quorum quasi fortuna vincebant, non puros homines, sed semideos id est
Ansis vocaverunt," XIII (76-78).
80 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
closer companion." Freytag translates 'ins by "inti-
mus, socius," 'anas by "is quo familiariter uteris,"
'anls by "eiusdem quasi indolis et spiritus, consue-
tudine et moribus coniunctus, familiaris sodalis." The
Latin translator of the Arabic source found Decebalus
addressing his chiefs with one of these forms, from the
root (j-^l 'anisa "familiariter usus est," instead of
the more common o^i 'insdn "man," and jumped
to the conclusion that the Goths called their heroes by
a more select name, which he rendered into Latin by
"semidei." This anses produced the ONorse ass, AS.
OS "god, divinity," which is not represented in
OHGerman.
The story of Dorpaneus is told already in Orosius,
where it is ascribed to Cornelius Tacitus.^ We shall
later see that the Germania of Tacitus is a forgery,
and that his Annales and Historiae are, to say the
least, full of interpolations, hence this reference in
Pseudo-Orosius is of no avail. The total absence of
the name in the Latin writers, for Suetonius^ and
Eutropius^ mention the Roman generals, Fuscus and
Sabinus, given by Jordanes, but not the name of the
Dacian king, is fatal to the assumption that Tacitus
had any such story. Dio Cassius has no reference
whatsoever to Dorpaneus, but we can see how this
name has backed from the Latin into the Greek
sources. Petrus Patricius connects, as he should,
Fuscus with Decebalus, but the Fragmenta Valesiana,
misled by the Arabicized Durpaneus, split the person
into two, into Duras and Decebalus, and, without
^ "Nam quanta fuerint Diurpanei Dacorum regis cum Fusco duce proelia
quantaeque Romanorum clades, longo textu euoluerem, nisi Cornelius
Tacitus, qui hanc historiam diligentissime contexuit, de reticendo inter-
fectorum numero et Sallustium Crispum et alios auctores quamplurimos
sanxisse et se ipsum idem potissimum elegisse dixisset," VII. iO, 4.
^ Domitianus, VI.
» VII. 23.
JORDANES 81
rhyme or reason, inserted into Dio Cassius a phrase
about Duras of his own free will transferring his
hegemony to Decebalus.^
Isidore of Seville has a delightful etymology for the
name of the Gipedes: " Gipec?es pedestri proelio magis
quam equestre sunt usi, ex hac causa vocati."^
Because Gipedes breaks up into gi + pedes, therefore
they fight on foot rather than on horseback. The
natural conclusion is that they are slow and inferior
to men using horses. The Arabic prototype of Jor-
danes has vastly improved on Isidore. According to
him, the Gepidae and Goths were relatives, who came
in three ships to Gothiscandza. One of these ships,
which was slower, gave the name to the nation, for
in their language "slower" is called gepanta. From a
corruption of this word came the name of the Gepidae,
who are of slow intelligence and slow in movements.
These Gepidae demanded lands from Ostrogotha, the
king of the Goths, or they would wage war upon them.
Ostrogotha, being of solid mind, said that he preferred
war. The greater vivacity of the Goths made them
victorious over the slower Gepidae, who were defeated
once for all.^
' «"Oxi Aovgag, o\i r\yE\ium.a iyiyvsxo, £xd)v aurfj? jtaoexcoQTioe T(p Ae-
xE6dA.(p T(o Aaxoiv 6acaXEt oti fiEivog,* Boissevain, op. cit., p. 170.
2 Etymologiae, IX. 2. 92.
' "Abhinc ergo, ut dicebamus, post longam obsidionem accepto praemio
ditatus Geta recessit ad propria, quern cernens Gepidarum natio subito
ubique vincentem praedisque ditatum, invidia ductus arma in parentibus
movit. quomodo vero Getae Gepidasque sint parentes si quaeris, paucis
absolvam. meminisse debes me in initio de Scandzae insulae gremio Gothos
dixisse egressos cum Berich rege suo, tribus tantum navibus vectos ad
ripam Oceani citerioris, id est Gothiscandza. quarum trium^ una navis,
ut adsolet, tardior nancta nomen genti fertur dedisse; nam lingua eorum
pigra gepanta dicitur. hinc factum est, ut paulatim et corruptae nomen eis
ex convicio nasceretur Gepidas. nam sine dubio ex Gothorum prosapie et
hi trahent originem; sed quia, ut dixi, gepanta pigrum aliquid tardumque
designat, pro gratuito convicio Gepidarum nomen exortum est, quod nee
ip)sud credo falsissimum: sunt etenim tardioris ingenii et grayiores corporum
velocitate. hi ergo Gepidae tacti invidia, dum Spesis provincia commanerent
in insulam Visclae amnis vadibus circumactam, quam patrio sermone dice-
bant Gepedoios. nunc earn, ut fertur, insulam gens Vividaria incolit ipsis
82 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
But gepanta is merely a transliteration of Arab. <J ^
gabdnat "to become deficient in judgment, to be weak,
to lose one's mind, weakness of judgment."
Jordanes tells of Geberich, the son of Hilderith, the
king of the Goths, who wished to extend his rule into
the Vandal country, which then was in the region
now occupied by the Gepidae, somewhere north of the
Danube. So he decided to wage war against Visimar,
their king, who was of the race of Asdingi, which
famous race is most warlike, according to Dexippus,
the historian.^ In another place the Astringi are
ad meliores terras meantibus. qui Vividarii ex diversis nationibus ac si in
unum asylum collecti sunt et gentem fecisse noscuntur. ergo, ut dicebamus,
Gepidarum rex Fastida quietam gentem excitans patrios fines per arma
dilatavit. nam Burgundzones pene usque ad internicionem delevit aliasque
nonnuUas gentes perdomuit. Gothos quoque male provocans consangui-
nitatis foedus prius inportuna concertatione violavit superba admodum
elatione iactatus, crescenti populo dum terras coepit addere, incolas patrios
reddidit rariores. is ergo missis legatis ad Ostrogotham, cuius adhuc imperio
tam Ostrogothae quam Vesegothae, id est utrique eiusdam gentes populi,
subiacebant, inclusum se montium quaeritans asperitate silvarumque
densitate constrictum, unum poscens e duobus, ut aut bellum sibi aut
locorum suorum spatia praepararet. tunc Ostrogotha rex Gothorum ut
erat solidi animi, respondit legatis bellum se quidem talem horrere durumque
fore et omnino scelestum armis confligere cum propinquis, loca vero non
cedere. quid multa? Gepidas in bella inruunt, contra quos, ne minor
iudicaretur, movit et Ostrogotha procinctum, conveniuntque ad oppidum
Galtis, iuxta quod currit fluvius Auha, ibique magna partium virtute cer-
tatum est, quippe quos in se et armorum et pugnandi similitudo com-
moverat; sed causa melior vivacitasque ingenii iubit Gothos. inclinata
denique parte Gepidarum proelium nox diremit. tunc relicta suorum strage
Fastida rex Gepidarum properavit ad patriam, tam pudendis obprobriis
humiliatus, quam fuerat elationis erectus. redeunt victores Gothi Gepidarum
discessione contenti, suaque in patria feliciter in pace versantur, usque dum
eorum praevius existeret Ostrogotha," XVII (94-100).
' "Nam hie Hilderith patre natus, avo Ovida, proavo Nidada, gloriam
generis sui factis illustribus exaequavit. primitias regni sui mox in Vandalica
gente extendere cupiens contra Visimar eorum rege qui Asdingorum stirpe,
quod inter eos eminet genusque indicat bellicosissimum, Deuxippo storico
referente, qui eos ab Oceano ad nostrum limitem vix in anni spatio pervenisse
testatur prae nimia terrarum inmensitate. quo tempore erant in eo loco
manentes, ubi nunc Gepidas sedent, iuxta flumina Marisia, Miliare et
Gilpil et Grisia, qui omnes supra dictos excedet. erat namque illis tunc ab
oriente Gothus, ab occidente Marcomanus, a septentrione Hermundolus,
a meridie Histrum, qui et Danubius dicitur. hie ergo Vandalis commoranti-
bus bellum indictum est a Geberich rege Gothorum ad litus praedicti amnis
Marisiae, ubi nee diu certatum est ex aequali, sed mox ipse rex Vandalorum
JORDANES 83
mentioned together with the Carpi, a most warlike
kind of people.^
This account of the Vandal war of the Goths is based
on no historic fact, except as to the haphazard choice
of names. Dexippus, whom Jordanes quotes, knows
only of the defeat of the Vandals beyond the Danube
by Aurelianus, and Hilderith is recorded as Hildericus,
a Vandal king in 531 in Africa, when he is brought in
contact with the Asdingi; but Asdingi is an Arabic
word, and all the passages where the word occurs are
interpolations or forgeries.
Isidore's Chronicle refers to Childericus, the son of
Valentinian's captive daughter, who took up the reign
among the Vandals in 523.^ This account is given
in full in Victor's Chronicle, where it says that this
daughter of Valentinian had been captured by Giseric
and married to Ugneric' It is right here that we
have a series of interpolations in the De hello vandalico
of Procopius. Gelimer, the warlike Vandal, persuaded
his nation to depose Hilderich and put him on the throne;
then he seized Hilderich and Hoamer and his brother
Euagees, and imprisoned them.^ Some of the manu-
Visimar magna parte cum gentis suae prostemitur. Geberich vero Gothorum
ductor eximius superatis depraedatisque Vandalis ad propria loca, unde
exierat, remeavit. tunc perpauci Vandali, qui evasissent, coUecta inbellium
suorum manu, infortunata patria relinquentes Pannoniam sibi a Constantino
principe petierunt ibique per LX annos plus minus sedibus locatis impera-
torum decretis ut incolae famularunt. unde iam post longum ab Stiliconae
mag. mil. et ex consule atque patricio invitati Gallias occupaverunt, ubi
finitimos depraedantes non adeo fixas sedes habuerunt," XXII (113-115).
1 "Qui excipiens eos eorumque verbis accensus mox tricenta milia suorum
armata produxit ad bellum adhibitis sibi Taifalis et Astringis nonnuUis,
sed et Carporum trea milia, genus hominum ad bella nimis expeditum, qui
saepe fuere Romanis infesti; quos tamen post haec imperante Dioclitiano
et Maximiano Galerius Maximinus Caesar devicit et rei publicae Romanae
subegit," XVI (91).
2 MGH., Auctor. antiq., vol. XI, p. 475.
3 Ibid., p. 197.
* cOuTco 6ti reA,iiieo rfig TiYEiioviag ejtiXa66n8VO? 'IX8^o<'X'i^ ts» s68o|iOv
2x05 Bav8iX.o()v dplavra, xal 'Odjieoa jtal xov d8eX(p6v Euaveiiv tv tpvka-
xij Ia3cev,> I. 9. 9, J. Haury, Procopii Caesariensis opera omnia, Lipsiae
1905, vol. I, p. 352.
84 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
scripts write ^^"^Odfiepa tou ddeX<p6v xat Ebafirjv,''^ making
Hoamer Hilderich's brother. A little further down we
are told that Gelimer deprived Hoamer of his eyes.^
In the beginning of the account of Hilderich there is
the statement, inserted without rhyme or reason, that
Hoamer, Hilderich's nephew, was a good man, who was
in charge of the armies whenever the Vandals waged
war, and that the Vandals called him Achilles.^
Nothing can be clearer than that the interpolation
is taken out of the Gothic Antiquitas, where Homer,
Achilles, and the leadership in war were ascribed to
the Goths, through the misunderstanding of the
passage in Dio Chrysostom, as discussed before. The
story must have found its way into Procopius before
the ninth century, because Theophanes quotes it in
full,' if, indeed, it was not inserted in Procopius from
Theophanes; but Zonaras, who directly refers to
Procopius in quoting the story, has nothing to say
about Hoamer or his blindness or his being an Achilles.
Now, the Gothic Antiquitas distorted another pass-
age from Dio Chrysostom, by making the hat-wearing
Goths the noblest of the race, whom, by distorting the
Gr. robe: dpi<TToo(:, Jordanes called Tarahosteseos. It
appears, from a large number of interpolated passages,
that the Antiquitas also had the Arabic name for
these noblest of the race, namely, »^Jl ,r^ 'azlm-il-gah
"esteemed great, glorious, incomparable,"* which pro-
duced the Latinized Astingus, Asdingus "the glorious."
1 ^TeXivieQ 8e xovq jiQiatEiq djiodxTOug aitEJtE.n\|>e, xal tov re 'Odneoa
8|eTuq)X(oo'E tov xe 'IXSepixov xal Evayir)iv iv \iEii,o)n, qyuXaxfj e;toiT|aaTo,> I.
9. 14, ibid., p. 353.
* «'Odjieo Yovv dvetjjiog te cov avxcp xal dvfie dyadA? td reoXema eoTga-
TriYei ^qj' oBg civ OToareuoivto Bav5 X(H, ov Stj xai 'Axi-^a BavSiXcov
|>tdX.o\rv,> I. 9. 2, ibid., p. 351.
' Chronographia, in Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae, vol. XXXVIII,
p. 289 flf.
* So given in the Glossariwn latino-arabicum (Seybold), sub nobilis.
JORDANES 85
This term was originally applied to Hoamer, who
is mentioned as Asdingus in the Chronica of Victor
Tonnenensis under the year 531: "Geilimer apud
Africam regnum cum tyrannide sumit et Carthaginem
ingressus Hildericum regno privat et cum filiis custodiae
mancipat atque Oamer Asdingum multosque nobilium
perimit."^ Isidore of Seville not only knew this
Chronicle,^ but also quoted this in full in his Historia
Vandalorum. Here, however, there is no reference
whatsoever to Asdingus,^ because Isidore did not
find it in his text; hence it can only be an insertion
in the other Chronica^ for which we have no early
manuscripts.
Asdingus at first was taken in its glossarial sense of
** noble," and as such entered as an interpolation into
Joannes Lydus' De magistratihus, where Justinian is
made to exhibit Gelimer with his nobles, "whom the
barbarians call Astingi.'"^ Immediately after the
Vandals, Lydus refers to the Sygambri, after which
comes another interpolation, "whom those near the
Rhine and Rhone call Franci from their leader," a state-
ment of doubtful genuineness in Isidore, since it is first
recorded in the writings of the eighth century. This
Asdingus was also smuggled into Dracontius' Satis-
faction where the lines,
Ut qui facta ducum possem narrare meorum,
Unde mihi possent dona venire simul,
Praemia despicerem, taeitis tot regibus almis,
1 MGH., Auctor. antiq., vol. XI, p. 198, and again: "superans Gunthimer
et Gebamundum Asdingos regis fratres," ibid.
2 Ibid., p. 178.
» "Gilimer regnum cum tyrannide sumit multos nobilium Africae pro-
vinciae crudeliter extinguens. . . . Gunthimerum et Gebamundum regis
fratres primo proelio superatos interficit," ibid., p. 299.
*<naoeoTrioaTo xfl taaiktlq., TeXi\iEQa avxiv ovv xois IvSo^oig xov
Idvous, ovg exdXow aaxlyyovg oi 6a.o6(xeoi,> III. 55.
86 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
of a manuscript as published by Sirmond, were cor-
rected to the adopted reading, as genuine (!):
Ut qui facta ducum possem narrare meorum,
Nominis Asdingui bella triumphigera,
Unde mihi merces posset cum laude salutis
Munere regnantis magna venire simul,
Praemia despicerem, tacitis tot regibus almis.^
It is obvious that a later hand broke up one line into
three, in order to introduce the precious word Asdingus.
I shall at a future time show how this Asdingus of the
Gothic Antiquitas led in England to the clito and
apeling of the legal documents.
In Jordanes the Asdingi are taken to be a warlike
tribe somewhere to the north of Byzantium. This is
precisely the meaning ascribed to the "'Aartxyot in
two extracts, one ascribed to Petrus Patricius,^ the
other in the Ursiniana,^ both supposed to be sixth
century excerpts from Dio Cassius. As they are not
mentioned anywhere else, and as Jordanes speaks of
a "stirps Asdingorum quod inter eos eminet genusque
indicat bellicosissimum," there cannot be any doubt
that we have before us much later interpolations, or
corruptions, for some other word. That they are
most likely interpolations is to be assumed from the
reference in Cassiodorus' Variae to Hilderich as "inter
H asdingorum stirpem,"^ where the Asdingi are again,
as in Procopius, correlated with the Vandal Hilderich.
But the Variae are, to say the least, boldly interpolated,
if not entirely a forgery, as will be shown at another
time.
The Huns, according to the Antiquitas, had the fol-
lowing mythical origin: Filimer, the king of the Goths,
1 F. A. de Lorenzana, Dracontii Carmina, Romae 1790, p. 371.
2 Boissevain, op. cit., p. 253.
' Ibid., p. 254.
« IX. 1.
JORDANES 87
found among his people certain witches, whom he him-
self called in his native language Haliurunnae {halui-
runnae, aliorumnae). Suspecting them of something,
he drove them far away from the army and let them
wander in the desert. The impure spirits, roving
through the wilderness, saw them and had intercourse
with them, and they gave birth to that most ferocious
race that at first lived in the swamps. It was these,
the Huns, who came to the country of the Goths.
According to Priscus, they settled beyond the Maeotide
Swamp, given to hunting. A deer once led some Hun-
nish hunters across the swamp, and revealed to them
the lands beyond.^
The story about the deer leading the Huns across
the Maeotide Swamp is also told by Agathias, Cedrenus,
and by Procopius,^ and is apparently old, for it is,
1 "Post autem non longi temporis intervallo, ut refert Orosius, Hunnorum
gens omni ferocitate atrocior exarsit in Gothos. nam hos, ut refert antiquitas,
ita extitisse conperimus. Filimer rex Gothorum et Gadarici magni filius
qui post egressu Scandzae insulae iam quinto loco tenens principatum Geta-
rum, qui et terras Scythicas cum sua gente introisse superius a nobis dictum
est, repperit in populo suo quasdam magas mulieres, quas patrio sermone
Haliurunnas is ipse cognominat, easque habens suspectas de medio sui
proturbat longeque ab exercitu suo fugatas in solitudinem coegit errare.
quas spiritus inmundi per herimum vagantes dum vidissent et eorum
conplexibus in coitu miscuissent, genus hoc ferocissimum ediderunt, quae
fuit primum inter paludes, minutum tetrum atque exile quasi hominum
genus nee alia voce notum nisi quod humani sermonis imaginem adsignabat.
tali igitur Hunni stirpe creati Gothorum finibus advenerunt. quorum natio
saeva, ut Priscus istoricus refert, Meotida palude ulteriore ripa insidens,
venationi tantum nee alio labore experta, nisi quod, postquam crevisset
in populis, fraudibus et rapinis vicinarum gentium quiete conturbans.
huius ergo gentis, ut adsolet, venatores, dum in interioris Meotidae ripam
venationes inquirent, animadvertunt, quomodo ex inproviso cerva se illis
optulit ingressaque paludem nunc progrediens nunc subsistens index viae
se tribuit. quam secuti venatores paludem Meotidam, quem inpervium ut
pelagus aestimant, pedibus transierunt. mox quoque Scythica terra ignotis
apparuit, cerva disparuit. quod, credo, spiritus illi, unde progeniem trahunt,
ad Scytharum invidia id egerunt. illi vero, qui praeter Meotidam alium
mundum esse paenitus ignorabant, admiratione ducti terrae Scj/thicae et,
ut sunt sollertes, iter illud nullae ante aetati notissimum divinitus sibi
ostensum rati, ad suos redeunt, rei gestum edocent, Scythiam laudant
persuasaque gente sua via, qua cerva indice dedicerant, ad Scythiam prope-
rant, et quantoscumque prius in ingressu Scytharum habuerunt, litavere
victoriae, reliquos perdomitos subegerunt," Getica, XXIV (121-125).
2 MGH., Auctor. antiq., vol. Vi, p. 90.
88 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
with the history of the origin of the Huns, all taken
out of Herodotus. "Such is the account the Scythians
give of themselves and of the country above them,
but the Greeks who inhabit Pontus give the following
account: they say that Hercules, as he was driving
away the herds of Geryon, arrived in this country,
that was then a desert, and which the Scythians now
inhabit; that Geryon, fixing his abode outside the
Pontus, inhabited the island which the Greeks call
Erythia, situate near Gades, beyond the columns of
Hercules in the ocean. The ocean, they say, beginning
from the sun-rise, flows round the whole earth, but
they do not prove it in fact; that Hercules thence
came to the country now called Scythia, and as a
storm and frost overtook him, he drew his lion's skin
over him, and went to sleep, and in the meanwhile
his mares, which were feeding apart from his chariot,
vanished by some divine chance. They add that when
Hercules awoke, he sought for them, and that having
gone over the whole country, he at length came to
the land called Hylaea; there he found a monster
having two natures, half virgin, half viper, of which
the upper parts, from the buttocks, resembled a woman,
and the lower parts a serpent: when he saw he was
astonished, but asked her if she had anywhere seen
his strayed mares. She said that she herself had them,
and would not restore them to him before she had laid
with him: Hercules accordingly lay with her on these
terms. She, however, delayed giving back the mares,
out of a desire to enjoy the company of Hercules as
long as she could; he, however, was desirous of recover-
ing them and departing. At last, as she restored the
mares, she said, 'These mares that strayed hither I
preserved for you, and you have paid me salvage, for
I have three sons by you; tell me, therefore, what
must I do with them when they are grown up? whether
JORDANES 89
shall I establish them here, for I possess the rule over
this country, or shall I send them to you? ' She asked
this question, but he replied, they say, ' When you see
the children arrived at the age of men, you can not
err if you do this; whichever of them you see able
thus to bend this bow, and thus girding himself with
this girdle, make him an inhabitant of this country;
and whichever fails in these tasks which I enjoin, send
out of the country. If you do this, you will please
yourself and perform my injunctions.' Then, having
drawn out one of his bows, for Hercules carried two at
that time, and having shown her the belt, he gave
her both the bow and the belt, which had a golden cup
at the extremity of the clasp, and having given them,
he departed. But she, when the sons who were born
to her attained to the age of men, in the first place
gave them names: to the first, Agathyrsis; to the
second, Gelonus; and to the youngest. Scythes; and,
in the next place, remembering the orders, she did
what had been enjoined; and two of her sons, Agathyr-
sis and Gelonus, being unable to come up to the pro-
posed task, left the country, being expelled by their
mother; but the youngest of them. Scythes, having
accomplished it, remained there. From this Scythes,
son of Hercules, are descended those who have been
successively kings of the Scythians, and from the cup,
the Scythians even to this day wear cups from their
belts. This thing only the mother did for Scythes.
Such is the account given by the Greeks who inhabit
Pontus" (IV. 8-10). 1
Though Hercules is changed into an evil spirit, his
mares have become a deer, the siren is changed to a
witch, and the Scythians are identified with the Huns,
yet the story is essentially the same. That the story
has gone through an Arabic redaction is proved by the
' H. Gary, Herodotus, New York 1857, p. 239 ff.
90 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
name of the witches, which in the reading, haliurunnae,
haluirunnae, at once shows that the original form
was alivruna = alibruna or alviruna = albiruna, for
Arab, ^j^l albairuhun or ^j^' alyahruhun *'the
mandrake." AS. hurhruna "sorceress" has preserved
the Arabic form almost intact, while in OHGerman
alruna has preserved only the meaning "mandrake,"
which at once settles the matter.^ In Jordanes it has
the meaning of the witch who, like Circe, uses the
love-filter, made of the roots of the mandrake, in
order to entice men and take them to their doom.
Even so we have in Greek xcpxaia "the witches' plant,"
which is derived from Kipxrj "Circe." In OHGerman
we have helliruna "necromantia," as though it were
composed of hella "hell" and runa "mystery," and
similarly, in ASaxon, helirun, hellrun "sorcerer." In
O Norse we have olrun, apparently only in the sense of
"swanmaiden." The story of the poison-maid is not
specifically Greek, but originates in India^ and was
known to the Arabs in the eighth century.^ In any
case, aliurunna shows conclusively that we have here a
connection of the Circe story with the love-filter made
from the mandrake. We shall later meet these witches,
or magic women, in other forgeries, such as Tacitus'
Germania.
There is still another interesting Arabic word in
Jordanes. Speaking of the wake at Attila's death,
Jordanes says, '' stravam super tumulum eius quam
appellant ipsi ingenti commessatione concelebrant."*
The Germanic and Slavic languages have taken especial
liking to this word, and to the idea of "wake" which
' But there is here also a confusion with the arum. See my Africa and
the Discovery of America, Philadelphia 1920, vol. I, p. 225.
2 A. von Gutschmid, Die nabat&ische Landwirthschaft und ihre Geschwister,
in Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenldndischen Gesellschaft, vol. XV, p. 96.
3 Ibid., and vol. XI, p. 325.
* XLIX (258).
JORDANES 91
it connotates, and have adopted it in a variety of ways.
I shall, however, begin at the beginning and shall
show the successive development of the word.
The Lat. turpis is generally related to Sansk. trap-
"to be ashamed;" but the Pers. tarfenda "a lie, false-
hood, fraud" shows that the Talmudic ^^ tSrap
"to act shamefully," which is not recorded in Hebrew
or any early Semitic document, is a derivation from
the Persian, or rather. Old Persian, for in the Zenda-
vesta we have tarep "to steal." In the Talmud ^IS^pD
(arpu^ means "a place of shame, the market
place where idolatry is practiced." In Arabic ^-^J
tarifa means "he enjoyed a plentiful, easy, soft life,"
"-»y *atrafa "he persevered in transgression, wrong
doing, deviation from the right way," ^y iurfat
" plentif ulness, a life of ease, good food, a gift to a
friend," hence <-*j^ mutraf "one left to do what he
will, who behaves proudly, insolently." The latter
word is common in the Koran, and quotations from it
will show what precise meaning was ascribed to it by
the Arabs: "We have sent no warner unto any city,
but the inhabitants thereof who lived in affluence said,
Verily we believe not that with which ye are sent;
and those of Makkah also say, We abound in riches
and children more than ye, and we shall not be
punished hereafter," XXXIV. 33, 34; "thus we sent no
preacher before thee unto any city, but the inhabitants
thereof, who lived in affluence, said. Verily we found
our fathers practising a religion, and we tread in their
footsteps," XLIII. 22; "for they enjoyed the pleasures
of life before this, while on earth, and obstinately
persisted in a heinous wickedness," LVI. 44, 45; "and
92 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
when we resolved to destroy a city, we commanded
the inhabitants thereof, who live in affluence, to obey
our apostle, but they acted corruptly therein, where-
fore the sentence was justly pronounced against that
city, and we destroyed it with an utter destruction,"
XVII. 17; "until when we chastise such of them as
enjoy an affluence of fortune, by a severe punishment,
behold they cry aloud for help," XXIII. 65.
From these quotations it appears clearly that '*ij
turf at means "abundance of food, superabundance of
food, generally connected with heathenish manners,
food used at a feast," etc. Now, the reference to
strava (where the s is apparently due to the final s of
the preceding word, "defletus") shows that it means
"a feast at which a great deal is eaten, a heathenish
feast," Strava found its way from Jordanes into
Codex Vaticanus 1468 and Codex Casinensis 90, ^'stra-
bam tumulum sepulchrum,"^ where it is wrongly
glossed. It was used in the form treho in a tenth
century addition to the Leges Baiuwariorum, where it
has the meaning of "food used in heathenish sacrifice,"
"quisquis idolothita quod treho dicitur, vel obtulerit
aut manducaverit,"^ which is precisely the meaning
it has in Arabic and in Jordanes.
Arab, ^y t(i''rifa was felt as a foreign word and was
confused with v-^" tO'fiba "it became dusty," because
tarh "deceit, fraud" is recorded in Persian, by the
side of tarfenda. Hence we have not only "-^^
mutraf "a rich man," but also v-r^ mutrib "possessing
much wealth, rich, without want, having wealth like
dust," by the side of its very opposite, recorded in
the Koran, \j^ mutrabat "the suffering loss, be-
1 Goetz, vol. V.
2 MGH., Leges, vol. Ill, p. 487.
JORDANES 93
coming poor, so as to cleave to the dust, poverty,
neediness;" but even v-^ mutrib means "possessing
little wealth." Hence we have verbal derivatives
from ^J tariba, which mean both "he became rich"
and **he became poor," hence v«/ tarih "poor, needy,
in want."
The confusion of the two words in Arabic produced
the same confusion in the Germanic languages, but
the Gothic records only the forms from Arab. ^J
tariba. By the side of paurp "earth," which I have
already discussed in fuU,^ we have paurfts "need,
necessity," parbs "in need," parba "beggar," paurban
"to be in need." In OHGerman we have derb (brot),
recorded in the Hrabanian glosses as "azymae obla-
tiones," that is, as "sacrificial bread." Thus derb
came to mean "pure, solid," hence bidarbi "fine, useful,
advantageous," while unbidarbi is "useless, vain,
empty, superfluous." We have also, as in Arabic, the
opposite meaning, darben "to want," durfti "want,"
bidurfan "to need," darj "I need." There is no
necessity of discussing the ASaxon and ONorse words
of the same group. The philologist, who will be shocked
at the appearance of a preterite present verb among the
borrowings from the Arabic, will find his pet theory of
the antiquity of such verbs shattered by the study of
this borrowing in the Slavic languages. In OBulgarian
treba, treba means "sacrifice, prayer," tribe "to be
necessary," trebovati "to need," which show the same
relation, while derived from the Bavarian trebo, that we
find in the OHGerman words, derived directly from the
Arabic. At the same time, Jordanes' strava, no doubt
for traba, has produced the OBulg. strava "food,"
which is also found in the other Slavic languages.
1 See my CorUribtUions, vol. I, p. 190 ff.
94 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Speaking of Scandzia,'^ the island from which the
Germanic tribes came, Jordanes refers to Ptolemy as
his authority. He says that Ptolemy mentioned seven
nations in Scandzia. In reality only one manuscript
of Ptolemy, out of a large number, mentions seven
nations, the 0ivvoc being omitted from the rest.^ As
Ptolemy mentions a tribe of 0ivvoc in Sarmatia
(III. 5. 20), it is impossible for him to have made the
statement that they occupy the north of Thule. The
Finni are again mentioned in Tacitus' Germania; but
1 "In Scandza vero insula, unde nobis sermo est, licet multae et diversae
maneant nationes, septem tamen eorum nomina meminit Ptolemaeus.
apium ibi turba mellifica ob nimium frigore nusquam repperitur. in cuius
parte arctoa gens Adogit consistit, quae fertur in aestate media quadraginta
diebus et noctibus luces habere continuas, itemque brumali tempore eodem
dierum noctiumque numero luce clara nescire. ita alternato merore cum
gaudio benificio aliis damnoque impar est. et hoc quare? quia prolixioribus
diebus solem ad orientem per axis marginem vident redeuntem, brevioribus
vero non sic conspicitur apud illos, sed aliter, quia austrinis signis percurrit,
et quod nobis videtur sol ab imo surgere, illos per terrae marginem dicitur
circuire. aliae vero ibi sunt gentes Screrefennae, que frumentorum non
queritant victum, sed carnibus ferarum atque ovis avium vivunt; ubi
tanta paludibus fetura ponitur, ut et augmentum prestent generi et satie-
tatem ad cupiam genti. alia vero gens ibi moratur Suehans, quae velud
Thyringi equis utuntur eximiis. hi quoque sunt, qui in usibus Romanorum
sappherinas pelles commercio interveniente per alias innumeras gentes
transmittunt, famosi pellium decora nigridine. hi cum inopes vivunt, di-
tissime vestiuntur. sequitur deinde diversarum turba nationum, Theustes,
Vagoth, Bergio, Hallin, Liothida, quorum omnium sedes sub uno plani ac
fertilis, et propterea inibi aliarum gentium incursionibus infestantur. post
hos Ahelmil, Finnaithae, Fervir, Gauthigoth, acre hominum genus et at
bella prumtissimum. dehinc Mixi, Evagre, Otingis. hi omnes excisis
rupibus quasi castellis inhabitant ritu beluino. sunt et his exteriores Ostro-
gothae, Raumarici, Aeragnaricii, Finni mitissimi, Scandzae cultoribus
omnibus mitiores; nee non et pares eorum Vinoviloth; Suetidi, cogniti in
hac gente reliquis corpore eminentiores: quamvis et Dani, ex ipsorum
stirpe progressi, Herulos propriis sedibus expulerunt, qui inter omnes
Scandiae nationes nomen sibi ob nimia proceritate affectant praecipuum.
sunt quamquam et horum positura Grannii, Augandzi, Eunixi, Taetel,
Rugi, Arochi, Ranii. quibus non ante multos annos Roduulf rex fuit, qui
contempto proprio regno ad Theodorici Gothorum regis gremio convolavit
et, ut desiderabat, invenit. hae itaque gentes, Germanis corpore et animo
grandiores, pugnabant beluina saevitia," III (19-24).
* «KaX.eiTai bk l&icog xal auxi] 2xav8ia, xal xaxexoucJiv aurfji; rd jiev
Sirtwca XaSeivoi, td 8' dvato^ixd $au6vai xal $ioai0oi, [xa be. doxtixd
^woi,] td 8e fieai)M,6Qivd FoiJTai xal AaiJxitoyes, rd 6e jxeaa Aeu(bvoi,> II.
11. 16, C. MuUer, Clatidii Ptolemaei Geographia, Parisiis 1883, vol. Ii, p.
276.
JORDANES 95
that is a forgery, so we are left with no basis whatso-
ever for the race to which later the name of Finni was
attached.
Jordanes tells of the race of Adogit in the north,
where the sun does not set for forty days in the sum-
mer. In Procopius the same story refers to Thule,
where Pliny says long days are followed by long nights.^
These Adogit are very likely Ptolemy's 'AXoxcac^ who
are mentioned immediately before the people of
Scandia, if they are not the Attaci of Pliny, the Hyper-
boreans of Asia.^ But the Finni owe their origin to
a series of misunderstandings. The rare note in
Ptolemy was due to a desire to supply the lacking
northern region with a tribe. But the usual con-
ception of the extreme north was one of mist and
stench, so that even Jordanes speaks of the stagnant
ocean which surrounds it and quotes Strabo to the
effect that the sea exhales such mists and the soil is so
damp from the constant onrush of the sea, that the
cloud-covered sun hardly ever offers a whole serene
day to view.^ Apparently an Arabic note to Ptolemy
had the statement that in the north there is "putre-
faction, miasma," J^ 'afan, or "putrescent," J^
*afin, ^ 'afani. The interpolator, mistaking the
latter for the name of a tribe, wrote in the Codex Vati-
canus 191, ra dk dpxuxa 0ivvoc. What aided in
the adoption of this word by the Germanic and
Romance peoples was one of those strange coinci-
dences which so frequently have decided the fate of an
1 VI. 219, IV. 104.
2 IV. 90.
' "Mari tardo circumfluam, quod nee remis facile inpellentibus cedat,
nee ventorum flatibus intumescat, credo, quia remotae longius terrae causas
motibus negant: quippe illic latius quam usquam aequor extenditur. refert
autem Strabo Grecorum nobilis scriptor tantas illam exalare nebulas, made-
facta humo Oceani crebris excursibus, ut subtectus sol per ilium pene totum
fediorem, qui serenus est, diem negetur aspectui," II (12).
96 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Arabic word. In Jerome's Onomastica we have the
gloss, ''Abel luctus aut vapor siue uanitas."^ One of
the Bible glosses, given in Graff, wrote ''Abel lutus aut
vapor aut vang.^' The substitution of lutus for "luctus,"
aided by the following "vapor," made it certain that
vang, that is, vani, for "vanitas," also meant "swamp,"
the whole combination exactly fitting the description
of the extreme north. Thus there arose a tribe of
Finni, utterly unknown before. It is, again, probably
no accident that the Finnish name of Finland, Suomi,
should be derived from a Finnish word, suo "swamp."
To this I shall return later. But the Arabic word gave
'rise to Goth, fani, OHG. fenna "mud," ONorse fen
"quagmire." In its form vanga, fang a it gave Ital.
fango, Fr. fange, etc.
Procopius has an account of Scandinavia which does
not inspire any confidence in its genuineness. After
speaking of the expedition of Narses and Belisarius,
in which more than two thousand Heruli took part,
we get a long digression on the Heruli and Scandinavia.
The Heruli, according to this, originally lived beyond
the Danube, worshiping many gods and sacrificing
men. They never grew old or died from disease, be-
cause when death was impending they had themselves
killed by friends, after which they were burned on a
funeral pyre, the favored wife of each following him
into death. After conquering the Christian Lango-
bards, they settled down to live in peace, but their
king, Rodulphus, again attacked the Langobards.
After the death of Rodulphus, the Heruli settled in
Italy. Then they again crossed the Danube, when
Anastasius was king, and settled in Roman territory.
Justinian favored them, and they became friends of
the Romans. They killed their king, Ochos, and, being
unable to live without a king, they resolved to send to
*P. de Lagarde, Oruymastica sacra, Gottingae 1887.
JORDANES 97
Thule for a king. They crossed the desert, came to
the Danes, who did not trouble them, and set sail for
Thule. Then we get an account of the long days and
nights in Thule, which Procopius claims to know, not
from personal experience, but from the accounts of
those who had been there. There are thirteen nations
in Thule, of which only one, the Scrithifini, are savage.
They wear no clothes, drink no wine, plough no fields.
Their babies are fed on the marrow of animals. The
rest of the Thulitae are just like other people. They
worship Mars and kill their captives. To these
ThuHtae came the noblest of the Heruli to find some-
body of royal blood. They found one and started
back with him, but he died when they reached the
Danes. Another king was brought them from Thule,
by the name of Datius. But the Heruli, who came
from Singidonus, were afraid that Justinian would not
approve their choice. Indeed, Justinian sent them
another king, Suartuas by name, whom they accepted.^
The whole account is fishy. Leaving out of consider-
ation the mythical stories about the Heruli and Thul-
itae, the historical account of what happened in the
sixth century is not found recorded anywhere else,
except as part of the Antiquitas, as we shall soon see.
What is fatal to the whole story is the fact that it is
referred to once more in a passage in Procopius, which
is absent completely from one manuscript. Suartuas
is referred to in IV. 25, 11-13, beginning with the words,
"the army was in charge of Justin and Justinian, the
sons of Germanus, and Aratius and Suartuas, who
formerly had been the leader of the Heruli, whom
those who returned from Thule accepted, as I told in
my former writings," and ending with the words,
"as I shall later show in my work." That this is an
insertion is shown by the fact that Procopius did not
^ De bello gothico, II. 14, 15.
98 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
again refer to the incident, which he said he was
going to write about, and that the whole passage,
which halts the narrative, just as did the long digression
about the Heruli, is not found in the Codex Ambro-
sianus N. 135, that is, in the important Excerpta Con-
stantiniana, which do not go back to the one archetype
from which all the other manuscripts are derived.
Of course, these being merely extracts, it is difficult
to say whether or not the original from which, by order
of Constantine, the extracts were made, lacked the
passage. But it is certainly curious that the passage,
which sounds like a later insertion, possibly on the
basis of real facts, should alone contain a reference to
Suartuas, who is connected with the very doubtful
story of the search of a king by the Heruli in Scan-
dinavia.
In the Origo gentis Langohardoruw} the account
begins with a description of Scandinavia and the Odin
story. ^ Then we have a mythical series of kings.
After that we come to the war of the Langobards with
the Heruli, preceded by the curious statement that at
that time the Langobards lived for three years in the
fields of Feld. Then Tato fought with Rodolfus, the
king of the Heruli, and he killed him, and took his
standard and helmet, after which the Heruli had no
kingdom.^
Paulus Diaconus follows and expands the story in
the Origo. After telling of Scandinavia, he says that,
since he was talking of Germany, he must tell of the
wonderful thing that happens there. Then he tells of
the Seven Sleepers and passes over to the Scritobini
{Scriptofinni, Cristobini, etc.), who are their neighbors.
^ MGH., Scrip, rer. lang., p. 2.
* See my Contributions, vol. I, p. 137 f .
» "Et post ipsum regnavit Tato, filius Claffoni. Sederunt Langobardi in
campis Feld annos tres. Pugnavit Tato cum Rodolfo rege Herulorum, et
occidit eum, tulit vando ipsius et capsidem. Post eum Heruli regnum non
habuerunt," MGH., ibid., p. 3.
JORDANES 99
They live like beasts, eating the flesh of animals, from
whose skins they make their garments. They derive
their name from ''jumping" in the barbarous tongue,
for they hunt animals in the woods, by using a piece
of wood curved in the form of a bow.^ Then he tells
of the long nights and days. After another digression,
he tells the Odin myth, then says that the Langobards
were so called from their long beards.^ Following an
account of the early Langobard kings, we at last come
to Tato, the seventh king. After leaving Rugiland,
the Langobards lived in open fields, which in the
barbarous language are called feld {fled, etc.)^ Then
there arose a war between Tato and Rodulfus, the kings
of the Heruli. The cause of the war was this : Rodulfus*
brother had gone to Tato to talk about peace. Here
he was killed by Tato's daughter, who despised him
because of his small stature. This gave rise to the
war. The battle took place in the open field. Rodulfus
was killed, and the Langobard seized much booty,
among which was Rodulfus' banner and his helmet.
Since that time the Heruli had no kings.*
Jordanes, too, tells of the long days and nights in
Scandza, and immediately tells of the Screrefennae
(crefenne, rerefenne, etc.), who do not eat corn, but live
on meat and eggs. There is another race, the Suehans,
who, like the Thuringians, use fine horses. It is they
^ "Huic loco Scritobini — sic enim gens ilia nominatur — ^vicini sunt. Qui
etiam aestatis tempore nivibus non carent, nee aliud, utpote feris ipsis
ratione non dispares, quam crudis agrestium animantium carnibus vescun-
tur; de quorum etiam hirtis pellibus sibi indumenta peraptant. Hi a
saliendo iuxta linguam barbaram ethimologiam ducunt. Saltibus enim
utentes, arte quadam ligno incurvo ad arcus similitudinem feras adsecuntur,"
I. 5, ibid., p. 49 f.
2 "Certum tamen est, Langobardos ab intactae ferro barbae longitudine,
cum primis Winnili dicti fuerint, ita postmodum appellatos. Nam iuxta
illorum linguam 'lang' longam, 'bart' barbam significat," I. 9, ibid., p. 52 f.
' "Defuncto quoque Claflfone, Tato, eiusdem filius, Septimus ascendit ad
regnum. Egressi quoque Langobardi de Rugiland, habitaverunt in campis
patentibus, qui sermone barbarico 'feld' appellantur," I. 20, ibid., p. 57.
* Ibid.
100 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
who, through the intermediacy of other nations,
furnish the Romans with sappherine furs. They live
poorly, but dress themselves richly. Then there are
some races who live in beastly fashion in stone caves
as in castles. Then there are some meek Finns, and the
Suetidi, of huge size, and the Danes, who drove away
the Heruli, who consider themselves the chief race on
account of their nobility. Then come the Grannii
and other nations, over whom Roduulf, who abandoned
his country and fled to Theodoric, was king not many
years before.^
We can now follow up the whole Scandia myth.
First of all, it is obvious that the writer of the original
Antiquitas followed an Arabic prototype, in which the
tribes of Arabia were described. We find here several
Koranic reminiscences. The people who live in castle-
like caves are mentioned in the Koran as the Thamu-
dites, " Ye build yourselves castles on the plains thereof,
and cut out the mountains into houses," VII. 75.^
The gigantic Suetidi are like the gigantic Adites,^
and I have already shown how the Odin myth arose
from the idol Wadd of the Arabs.* For the rest, the
Antiquitas, from which all the writers on the origins of
the Germanic tribes drew, is a jumble of etymology
and fiction. In considering this part, it is necessary
1 See note on p. 94.
2 E. M. Wherry, A Comprehensive Commentary on the Qurdn, London
1882, vol. I, p. 23.
3 Ibid., p. 22.
* See my Contributions, vol. I, p. 140 f. My book was already finished,
when I discovered the positive confirmation of my guess in Mas'udI
and the other Arabic historians. They all tell of the Thamudites,
Adites, and Wadd in their histories, but the most amazfng account
is the one given by Mas'udI, from older sources. In chapter XXXV he
discusses the Langobards, and ends with a brief reference to Spain.
Then there follows a chapter on the Adites, a gigantic people, with
whom no one could compare iii strength. Then we get another chapter on
the Thamudites, who lived in houses cut into the rock. As we hear in the
next chapter so much of the Amalekites, "the Arabs of pure origin," it is
most likely that the noble Amali of Jordanes are nothing but the Amalekites
of the Arabs. I shall return to this subject in a future work.
JORDANES 101
to take into account the Ravenna Cosmographer,
although he generally quotes from Jordanes, because
he also hints at older sources.
Much has been written about the anonymous writer
of the Cosmography,^ but the one important con-
clusion which should have been drawn from it has
never been drawn, namely, that we have here the work
of a Goth of Ravenna of the ninth century, who got
his information about Gaul and the Germanic countries
from three Spanish Goths of the eighth century, who
wrote in the Arabico-Gothic language of the time.
Mommsen has studied the Italian map of the cos-
mographer, and has assumed that, because of the
writer's mention of Pentesilius and Marpesius as
philosophers, whereas they are Amazons mentioned
by Jordanes, the writer intended to practise fraud.^
But Mommsen is too severe. Ignorant the writer was,
but it cannot be proved that he practised wilful de-
ception. Indeed, Charles Miiller has shown that the
other doubtful names of Roman authors, such as
Castorius, LoUianus, and Arbition, are in reality names
of consuls, which the cosmographer had found in-
scribed on the Peutinger map, which he was copying.^
We have no case against him for the Roman and Greek
part of the Cosmographia, and we have reason to assume
that his specific statements about the Gothic authors
are absolutely genuine. But it can be shown that the
information of these Goths was based on an Arabic
source.
* See Le Ravennate et son expose cosmographique, by M. d'Avezac, publie
par Jean Gravier, Rouen 1888, pp. 31-117.
2 Berichte iiber die Verhandlungen der koniglich sdchsischen Gesellschaft
der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Philologisch-historische Classe, 1851, p. 115;
see d'Avezac, op. cit., p. 83.
' D'Avezac, op. cit., p. 84.
102 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
The Ravenna cosmographer twice refers to Britain
as micosmin} As no Greek philosopher has any such
statement in regard to Britain, while the Latin writers
from Caesar on are full of it, the reading ''Gothorum
philosophi," instead of ''Graecorum philosophi," is
unquestionably the correct one. Finder and Parthey
guessed that micosmin is Gr. ^ficxoafxeov, on the ground
that Solinus says, "nisi Britannia insula non qualibet
amplitudine nomen pene orbis alterius mereretur," and
Pliny (IV. 13. 27), "Scandinavia insula alter orbis
terrarum appellatur." But ^ifiubayLiov means "half
of the world," and is nowhere used in this sense.
Vergil {Ed. I. 66) calls the Britons "penitus toto
divisos orbe," and Isidore says, "Brittania Oceani
insula interfuso mari toto orbe divisa." It is, therefore,
clear that the chief characteristic of Britain, as noticed
by the writers, is that it is separated from the rest of
the world. This is precisely the meaning of micosmin
in Arabic. Alcala has ,v-~i* muqassimun "medidor
del mundo, the divider of the world," and we have also
fj-*** maqsUmun "divided,a portion, share, " c'-^migsamiin
**a part of a thing divided," (— ^ maqsimun "a place of
division," all from the good Semitic verb r^ qasama
"he divided;" that is, micosmin means in the Ravenna
geographer "divided from the rest, toto orbe divisa."
The resemblance to Gr. x6afjto(: is not accidental, for the
Greek word is derived from the same Semitic stem.
Indeed, Leo Meyer^ has already shown that the origi-
nal meaning of Gr. xoafxeeiv is "to divide."
The Sirdifeni and Rerefeni are, according to Aithana-
rit, the philosopher of the Goths, inhabitants of the
' "Quam insulam, ut diximus, quidam Graecorum (Gothorum) philosophi
quasi micosmin appellaverunt," M. Finder and G. Parthey, Ravennatis
Anonymi Cosmographia, Berolini 1860, p. 423; "magna insula Brittania
reiacet, quam Graecorum philosophi quasi micosmin appellant," ibid., p. 9.
^Handbuch der griechischen Etymologic, Leipzig 1901, vol. II, p. 294.
JORDANES 103
mountains near Scythia, and both their men and women
live by hunting and are ignorant of wine and food.
Their country is said to be very cold.^ The Ravenna
eosmographer obviously followed his Gothic authority,
Aithanarit, who himself was confused by the various
spellings of the word, and so created the Rerefeni
by the side of the Scridofinni. The fuller account of
the Scridofinni in Paulus Diaconus, in conjunction
with the etymology of the word, is due to an outside
source, for Paulus Diaconus calls it a "barbarous"
word. Now there cannot be any doubt about the
ONorse skrida. It is certainly related to Scridofinni,
as the explanation in Paulus shows. If we now take
all the scrid- words in the Germanic languages, we not
only find a great variety of meanings, but also an
irregular development. The word is totally lacking in
Gothic. It occurs in the Keronian glosses as piscrit,
the translation of "elabe (evadere, efugire)," while
"conlabuntur" is translated by cascritan; hence scrit-
has here distinctly the meaning "to run, flee." We also
have scriti, scritamal "passus." In the ASaxon vocabu-
laries we have scrid, scrida "a chariot," scridan "to go,
to go hither and thither, wander, glide," scride "a
course." It can easily be shown how the gloss, ''scrid
basterna, carracutium, vehiculum," arose. Saxo
Grammaticus had some difficulty in explaining the
passage in Paulus, for he explained it as "quae gens
inusitatis assueta vehiculis, montium inaccessa ve-
nationis ardore sectatur, locorumque complacitas sedes
dispendio lubricae fiexionis assequitur; neque enim
ulla adeo rupes prominet, quin ad ejus fastigium callida
cursus ambage perveniat; primo siquidem vallium
' "Item iuxta ipsam Scythiam litus Oceanum ponitur patria quae dicitur
Rerefenorum et Sirdifenorum. cuius patriae homines ut ait Aithanarit
Gothorum philosophus rupes montium inhabitant, et per venationes tam
viri quamque mulieres vivere, cibo vel vino ignari existentes in omnibus
dicuntur. quae patria super omnes frigida esse ascribitur," Pinder and
Parthey, op. cit., p. 201.
104 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
profunda relinquens, scopulorum radices tortuosa gi-
ratione perlabitur, sicque meatum crebrae declinationis
obliquitate perflectit, donee per sinuosos callium anfrac-
tus destinatum loci cacumen exuperet."^ This elabo-
rate explanation of the ski reduces itself to this — that
the runner combined a gliding with a leaping motion,
in his attempt to reach his prey. The earlier writers
were just as much puzzled by the etymology in Paulus
or his source, as was Saxo Grammaticus at a later
time. One thing was certain to them, and that was
that scrid in Scridofinni referred to some kind of
"vehicle," on which one could easily pass on, glide,
or jump. In the same way developed the O Norse
words, skridr **a creeping or sliding motion," scridna
**to slip, slide," skrida "a landslip, hillside," skrida
"to creep, crawl, glide, to slide in snow-shoes." An
OHGerman gloss to Prudentius, "lignoque plantas
inserit divaricatis cruribus" {Peristephanon, V. 251 f.),
glosses "divaricatis" by screitan, which shows that
the glossator confused the torture with the motion of
the ski-runner, because here, too, it speaks of the foot
being placed in a piece of wood ; hence he used a deriva-
tive of scrit to express the fact. Thus there evolved
in OHGerman the idea of a striding motion.
In the Keronian glosses we find "delabunt" glossed
in one manuscript by cascritant, in others by kistritant.
This at once establishes the relation of scrit- and
strit-, due to a mere error of reading. The ASaxon,
too, has in the oldest vocabularies stride "stride, pace"
and stridit "varicat." But in OHGerman this root
developed the meaning "strife." The origin of this
* Zeuss, Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstdrrime, Munchen 1837, p. 684 f.
JORDANES 105
word is highly interesting. In the Keronian glosses
we have
Passus c scriti
statium stucki
and
Stadium stukhi
passus CXXV scritamal edho stapho.
The Latin lemma is common enough in the mediaeval
vocabularies, but we have also "ad stadium ad locum
certaminis.'" Now an OHGerman gloss to Boethius,
of the tenth century, translates "stadium" by strit-
laufo and "cursor" by stritlauft, which is quite correct,
since we see from the Keronian gloss that "stadium"
was confused with "passus," the numeral CXXV not
having been observed by the German glossator.
To him "stadium" was a running-place of passi.
Indeed, the St. Gall MS. 912 has '' stadiodromus
stadiorum cursus." No wonder, then, that the Ger-
man St. Gall writer should have created the word
stritlauft. For "passi" we had in the Keronian gloss
scriti — here we have strit. "Stadium," however, also
means "locus contentionis," hence strit also came to
mean "contention, quarrel, obstinacy, altercation,"
etc. ONorse strid "woe, grief, affliction, strife, com-
bat," is a borrowing from the OHGerman.
We have still other corruptions. Saxo Grammaticus
calls the Finni Scricfinni. Scric- and stric- have also
survived as roots for "quick motion." The Hrab-
anian glosses have "exilit scrichit,'^ which is identical
with Paulus' etymology for Scritohini. The Hrabanian
word is retained in OHG. scrican "to jump suddenly,
shy," scric "leap," houscrich "locust," hence Ger.
schrecken "to frighten." We have also struchon
"labare, elabi, mere, efugere," and strecchan "ire,
meare." In the latter case there is a confusion with
stric "linen," with which it has nothing to do. In
106 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
ONorse skrikan "slipping, stumbling" takes the place
of OHG. struchon, while in ASaxon we have strlcon
"to move, go."
We have the Greek verbs axaipoj "I jump," axcprdo)
"I leap, dance," with numerous derivatives from the
root, such as (Txcptov:6drj<;, an epithet of the Satyr.
The root is not found in the other Indo-European
languages and is of Semitic origin, for here we have the
root sard-, Sard- in a sense akin to the Greek. We have
Heb. '^^t'^ ^arld "one who has run away," Syr. »^
srad "he trembled, feared," hence ifioa surddd
"terror, fright." But it is only the Arab, ^j^
§arada "he took fright, shied, became refractory, broke
loose and went hither and thither by reason of his
sprightliness," which could have produced the Ger-
manic group, derived from Scritofinni. We have
Arab, -^'y^ §irdd "a taking fright, shying and fleeing,
running away at random," -^.^^ Sarid "fleeing, running
away," ^-^^ sdrid "shying, fleeing, savage." The
etymology suggested by Paulus Diaconus makes it
clear that he quoted, from his source, an Arabic ety-
mology for Scritofinni, We have already seen that
from this etymology a whole series of divergent roots
were started in the Germanic languages, and it is
likely that a much larger number of such roots must
ultimately be derived from it.
There arises somewhat late in OH German a series
of words with which to designate a satyrlike being.
We have for "larua, ephialtes, faunus,"^ scrat, scrato,
scrazzo, screzzo,^ where the variation in the final
consonant shows a wavering in the borrowed form.
1 Steinmeyer and Sievera, II. 469, 472, 518, 534, 550, 558, 678, III. 317,
420, IV. 204, 209, etc.
» Ibid., III. 220, 244, 278, IV. 243.
JORDANES 107
But we have also slathe "larva,"^ sletton "faunos, "^
slezo "incubus,"^ which show a new development,
sclit, solid, slit, slid, by the side of scrid, etc., and which
must have had an original meaning of a motion de-
scribed by Paulus Diaconus in connection with the
Scritofinni. Indeed, we have AS. slide '*a slip, fall,"
slidan **to slide," which is recorded in OHGerman as
sclit and sclifh "lapsus."^ Sclit has not survived in
OHGerman, except in slito, sliddo "sled;" and in a
gloss, "trahas a trahendo, id slito curuata sine rota,"^
we get precisely the explanation by Paulus Diaconus,
"saltibus enim utentes, arte quadam ligno incurvo
ad arcus similitudinem feras adsecuntur," as mis-
understood by Saxo Grammaticus.^ Sclifh leads
similarly to OHG. slifan "to fall, glide,' slip," and we
also get a form sleihha "sleigh," hence sllhan "to slip,
glide," etc. It is not necessary for me to follow out
this extremely rich group from Scritofinni in the other
languages. It is plain, from what has already been
shown, that the mysterious Scritofinni are responsible
for a large number of words in the Germanic languages.
One can see why, in the doubtful passage in Procopius,
the Heruli are made to go to Scandinavia for a king.
Everything glorious which was ascribed to the Germanic
races, according to the original Antiquitas, as recorded
in its various derivative sources, had its origin in Scandi-
navia, whence came the Langobards. The Heruli
fought with the Langobards, hence it was necessary
to give them an etymology. We have for them, in
Jordanes, not one, but two etymologies, one of them
1 Ibid., IV. 178.
2 Ibid., II. 580.
" Ibid., III. 489, 501.
* Ibid., I. 204.
B Ibid., IV. 271.
« See p. 103 f.
^ "Delabunt cascritant, kistritant, zasliifant," SS., I. 110.
108 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
derived from the Greek/ the other from the Latin.
Jordanes says that the Danes drove out of their own
seats the Heruli, who of all the nations of Scandia had
the highest name on account of their nobility.'^ We
see at once whence comes this nobility. The Liber
glossarum^ has a large number of derivatives from
Lat. herus, such as erile "filius dominicus," eriles lectos
"dominorum lectus," eruli "domini," whence "eruli
domini" found its way into a large number of vocabu-
laries. The etymology for Heruli was, therefore,
unavoidable: they are called so from their nobility.
This Latin etymology found its way into many Ger-
manic languages. The Corpus Glossary has eruli still
on the Latin side, but later we get AS. eorl **man,
brave man, hero," and ultimately, "nobleman, lord."
In OSaxon erl has the meaning **man, male, boy," and
in ONorse jarl is * 'gentleman."
Paulus Diaconus says that the Heruli met the
Langobards in battle in the open fields.^ There would
be nothing peculiar about this statement, were it not
that the Langobards are distinctly connected with the
open fields. We have already seen that the Langobards,
according to the Origo and Paulus, lived for three years
in the open fields, called in the foreign language, feld.
Campus Asfeld (Feld) is again mentioned in Paulus as
a Langobard place. ^ There is no reason why the
Langobards should be mentioned as living in the
open fields. Apparently there is a mistake somewhere.
Now, Procopius says that Justinian settled the Lango-
bards in Pannonia and gave them there the city of
Noricum, the fortified places of Pannonia, and many
1 "Nam praedicta gens, Ablavio istorico referente, iuxta Meotida palude
inhabitans in locis stagnantibus, quas Greci ele vocant, Eluri nominati
sunt," XXIII (117.)
2 III (23).
3 Goetz, vol. V, p. 194.
* "Conveniunt utrorumque in campis patentibus acies," I. 20.
" I. 24.
JORDANES 109
open places.^ The same statement is made in regard
to the Heruli, who pillaged the open places of Thrace.^
In both cases we have the statement that the Lango-
bards and Heruli occupied the fields as well as the
fortified places. Feld is, therefore, a translation of
Gr. xo)piov. In the Graeco-Latin vocabularies x<opiov
is translated by "ager, fundus, praedium, villa."
Feld is not originally a Germanic word, because it is
absent from Gothic. We can ascertain its origin by
studying its appearance in ASaxon. The Corpus
Glossary has "scamma /eZd," "saltuum/eZ^/ia," "stabu-
IvLia. falaed,'' ' 'hoieWum. falud.'' To this must be added
AS. fold, folde "earth, turf," which, however, does not
appear until a later time. **Scamma/eZd" shows that
the word got into ASaxon only from Paulus Diaconus
or the Origo, since scamma means "a field in which
athletes wrestle,"^ from Gr. erxdnro) "I dig," because
such a ground was generally lower than the surrounding
land. It is precisely in this sense that we found it in
the conflict between the Heruli and the Langobards,
who fought in open fields. Such a low place, surrounded
by a natural fence, was particularly fitted for a cattle
fold, hence feltha is glossed by "saltuum," that is,
* 'woods for cattle," whence we at once come to falud,
falaed, fold "a fold." We have OPort. faldra ''plains"
and OFr. falde "sheep pasture," which show how
"field" and "pasture" are here related. In OH German
feld "campus" is not often recorded, but OSax. faled
"fold" adds to the proof that the original form of the
ASaxon word from which feld, fold are derived, was
nearer to falaed, which is recorded for "fold." This
^ cAavYoSttoSag 5e 6acaA,eu5 'louonviavog IScogridaTo NcoQistcBv re Jt6-
Xei xal Toi5 ejd Ilawoviag 6xvQ&\iacA re xal aX^oig xfOQioig nolXoiq jcal
Xormaci nEyaXoig dvav,* De bello gothico, III. 33. 10.
* <Kal SXXa. fievToi Aaxiag xviQia Sortog 6amXe(os "EoovXoi toxov a.\i(fi
nohv 2iYYi8avcov, o5 8fi iSowrai vuv, 'IVMQOvg xe xal rd im, B09.XT15 xm-
Qia xaxadeovxeg xal XTii^o^evoi Ix xoij ini n:^Eioxov,> III. 33. 13.
' "Locus ubi anthletae luctantur," Goetz, vol. V, p. 388, etc.
110 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
is from Arab. ^^ falahat, pi. oUij falahat "field,
land furrowed for cultivation, campus patens." We
have, therefore, in the Origo and in Paulus Diaconus,
an Arabic gloss to Gr. ;fw/)(;'ov, as given, no doubt, in
the original Antiquitas.
We have still another Arabic word in the passage
about Scandia. Jordanes says that the Suehans
(Sueans, Suethans) have excellent horses and transmit
sapphirine furs, famous for their blackness, through
other nations to the Romans. This account, if nothing
else, proves that Jordanes' Getica is a forgery, for
sappherinus is not derived from Lat. sapphirus, but
from Arab. >^' ^a^far, fem. '>>* ^afrd'u "black,
applied to a camel, as in the Koran, LXXVII. 33,
because a black camel always has an intermixture of
yellow." The reference is to beaver or sable furs, which
the Arabic geographers specifically mention as coming
from the country of the Isu, that is, Suiones. Abti
Hamid says: "The merchants go from Bui gar to a
country of the infidels, called Isti, whence the beaver
comes. They takejbo it swords with unpolished blades
which they buy at Adherbeigan. They buy them there
four for one dinar. These are frequently moistened with
water, so that they will make a metallic sound when
they are suspended from a string and are struck. That
is what they want. For these blades they buy beavers.
The people of Isu go with these swords to a country
near to darkness, which lies near the Dark Sea
(ij«.VI j>^\ 'albahr 'alaswad) and sell these swords for
sable furs. These take the blades and throw them into
the Dark Sea. Then Allah lets a fish come out for
them."^ It is not possible to locate these Arabic
' G. Jacob, Welche Handelsartikel bezogen die Araber des Mittelalters aus
den nordischrbaltischen Ldnderni, Berlin 1891, p. 76 f.
JORDANES 111
Isu, but they are most likely the modern Finns. If
so, Isu must be the root of the modern Finnish word
for ''Finland," Suomi, which is generally connected
with Fin. suo "swamp," even as we have seen, in-
dependently of this, that the Finns have been connected
with the country of swamps by all the writers on
Scandia.
I shall now show that the division of the Goths into
Ostrogoths and Visigoths, as told in Jordanes, was
unknown before the existence of the Gothic Antiquitas,
and that all works before the eighth century, where
there is mention of them, have been corrected in keeping
with the Antiquitas.
Jordanes quotes Ablabius, that is, the Antiquitas,
to the effect that the Goths lived in Scythia, where
the eastern tribes had a king called Ostrogotha, whence
the Ostrogothae were so called, or because they were the
eastern people, while the others were called Vesegothae,
that is, the western.^ Then Ostrogotha crossed the
Danube and devastated Moesia and Thrace, in the
days when King Philip ruled over the Romans.^
This valiant King Ostrogotha ruled over both Ostro-
goths and Visigoths and was victorious over the
Gepidae.^ The Ostrogoths separated from the Visi-
goths in the days of King Hermanric.^ While Bal-
amber, the king of the Huns, waged war on the Ostro-
goths, the Visigoths, that is, the western settlers, sent
a delegation to Valens, asking for permission to settle
in Thrace or Moesia. Valens hoped to create a bul-
wark against the northern barbarians by admitting
* "Ablabius enim storicus refert, quia ibi super limbum Ponti, ubi eos
diximus in Scythia commanere, ibi pars eorum, qui orientali plaga tenebat,
eisque praeerat Ostrogotha, utrum ab ipsius nomine, an a loco, id est ori-
entales, dicti sunt Ostrogothae, residui vero Vesegothae, id est a parte
occidua," XIV (82).
» XVI (89 ff.)
» XVII (97 ff.)
* XXIV (130).
112 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
the Visigoths into Roman territory. It was then that
the Visigoths became Arians and also persuaded the
Ostrogoths and Gepidae to become Arians.^ After
shuttlecocking the Ostrogoths and Visigoths over
Europe, Jordanes returns once more to the history
of their division,^ and at last settles the Visigoths
in Spain. ^
We have in the story of Ostrogotha obviously a
mythical account of the eponymous hero of the Ostro-
goths, hence the name Ostrogoths must precede the
name of the king. Apparently the Antiquitas tried to
explain the later division of the Goths into those who
seized the reign in Rome and those who seized it in
Spain. This led back to the division of the Goths
between Fritigern and Athanaric, where Paulus Dia-
conus stopped.* But when we turn to any earlier
writer, we are perplexed to find that not a single his-
torical writer, except Procopius, has anything to say
about Visigoths, and not even Procopius knows of the
name Ostrogoths. He opposes the Goths to the Visi-
goths, and distinguishes between the Goths of Italy
and Alaric's Obcaiyordoc who settled in Spain, ^ which is
in keeping with Jordanes, who makes Alaric the first
Visigoth.
1 XXV (131 flf.)
» XLVIII (246 fl.)
» XLVIII (251).
* "Exigit nunc locus dicere, quam ob causam Gothorum alii Ostrogothae,
alii vero Wisegothae sint dicti, oportunumque est aliquantulum ad superiora
tempora regredi, quatenus horum ratio vocabulorum possit exponi. tem-
poribus Valentiniani superioris Augusti cum intra Traciae fines Gothorum
tunc populi communiter habitarent, bifarie per Alaricum ac Fridigernum
divisi decreverunt, ut utramque rempublicam id est Fridigernus cum suis
Orientalem, Alaricus vero cum suo exercitu Occidentalem opprimeret. hi
ergo, qui cum PYidigerno in Orientali remanserant parte, lingua patria ab
Oriente Ostrogothae id est orientales Gothi sunt dicti; isti vero, qui occiduas
petierant regiones, ab Occidente Wisigothae id est occidentales sunt appel-
lati," Historic romana, XV. 6.
' «Kal an' axrcov Foxdoi re xai OmoiYOxdoi . . . iyyv&yxet; I? |\ryY^-
veiav ln;EjAiYWVTo,» De hello gothico, I. 12. 49.
JORDANES 113
The story of the Visigoths in Procopius is preceded
by the statement that the Gothic nations consist of
the Goths, Vandals, Visigoths and Gepidae, and they
were anciently called Sauromati and Blackcoats.
They are also called Getae.^ Speaking of the Tetrax-
ite Goths, Procopius repeats this account, and ends
with the absurd statement that they were also called
something else.^ The editor suggests that the whole
latter passage was written in the margin and later
incorporated in the text, hence he places it in parenthe-
ses. Yes, but the two passages cannot possibly be
by Procopius, because he could not have committed
the same kind of blunder, based on a misunderstand-
ing of the same Bopoad£Virtx6(: of Dio Chrysostom, as
was perpetrated by the interpolator of Procopius in
connection with Hoamer, the Achilles of the Vandals.
What Dio Chrysostom says is this: "Callistratos,
a stately old Borysthenite, was dressed in black, as
is the custom with the Borysthenitae, even as many
Blackcoat Scythians are dressed in black, whence, I
suppose, they are so called by the Greeks."^ The
forger had already identified the Borysthenitae with
Goths, hence he quite naturally here identified them
with the Blackcoat Scythians or Sauromatians, espe-
' «roT^ixa efrvT} nolXa \ikv xai oXKa JtQoreoov xz fjv xal xawv ecrci, xa.
6e 8fi rtdvTCDv jieYiard te xal d^ioA-OYCOTaxa Foxdoi te elai xal Bav6i^oi vjoa
OuicriYOT^oi xal rT|n;ai8E5' Jtd^ai nevroi 2auoondTca xal MeXdYx^aivoi obvo-
nd^ovTO* eioi fie ot xod FeTixd e^Ti xavx' exdiouv, » De hello vandalico, I. 2.
2.
* cIIoXX,^ 8^ auTwv aKodev Foxdoi xe xal Ouiaivoxdoi xal Bav8iXoi xal
tA SXKa Foxdixa yiyrt\ Iviutavxa iSquyxo* ot §ti xal Sxv^ai sv xoig avto xqo-
V015 EJtexaXovvxo, ejieI jtdvxa xd e^vt), ojieq xd exeivo %(OQia eI^ov, 2xu^ixd
HEv hd xoivfjs 6vo}AdtExai, evioi 8^ avxiov DavQoiidxai 9\ MEXdyx^aivoi, 1\
akXo XI insHaXovyxOf-^ De bello gothico, IV. 5. 5-6.
^«naoE^o>oxo 8e ndxaigav lAEvd^Tiv xcbv bctixcov xal dvaivQiSag el-
xe xal XT)v aXKriv oxoXtiv Sxirfrixriv, fivcofl'Ev 6e xcov Sfioov ludtwrv ^ixq6v
\iiXav, X,EJix6v, m<yjtE(? Elto^amv 01 BooucrfrEvtxai' XQWvxai 8^ xal xfj SXk-a
eodfjxi jiEXaAvti d)g x6 jto^u drto y^vovc; xivog 2xijO^(ov xcov MfiXaYX^ciivtov,
&g i:\x6i 8o«ouca, xaxd xouxo &vo\iaa&evKov vnb xcov 'EXXrivcov,* op. cit.,
p. 3.
114 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
cially since Dio Chrysostom a few lines further down
speaks of the wars of the Borysthenitae with the
Sauromatians.
It is quite impossible for Procopius to have talked
such nonsense, and all the references to Oucmyordoc
and rdrdoi TsTpa^Tzou found in his works are bold
interpolations or rifacimenti, made after the invasion
of the Arabs. Procopius insists on distinguishing be-
tween the Visigoths, who followed Alaric, and the rest,
who are simply called Goths. ^ Among the latter he
wrongly places the Alani.^ This mistake is also
found in Jordanes, who calls himself a descendant of
the Alani.^ That the original Procopius did not have
any reference to Visigoths is proved by Zonaras, who,
as we have seen, leans on Procopius, and yet knows only
of Alaric as the leader of the Goths and Vandals.*
Similarly, Georgius Cedrenus speaks of Alaric, the
Goth, the leader of the Vandals,^ while in the Excerpts
of Olympiodorus he is called the phylarch of the
Goths. ^ The Latin writers know nothing of Ostro-
goths and Visigoths, and it is fatal to refer Jordanes
for his history to Cassiodorus, because in his Chronica
only the word Gothi occurs, Alaric being specifically
mentioned as the king of the Goths. ^ The same is
true of the chronicles of Hydatius, Marcellinus, Victor
1 De hello vandalico, I. 2. 2.
» Ibid., I. 3. 1 and 5. 21.
» L (265).
* «'A^A,doixov Tov oQxorvxa xov xtbv Ovav8iiX(ov ^ Tox^ayv eOvoug,» XIII.
21. ^
*«nao£^T|(pOii be xal f| 'Ptojiti vitb 'AXaQixou xov rdrdou, xov x&v
Ovav6iA.a)v e5dQxovT05,» Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae, vol.
XXXIII, p. 588.
"^'AX.doixo? o x&y FoTfrcov q)uA.aoxo?,» ibid., vol. XIII, p. 448.
^ "Gothi Halarico et Radagaiso regibus ingrediuntur Italiam," a. 400;
"Roma a Gothis Halarico duce capta est, ubi clementer usi victoria sunt,"
a. 410; "Gothi rege Ataulpho Gallias intraverunt," a. 412; "gens Vanda-
lorum a Gothis exclusa de Hispaniis ad Africam transit," a. 427, etc., in
MGH., Auctor. antiq., vol. XI, p. 154 S.
JORDANES 115
Tonnensis, Johannes Biclarensis.^ In the fragment of
the Chronica Caesaraugustana we read, under a. 490,
*' Theudericus Ostrogotthorum rex a Thracia et Pannonia
Italiam venit."^ But as Gotthi is used in every other
case, and the item for the year 490 is absent from
MS. E, this reference is valueless, since it is certainly
interpolated. This very item occurs in the chronicle
of Marius Aventicensis as *'his consulibus ingressus
est Theudoricus rex Gothorum in Italia ponte Isonti."^
In this chronicle Gothi is used indiscriminately for Goths
in Italy and Spain.
In Isidore's History of the Goths, which, as we have
already seen, is greatly interpolated, there is no dis-
tinction made between eastern and western Goths,
but Ostrogothi has slipped into one place. Under era
545 we have two varying redactions, one reading
**Theodericus iunior dum iam pridem, a Thracia et
Pannonia veniens, fugato Arnulfo rege Ostro gothorum,
regnasset in Italia annis X et octo, rursus extincto
Gisaleico rege Gothorum," the other, "Theudericus
iunior, cum iam dudum consul et rex a Zenone im-
peratore Romae ereatus fuisset peremptoque Odoacar
rege Ostro gothorum atque devicto fratre eius Onoulfo
et trans confinia Danuvii effugato XVIII annis Italia
%'ictor regnasset, rursus extincto Gisaleico rege Gotho-
rum." It is not a mere coincidence that Ostrogothus
should be used here precisely in the same place as in
the interpolated item in the Chronica Caesaraugustana,
and only there. Obviously both sources were corrected
from the same later interpolation. It is also interesting
to note that one MS. of Isidore goes even further, and
here, and only here, changes "Gisaleico rege Gothorum^*
to "rege Guisigothorum Geselico."^ In Isidore's
1 Ibid.
2 Ibid., p. 222.
' Ibid., p. 233.
* Ibid., p. 283.
116 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Chronica we have "In Italia quoque Totila Ostrogo-
thorum rex a Narse Romano patricio superatur;"^
but this item is in only five MSS. out of a vast number,
and, besides, a few lines farther down Totila is men-
tioned only as "rex Gothorum,'^ even as he is given in
Victor, on whom the first passage is based. Again,
in the Anonymus Valesianus, of which the earliest
MS. is of the ninth century, Wisigothae is mentioned
in precisely the same relation to Theoderic.'^ It is,
therefore, clear that all the references to Visigoths and
Ostrogoths go back to a Life of Theoderic, such as is
given in the Anonymus Valesianus. Since Theoderic
had been king both in Italy and Spain, there was need
of the distinction, which, however, was not made before
the eighth century.
In the poets, Ostrogothus occurs in a few cases. It
is found in a verse ascribed to Martinus Dumiensis,'
because there is a reference to such a poem in Gregory
of Tours. ^ One of the manuscripts reads Histrogothus
instead of Ostrogothus. But as this reference to the
verses and to Martinus is absent from MSS. B and C of
Gregory, it is certainly interpolated and is of no value
for the determination of the genuineness of the poem.
We have in Claudian's poem In Eutropium (XX),
line 153, the words, ^^Ostrogothis colitur mixtisque
Gruthungis Phryx ager." Several editors have already
expressed their perplexity at finding Ostrogoths in
Phrygia, a totally unknown and unwarranted assump-
tion. This passage was obviously corrected in the light
1 Ibid., p. 476.
2 "Tunc venerunt Wisigothae in adiutorium Theoderici," ibid., vol. IX,
p. 316; "nam uxorem habuit ante regnum, de qua susceperat filias: unam
dedit nomine Areaagni Alarico regi Wisigotharum in Gallias," ibid., p. 322.
3 MGH., Auctor. antiq., vol. VI2, p. 195.
* Historia Francorum, V. 37, in MGH., Scrip, rer. merov., vol. IS p. 229.
JORDANES 117
of a later information.^ Ostrogothus occurs several
times in the poems of Apollinaris Sidonius.
"Bastarna, Suebus,
Pannonius, Neurus, Chunus, Geta, Dacus,
Halanus,
Bellonothus, Rugus, Burgundio, Vesus,
Alites,
Bisalta, Ostrogothus, Procrustes, Sarmata,
Moschus," V. 474 ff.^
There is no dependence whatsoever on this, since
there are no manuscripts which are earlier than the
tenth century, and since Bellonothus and Alites are
non-existent nations and Procrustes is probably Pirustes,
as Wilamowitz suggests. Besides, Vesus occurs here
for the first and only time. _ If it refers to any nation
at all, it can only be the Isu of the Arabs, who are
also given as Visu,^ and hence cannot be earlier than
of the eighth century. To make matters worse, Sidonius
mentions the Getae, who with him invariably mean all
the Goths; hence the reference to Ostrogothus further
down is impossible, except as a mistake. Since Ostro-
gothus occurs again in Sidonius in a perfectly correct
relation, namely, in a statement that the Ostrogoths
fought with the Huns,^ there cannot be any doubt
that Sidonius really wrote Ostrogothus. But who is
Sidonius?
All we know of him is contained in Gregory of Tours
and in Gennadius of Marseilles,^ but the chapter on
Sidonius is absent from many MSS. of Gennadius,
and is totally lacking in Gregory in the tell-tale MSS.
^ Since writing the above I have collected a great amount of material
to show that Ostrogothus and Greutingus are, in the writers before the eighth
century, bold interpolations. Of this I shall treat in another volume.
^MGH., Anctor. antiq., vol, VIII, p. 199.
^ Zeuss, Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstdmme,^ Miinchen 1837, p. 516.
* "Istis Ostrogothus viget patronis
Vicinosque premens subinde Chunos,
His quod subditur, hinc superbit illis," op. cit., p. 137.
« Ibid., p. XLIV ff.
118 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
B and C. If Sidonius was such a great man among
the Visigoths, how is it that Isidore of Seville does
not mention him in his De viris illustrihusf To cap
the climax, Sidonius speaks of Orosius as a great
writer.^ Thus we arrive at only one conclusion,
namely, that the works of Apollinaris Sidonius are
an eighth century forgery, made after the forgery of
Orosius.^ The same forger is apparently responsible
for the poem ascribed to Martinus, which bears in
its nomenclature of the nations a suspicious resem-
blance to Sidonius.^
Thus we have no reference whatseoever to either
Ostrogothus or Visigothus except in spurious works.
I shall now show how these terms originated.
Procopius speaks in various parts of his work of
the Tetraxite Goths. There are not many of them
and they are good Christians. These Goths had
originally been Arians, like the rest of the nation.
When Justinian had been emperor twenty-one years,
they sent four elders to Byzantium to ask for a bishop,
since their preacher had lately died. Justinian com-
plied with their wish.* They lived on a footing of
friendship with the Huns.^
One can see at a glance that we have here a rifaci-
mento of the story from John Chrysostom, whom the
Goths asked for a Catholic bishop after their preacher,
Unilas, had died. But the same story bobs up again
in the eighth century. The Greek Menologion cele-
brates on June 26 the memory of the Holy Father
1 "Ut Gregorius consolatur, ut Orosius affluit ut Rufinus stringitur,"
Epistolae, IV. 3. 7, ibid., p. 55.
2 To this matter I shall return at a future time.
3 "Alamannus, Saxo, Toringus,
Pannonius, Rugus, Sclavus, Nara, Sarmata, Datus,
Ostrogotus, Francus, Burgundio, Dacus, Alanus,"
MGH., Auctor. antiq., vol. VI 2, p. 195.
* De hello gothico, IV. 4. 4 ff.
« Ibid., IV. 5 ff. and 18 ff.
JORDANES 119
John, the Bishop of the Goths. ^ The account of
him given there is substantially the same, though
much abbreviated, as in the Vatican Codex, quoted in
the Acta Sanctorum.'^ According to it, he lived in
the days of Leo the Isaurian, Constantine (Koprony-
mos), and Irene, that is, at the end of the eighth cen-
tury. He was bishop of the Goths in the Crimea,
where he died. Nearly the same story is told in the
Greek Synaxary,^ only the date is transferred to
May 31. In the Acta Sanctorum there is also mention
of an Arabo-Egyptian martyrology, where under
June 26 we have the Holy Father John, the bishop of
the Persians.
If the bishop of the Tetraxite Goths in Procopius is
a blunder, the bishop of the Goths in the Acta Sanc-
torum is a humbug. He is stolen from the Syriac
martyrology and calendar, and was obviously adopted
by the Spanish Goths through the Syrians who came
to Spain with the Arabs, and then was loaned to the
Greek synaxaries and menologia, together with the
humbug of the burning of the Goths, and Ulfilas,the
bishop of the Goths. In the British Museum Add.
MS. 14519, a Jacobite Menologion, we find, under
June 26, John bar Aphtonia.^ Under the same date,
in Paris 1^6 and Vatic. LXIX, we have Saint John
bar Aphtonia, superior of the monks of Qennesrin.^
Similarly, in Add. MS. 17232, he is mentioned as
John, superior of Qennesre, bar Aphtonia.^ His
death is given under November 4.'
'Mtivalov ToO 'louvioO, 'Ev Bevsxiqi 1852, p. 95.
2 June V, p. 190 ff.
» Ibid., p. 185.
* Patrologia orientalis, vol. X, fasc. I, p. 51.
« Ibid., p. 80.
• Ibid., p. 122. Similarly, in Add. MS. 14504, ibid., p. 42.
7 Ibid., pp. 35, 47, 65, 98, 114.
120 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
From the Life of John bar Aphtonia, by one of
his disciples,^ and from other sources, it appears
that John was called bar Aphtonia from his mother,
Aphtonia, who was a pious woman and, after the death
of her husband, put her children to school and took
good care of them. She had consecrated her son,
John, by some kind of prophecy, while she was still
pregnant with him. When he was born, she brought
him up in her house as in a sanctuary and did not
let him see the world. ^ In the Greek story, John's
mother is Photina, obviously a corruption of Aphtonia,
who consecrated her son to God, even before he was
born.^ When Aphtonia brought John to the mon-
astery, and the abbot would not receive him, because
he was only fifteen years old, his mother said, **Like
another Eli, o venerable man, receive my Samuel,'"^
and a hymn on John by John Psaltes begins with
the words, "Like the prophet Samuel, John the illus-
trious chief and director of our community."^ In
the Greek version, John was consecrated to God like
Jeremiah and Samuel.^ In or soon after 531 John
was in Constantinople, where he was in charge of the
meetings of the monophysite monks with the emperor
and the orthodox bishops.' In the Greek version
his predecessor was called to Constantinople by
Emperor Constantine to a synod to decide against
the images, wherefore the Goths who were against
1 F. Nau, Vie de Jean bar Aphtonia, Paris 1902, in Bibliothdque hagio-
graphique orientale, tome 2.
2 Ibid., p. 27.
3«$a)TEivfi5 ye xfj? nnxoog toC '0<tiou, eulanevris T(p ©ecp Sodfivai oii-
Tfi xagjiov, elg t6 nQoa&^ai avtov "KsixovQfbv Kvpup ovrcog <nrveXa6EV
auTov. Tex^els yag xai avlirfreig, xov d(T}tTiTix6v Ix critaQYavcav ejiecmd-
caxo 6iov, eoYfp xal ^67(9 jidaav doexTjv xaxop^coaas,* Acta sanctorum,
June V, p. 190.
* Nau, op. cit., p. 29.
6 Ibid., p. 36. ^
« «Ouxo5 6 ocriog 'Ia>dwTi5 xadaYLOcrftelg §x 6<?eq>ou5 6? 6 'leoe^Cag
jcal Saiioirf)^ 6A,ixc5g dcpieoacdri X($ 0£(p.>
^ Nau, op. cit., pp. 3 and 11.
JORDANES 121
the synod asked for John to be their bishop. He went
to Constantinople, where he stayed three years.
It is clear that no Gothic Bishop John ever existed,
and that the whole Life was made up on the basis of
the Life of John bar Aphtonia. We have nothing
definite in the account of Procopius to permit us to
trace a similar story about the bishop of the Goths,
whom Justinian sent to the Crimea, but it can be shown
that the whole account of the Goths in the Crimea is
based on no fact whatsoever. Wherever the word
zerpa^cTcu occurs in Procopius, MS.L has TpamC^rcu.
The first means nothing, the second means * 'merchant."
Now, Jordanes has already told us that the beaver skins
reached Rome from Scandinavia through several
intermediate merchants.^ Fraehn^ has already shown
that there was a lively interchange between Scandinavia
and the Arabic kingdoms of Asia. On the other hand,
we have abundant proof that a trade between the
north and the west took place through the intermediacy
of merchants going up the Black Sea and trading with
the Bulgars and Khazars, who, in their turn, traded
with the Scandinavians. It is interesting to note that
the western merchants bartered to the Bulgars and
northern nations manufactured cloth for furs.^ As
trapezita "merchant" first was employed in Spain,
whence it spread to the other Romance countries, it
is certain that among the Arab traders in the Black
Sea regions were also found Goths, who gave rise to
the mythical Gothic kingdom in the Crimea.
^ "Hi (Suehans) quoque sunt, qui in usibus Romanorum sappherinas
pelles commercio interveniente per alias innumeras gentes transmittunt,"
III (21).
* IbvrFoszlan's und anderer Ardber Berichte iiber die Russen alterer Zeit,
St. Petersburg 1823.
' "Itaque pro laneis indumentis, quae nos dicimus faldones, illi offerunt
tam preciosos martures," Adam of Bremen, Gesta hammenburgensis ecclesiae
pontificae, lib. IV, cap. 18.
122 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
In the Ley den Glossary we have 'Hrapezeta et num-
mularius et colobista idem sunt qui nummis fenerantur
et uilis negotiis," which is a development of a state-
ment made by Jerome in his Commentary to Matthew,
XXI. 12: "Sed quia erat Lege praeceptum, ut nemo
usuras acciperet, et prodesse non poterat pecunia
fenerata, quae commodi nihil haberet, et interdum
sortem perderet, excogitaverunt et aliam technam, ut
pro nummulariis, Collybistas facerent, cujus verbi
proprietatem Latina lingua non exprimit. Collyha
dicuntur apud eos, quae nos appellamus tragemata,
vel vilia munuscula. Verbi gratia, frixi cieeris, uvarum-
que passarum, et poma diversi generis. Igitur quia
usuras accipere non poterant Collybistae, qui pecuniam
fenerati erant, pro usuris accipiebant varias species,
ut quod in nummo non licebat, in his rebus exigerent
quae nummis coemuntur."^ Jerome completely mis-
understood the case, for a collybista was in reality a
merchant who exchanged large coin for small coin,
called in Greek xoXXo^ov, hence a collybista was as much
a money-changer as a trapezita.
But the fatal confusion of collybista and colobista, as
though from colobium * 'garment," led early to the
identification of trapezita with a cloth merchant.
We find early in the thirteenth century in Catalonia
drapes, that is, trapezita, for "cloth merchant," for he
is mentioned immediately after a mercer.^ But long
before that, trapus meant "cloth" in Catalonia and
Aragon, and in Aragon molendinum traparium "cloth
mill" was described in full.^ As we find in Catalonia
1 Migne, Patrol, lot., vol. XXVI, col. 150 f.
* "Unaquaeque tabula de drapes dat unam unciam piperis ad Pascha, et
aliam ad Pentecostem, et aliam Natalis Domini" (1221), Capmany, Me-
morias historicas . . . de la arUigim ciudad de Barcelona, Madrid 1779,
vol. II, p. 8.
' Forum Turolij, in Coleccion de documentos para el estudio de la historia de
Aragon, Zaragoza 1905, vol. II, p. 153 ff.
JORDANES 123
draparius^ by the side of traparius just mentioned, the
derivation of drapus "cloth," recorded from the ninth
century on by the side of trapus,"^ from trapezita
would seem to be assured. But that is doubtful,
because the transference of the meaning trapezita,
even under the influence of colobium, is not sufficient
to settle the fate of a word which is not recorded before
the eighth century. Indeed, it is claimed that drapus
occurs in a seventh century translation of Oribasius.
That is not true. The editor^ calls it a VII- VIII cen-
tury codex. The word is also found in the Notae
Tironianae, but these were also written in Carolingian
times and prove nothing. The chief reason why the
primary derivation from trapezita is doubtful is the
fact that the form drap- and not trap- prevailed. To
get at the history of the word we must first investigate
the history of cloth mills in Europe.
Of course, the Romans and Greeks must have had
some idea about cloth mills long before the arrival of
the Arabs in Europe, but it is certain, from the Arabic
constituent in the cloth manufacturing vocabulary,
that the art of utilizing water power for cloth mills,
1 "Consimiles illis porchis quos ego dono per molendino drapario mer-
catalis" (1166), Balari y Jovany, Origenes histdricos de Cataluna, Barcelona
1899, p. 642; "de .i. molendino drapario quod est apud auzeda" (1181),
ibid.; "ad faciendum ibi molendina tam blataria quam draparia" (1191),
ibid.; "ad construenda molendina quotacumque facere uolueritis et potueritis
tam blataria quam draparia" (1194), ibid.
2 "Drappos ad discum parandum" (812), MGH., Leges, vol, I, p. 179;
"laneas drapas variis coloribus intertinctas" (857), Morice, Memoires pour
servir de preuves d Vhistoire . de Bretagne, Paris 1742, vol. I, col. 303; "pallio
defundato, et drapo cum serico, et linteo et casulas duas . . . batrino ad
luminaria, drappo plumato a forma I, tapeto I . . . bursa cum brisdo et
simiama, drappe plumato super luitrino I, buxta iburnea minore I" (876),
Prou and Vidier, Recueil des Charles de I'abbaye de Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire,
Paris 1900-1907, vol. I, p. 64 f.; "drapis tam lineis quam laneis vel siricis"
(905), Bernard and Bruel, Recueil des chartes de I'abbaye de Cluny, Paris
1876, vol. I, p. 99; "trapos polemitos" (957), Villanueva, Viage literario
d las iglesias de Espafla, Valencia 1821, vol. VI, p. 274; "granum, vinum,
drapos, ferros, caballos" (950), HPM., Codex diplomaticus Langobardiae,
col. 1014.
^ H. Hagen, De Oribasii versione latina Bernensi commentatio, in Sollemnia
anniversaria conditae universitatis, Bernae 1875, p. 22.
124 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
which was practised to a great extent by the Arabs,
totally revolutionized the manufacture of cloth in
Europe.
The Persian word for "bleacher, fuller" is gdzur.
There cannot be the slightest doubt that this is a
derivative from gdz "shears, scissors," which itself is
from Assyr. gizzu "shearing," hence lut gizzu "wool
carder's shop." The large family of Semitic derivatives
from this root need not trouble us. We shall only
pursue the fate of the Pers. gdzur. That Pers. gdzur
is a derivative is proved by the verb gdzurl kardan
"to wash, bleach, or full," which is only derived from
the noun. This Persian word was taken into Syriac,
where we have a large number of derivatives: ^
qgar "he bleached," ]{^ qagdrd "a fuller," \i^ qagrd
* 'castle." Hence we have Arab, ^j^ qUdrat "the
art of bleaching, beating and washing clothes," -r^
qa^r "a palace, a pavilion or kind of building wholly
or for the most paBiiilolated, sometimes on the top of
a larger building, a belvedere, and sometimes pro-
jecting from a large building, and generally consisting
of one room, if forming a part of a larger building or
connected with another building." In the Arabic the
relation of fulling to shearing is preserved, in that
j^ qa^ara also means "it was short." The meaning,
"chamber, palace," needs an explanation, as it is
given quite incorrectly in Dozy.^
In the Persian dictionary we read of two market-
places or squares, where saints are buried, mentioned
as gdzur-gdh "bleaching ground." It would, therefore,
be quite natural for the bleachers' quarters to be con-
fused with the bazaar in general, but there is a particu-
lar reason for changing a fuller's booth into a belvedere.
1 Glossaire des mots espagnols et portugais derives de Varabe, Leyde, Paris
1869, p. 79, sub alcaiceria.
JORDANES 125
The history of the fullers' mills, which may be garnered
from the quotations given later, shows that the fullers
had their shops over the narrow channel into which
the water was forced from the reservoir. The water
went through a series of chambers, in each of which
a special process of washing took place. Hence a
fuller's shop was exactly like an outlying belvedere,
or, more correctly, a long corridor or balcony, covered
and latticed off or of solid walls, to keep out the dust.
This is proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, from the
Spanish documents, where an alcazar is either an
appurtenance of a milP or a place where venders'
booths are found. ^ In Lisbon, according to Viterbo,^
there is still a tanners' place, called alcagarias,
which is a large building, with many houses and
merchants' booths, and Ducange records from Navarre
a place, alcazaria, where the Jews sold their wares.
The fullest account of the alcazar comes from south-
ern Italy, where we get a most interesting and most
important group of words. Here alcazar, from Arab.
./^' alqa^r, is changed to arcatura, arcaturia, and has
the meaning of a mill-gallery over the channel.*
* "Dedit etiam et otorgavit uniquique vecino de Caceres suas casas,
haereditates, hortos, molinos, alcazares, et totas partitiones quas fecerint
per suos Quadrillarios" (1231), Coleccion de privilegios . . de la Corona de
Castilla, Madrid 1833, vol. VI, p. 92.
2 "Nos similiter habeamus partem nostram praedictorum secundum
numerum militum, et hominum armatorum, qui nobiscum fuerint, retentis
nobis alcaceriis et staticis regnum in civitatibus ultra debitam porcionem
nobis competentem" (1229), Villanueva, op. ciL, vol. XIII, p. 314; "cum
aliquis ludaeus emerit aliqua supellectilia siue vestes, et propterea de furto
ab aliquo fuerit accusatus: tenetur de eis plenarie respondere sicut quilibet
Christianus: nisi in alcagaria tendam locatam tenuerit domini Regis, et ea
emerit coram tenda locata" (1247), Fueros del reyno de Aragon, Caragoga
1624, vol. II, Fori, . . quibus ad praesens non utimur, fol. 8b.
^ Eliicidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antigamente se
usaram, Lisboa 1865.
^ "Ecclesia beati laurentii in arcatura, portionem meam de hortum qui
ponitur in ipso loco; volo enim et iuveo hut pro ipsum hortum quod dedi
a theofilum filio anatolii levesivi fratris mei parim bice pro ipsum hubi-
cumque in ipso loco abuero sive in salinolas sivi in arcatura" (831), Codex
diplomaticns cajetanus, in Tabularium casinense, Monte Casino 1887,
126 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
The word is corrupted to varicatoria,^ barcaturia,^
balcatorium,^ halcheteria,'^ halkeria}
vol. I, p. 8; "licentiam et potestatem abeatis de ipse sorti nostra de predicta
aqua clausurie ibidem mictere et iamdicta aqua rebocare in ipso curso de
ipsa arcatura nostra, qualiter vobis necessum fuerit iusta ratione" (980),
Codex diplomaticits cavensis, Mediolani, Pisis, Neapoli 1875, vol. II, p. 152;
"inclitum ipsum molinum, cum mole et arcaturia, et ferraturia, et trasita
et exita sua, et curte de ipso molinum ipsius musandi tradidimus" (996),
ibid., vol. Ill, p. 47; "de alia parte coniuntum est cum arcaturia de molinum
exinde pertinente predicte nostre hecclesie, quod ille similiter compreensum
abet . . de una parte fine ipsa harcaturia" (1002), ibid., vol. IV, p. 7 f.;
"a meridie fine archaturia de ipso molinu de fluvio saltera, sunt inde passi
centum" (1006), ibid., p. 67; "inclita ipsa molina, qualiter conciata vel
edificata sunt, cum mole et ferraturia sua, et cum arcaturiis, et iscle, et
aquarum usibus, et transita et exita sua . . et si ipsa arcaturia de ipsa
molina plena vel rupta fuerit, ubi nos inde scire fecerint, da presentis illam
conciare faciamus, sicut meruerit, et quantum opera perdiderit pro ipsa
ruptura et mole et pro generationem, nobis illut imputemus" (1018), ibid.,
vol. V, p. 3; also ibid., p. 174 (1029), p. 241 (1033), vol. VI, p. 138 (1040),
etc.; "molinos cum aquis et arcaturias earum seu et cum omnibus aquilla-
tionibus" (1033), Capasso, Monumenta ad neapolitani ducatus historiam
periinentia, Neapoli 1892, vol. 11^, p. 26; "escatorias et infosarias et molinas
cum aquis et arcaturias earum seu et cum omnibus aquillationibus et maris
piscationibus" (1097), ibid., p. 61; also ibid., pp. 40, 58, 60.
' "Medietatem vestram de ex integrum molinum . . una cum Integra
medietate de omnes fossatas et de arcaturias et de hereditas et de molas et
ferroras et de alias omnes conciaturias simul vel in eodem molino per quovis
modum pertinentibus seu cum aquis et cursoras suas et cum varicatorias
et viis et anditas et introitas suas" (1060), ibid., p. 39.
^ "Inclitu molinu . . una cum fossatas et arcaturias et reditas et molas et
ferroras et omnes conciaturias simul ad eodem molinu pertinentes seu et
aquis et cursoras suas et cum barcaturias et biis et anditas et introitas suas
omnibusque ad suprascriptum integrum molinum per quobis modum gen-
eraliter pertinentibus" (1097), ibid., p. 63.
' "Indulsimus eidem sacro Monasterio quod habeat munite in perpetuum
libertatem ab omni personali potestate sacerdotal! et laicali in omni dioecesi
sua, in nemoribus, campis, terris, aquis, balcatoribus, molendinis, incisione
lignorum, pascuis animalium, herba, glandibus arborum, usufructu fluminis,
piscaria, annuo absonio de tonnaria Oliverii tonnine barrilia decern" (1092),
Garufi, / documenti inediti dell' epoca normanna in Sicilia, Palermo 1899,
p. 5; "item dixit, quod nuUus de eodem castro potest construere Montanum
ad aquam, vel ad siccum ad macinandum olivas in eodem castro, vel terri-
torio ejusdem castri, seu molendinum aud Balcatorium, yel quodlibet aliud
edificium in aquis publicis, seu juxta ipsas aquas, seu deri\.~re de ipsis aquis
publicis" (1267), Gattola, Ad Historiam abbatiae cassinensis accessiones,
Venetiis 1734, vol. I, p. 7.
•» "A Monachis, et personis dictorum locorum decimas extorquere de
molendinis, balcheteriis, piscariis, hortis, pascuis, virgrultis, et nutrimentis
animalium eorundem locorum contra indulta, et privilegia Romanorum
Pontificum" (1303), Ughelli, Italia sacra, Venetiis 1717, vol. I, col. 383.
* "In quo molendino facta est balkeria ad faciendum cartas bombiginas
et de papiro" (1380), Camera, Memorie storico-diplomatiche dell' antica
cittd e ducato di Amalfi, Salerno 1876, vol. I, p. 566.
JORDANES 127
But we have also baricatorium in the sense of "gal-
lery" or ** tower, "^ and balchonus "grocer's booth. "^
From this we get the common balchio,^ balco,'^
valco^ "balcony," ballatorium "common gallery."^
1 "Et cum ilia terra que est foris ipsas turres et predictum murum qualiter
vadit ipsa terra usque ad ilia porta de calcara cum tota ipsa plagia de ipso
angulo et qualiter vadit ipsa plagia et illu baricatorium usque ad memorata
porta de calcara" (1075), Capasso, op. cit., vol. II^, p. 54.
^ "De datio balchonorum. Quelibet persona vendens vel que vendiderit
in Leuco vel eius districtu formagium, bedulum, mascharpam, oleum,
sonziam, sipum vel sallem aut rem aliquam de rebus predictis in minuto
teneatur et debeat dare et solvere dicto comuni sive incantatori dicti datii
singullo anno soldos quindecim tertiolorum" (14. cent.), Statuti dd Laghi di
Como e di Lugano, Roma 1915, vol. II, p. 67.
3 "Item, statuimus quod nuUus audeat vel presummat de die vel de nocte
per aliquam fenestram seu hostia domus vel a balchione vel aliunde in viis
vel stratis publicis seu plateis comunis Forlivii proycere aquam, brodam vel
aliquam inmunditiam vel turpitudinem vel proyci facere" (1359), E. Rinaldi,
Statuto di Forli dell' anno. MCCCLIX., Roma 1913, p. 242.
^ "Vendidi ipsam predictam medietatem meam . . . una cum parietibus
ostie fenestre et balcones suos cum lignaminis tectuminis et guttis tuis et
cum trasitis et exitis" (1091), Codice diplomatico barese, Bari 1902, vol. V,
p. 32; "tradidi ei ipsas duas sortiones qualiter sunt coniuncte cum parietibus
suis ostiis fenestris et balconibus suis, tectis tegmentis et guttis suis cum
trasitibus et exitibus suis et cum omni sua pertinentia intus et de foris ut
prelatum est" (1113), ibid., p. 106; "una cum solo ubi posite sunt cum parieti-
bus proprihis et communibus ostiis et balconibus et fenestris suis tectum
tecmen et guttis suis cum gaifis suis ab utraque parte" (1135), ibid., p. 146.
* "Casa et casalinello . . cum parietibus ostie fenestre et valcones eorum
cum lignamina tectumina et guttis eorum et cum trasitis et exitis eorum"
(1099), ibid., p. 52; "quartam de tota iamdicta domo, et de curte, et scala,
et astrago, et mediam quartam de tota sortione . . cum omni edificio et
labore suo, trasitibus et exitibus suis, omnique ordine suo, omnibusque
intra se habentem et continentem parietibus, ostiis, fenestris et valconibus
suis, lignamine et tectumine et guttis suis, ascensis et descensis suis omnibus-
que suis pertinentiis" (1102), ibid., p. 61.
8 "De ballatorium commune cum aheribus et aspectibus . . inter ipse
grade communes et inter ibsum ballatorium commune . . simul et regia
communis qui exiet in ibso ballatorio commune" (982), Regii neapolitani
archivi monumenta, Neapoli 1849, vol. Ill, p. 28 f.; "vos ponere debeatis
de ipsum solareum que ego tibi dedi una medium pede et f aciamus ipsum
parietem ud super legitur et a parte meridiana super ipsa curte commune
super ipsa ballatorias quantum est ipse solareus tuus memorati leoni que
ego tibi dedi ud super legitur iterum facere debeamus in altum podium usque
ad pectus omminis at omni communi expendio" (996), ibid., p. 152; "idest
unam portionem de transenda, et de casa communi, et de gradis marmoreis
et de ballatorio communi cum aheribus et aspectibus . . a parte meridiana
coheret pariete de ipso cubuculo, ubi abet fenestras et regia sua, quamque
ballatorium commune de illo et anditum subter et super ipsum cubuculum est
128 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
I reserve for a future time the interesting development
of this group in the Romance and Germanic langu-
ages. Here it is sufficient to point out that in Italy
the great variety of words have received precisely the
same development as did alcazar in Spain. Hence
it is in Spain that the cloth mills were developed by
the Arabs. And it is here that we find another name
for the fullers' mill, molina traparia or draparia. It is
fair to expect here also an Arabic origin. Indeed, we
have Arab, v-^ daraba "he struck, beat, flagellated."
The fullers' mills are frequently called batatoria,
from the important process of beating the cloth, to
give it a close texture, hence the molina draparia was
merely a translation for batatorium, used elsewhere.
Indeed, the Germanic languages have preserved this
Arabic root in the same or nearly the same significance.
We have Goth, gadraban "to wallop," hence dreiban
"to drive," draibjan "to annoy." The particular
form of Goth, dreiban "to drive" is due to Arab.
vi^ darib "beaten, struck, a tent peg struck so as to
be firm in the ground." OHG. drlban, AS. drifan
"to drive" have preserved the latter meaning, but
ONorse drifa "to startle, move rapidly" shows better
the relation to Arab, v-r^ daraba.
If a molina draparia was a fullers' mill, where cloth
was made, drapus naturally was applied to the average,
more generally to the coarsest, kind of cloth. Draperius
became the word with which to designate the man
who manufactured and sold the cloth, for at that
early time the occupation of the merchant was not
yet separated from that of the manufacturer. The
cohopertum cum ticulis . . et a parte orientis coheret parietem, qui exfinat
ipsum triclineum et inter ipse grade communes et inter ipsum ballatorium
comune, simul et regia communis que exiet in ipso ballatorio" (982), Capasso,
op. cit., vol. Ill, p, 148.
JORDANES 129
history of the cloth manufacture in Europe has yet
to be written, but enough may be gathered from the
above and the subsequent data to lead to the con-
clusion that the cloth manufacture in Europe received
a renewed impetus from the Arabs in Spain, whence
it spread in the ninth century to Flanders, Italy, and
Germany. The first cloth merchants could have been
only Arabs and Spanish Goths, hence the appearance
of so many Gothic colonies in Italy in the eighth and
ninth centuries must to a great extent be due to the
mercantile propensities of the Goths, which had been
fostered by the Arabs. It is only at the end of the
ninth century that the Venetians, and still later, that
the Pisans, Genoese, etc., took up the Levantine trade,
which was opened up by the Arabs and must have
been carried on to a great extent by the Arabicized
Goths. It is unquestionably these that found their
way into the Crimea and the south of Russia, where
they have been met up to the sixteenth century.
Tomaschek^ has built up a whole history of the
Crimean Goths, with the account of John, the bishop
of the Goths, for his main source. We have already
seen how this story has collapsed. It remains to show
that the mention of a Gothic country in the Crimea
before the end of the eighth century is devoid of
historical value. In the Life of Bishop John, Doros
is mentioned as a chief city of the Goths. It occurs in
various Greek authors,^ but with the exception of
Procopius all these authors wrote after the eighth
century and cannot be adduced as a proof of the ex-
istence of such a city much earlier. Procopius says
that there is a region along the sea which is called
Dory, where the Goths lived who did not follow Theo-
^ Die Goten in Taurien, Wien 1881.
2 Ibid., pp. 15, 20, 23.
130 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
deric into Italy, and that this region is rich in fruit. ^
Here Dory is distinctly mentioned as a region in which
there is no city, but where walls are built in the passes
of the mountains. And yet, in Priscianus, who wrote
at about the same time, we have twice a reference to
Dory as a city on the Pontus.^ Obviously something
is wrong. What makes matters worse is that outside
of the Gothic references no such town or region has
been found. As the Priscianus manuscripts are of a
date not earlier than the ninth century, the reference
to Dory, as a city on the Pontus, can only be an inter-
polation. But Procopius himself is utterly unreliable,
because we have already found so many interpolations
in him. What, then, is Doryf
We have already seen that the bishop of the Goths
was purloined from Edessa. Edessa had been connected
with Gothic exploits before, as, for example, in the
story of Euphemia and the Goth} Hence it was
natural to make Edessa also a city of the Goths in
the Crimea. In the Life of John bar Aphtonia, as
elsewhere, this city is called in Syriac Urhoi. Either
the written form was misread, ^»n»o? for -^avic], that
is, Dorhoi for Urhoi, or, what is more likely, the constant
use of w.oijol? Daurhoi **of Edessa," as, for example,
^ cAiatpeoovTcog 8e ttjv B'6a;tooov xqi igiSnaTi iy,QaTvvaxo, fjvjteo in
naXaxov 6e6ao6aotonevrjv xal vnb xoig Ovwoig oteinevriv ^5 t6 'Po>(AaC(ov
auTog HExrivEYte xpoiTog. "Ecrti 6e xig IvTaxida xcoqo xatd xfiv jcapaA-iav,
AoQV ovofia, iva 6ti Ik ndkaxov FoTdoi vKf\vxax, ot Oeu8eoixcp ig 'Ixa^uiv
lovxi ovw ixiOKoiLEVOi, aikX' i^eXovaioi avzov vtEivavreg, 'PojiaCoyv xal elg
i\ii elcav evanovboi avtri 8^. f| xwQoi to A6<?u Tfjg jiev y^S ^v v-
tl^TjA-tp XEitai, ov fievToi ovxe XQaxeia ovxe cmXriQa ioxvM, aXk' dvaOri xs
xai eC(pocos >taojt(ov xtov deidxcov. IIoXiv iikv oCv i] (poouQiov ouSanfj xfj?
Xtogag 6 6aaiX.EX)S E8eiM.aTo xavrn?, Kaxsigyea^ax mQi66Xoi<; xiolv ovx dvE-
XonEvov xcov xfjSE dvdoroncov, aiX' iy mbi(fi doftEVEtrxaxa vxtijievcov de£*
on,r[ JtoTE 88 xcov ^xeivn x«>Oi(«>v 66.cfi\xa eujiexco? xotg ^jrioCcriv d86xft Elvai,
xauxog 6e xtixla^iaai naotooig xdg El(j68oug jtEoi6aXa)v, xdg dx xiig l(p68ov
<P0»vxi.6as dvEOXEiXE Fox'froig. Tavxa hev ovv xfjSE m\ exei,,» De aedificiis,
III. 7. 12- 17.
2 "In Graecis autem invenitur etiam y, ut 'Dory,' nomen oppidi Pontici,
et 'Aepy,' " VI. 1. 2; "hoc Dory, hoc Aepy, nomina civitatum," VII. 1. 1.
* F. C. Burkitt, Euphemia and the Goth, London, Oxford 1913.
JORDANES 131
in the Edessa Chronicle,^ produced the form ^6pu, in
Latin Doroy, as recorded in some Priscianus MSS.
But the best proof of such a transference from Mesopo-
tamia to the Crimea is given by Procopius himself,
for he describes the city of Edessa in precisely the
same way as Dory.^ He tells of the marvellously
fruitful region in which there were many gardens,
surrounded by a wall that went from mountain to
mountain and through which there were many gates.
In the interpolated part of Procopius we have the same
story, after it passed through a Gothic source. Once
it became the firm belief that such a place existed in
the Crimea, it was readily quoted as a matter of fact,
and the name may really have been attached to some
locality. This is made certain by the signature of a
Gothic bishop at the Conciliabulum of TruUo, held at
the end of the seventh century, as Ftibpycot: iTtiaxonoz
Xtpacivot: r^f Jdipauro^, which Tomaschek thinks is a mis-
take, through an omission of xal before r^c J(opauTO(:,^
but which in reality indicates that all the Gothic
country along the sea was known as ^6po. We do
not know the date of the signatures. The docu-
ment in which they occur is of a much later date
than the Conciliabulum of TruUo, and so we cannot
tell what stood in place of r^c Jw;oavroc originally, or
if there was any such name. But this much is certain,
since the name is applied now to a city, now to seashore,
now to a whole region, and since it is not found any-
where outside of the Gothic references, it is due to the
transference of the martyrdom of John bar Aphtonia
to that of John, the bishop of the Goths.
^ L. Hallier, Untersuchungen iiber die Edessenische Chronik, in Gebhardt
and Harnack's Tezte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen
Literatur, vol. IX.
* De aedificiis, II. 7 and De bello peraieo, II. 27.
» Op. cit., p. 20.
132 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
That there were Goths in the south of Russia in
the eighth century, there cannot be the slightest doubt ;
but they were Spanish Goths, who were there in the
interest of trade. The chief trade of the Spaniards
at that time was in cloth, hence most of the Goths
who were in that region must have been draperii
"cloth merchants," which, since the merchants were
also bankers, became in Greek Tpaizs^trac.
In the 'Eizap-^cxov Bt^Xiov of Leo the Wise^ we have
the laws in regard to the merchants at Constantinople.
First in importance come the TpaTte^Tvac, the money-
changers, and it is interesting to observe that other
merchants, such as the perfumers, illegally changed
money. ^ The next in importance after the trapezitae
were the vestiarii, called in Greek ^sffuoTrpdrai. These,
we are told, sold silk garments, and that many of
them were foreigners is clear from a law directed
against foreigners in the trade. ^ But what is most
important is that the vestiarii, ^effuoTTpdrac, were
distinguished from the npavdconpazac^ who sold eastern
silk wares. Here we are specifically told that such wares
were imported from Syria, Seleucia and Bagdad, and
that these merchants were known as Syrians. The
words used here for silk and various silk articles are
Arabic,* hence under Syrians are to be understood
all eastern Arabs.
^ J. Nicole, Le Livre du Prefet, Geneve 1893-1900, in Memoires de I'ln-
stitut national Genevois, vol. XVIII.
^ «:Et TIC, [ivQe\])6z cpcoQaOeiT] r\ vo^dayiaxa ^iayv t| alJaA-i^cov, tj dnootQe-
qjcov vdixicjia TexaQXTiQov rj 8uo xeTdpTtov av,i6b'r\Kov exov xov 6aoi^ix6v
jcaeaxxfiQa, r\ XQa/uvcov xd emcmvavojAEva vovnict xal jat) emSiSous xaOxa
xoiq xQajtetixatg, ttjv exeivcov emtrtriiiTiv axravel l8u)jrou>un,evog, xfj ngoei-
QTiiievn VTCoxeicr&(0 8uftwi;),» ibid., p. 42 f.
' «'AxQi6oA.ovEicrdai jxQocrrixei xovg cnnrSiifiixa? xai mxaxeuofie'voui; htj
diooveicrdai. fi u£xo>7.vM-eva r[ dopacpa Ijidxia, n'kr\w el uti 8l' olxEiav jt8Qi6o-
Xr\v, xal xauxTiv ev xfi Saoiksvovaw ovy^onxaiiivryv eiAqpavi^Ecr&cooav 8e xw
8JtdQxct> EV x(p iJjtoxcoQElv, &g av etSTiaiv e/oi xfjg nQay\iaxeiai; fiv 8|a)VT|-
oavxo* 6 8e xovxovg ovyy,aXvnxoiy naibevzohm xal eloxo}AitEcr&a),» ibid., p.
28.
" Ibid., p, 29, note.
JORDANES 133
This leads then to a certainty that among the
vestiarii were chiefly western nations, and if there were
Goths among them, they were, like the Pordoe rpaTrs^rai,
Vestgothi, Goths who sold silks, from vestis used in this
particular sense. But such an etymology, which sur-
vived in reality and gave rise to the Germanic words
for "west, " was not good enough for the contemporary
historical forgers. They had to get an Arabic ety-
mology. This readily offered itself. The Goths in the
Levant mediated in the trade between the Visu and the
west. It was they, who, to judge from Jordanes,
brought the black beaver furs to Rome. The Arabic
geographer Yakut says that the merchants went up
the Volga to the country of the Visu, to get beaver,
sable, and squirrel furs;^ and from various accounts^
it appears that it was not the Visu who came to the
markets of the Bulgars, but that the Arabs and Bulgars
and, obviously, other merchants proceeded from the
south northward. Hence it was natural enough to
identify the Vestgothi with Visigothi, Goths who carried
on a trade with the north, through Russia. But in
either case we had a set of traders who were distinct
from those coming from eastern Arabic countries.
They were the Westgoths, hence Visigothi became the
appellation for the western, that is, Spanish Goths.
To the Arabs all those who were from the east were
iy\jj^\ a§§rdqut ** Levantines, Orientals," that is,
Ostrogothi. This Arabic word is still in use, it being
an irregular plural from ^yJ' aS-Sariqiy "Oriental,
Levantine," in Alcala, "levante viento oriental."
This brings us at once to the important conclusion
that all works pretending to be of an earlier date, in
which Ostrogothi and Visigothi occur, were either inter-
1 Fraehn, op. ciL, p. 208.
^Ibid., p. 211 flf., 218.
134 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
polated after 711 or are downright forgeries. From
this there is no escape. Now it is necessary to prove
that none of the Germanic denominations of the four
regions of the earth can be of any native origin.
OHG. nort, nord "north" is recorded early. It is
found in a Latin form in all the works which drew
on the Antiquitas. Jordanes says, "habet quoque is
ipse inmensus pelagus in parte artoa, id est septentri-
onali, amplam insulam nomine Scandzan,"^ that is,
he refers to the northern region of the sea as "pars
artoa,'' that is, arctoa. The northern ocean is distinctly
called "Oceanus arctous.''^ The northernmost nation
in that region is ''arctoa gens."' Paulus Diaconus
in the very beginning of his Historia Langobardorum
speaks of "tantae populorum multitudines arctoo
sub axe,"^ while the Anonymous Cosmographer of
Ravenna constantly uses these terms for the northern
region of the sea.^ The word, of course, is not rare
in the Latin poets, but the distinct use made of it
in reference to the region now known as Norway,
makes it certain that some such expression as Oceano
artoo produced the nort of the OH German.
The expression for "south" in OHGerman is directly
due to an Arabic gloss. In the eighth century we meet
in Italy with sundrium or "curtis sundrialis."^ From
' I (9).
* "Est in Oceani arctoi salo posita insula magna, nomine Scandza," III
(16).
'"In cuius parte arctoa gens Adogit consistit," III (19); also "arctoi
gentes," XXIII (116).
«I. 1.
* "Sol sub profunditate Oceani arctoam (artoam) partem noctu exambulat,"
Pinder and Parthey, op. cit., p. 22; "arctoae partis descriptorem," ibid.,
p. 23; "sol igniformus partem arctoam (arttoam) ambulat," ibid.; "in arctoam
partem infra Oceani mare," ibid., p. 24; "per latum Oceanum arctoae
regiones ponuntur," ibid., p. 27; "quando litus totum arctoum Oceanum
ambulavit," ibid., p. 32.
® "Tam de sundro quam et de casas trivutarias" (747), Memorie e docu-
menti per servire all' istoria del ducato di Lucca, Lucca 1837, vol. V^, p. 25;
"angaria ad sundro domnico facere debeamus" (759), ibid., p. 40; "sala
unam swndrialem seu et unam casa massaricia" (782), ibid., p. 110; "unam
JORDANES 135
the quotations it appears that it is not a tributary
possession, since it is opposed to "tributaria," nor a
"massaricia," which is of a higher degree, but not yet
an immunity, since it is opposed to "massaricia."
From the fact that it is quoted in the second place,
after **domo-cul tiles," which is apparently land held
by immunity, it would seem to be a piece of land at-
tached to an immunity, and, possibly, possessing
rights of immunity. This would seem to be clearly
the case in the Lucca document of the year 759, where
corvee is due on the lord's sundrium.^ In two docu-
casella sundriale qui fuit cella meraria" (782), ibid.; "ipsa vinea sondriale"
(788), ibid., p. 133; "omnia et in omnibus quantum ad ipse suprascripte
case est pertinentes, vel in jamdicte locas abere videor, tarn sundrialibus
casis et rebus, quam et massaricias" (794), ibid., p. 146; "tam sundriales
res, quam et massaricias" (801), ibid., p. 174; "tres petie de clausura
inter terra et vinea quod sunt sundrialibus . . medietate silva in tua
reservasti potestatem sundriale" (824), ibid., p. 276; "sundrio illo tuo,
quas in suprascripto loco Casule abis" (827), ibid., p. 295; "quod est inter
predictas ambas petias de vinea sundriale . . de orto sundriale, quem
habuet Pertilo ante casa sua" (762), ibid., vol. IV^, Documenti, p. 97; "curtes
sundriales, casas massaricias, et aldionales" (763), ibid., p. 99; "tam casis
domo cultiles, et sundriales, quam et casas massaricias" (771), ibid., p. 121;
"silvas sundriales" (779), ibid., p. 140; "res meas sundriales et massaricias,
adque aldiaricias casas" (789), ibid., p. 166; "movilia atque immovilia,
ta.m fundriales res, quam et massaricias" (809), ibid., p. 21; "campo nostro
sundriale" (762), C. Troya, Codice diplomatico longobardo dal DLXVIII
al DCCLXXIV, Napoli 1855, vol. V, p. 165; "fundamento nostro sundriale"
(762), ibid.; "curtes sundriales" (764), ibid., p. 248; "coloni de ipsa curte de
Taurento . . cum omni sondro suo, ex integro" (766), J. Mabillon, Annales
ordinis S. Benedicti, Lucae 1739, vol. II, p. 661.
1 "In Dei nomine. Regnante dn. nostro Desiderio et Adelghis regibus.
Anno regni eorum tertio et primo, mense octubri, per inditione XIII.
feliciter. Repromittimus adque manus nostra facimus nos Gumfrid et
Baruncio germani filii qd. Barucci tibi dn. Peredeo in Dei nom. Episc. de
casare et res ilia, quem nobis ad resedendo dedisti in loco Saltucclo, casa
cum curte et orto, vineis terris silvis olivetis omnia ad ipsa casa pertenente,
qualiter ipsa casa Barruccio ad manum suam abuit, nobis ad resedendo
et meliorando dedisti. In tali tenure ut per omne annum tibi reddere
debeamus uno soldo bono expendibile, et medietatem vino et angaria ad
sundro domnico facere debeamus, qualiter ibidem utilitas fuerit in?^ipso
loco Saltucclo," Memorie e documenti . . di Lucca, vol. V^, p. 39 f.
136 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
ments, of the year 798^ and 806,^ peculiarina
is used for the corvee due the owner. As ^' peculiar e
prato" occurs already in 722,^ it is clear that sundrium
and peculiare are identical. Fortunately we have the
term suntelites, from Gr. tryvreA/rsyc, used specifical-
ly* in the sense of the Frankish king's officer who
determines land questions and collects the dues. This
proves that the term aui^zeXuv *'to pay taxes" was a
current term over a wide territory. But we have the
very common Graeco- Latin gloss, "immunis dre-^j^'c,"
and specifically "immunes fundi daowtlrj y^uipia'^
which show that sundrium, sundriale developed from
aovvtX^ or dauvTsX^^ and was referred to a parcel of
land Jbelonging to the immunity, but lying in the out-
lying district; hence it was also known as peculiaris}
^ "Exemplar. In Dei nomine. Regnante dn. nostro Carolo rege Francorum
ec. ac Patricio Romanorum, anno regni ejus quo Langubardiam coepit
vigisimo quarto: et filio ejus dn. nostro Pipino rege, anno regni ejus septimo
decimo, nono kal. aprilis, inditione sexta. Repromitto, et manus mea facio
ego Hosprando cler. filium qd. Calvuli tibi dn. venerabili Johannem in Dei
nom. Episcopo, ut ego cunctis diebus vite mee resedere et abitare debeam
in una casa Eccl. vestre S. Martini, que est ipsa casa in loco Ligori, ubi
antea Ghitiolo resedit; et ipsam predictam casam, una cum omni res ad
earn pertenentem in omnibus bene lavorare et meliorare promicto, non alibi
peculiarina faciendo, et per singulos annos ego vel meis hered. tibi vel success,
tuis exinde reddere debeamus et persolvere omnem usum vel reddito ipse
case, sive et angaria. Unde spondeo ego q. s. Hosprando cler. una cum meis
heredibus tibi dn. Johanni in Xti nom. Episc. et subcess. tuis, ut si nos in
ipsa casa non abitaverimus, et omnem ipsa res bene non lavoraverimus et
non melioraverimus, et vobis per singulos annos omnem justitiam vel angaria,
ut usum fuit, de predicta casa non adimpleverimus, aut exinde foris exire
quesierimus alivi ad avitandum, spondeo cum heredibus meis tibi et success,
tuis comp. penam auri solid, numero viginti: et hec mea promissio in predicto
ordinem firmiter permanead," ibid., p. 157 f.
2 lUd., p. 196.
3 Ihid., p. 8.
< MGH., Leges, sec. V, Formulae, p. 56.
5 It so happens that the Syriac law in which trvvrfKeia is used gives us a
precise account of what a sundrium was. This law says that the mountain
land is recorded by special officers and country people from other districts,
who determine how much wheat or oats the mountain land may produce.
Similarly, they record the pasture land for the sheep, on which a ffwriXeia is
to be paid into the treasury, which is determined at one, two, or three denars,
and is collected by the Romans in April for the horses of the army (J. P. N.
Land, Anecdota syriaca, Lugduni Batavorum 1862, vol. I, p. 154, E. Sachau,
Syrische Rechtsbiicher, Berlin 1907, vol. I, pp. 135, 197). As sundrium does
JORDANES 137
This gave rise to Goth, sundro "separate," OHG.
sundaric ** separate, distinct," suntriga "pecuUum,
privilegium," and the large number of words from this
root represented in all the Germanic languages.
But in OHGerman we have also sundar "south,"
later contracted to sunt, sund, giving rise to AS. sud.
It did not occur to anyone, as far as I know, to connect
this word with sundar "separate." We turn to the
Arabic and find there v>^ ^anub "the south wind,"
from the Lat. Canopus, the southern star, with which
the south is connected. But this word happened
popularly to be derived from the root ^^ ganaba
"he placed a distance away, removed, went aside,"
v-^ gunub "distant, remote," hence v^- gandb "a
vicinage, or tract adjacent to the place of abode or
settlement," etc. Thus the corresponding word for
"apart," namely, OHG. sundar, under the influence of
some Arabic glossary, was used to express also "the
south."
I have already shown how "west" and "east" arose.
We can now turn to the OHG. ostarun "Easter."
In chapter XV of his De temporum ratione, Bede gives
a list of the ASaxon months.^ April is here called
not occur anywhere before 747, and avvrfKeia, as the name of the pasture
which is attached to an immunity, but pays a certain tribute, is totally
unknown in Roman or Greek law, it is most likely that the term appeared
in Lucca through a Gothic source. I have already pointed out the amazing
resemblance in the regulations pertaining to mountain land in Italy to
those in Spain (Commentary to the Germanic Laws and Mediaeval Documents,
Cambridge 1915, p. 136 ff.) It is, therefore, more than probable that the
term in Lucca is ultimately due to the Syriac law, where trvvr^Keia is
connected only with the "ager peculiaris," that is, "cattle land."
1 "Antiqui autem Anglorum populi (neque enim mihi congruum videtur,
aliarum gentium annalem observantiam dicere, et meae reticere) juxta
cursum lunae suos menses computavere; unde et a luna Hebraeorum et
Graecorum more nomen accipiunt. Si quidem apud eos luna mona, mensis
monath appellatur. Primusque eorum mensis, quern Latini Januarium
vocant, dicitur Giuli. Deinde Februarius Sol-Monath, Martius Rhed-
monath, Aprilis Eostur-monath, Maius Thrimylchi, Junius Lida, Julius
similiter Lida, Augustus Vueod-monath, September Haleg-monath, October
138 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Eostur-monath, and we are told that it was called so
from the goddess Eostre, whose holiday was celebrated
in that month. We have also the Ger. Ostara, the god-
dess of spring, that is, the rising sun. We do not have
to go very far for the etymology of this word. The
same Arabic word which produced the Ostrogoths,
produced also Ostara, for c3^' ^a§-§arq means "the
rising sun." But we have positive evidence that
either Bede was acquainted with the Antiquitas from
the Arabic source, or else the whole chapter of the
English months is a forgery of a later time. He
says that both December and January were called
Vuinter-fylleth, November Blod-monath, December Giuli, eodem quo
Januarius nomine, vocatur. Incipiebant autem annum ab octavo Calen-
darum Januariarum die, ubi nunc natale Domini celebramus. Et ipsam
noctem nunc nobis sacrosanctam, tunc gentili vocabulo Modranicht, id
est, matrum noctem, appellabant, ob causam, ut suspicamur, ceremoniarum
quas in ea pervigiles agebant. Et quotiescunque communis esset annus,
ternos menses lunares singulis anni temporibus dabant. Cum vero embolis-
mus, hoc est, XIII mensium lunarium annus occurreret, superfluum mensem
aestati apponebant, ita ut tunc tres menses simul Lida nomine vocarentur,
et ob id annus ille Thri-lidi cognominabatur, habens IV menses aestatis,
ternos ut semper temporum caeterorum. Item principaliter annum totum
in duo tempora, hyemis, videlicet, et aestatis dispartiebant, sex illos menses
quibus longiores noctibus dies sunt aestati tribuendo, sex reliquos hyemi.
Unde et mensem quo hyemalia tempora incipiebant Vuinter-fylleth appella-
bant, composito nomine ab hyeme et plenilunio, quia videlicet a plenilunio
ejusdem mensis hyems sortiretur initium. Nee ab re est si et caetera men-
sium eorum quid significent nomina interpretari curemus. Menses Giuli
a conversione solis in auctum diei, quia unus eorum praecedit, alius subse-
quitur, nomina accipiunt. Sol-monath dici potest mensis placentarum,
quas in eo diis suis oflferebant; Rhed-monath a dea illorum Rheda, cui in
illo sacrificabant, nominatur; Eostur-monath, qui nunc paschalis mensis
interpretatur, quondam a dea illorum quae Eostre vocabatur, et cui in
illo festa celebrabant, nomen habuit, a cujus nomine nunc paschale tempus
cognominant; consueto antiquae observationis vocabulo gaudia novae
solemnitatis vocantes. Tri-milchi dicebatur, quod tribus vicibus in eo per
diem pecora mulgebantur. Talis enim erat quondam ubertas Britanniae,
vel Germaniae, de qua in Britanniam natio intravit Anglorum. Lida dicitur
blandus, sive navigabilis, quod in utroque mense et blanda sit serenitas
aurarum, et navigari soleant aequora. Vueod-monath mensis zizaniorum,
quod ea tempestate maxime abundent. Haleg-monath mensis sacrorum.
Vuinter-fylleth potest dici composito novo nomine hyemeplenilunium.
Blot-monath mensis immolationum, quia in ea pecora quae occisuri erant
diis suis voverent. Gratias tibi, bone Jesu, qui nos, ab his vanis avertens,
tibi sacrificia laudis offerre donasti," Migne, Patrol, lat., vol. XC, col. 356 f.
JORDANES 139
Giuli, and that they were so called from the increase
in the sun's warmth. Now, we have in Gothic fruma
jiuleis for November, hence December must also have
been called jiuleis. The writing Giuli in ASaxon is,
no doubt, due to a borrowing from the Gothic, where
j looks like g. The Christian Arabs call, from the
Syriac, December JjVi o>\^ kdnun 'al-'awwal, and
January .y Wi o>^ kdnun ^as-sdnl. Kdnun means
"warming pan, brazier," hence the two months are
called respectively the first and the second brazier.
Jj', when left unaccented, could easily be read iul,
and it is this which the Antiquitas took for the name of
both December and January, or, in the Gothic calendar,
of November and December, while kdnun led to con-
necting iul with "log, that which is burning." June
and July are given in Bede as Lida, and he goes on to
say that the English had a lunar month, hence they
had to add a third Lida month, whence such a year was
called thri-lidi. Who does not see that we have here
a description of the Arabic or Syrian year? Among the
Syrians October and November had the same name,
Tihln, while among the ancient Arabs we have simi-
larly two sets of months by the same name, namely,
Rabl'' and Jumddd} The whole speculation on the
Germanic months is based on some apocryphal Arabic
source, which it may still be possible to ascertain.
Thus, for example, Bede says that the day corre-
sponding to Christmas was called by the Germans
modranicht, that is, "the mothers' night." This appar-
ently refers to Syr. Mdrt Mary am, literally "Lady
Mary," whose feast fell on the Friday after Christmas,^
or it may be The Fasting of Our Lady Mary, which
begins on Monday after Sunday of Subbar, and ends on
1 E. Sachau, The Chronology of Ancient Nations, London 1879, p. 70.
Ubid.,p. 311.
140 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Christinas day.^ Meanwhile the names for April,
December, and January show unmistakably how the
Germanic calendar was made up.
But to return to our Tetraxite Goths. We have a
definite reference to them in Jordanes, from a source
which he brushes aside as not trustworthy, because it
is not contained in the Antiquitas, which he quotes.
Jordanes says that at Cherson, that is, in the region
where we have found mentioned the Tetraxite Goths,
there lived the Hunnish Altziagiri, who were different
from the Saviri. It was to them that the greedy mer-
chants brought the goods of Asia. These Altziagiri
roamed about in the summer and lived in the winter
near the Pontus. They are the noted Hunuguri,
since from them comes the commerce in furs, and they
were enriched by the boldness of so many men who first
lived in Scythia near the Maeotis, then inMysia, Thrace,
and Dacia, then again near the Pontus. ** We were unable
to find an account of their story by those who say that
they were enslaved in Britain or some island and
snatched away at the price of one horse. Certainly,
if anyone in our city would say that they were of differ-
ent origin from what we have said, he would be defying
us; but we prefer to believe what is written, rather
than to follow old wives' fairy tales. "^ Even the editor
1 Ibid., p. 307.
2 "Ultra quos distendunt supra mare Ponticum Bulgarum sedes, quos
notissimos peccatorum nostrorum mala fecerunt. hinc iam Hunni quasi
fortissimorum gentium fecundissimus cespes bifariam populorum rabiem
puUularunt. nam alii Altziagiri, alii Saviri nuncupantur, qui tamen sedes
habent divisas: iuxta Chersonam Altziagiri, quo Asiae bona avidus mercator
importat, qui aestate campos pervagant effusas sedes, prout armentorum
invitaverint pabula, hieme supra mare Ponticum se referentes. Hunuguri
autem hinc sunt noti, quia ab ipsis pellium murinarum venit commercium :
quos tantorum virorum formidavit audacia. quorum mansione prima in
Scythiae solo iuxta paludem Meotidem, secundo in Mysiam Thraciamque
et Daciam, tertio supra mare Ponticum rursus in Scythia legimus habitasse:
nee eorum fabulas alicubi repperimus scriptas, qui eos dicunt in Brittania
vel in unaqualibet insularxim in servitute redactos et in unius caballi praetio
JORDANES 141
had to suggest that the reference was to the Goths. ^
What has happened is clear. The forger knew full
well that the merchants along the Pontus were the
Goths who had been enslaved in Spain by the Arabs,
and he knew that these Goths were the same that had
originally lived near the Maeotis and in Moesia; but
that interfered with his story of the Goths, so he denied
them as a myth. Thus the myth became history, and
real history was turned into a myth. From what
follows it is perfectly clear that Jordanes was speaking
of the Goths, for he goes on to say that they at first
lived near the Maeotis, then in Dacia, Thrace, and
Moesia, and the history, as he finds it in the Antiquitas,
begins to the detriment of truth. Jordanes had the
correct story, which he brushed aside, from an Arabic
source, for the Altziagiri, whom he mentions, do not
exist anywhere else, and are nothing but the Al-savirif
of whom he makes a separate race. But the definite
reference to the Goths as cupidi mercatores shows that
the TpaTte^iToe of Procopius comes from the same or
a similar Arabic source.
The hodge-podge method of the forger, Jordanes or
his predecessor, in concocting a Gothic history, has
already been made clear in what precedes. Anything
which even distantly could be expounded as related
to the Goths, namely, accounts of Thracians, Dacians,
Getae, Massagetae, Scythians, etc., was thrown into
the witches' cauldron to be boiled into history. Tele-
phus, the son of Hercules, who in Greek mythology is
connected with Mysia, becomes a Gothic king, be-
cause Mysia is Moesia, and in Moesia there were
Goths. ^ Tomyris of the Massagetae, who is by the
a quodam ereptos. aut certe si quis eos aliter dixerit in nostro urbe, quam
quod nos diximus, fuisse exortos, nobis aliquid obstrepebit: nos enim potius
lectioni credimus quam fabulis anilibus consentimus," V (37-38).
' Op. cit., p. 63, in note.
2 IX (68 flf.).
142 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Greeks connected with Persia, becomes a Gothic queen
who goes to Moesia and there founds the city of Tomes}
Sitalces, king of Thrace in the time of the Peloponne-
sian war, becomes a leader of the Goths. ^ It is
useless to waste time on the investigation of such
perfectly worthless stuff. But there is one bold plagi-
arism which demands a thorough investigation, on
account of the enormous influence it has had upon
Germanic history, mythology, and literature, and be-
cause it at one fell swoop discloses a large number of
literary forgeries, which have been accepted as genuine
heretofore, and which, in the light of my investigation,
will tumble like a house of cards. This plagiarism deals
in Jordanes with Hermanric, who in Germany produces
Arminius, the symbol of German greatness and power.
After Geberich, the king of the Goths, says Jordanes,
came Hermanric, the noblest of the Amali, who con-
quered many northern nations and made them obey
his law. A large number of nations, not recorded
anywhere else, are then recorded as having come under
his rule. He conquered the Heruli; then he carried
war into the country of the Veneti, who now are called
Antes and Sclaveni and are now threatening "us" on
account of "our" sins, but then were subjected to
Hermanric. Then Jordanes proceeds to tell all about
the Huns and other savage tribes. Hermanric, angered
at the misdeeds of the husband of a certain woman,
Sunilda, of the race of Rosomoni, had her torn to pieces
by horses, after which her brothers, Sarus and Ammius,
avenged her death by wounding him in his side. Mean-
while the Huns attacked him, and he grieved over the
matter and died in his one hundred and tenth year.
X (61).
X (66).
JORDANES 143
It is then that the Huns prevailed over the Ostrogoths.^
As we hear immediately afterwards of Valentinian and
Valens, it is clear that Jordanes means to place the
reign of Hermanric before 364.
' "Nam Gothorum rege Geberich rebus humanis excedente post temporis
aliquod Hermanaricus nobilissimus Amalorum in regno successit, qui multas
et bellicosissimas arctoi gentes perdomuit suisque parere legibus fecit,
quern merito nonnuUi Alexandro Magno conparavere maiores. habebat si
quidem quos domuerat Golthescytha Thiudos Inaunxis Vasinabroncas
Merens Mordens Imniscaris Rogas Tadzans Athaul Navego Bubegenas
Coldas. sed cum tantorum servitio clarus haberetur, non passus est nisi et
gentem Herulorum, quibus praeerat Halaricus, magna ex parte trucidatam
reliquam suae subegeret dicioni. nam praedicta gens, Ablavio istorico
referente, iuxta Meotida palude inhabitans in locis stagnantibus, quas
Greci ele vocant, Eluri nominati sunt, gens quantum velox, eo amplius
superbissima. nulla si quidem erat tunc gens, quae non levem armaturam
in acie sua ex ipsis elegeret. sed quamvis velocitas eorum ab aliis crebro
bellantibus evagaret, Gothorum tamen stabilitate subiacuit et tarditati,
fecitque causa fortunae, ut et ipsi inter reliquas gentes Getarum regi Her-
manarico servirent. post Herulorum cede item Hermanaricus in Venethos
arma commovit, qui, quamvis armis despecti, sed numerositate poUentes,
primum resistere conabantur. sed nihil valet multitudo inbellium, prae-
sertim ubi et deus permittit et multitudo armata advenerit. nam hi, ut in
initio expositionis vel catalogo gentium dicere coepimus, ab una stirpe exorti,
tria nunc nomina ediderunt, id est Venethi, Antes, Sclaveni; qui quamvis
nunc, ita facientibus peccatis nostris, ubique deseviunt, tamen tunc omnes
Hermanarici imperils servierunt. Aestorum quoque similiter nationem,
qui longissimam ripam Oceani Germanici insident, idem ipse prudentia
et virtute subegit omnibusque Scythiae et Germaniae nationibus ac si
propriis lavoribus imperavit," XXIII (116-120). "Quod genus expeditissi-
mum multarumque nationum grassatorem Getae ut viderunt, paviscunt,
suoque cum rege deliberant, qualiter tali se hoste subducant. nam Herma-
naricus, rex Gothorum, licet, ut superius retulimus, multarum gentium
extiterat triumphator, de Hunnorum tamen adventu dum cogitat, Roso-
monorum gens infida, quae tunc inter alias illi famulatum exhibebat, tali
eum nanciscitur occasione decipere. dum enim quandam mulierem Sunilda
nomine ex gente memorata pro mariti fraudulento discessu rex furore com-
motus equis ferocibus inligatam incitatisque cursibus per diversa divelli
praecipisset, fratres eius Sarus et Ammius, germanae obitum vindicantes,
Hermanarici latus ferro petierunt; quo vulnere saucius egram vitam corporis
inbecillitate contraxit. quam adversam eius valitudinem captans Balamber
rex Hunnorum in Ostrogotharum parte movit procinctum, a quorum socie-
tate iam Vesegothae quadam inter se intentione seiuncti habebantur.
inter haec Hermanaricus tam vulneris dolore quam etiam Hunnorum in-
cursionibus non ferens grandevus et plenus dierum centesimo decimo anno
vitae suae defunctus est. cuius mortis occasio dedit Hunnis praevalerein
Gothis illis, quos dixeramus orientali plaga sedere et Ostrogothas nuncupari,"
XXIV (129-130).
144 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
The accounts of the death of Julian the Apostate
have all been collected and classified.^ It appears
that up to the end of the fourth century the authors,
who knew of Julian's death from the accounts of eye-
witnesses, agreed to this, that Julian was killed in
Armenia or Persia, while making war upon Persia, by
a spear-thrust from an unknown enemy, either a
Persian, an Arab, or a Christian.^ There is absolutely
nothing mythical in the story and no reference to any
Christian glorification in the last moments of the
emperor.
In Sozomenus, Socrates, Theodoretus, and Philo-
storgius, we find the statement that Julian, when dying,
exclaimed that the sun had killed him, and that the
Galilean had conquered or was about to be satis-
fied.^ We have already seen that these ecclesiastic
writers have been interpolated at a later time, and so
it is not certain that these references to the sun already
existed in the fifth century. In fact, it is highly prob-
able that we have here seventh or eighth century inter-
polations. If, however, it could be proved that these
passages are genuine, we should have the intrusion of
a Persian story through the Syriac at least a century
earlier than authentically reported from Syriac sources.
The whole story of the death of Julian from an arrow
sent by the sun and indicating the victory of the
Galilean, that is, the sun, is taken from the Bunde-
hesh, chapter VI: "Of the struggle of the creations of
the world with the opposition of Ahriman the following
is told in Holy Writ: After Ahriman ran in and saw
the bravery of the Yazatas and his own weakness, he
wanted to run away again. The spirit of heaven was
» R. Nostitz-Rieneck, Vom Tode des Kaisers Julian, in XVI. Jahresbericht
des dffentlichen Privatgymnasiums an der Stella Matutina zu Feldkirch,
Feldkirch 1907, p. Iff.; Th. Buttner-Wobst, Der Tod des Kaisers Julian,
in Philologus, vol. LI, p. 561 ff.
" Nostitz-Rieneck, op. cit., pp. 1-12.
3 Ibid., p. 12-15.
JORDANES 145
like a warrior who has on his coat of mail, all ready
for the fray. Heaven took up the struggle against
Ahriman, until Ormuzd had built a stronghold around
him. Then the Fravashis, that is, the manes, of the
warriors and saints, were on horseback, with spears
in their hands, which spears hung from heaven like
hairs on the head, just as warriors are behind a forti-
fication. Then Ahriman found no place to which he
could run. He saw the fall of the Daevas and his
own impotence, as well as the ultimate victory of
Ormuzd and the resurrection in eternity."^
In the sixth century the Syrians begin to connect
the death of Julian with the martyr Mercurius. In
the romance of Julian the Apostate Saint Mercurius
appears to Jovian in a dream, all accoutered and
with a bow and three arrows. He informs Jovian
that he will kill Julian in less than three weeks. Then
comes the battle between Julian and Sapor. A heaven-
ly voice announces the outcome of the battle, when
Julian begins to blaspheme the voice of the Nazarene.
Then an arrow pierces his breast, and he takes some
blood from his wound, and, throwing it up to heaven,
exclaims: "Be satiated, Jesus, be satiated, and have
enough, for you have now not only the divine attributes,
but also royal power. "^ It is not necessary to dwell
on the Mercury motive in Malalas, the Chronicon Pas-
chale, and later writers,^ except to mention that the
place where Julian is killed is variously called Asia,
Rasia, Phrygia} The account given in Malalas is
practically the same as in the Chronicon Paschale.
Julian asked what the name of the place was where
he was hurt, and, upon hearing that it was called
^ F. Justi, Der Bundehesh, Leipzig 1868, chap. VI, p. 8 f.
* Nostitz-Rieneck, op. cit., p. 16.
' Ibid., p. 17 S., and H. Delehaye, Les legendes grecques des saints mili-
taires, Paris 1909, p. 96 fif.
* Delehaye, op. cit., p. 99, note 1, and Nostitz-Rieneck, op. cit., p. 18.
146 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Rasia or Asia, he exclaimed, **0 Sun, thou has con-
quered Julian," and, throwing some blood in the air,
he gave up the ghost. Obviously, the sun has some-
thing to do with the place where Julian was struck
down.
In the Bundehesh Ahriman sees that it is all up with
him, when the Fravashis unite in war against him.
The Bundehesh is too late to determine the form of the
word for "manes" in the fifth century. It is there
written frahvar, Mod. Pers. fravar, while in YaH
XIII, where we have the fullest reference to these
spirits, as elsewhere in the Avesta, we have frava$ay.
This would suggest to a Semite one of the many roots
beginning with /r-, which mean "separation, liber-
ation." And truly in the Syriac story the arrow by
which Julian is struck down is called Xxcioaj \l}!^ gerd
depurqdnd "an arrow of salvation." The Latin or
Greek borrower from the Syriac thought that this
meant "an arrow from Phrygia," and thus a particular
locality, Phrygia, Rasia, Asia, was evolved. But it is
clear that Julian-Ahriman, upon seeing that he was
besieged from heaven by Fravashis, exclaimed that
the kingdom of the sun was now assured.
Just as in the Bundehesh, so does the Syriac story
have the voice of the defeat come from heaven, and
the manner in which Julian is actually struck down,
namely, by Saint Mercurius, is due to a misunder-
standing, or, rather, too literal an interpretation of the
Persian story. The whole YaSt VIII is devoted to
TiHrya, the star Sirius, the leader of Ormuzd in his
fight against Ahriman. Tistrya goes down to the sea
like the swift arrow of the best bowman. He spurts
the water over all evil things, and Ahriman cannot
cope with him. He fills the seas and the lands with
water, and is the greatest good of man. In the Bunde-
heshf Ahriman, after his encounter with heaven, tried
JORDANES 147
his strength with the ruler over the waters, Ti§trya.
Ormuzd gave Tistrya unusual strength, so that one of
the Daevas flew a whole parasang away from him,
whence it is said that it was the strength of an arrow
which flies a parasang that Tistrya had. Tistrya's
position in heaven is that of the cancer, "wherefore
the month tir belongs to the cancer, where Tistrya
jumped in and did his work as the producer of rain.
Then the water was carried upwards by the power of
the wind. Tistrya's helpers were Vohumano and Yazata
Haoma, under the guidance of Yazata Borz and of the
Fravashis of the pure."^
The month which is sacred to Tistrya is called tir,
that is, "arrow." But tir also means "the star Mercury."
Thus it is really Mercury who is the arrow and strikes
Ahriman. In the Syriac story Mercurius appears in
a coat of mail; so do the Fravashis in the Bundehesh,
and it is Tistrya who sends the arrow, that is, Mercury,
to strike down the power of Ahriman. In the Bunde-
hesh, as in the YaSt, Tistrya spurts the waters as high
as heaven and saturates the earth and the seas. In
the Syrian story, Julian throws his blood up, and ex-
claims, "Be satiated and have enough!"
It is not merely parallels that we have in both cases,
but the Syriac story is based directly on the Persian
account of Ahriman's fall, and was produced through
the misunderstanding of one term, fravaSay, and the
pun of the word tir in the Bundehesh.
There is an awkward passage in the account of
Julian's death in Ammianus Marcellinus. According
to this, Julian is struck in a natural way by a horseman's
lance. ^ When he saw that he was dying, he asked
what the name of the place was, and, upon hearing
that it was called Phrygia, he knew at once that he
1 Chap. VII.
* There is even here an awkward word, "incertum," which makes no
meaning and is rejected by the editors.
148 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
was going to die, because he had heard so in an oracle.^
As Phrygia could have arisen only from the Syriac
"arrow of salvation," it is clear that we have here at
least an interpolation, if not a downright forgery.
We shall find a still worse forgery in Ammianus later
on. It is certainly curious that not a word was ever
written about Ammianus before the sixteenth century,
except a short reference to a sentence from the four-
teenth book in Priscianus, XI. 51, and that the work
of Marcellinus, which Poggio claimed to have found at
Hersfeld or Fulda, should almost begin with that
sentence, for he claimed to have found Marcellinus
only beginning with book XIV. It looks as though
Poggio used the sentence in Priscianus as a basis for
his fabrication.^
The Syriac phrase, jjleiolsj ]i\Il^ gerd depurqdnd,
"an arrow of salvation, or separation," caused the Arabs
a great deal of trouble. The Syrians themselves must
have had difficulty in explaining it. The Arabs trans-
lated it literally as v-^ r^ sahmun garbun, or sahmu
garbin, "the arrow of separation,"^ which the lexico-
graphers had to explain as "an arrow of which the
author was not known, an arrow that is shot and
strikes another." It is this difficulty which the Arabs
had in telling precisely what was meant by the strange
phrase that later caused the confusion in the Harman
story, as it reached the Teutons.
If there is any lingering doubt left as to the identi-
fication of Julian with Harman, that will be at once
dispelled by the specific reference to Julian as Harman
in the seventh century Syriac chronicle, which has
1 "Ideo spe deinceps uiuendi absumpta, quod percunctando Phrygiam
appellari locum ubi ceciderat conperit. hie enim obiturum se praescripta
audierat sorte," XXV. 3. 9.
^ It seems, however, more likely that it is an eighth century forgery.
^ Th. Noldeke, Ueber den syrischen Roman von Kaiser Julian, in Zeitschrift
der deutschen morgenldndischen Gesellschaft, vol. XXVIII, p. 292.
JORDANES 149
come down to us in an eighth century copy. Here we
are told that Julian was killed by the hands of the
Romans, either in Chaldaea or in Aramaea. At the
same time the Lord was angry at the cities of the
Gentiles and Jews and Samaritans, and the southern
cities which taught Julian's false doctrines, wherefore
he destroyed twenty-one of them. In June of 363
Joyinian gained glory for himself to the north of
Caucaba and Ctesiphon and established peace between
the Romans and Persians by giving to the latter the
country around Nisibis and all of Armenia, which had
obeyed Harman} Thus there is not a particle of
doubt left that Julian was Harman.
In Jordanes he becomes Hermanric, who ruled over
the northern country, which he conquered and made
to obey his law. But the mysterious arrow of the
Syriac story here becomes the two brothers, Sarus
and Ammius, who wound Hermanric for his cruel
treatment of their sister, Sunilda. This Sunilda is
also taken out of a Syriac romance of Julian.^ Here
Julian is represented as a recreant who has cheated
Eleuthera, the daughter of the Roman counterking
Licinius and a sister of Constantine, out of her property.
Eleuthera's spirit begs Constantine to avenge her
wrongs. "What shall I do for you?" he asks. "Let
him swear to me upon the column which guards the
watchtower, that he has not done me any wrong, and
then I will never again accuse him." When Julian
hears that the Emperor is going to apprehend him,
he goes to his friend, the magician Magnus, who
takes him to the column, in order to save him from the
wrath of the demons. In order to escape being found
out as a cheat, Julian agrees, at the request of the demon,
^ Libri chalipharum, fol. 39v., in J. P. N. Land, Anecdota syriaca, Lugduni
Batavorum 1862, vol. I, p. 6 of the Syriac text.
2 Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenldndischen Gesellschaft, vol. XXVIII,
p. 660 ff.
150 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
to sacrifice to him. Three days later Julian returns to
sacrifice in front of the column. After renouncing the
cross, Julian meets the highest demon, who tells him
that he will make him Emperor for one hundred years.
Then Julian sacrifices on that night, and the demons
come and worship him. That very night the magician
Magnus takes with him his maid servant, who is preg-
nant. They undress her and hang her up in the temple
and slit her open and take out her nine months old
child. Then Magnus speaks the magic formula, and
the lower spirits appear. After they have promised to
aid Julian, the servant is taken down, and the child
restored to her womb. She is placed on an altar and
sacrificed. The Emperor insists that Julian swear
before the column, but desists, at the request of the
senate, who believe that Julian is a Christian and
should not swear before a column. Then Julian is
made general in chief, after which he is killed.
In this second story it is a brother of the woman whom
Julian has wronged who intends to avenge the woman,
and Julian is a participant in a cruel act to the maid
servant. The two episodes are in Jordanes welded
into one in the case of Sunilda, whom he tears to
pieces, and whom the brothers avenge. Eleuthera is
the sister of the Emperor of the Romans, Sunelda is
the sister of the king of the Rosomons. It is not clear
in Jordanes whether Sunilda is Hermanric's wife, or
the wife of the king of the Rosomons, but Jordanes got
the story mixed up, because the woman is here made to
suffer for the husband's fraudulent deed, whereas in the
Syriac story it is Julian himself who is the cheat. The
name Sunilda, which is also written Sunihil, is ap-
parently a corruption of Astina, the Persian queen with
whom Jovinian is made to have some relations in the
first Syriac story. As in the Syriac romance, so in
Jordanes, Hermanric lives more than a hundred years.
JORDANES 151
Noldeke has shown^ that the two Syriac stories
are of native origin, and that the second Syriac story
cannot be of an earlier date than the beginning of the
seventh century. Thus the account in Jordanes must
be still later, to have brought about such confusion.
And the reference to Ermenerichus, the king of the
Ostrogoths, whose country the Huns invaded, as
given in Ammianus Marcellinus,'^ is a downright
forgery, taken out of Jordanes or indirectly from the
Syriac Liher calipharum, where the Huns invade the
cities of Caucaba and Ctesiphon in 395,^ that is, the
region where Julian-Harman was supposed to reign for
one hundred years.
The Arabic romance of Julian is not extant, but it
is certain that here Harman was still further confused
with Hermes. Two of the leading personages of a
large number of Arabic stories and beliefs are Agatho-
daemon and Hermes,* who belong to the Gnostic and
Manichaean beliefs. Hermes is by the Arabs represent-
ed as the builder of the pyramids, hence it may be
that Arab, c^ hirm, dual u^^ hirmdn "pyramid,"
is derived from the same word. From the confusion
of "pyramid" and "mighty ruler" has arisen the
myth of the Irminsul of the Saxons. The account is
contained in the Translatio S. Alexandria written by
Ruodolf and Meginhard in 851.^ As the whole story
will be analyzed later, I give it here in full.
"Saxonum gens, sicut tradit Antiquitas, ab Anglis
Britanniae incolis egressa, per Oceanum navigans
Germaniae litoribus studio et necessitate quaerendarum
sedium appulsa est, in loco qui vocatur Haduloha, eo
» Ihid., p. 671 f.
» XXXI. 3. 1.
» Ov. at., p. 108.
* Th. Haarbriicker, Abu-l-Faih' Muh'ammad asch-Schahrastdni's Religions-
partheien und Philosophenschulen, Halle 1851, vol. II, p. 65, et passim.
» MGH., Scriptores, vol. II, p. 674 ff.
152 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
tempore quo Thiotricus rex Francorum contra Irmin-
fridum generum suum, ducem Thuringorum, dimicans,
terrain eorum crudeliter ferro vastavit et igni. Et
cum iam duobus proeliis ancipiti pugna incertaque
victoria miserabili suorum cede decertassent, Thiotricus
spe vincendi frustratus,misit legatos ad Saxones, quorum
dux erat Hadugoto. Audivit enim causam adventus
eorum, promissisque pro victoria habitandi sedibus,
conduxit eos in adiutorium; quibus secum quasi iam
pro libertate et patria fortiter dimicantibus, superavit
adversarios, vastatisque indigenis et ad internitionem
pene deletis, terram eorum iuxta pollicitationem suam
victoribus delegavit. Qui eam sorte dividentes, cum
multi ex eis in bello cecidissent, et pro raritate eorum
tota ab eis occupari non potuit, partem illius, et eam
quam maxime quae respicit orientem, colonis tradebant,
singuli pro sorte sua, sub tributo exercendam. Cetera
vero loca ipsi possiderunt. A meridie quidem Francos
habentes et partem Thuringorum, quos praecedens
hostilis turbo non tetigit, et alveo fluminis Unstrotae
dirimuntur. A septentrione vero Nordmannos, gentes
ferocissimas. Ab ortu autem solis Obodritos, et ab
occasu Frisos, a quibus sine intermissione vel foedere
vel concertatione necessario finium suorum spacia
tuebantur. Erant enim inquieti nimis et finitimorum
sedibus infesti, domi vero pacati et civium utilitatibus
placida benignitate consulentes. Generis quoque ac
nobilitatis suae providissimam curam habentes, nee
facile uUis aliarum gentium vel sibi inferiorum conubiis
infecti, propriam et sinceram et tantum sui similem
gentem facere conati sunt. Unde habitus quoque ac
magnitudo corporum comarumque color, tanquam in
tanto hominum numero, idem pene omnibus. Quatuor
igitur differentiis gens ilia consistit, nobilium scilicet
et liberorum, libertorum atque servorum. Et id legibus
firmatum, ut nulla pars in copulandis coniugiis propriae
JORDANES 158
sortis terminos transferal, sed nobilis nobilem ducat
uxorem, et liber liberam, libertus coniungatur liber tae,
et servus ancillae. Si vero quispiam horum sibi non
congruentem et genere prestantiorem duxerit uxorem,
cum vitae suae damno componat.
**Legibus etiam ad vindictam malefactorum optimis
utebantur. Et multa utilia atque secundum legem
naturae honesta in morum probitate habere studuerunt,
quae eis ad veram beatitudinem promerendam pro-
ficere potuissent, si ignorantiam creatoris sui non
haberent, et a veritate culturae illius non essent alieni.
Coluerunt enim eos, qui natura non erant dii: inter
quos maxime Mercurium venerabantur, cui certis
diebus humanis quoque hostiis litare consueverant.
Deos suos neque templis includere, neque uUae humani
oris speciei adsimilare ex magnitudine et dignitate
coelestium arbitrati sunt. Lucos ac nemora consecran-
tes, deorumque nominibus appellantes, secretum illud
sola reverentia contemplabantur. Auspicia et sortes
quam maxime observabant. Sortium consuetudo sim-
plex erat. Virgam frugiferae arbori decisam in surculos
amputabant, eosque notis quibusdam discretos super
candidam vestem t^mere ac fortuito spargebant; mox,
si publica consultatio fuit, sacerdos populi, si privata,
ipse paterfamilias precatus deos coelumque suspiciens
ter singulos tulit, sublatisque secundum inpressam ante
notam interpretatus est. Si prohibuerunt, nulla de
eadem re ipsa die consultatio, si permissum est,
eventuum adhuc fides exigebatur. Avium voces vola-
tusque interrogare, proprium gentis illius erat. Equo-
rum quoque praesagia ac monitus experiri, hinnitusque
ac fremitus observare; nee ulli auspicio maior fides non
solum apud plebem, sed etiam apud proceres habebatur.
Erat et alia observatio auspiciorum, qua gravium bello-
rum eventus explorare solebant; eius quippe gentis,
cum qua bellandum fuit, captivum quoquo modo inter-
154 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
ceptum, cum electo popularium suorum patriis quemque
armis committere, et victoriam huius vel illius pro
iudicio habere. Quomodo autem certis diebue, cum
aut inchoatur luna aut impletur, agendis rebus auspica-
tissimum initium crediderint, et alia innumera vanarum
superstitionum genera, quibus implicati sunt, obser-
vaverint, pretereo Frondosis arboribus f onti-
busque venerationem exhibebant. Truncum quoque ligni
non parvae magnitudinis in altum erectum sub divo cole-
bant, patria eum lingua Irminsul appellantes,quodlatine
dicitur universalis columna, quasi sustinens omnia."
The Translatio S. Alexandri begins with an account
of the origin of the Saxons. We are told that the Anti-
quitas says that the Saxons came from Britain and
settled near Haduloha, and that Theodoric, the
Frankish king, united with Hadugot, the leader of the
Saxons, and defeated the Thuringians, after which
he allowed the Saxons to settle on the continent. The
passage found in Tacitus follows immediately after
the statement that the Saxons had good laws, but
unfortunately were not Christians. Then Ruodolf
proceeds with an account of the Saxon war, and
refers, obviously quoting from another source, to the
fact that the Saxons worshiped in groves and at springs,
and revered a huge column which they called in their
language Irminsul, which meant "universal column."
This account, no doubt, like the beginning of the
Translatio, is taken from a Saxon Antiquitas. That
such existed we are informed by Trithemius, who says
that Hermenfrid, claimed to have lived in 520 B. C,
wrote many fabulous things about the Saxons. Trit-
hemius had made excerpts from his book about the
year 1486, but had left the notes behind in Spanheim,
where they were lost.^
' "De saxonibus atque doringis multa sparsim leguntur, de quorum origine
Hermenfrid quidam ante Christi nativitatem anno CCCCCXX multa
scripsit magna et partim fabulosa. Cuius fragmenta per me excopiata
JORDANES 155
From the Antiquitas, or from an older source, the
story of the column found its way into the forgery
known as Cosmographia Aethici Istrici,^ where it is
adorned fantastically and is ascribed to a nation in
the Euxine Sea. Here the nation worshiped Saturn
by making a large heap of stones and mortar, on which
they raised enormous pillars. This structure they called
in their language Morcholom, that is, "stella Deorum.'"^
If we now turn back to Irminsul, we find it several
times referred to in the ninth century chronicles as
the Saxon sanctuary, idol, or grove, destroyed by
Charlemagne in 772.^ The very variation indicates
that the information about the irminsul was received
at second hand or from a literary source, for otherwise
there would have been some agreement as to its mean-
ing. Later we frequently find the glosses "irmansuli
piramides, irminsul colossus, altissima columna."
That irman, for which there is no Germanic root,
was taken to mean "very great, universal," is proved
by the use made of it in the Hildebrandlied, where
ante XXX annos reliqui in Spanheim, que nescio si adhuc ibi reperiantur,"
J. Chmel, Die Handschriften der k. k. Hofbibliothek in Wien, Wien 1840,
vol. I, p. 315.
» Edited by H. Wuttke, Leipzig 1853.
* "Diem festum nequaquam nisi mense Augusto mediante. Colere Satur-
num, ob hoc quod temporibus Octaviani Augusti censum dederunt in auro
litorico, nuUi romanorum regum aut imperotorum nee antea nee postmodum,
et tunc quidem sponte, videntes quoque vicinas regiones censum dare:
arbitrati sunt quod deus dierum novus ortus fuisset et in ipso mense Augusto
congregaverunt ad unam catervam generationem cunctam seminis eorum
in insola maiore maris oceani Tareconta, fecerunt acervum magnum lapide
ac bitumine conglutinatum, aedificantes pilas praegrandes mirae magnitu-
dinis et cloacas subtus marmore constructas, phyrram fonte[m] glutinantes
et appellaverunt Morcholom lingua sua, id est stellam deorum, quo derivato
nomine Saturnum appellant," ibid., p. 19.
» "Pervenit ad locum qui dicitur Ermensul, et succendit ea loca," MGH.,
Scriptores, vol. I, p. 16; "destruxit fanum eorum quod vocabatur Irminsuul,"
ibid., p. 30; "idolum Saxonorum combussit, quod dicebant Irminsul,"
ibid., p. 88; "fanum et lucum eorum famosum Irminsul subvertit," ibid.,
p. 117; "ad Ermensul (hermensul) usque pervenit, et ipsum fanum destruxit,
et aurum vel argentum, quod ibi repperit, abstulit," ibid., p. 150; "idolum
quod Irminsul a Saxonibus vocabatur evertit," ibid., p. 151; "et destruxit
fanum eorum, quod vocabatur Hirminsuul," ibid., p. 295, etc.
156 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
we have irmingot "the great god of all," irminthiod
"the great nation, the human race." Similarly, we
have in Anglo-Saxon, in the Beowulf and elsewhere,
eormen-cyn "the human race," eormen-grund "the
spacious earth," eormen-strynd "the great generation,"
eormen-peod "a great people;" we also have OSax.
irminthiod "great people," irmingot "the great god,"
irminman "the great man," and ONorse jormun-gandr
"the great monster," jormund-grund "the earth."
The oldest of these literary sources set the pace for
the later one, but in no case did the word turn into an
adjective or become popular.
The origin of the word is strange enough. Caesar
and Pomponius Mela speak of the enormous size of
the Germans, which inspired fear in their enemies.^
But it is only Isidore of Seville who made this state-
ment the subject of one of his execrable etymologies.
He writes: "Germanicae gentes dictae, quod sint
inmania corpora inmanesque nationes saevissimis dura-
tae frigoribus ; qui mores ex ipso caeli rigore traxerunt,
ferocis animi et semper indomiti, raptu venatuque
viventes" (IX. 2. 97). He derived Germania from
inmania, that is, Germania was supposed to be equal
to Irmania, Inmania.
This etymology found its way into a considerable
number of eighth century writings, no doubt through
the intermediacy of Hunibald's History, which, if it
is the source of all the other quotations, must have
been written immediately before 727, as will later be
shown. There is a possibility, however, and a very
serious one, that the etymology in Isidore is an inter-
polation. That there are a few interpolations in Isidore
^ "Ingenti magnitudine corporum Germanos, incredibili virtute atque
exercitatione in armis esse praedicabant . . tantus subito timor omnem
exercitum occupauit, ut non mediocriter omnium mentes animosque per-
turbaret," De hello gallico, I. 39; "qui habitant inmanes sunt animis atque
corporibus," Pomponius Mela, III. 3.
JORDANES 157
appears clearly from the gloss about the Gaetuli,
where it says that they were Getae, and that, therefore,
there was a blood relationship between the Goths and
the Moors, or Berbers.^ This sentiment could have
slipped in only after 711, when the conquering Berbers
tried to claim a relationship with the Goths. This
is corroborated by an eleventh or twelfth century
MS. of Isidore, where both Goths and Moors are given
as descendants of Japheth.^
Unfortunately, Trithemius did not preserve all the
etymologies of Hunibald, and it is impossible to tell
whether he had said anything about the Germans;
but that is more than likely, since he several times
points out that Germani was the name given by the
Romans to the Franks. Trithemius says that they
were called Germani "foederis ratione," because they
were brothers.^ That is, however, the opinion of
Trithemius, and not of Hunibald, for a little further
down he says that the Germans were called so out of
contempt.^ Certainly Hunibald transferred the terror
of the Germans to that of the Franks,^ for they were
called Franci because they were feroces.^ We do have
• "Getuli Getae dicuntur fuisse, qui ingenti agmine a locis suis navibus
conscendentes, loca Syrtium in Libya occupaverunt, et quia ex Getis vene-
rant, derivato nomine Getuli cognominati sunt. Unde et opinio est apud
Gothos ab antiqua cognatione Mauros consanguinitate propinquos sibi
vocare," IX. 2. 118.
" "De lafeth nati sunt Goti et Mauri," MGH., Auctor. antiq., vol. XI, p.
259.
' "Dicti sunt igitur Franci, qui prius ab alijs, Sicambri: ab alijs dice-
bantur, foederis ratione, Germani," Johannis Trithemii Spanheimensis
opera historica, Francofurti 1601, p. 14.
• "Apud Romanos, Gallos quoque vel alios nationes . . . sive ignoratione,
sive detestatione vocabuli, banc gentem Germanam crebrius appelauere
quam Francam," ibid.
• "Certum est enim, quod nomen Francorum non scriptis, sed armis:
non amore, sed timore: non assumptione, sed subiectione cognouere Romani,'
ibid.
' "Statuit eos iam deinceps non Sicambros vocari debere, sed Francos,
idest, nobiles, liberos, vel bellicosos, et caeteris nationibus metuendos,"
ibid., p. 69; "unde nimium territae nationes in circuitu omnes Francos,
id est, feroces eos nominarunt," ibid.
158 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
a specific reference to Hunibald, from which it may be
seen that he certainly had the etymology for Germani,
for Trithemius says, on the authority of Hunibald,
that the foreign nations out of anger called the Franks
Germans.^ Now, Isidore of Seville offers the same
etymology for the Franks as given by Hunibald.^
As neither this etymology nor the other adduced by
Isidore, as though derived from their leader, Francus,
is found in Gregory of Tours, and for the first time
occurs only in Fredegar's Chronicle, which, as is shown
later, was written in the beginning of the eighth cen-
tury, Isidore's lemma is unquestionably an interpolation
from Hunibald. Curiously enough, the etymology for
Franci — feroces was in the twelfth century made the
subject of a national division into ''Franci nohiles
Francun," and ''Franci feroces merovingi karlingi."^
What caused the Saxon Antiquitas to transfer irman
"inmanis, great" to the column? Caesar spoke of the
inmania simulacra put up by the Gauls, and this was
transferred to the Germans. This would sufficiently
explain the origin of the irminsul. But there is still
a contamination here with the Arab, c^ hirm{un),
dual d^y> hirmdn "pyramid." The origin of the
Arabic word is clear, for the pyramids are supposed
to have been built by Hermes I.^ It is even most
likely that the etymology Germania-inmania was sug-
gested only through the intermediary Arabic word for
''pyramid," for which the Kamus gives also a verbal
meaning, "to exalt, make large."
^ "Francos (testante Hunibaldo) liuore commoti, non alio nominauere
vocabulo, quam Germanos," ibid., p. 21.
2 "Franci a quodam proprio duce vocari putantur. Alii eos a feritate
morum nuncupates existimant. Sunt enim in illis mores inconditi, naturalis
ferocitas animorum," IX. 2. 101.
' Steinmeyer and Sievers, vol. Ill, p. 131.
* Ad-Damlrt's Hay&t al-Hayawdn, trans, by A. S. G. Jayakar, London,
Bombay 1906, vol. I, p. 737; Fihrist {Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenldn-
dischen Gesellschajt, vol. XIII, p. 648), etc.
JORDANES 159
Aethicus, as we have seen, described the pyramid on
an island of the sea and finished up by saying that they
pasted fire together with water and called the structure
in their language morcholom. The mixing of fire with
water leaves no doubt whatsoever behind that Aethicus
is describing the pyramid, for Aristotle in his Hepc
oupavou^ III. 4. 3, 4 and III. 8. 4, 8 confused the fire
with the pyramid. It is, therefore, obvious that in
marcholo, by omitting the ending, we have the Arab.
*i^VI 'alahrdm '*the pyramids," read backwards. This
may be proved by documentary evidence. In the Life
of Saint Lebuin, written by Hucbald in the tenth
century, the Saxon Irminsul is referred to as Marklo,
a place where each year twelve select men of the
Saxons solemnly met to consult on affairs of state. ^
The importance of this confirmation cannot be ex-
aggerated. It shows, beyond a shadow of a doubt,
a close relation between Aethicus and the Saxon Anti-
quitas, and between both of them and an Arabic source,
from which both are derived.
The writing of Harman backwards, which, on account
of the ending lo, from the Arabic article aZ, unquestion-
ably proceeds from an Arabic source, is due to the
fact that in the Parsi writings the name of Ahriman,
being the name of the devil, is written backwards.^
As the Parsi writings coincide with the Arabic rule
of the country where the Parsis were found, we at once
see how the writing backward, to avoid the evil eye,
ultimately found its way into the Germanic tradition.
Later on I shall show how the forgery known
as Tacitus' Germania was written in the eighth century
1 "Statute quoque tempore anni semel ex singulis pagis, atque ex iisdem
ordinibus tripartitis, singillatim viri duodecim electi, et in unum coUecti,
in media Saxonia secus flumen Wiseram, et locum Marklo nuncupatum,
exercebant generale concilium, tractantes, sancientes et propalantes com-
munis commoda utilitatis, iuxta placitum a se statutae legis," MGH.,
Scriptores, vol. II, p. 361 f.
* F. Justi, Der Bundehesh, Leipzig 1868, p. 79.
160 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
and was based on a work of Pseudo-Berosus, itself a
forgery, as preserved and annotated by Annius of
Viterbo. Here I shall only adduce as much as is
necessary to prove that the Arminius story in Tacitus,
Strabo, and other writers is a bold forgery of not
earlier than the eighth century. According to Pseudo-
Berosus, Herminon, a savage warrior, ruled among
the Tuiscones,^ and a little later we find Marsus,^
king of the Tuiscones. Thus we have the obvious
correlation of Marsi with the i/arman-king. Histor-
ically we know only of the Italian Marsi, who stood
in repute for their magical arts and waged war with
the Romans. Hence they could easily be coupled with
Julian-Harman, who was aided by the magician,
Magnus. It is only Tacitus and Strabo who speak of
Germanic Marsi. In the Annales of Tacitus, I. 56
and II. 25, and in I. 50, 51 we are told how the Roman
soldiers arrived in the evening in the villages of the
unsuspecting Marsi. Caesar divided his legions into
four parts, and these laid waste fifty miles of territory.
Neither sex nor age was spared. Their dwellings and
sacred things and that famous temple, which they
called Tamfanae, were razed to the ground.
This story is identical with that of the destruction
of the Italian Marsi, as told in the Roman historians
and retold in Orosius, V. 18. But the forger of the An-
nales got his account of the destruction of the temple
from Isidore:
Isidore, Etymologiae. Tacitus.
Marsi gens Italiae dicta a comite Profana simul et sacra et cele-
Liberi Marsya, qui usum illis vitium berrimum illis gentibus templum
ostendit; et ob hoc illi statuam quod Tamfanae vocabant, solo ae-
fecerunt, quam postea Romani victis quantur, I. 51.
Marsis tulerunt, IX. 2. 88.
^ lohannis Annius, Antiquitatum variarum volumina. XVII, 1512, fol.
CXXIX.
* Fol. CXXXI.
JORDANES 161
"Quod Tamfanae vocabant" can be nothing else
but a gloss to tern-plum, "quod tamen fanum vocabant,"
as, indeed, "templum" is frequently glossed by "fa-
num." Just as the Romans carried off the statue of
Marsyas, when the Italian Marsi were destroyed, so
Caesar destroyed the famous temple of the German
Marsi.
I shall now show how the Italian Marsi became the
German Marsi. In Isidore the Marsi are mentioned
after the Italian tribes, Romani, Itali, Tusci, Umbri,
and just before the Gothi, Daci, Bessi, Gipedes,
Sarmatae, Alani, Langobardi, Vandali, etc. Those who
borrowed their material from Isidore mistook the
Marsi as the last of the Italians and the first of the
Germans. Hence the interpolation in Strabo, that the
Romans settled some tribes in Gaul, while some,
xaddnep Mapaoc, like the Marsi, penetrated further
into the German territory.^ Similarly, in Orosius,
which is itself a forgery, the Marsi are spoken of as
having been killed together with their general, Francus
(for which most manuscripts read Fraucus.Y As the
account in Orosius is of the Italian Marsi, this coupling
with a general, Francus, shows conclusively that the
forger of Orosius, confused by the position of Marsi
in Isidore, supplied them with a German general, who
is not mentioned anywhere else. As Francus, as an
eponymous hero, is not known before the beginning
of the eighth century, we get for the period of the
interpolation, as we have already found, some time
in the eighth century.^
This correlation of the Marsi with Arminius in
Tacitus, which is identical with the correlation of
Herminon and the Marsi in Pseudo-Berosus, if nothing
' Strabo, VII. I. 3.
* "Decern et octo milia Mareorum in ea pugna ciun Franco imperatore
suo caesa sunt," V. 18.
' See p. 8 ff.
162 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
else, condemns the Annates of Tacitus, in the form in
which we have that work, as a bold forgery, and
Strabo as greatly interpolated. But we proceed to
the Arminius story.
The interesting work by Oldfather and Canter^
saves us the trouble of wading through an endless
amount of trash that has accumulated in literature
and history on Arminius. I shall confine myself
chiefly to this work. In chapter II we have an account
of the sources in which the Arminius episode is given.
First comes Dio Cassius, LVI. 18-23. He is here men-
tioned as **the only one of the ancient writers who has
given us anything like a connected account of the
catastrophe.'"^ I have already shown that there are
many interpolations in Dio Cassius. In this particular
case, where there are references to the Arminius
incident in Dio Cassius, the passages are absent from
Zonaras, who quotes Dio Cassius as closely as he can.
Here again we come across the remarkable fact that
interpolated passages in the old authors were not
given by Zonaras, obviously because he did not find
them in his genuine copies.
Dio Cassius. Zonaras.
Out' oCv xd axQa.xzv\iax% &aKe,Q 'O 8^ jaotevcfag outs tA oxqoxzv-
elxog iiv bt JtoX,enXQt, mnreixe, xal jiaxa d)s ^ jioXenXqi mrvsixe xol fiX-
cbi' ooircwv orujcvous altoCca xoig d- A.0U5 dA,^axoQ ejrejute.
6wdxoi5 wg xal im. tpuXcotfi XtOQicav
Tivwv ^ xod A,xi<Jxo5v (njA,^T|'»l>ecn nw-
QOJto^ai; x^ xioi xdav ImxriSEicov 61-
eSwjcev t\oay bk oi yLoXxxna. ouvo-
Hooavxes xal doxwol xf]? xe Im-
6ouA.fis '>^ox xou nokiyiov vevdn-evoi
aXKoi X8 jtal 'Aqutivios xal 2t|yCh«-
Qog, ow6vx85 X8 aux(p del xal owe-
oxw&nevoi JtoXX,dxig' daQCJouvxog o5v
ovxou, xal [iiixe xi 8Etv6v nQoabz%o-
HEvou, xai jtaoi T015 x6 xe yiyv6- ©aoooOvxos oCv a^oC xal \vr\ xi
fiEvov un»xojtoii0i., etc., LVI. 19. i. 8eiv6v ujcojaEuovxo?, X. 37.
^ The Defeat of Varus and the German Frontier Policy of Augustus, in Uni-
versity of Illinois Studies in the Social Sciences, vol. IV, No. 2, June 1915.
« Ibid., p. 21.
JORDANES 163
This leaves Dio Cassius in a very doubtful position
as to authenticity.
The second source is Velleius Paterculus. Of him
our authors say: "In his hasty sketches of military
campaigns in Germany and Pannonia, full of blunders
and inconsistencies, it is clear that he is but little con-
cerned with the exact establishment of facts. With no
appreciation of the internal connection of things, and no
ability to sift evidence, he centers his interest almost
entirely upon individuals for purpose of praise or blame,
and excels as a rhetorical anecdotist, and as a delineator
of individual actors. His inflated style, his straining
after effect by hyperbole, antithesis, epigram, and
piquancies of all kinds, mark the degenerate taste
of the Silver Age, of which he is the earliest represen-
tative. His reflections and observations generally
outweigh the information given. Velleius' training,
the occasion of his composition, the attempt to satisfy
the taste of his age, all make him a source, which,
because of distortions and overemphasis, cannot be
accepted at full value. "^ This is bad enough. No
one, so far as I know, has doubted his authenticity,
but all we know of Velleius is based on a lost copy,
which was used by Beatus Rhenanus in his editio
princeps, published in the beginning of the sixteenth
century. No one before him ever heard of Velleius or
mentioned him, except once more Priscianus, VI. 11,
and the scholiast of Lucan, IX. 178. There can be
no doubt of the existence of the works of Velleius
Paterculus before the tenth century, but we have no
means of ascertaining whether there were not any
interpolations made after the story of Arminius had
found vogue, that is, in or after the eighth century,
especially since Velleius is written in an atrocious
Latinity.
» Ibid., p. 23.
164 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
The next author is Florus, who is supposed to have
written in the middle of the second century. Here, at
least, we have an author who was well known in the
Middle Ages. He was excerpted by Orosius and
Jordanes, but as these works were written in the
eighth century, we do not know of the condition of
the original work at that time. In the manuscripts
which have come down to us numerous interpolations
have been observed.^ Arminius is barely mentioned
by name (IV. 12. 32), and so does not affect the
Arminius story at large.
We are thus left almost entirely to Tacitus and Strabo,
contradictory as they are on the point as to the Ar-
minius story. According to Strabo,^ the wife of Arminius
is called Thusnelda, and his son, Thumelicus. Thus-
nelda is the sister of Segimuntus, who is the son of
Segestes. Of course, Thusnelda is nothing but Sunil-
da, of the Hermanric myth, and in form is even nearer
to Syr. \^^^\ Astina, read, no doubt, in Arabic as
Atusnel, because the final a in the Syriac word is
easily confused with an I; while Thumelicus, obviously
a non- Germanic word, is nothing but r?u/i«A«oc, from
-dofiibj "a place where the sacrifice is brought," that
is, d^ufisXcxoi; is here used in the sense of "the boy who
is sacrificed on the altar," precisely as the child of
the magician's maidservant is sacrificed.
According to Tacitus, the story of Arminius is more
elaborate.^ "In the consulship of Drusus Caesar and
Caius Norbanus, a triumph was decreed to German-
icus, though the war was not yet brought to a con-
clusion. The prince had concerted his plan of opera-
tions for the ensuing summer; but he thought proper,
early in the spring, to open the campaign, by a sudden
^ O. Rossbach, L. Annaei Flori Epitomae Libri II, Lipsiae 1896, p. XXXVI.
« VII. 1. 4,
3 1 shall quote from A. Murphy, The Works of Cornelius Tacitus, London
1811, vol. I.
JORDANES 165
irruption into the territories of the Cattians; a people
distracted among themselves by the opposite factions
of Arminius and Segestes; the former famous for his
treachery to the Romans, and the latter for unshaken
fidelity. Arminius was the common disturber of
Germany; Segestes, on the other hand, had given
repeated proofs of his pacific temper. When measures
were taken for a general insurrection, he discovered
the conspiracy; and during the banquet which pre-
ceded the massacre of Varus, he proposed that he him-
self, Arminius, and other chiefs, should be seized, and
loaded with irons. By that vigorous measure he was
sure that the minds of the common people would be
depressed with fear; and, having lost their chiefs,
none would dare to rise in arms. The general, of
course, would have leisure to discriminate the innocent
from the guilty. But Varus was fated to perish, and
Arminius struck the blow. In the present juncture,
Segestes was compelled by the ardour of his country-
men to take up arms. He still however retained his
former sentiments. He had, besides, motives of a
private nature: his daughter, whom he had promised
in marriage to another chief, was ravished from him
by Arminius. The father and the son-in-law were by
consequence inveterate enemies; and that connection,
which between persons mutually well inclined forms
the tenderest friendship, served only to inflame the
animosity of the two contending chiefs."^
"Germanicus, in a short time afterwards, received
a message from Segestes, imploring protection from
the fury of his countrymen, who held him closely
besieged. Arminius had been the adviser of the war,
and was by consequence the idol of the people. In a
nation of savages, the man of fierce and turbulent
spirit is sure, in times of commotion, to be the leading
» I. 55.
166 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
demagogue. Among the deputies sent to Germanicus,
was Segimund, the son of Segestes; a young man who,
in the year famous for the revolt of Germany, was
made by the Romans a priest of the Ubian altar; but
soon after, fired by the zeal that roused his whole
nation, he tore off his sacred vestments, and went over
to his countrymen. Conscious of this offence, he
hesitated for some time, willing to decline the embassy;
till at length, encouraged by the fame of Roman
clemency, he obeyed his father's orders. He met with
a gracious reception; and, under a proper guard, was
conducted in safety to the frontiers of Gaul. German-
icus thought it of moment to change his purpose,
and march back to the relief of Segestes. He no sooner
appeared before the place, than the enemy was attacked
and put to rout. Segestes was set at liberty, and
with him a numerous train of relatives and faithful
followers; several women of noble birth; and, in the
number, the daughter of Segestes, then married to
Arminius. In her deportment no trace appeared of
her father's character: she breathed the spirit of her
husband. Not a tear was seen to start; no suppli-
cating tone was heard; she stood in pensive silence;
her hands strained close to her bosom, and her eyes
fixed upon her womb, then pregnant with the fruit
of her marriage. At the same time was brought forth
a load of spoils, which, in the slaughter of Varus and
his legions, fell to the share of those who now sur-
rendered to the Roman arms. What chiefly attracted
every eye, was Segestes himself, his stature of superior
size, his countenance that of a man who knew neither
guilt nor fear. He spoke to this effect: *It is not now
the first time that Segestes has given proofs of his
attachment to the cause of Rome. From the moment
when I was enrolled a citizen by the deified Augustus,
your interest has been the rule of my conduct. Your
JORDANES 167
friends I embraced; your enemies were mine. In
acting thus, I have not been guilty of treason to my
country. A traitor I know is odious even to those who
profit by the treason. I have been your friend, be-
cause I thought the interests of Germany and Rome
were interwoven with each other; I have been your
friend, because I preferred peace to war. Governed
by these principles, I addressed myself to Varus, who
commanded your armies; before his tribunal, I ex-
hibited an accusation against Arminius, the ravisher
of my daughter, and the violator of public treaties.
But sloth and irresolution were the bane of that un-
fortunate general. From laws enfeebled and relaxed
I expected no relief. I therefore desired, earnestly
desired, that Arminius, and the other chiefs of the
conspiracy, might be thrown into irons. I did not
except myself. With what zeal I pressed the measure,
witness that fatal night which I wish had been my
last. The horrors that followed, demand our tears:
they cannot be justified. Soon after that tragic event,
I confined Arminius in chains; and from his faction I
have suffered, in my turn, the same indignity. Ad-
mitted now to an interview with Germanicus, I prefer
ancient friendship to new connections; my voice is
still for peace. For myself, I have nothing in view;
my honour is dear to me, and I desire to repel all
suspicion of perfidy. I would, if possible, make terms
for my countrymen, if they can be induced to prefer
a well-timed repentance to calamity and ruin. For
my son, and the errors of his youth, I am an humble
supplicant. My daughter, indeed, appears before you
by necessity, not by her own choice: I acknowledge
it. It is yours to decide her fate: it is yours to judge
which ought to have most influence, her husband, or
her father: she is with child by Arminius, and she
sprung from me.' Germanicus, in his usual style of
168 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
moderation, assured him that his children and relations
should be protected; as to himself, he might depend
upon a safe retreat in one of the old provinces. He
then marched back to the Rhine; and there, by the
direction of Tiberius, was honored with the title of
Imperator. The wife of Arminius was delivered of a
boy, who was reared and educated at Ravenna. The
disasters which made him afterwards the sport of for-
tune, shall be related in their proper place. The sur-
render of Segestes, and his gracious reception from
Germanicus, being in a short time spread throughout
Germany, the feelings of men were various, as their
inclinations happened to be for peace or war. Arminius,
by nature fierce and enterprising, seeing, in this
juncture, his wife forever lost, and the child in her
womb a slave before its birth, felt himself inflamed
with tenfold fury. He flew round the country of the
Cheruscans, spreading the flame of discord, and in
every quarter rousing the people to revenge; he
called aloud to arms, to arms against Segestes, to
arms against the Romans. He spared no topic that
could inflame resentment. 'Behold,' he cried,
'behold in Segestes the true character of a father! in
Germanicus an accomplished general! In the exploits
of the Roman army, the glory of a warlike nation!
with mighty numbers they have led a woman into
captivity. It was not in this manner that Arminius
dealt with them: three legions, and as many com-
manders, fell a sacriflce to my revenge. To the arts
of traitors I am a stranger; I wage no war with women
big with child. My enemies are worthy of a soldier;
I declare open hostility, and sword in hand I meet
them in the field of battle. Survey your religious
groves: the Roman banners by me hung up, and
dedicated to the gods of our country, are there dis-
played; they are the trophies of victory. Let Segestes
JORDANES 169
fly for shelter to the Roman provinces; let him enjoy
his bank on the side of Gaul ; and let him there meanly
crouch to make his son the priest of a foreign altar.
Posterity will have reason to curse his memory; future
ages will detest the man, whose crime it is, that we
have seen, between the Rhine and the Elbe, rods and
axes, the Roman habit, and the Roman arms. To
other nations, punishments and taxes are yet unknown;
they are happy, for they are ignorant of the Romans.
We have bravely thrown off the yoke; we are free
from burthens: and since Augustus was obliged to
retreat, that very Augustus whom his countrymen
have made a god; and since Tiberius, that upstart
emperor, keeps aloof from Germany, shall we, who
have dared nobly for our liberties, shrink from a boy
void of experience, and an army ruined by their own
divisions? If your country is dear to you, if the glory
of your ancestors is near your hearts, if liberty is of
any value, if the enjoyment of your natural rights is
preferable to new masters and foreign colonies, follow
Arminius. I will marshal you the way to glory and
to freedom. Segestes has nothing in store but infamy,
chains, and bondage.'"^
Then we have the altercation between Arminius and
his brother. " The Visurgis flowed between the Romans
and Cheruscans. On the opposite bank Arminius
presented himself. He was attended by the principal
German chiefs. His business was to know whether
Germanicus was with the army; being answered in
the affirmative, he desired an interview with his
brother, known to the Romans by the name of Flavius;
a man of strict fidelity, who some years before, under
the conduct of Tiberius, lost an eye in battle. The
meeting was permitted. Flavius advanced to the
margin of the river. Arminius, from the opposite
1 1. 57-59.
170 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
side, saluted him; and having ordered his guards to
fall back, required that the Roman archers should
withdraw in like manner. The two brothers being
left to themselves, Arminius fixed his eyes on Flavins;
and. Whence, he said, that deformity of feature? He
was told the battle and the place where it happened.
And what, continued Arminius, has been your recom-
pence? I have received, said Flavins, an augmentation
of pay, a military chain, an ornamental crown, and
other honours. Arminius burst into a laugh of scorn
and indignation. 'They are the wages,' he said, 'of
a slave cheaply purchased.' A warm altercation
followed. Flavins talked of the majesty of Rome, the
power of the Caesars, the weight with which their
vengeance falls on the obstinate, and their clemency
to the nations willing to submit. He added, 'Your
wife and son are in the hands of Rome, and neither
of them has been treated like a captive.' Arminius,
on the contrary, urged the rights of men born in
freedom, the laws of his country, the plan of ancient
liberty, and the gods of Germany. 'Your mother,'
he said, 'joins with me in earnest supplication: we
both conjure you not to desert your family; not to
betray your friends, nor prefer the detested name of
traitor, to the vast renown of commanding armies in
defence of your country.' By degrees their passions
rose to a pitch of fury, insomuch that the river could
not have restrained them from deciding their quarrel
by the sword, if Stertinius had not checked the im-
petuosity of Flavins, who stood burning with resent-
ment, and calling aloud for his horse and his arms.
Arminius behaved with equal fury, in his storm of
passion denouncing vengeance, and threatening the
issue of a battle. What he said was perfectly under-
stood. He had commanded the auxiliaries of his
country, acting in conjunction with the legions, and.
JORDANES 171
having conversed in the Roman camp, was able to
interlard his discourse with Latin expressions."^ We
shall not follow Arminius through his warlike vicissi-
tudes. His end is described as follows: "Arminius,
however, did not long survive. The Roman army
being withdrawn from Germany, and Maroboduus
ruined, he had the ambition to aim at the sovereign
power. The independent spirit of his countrymen
declared against him. A civil war ensued. Arminius
fought with alternate vicissitudes of fortune, and fell at
last by the treachery of his own relations: a man of
warhke genius, and, beyond all question, the deliverer
of Germany. He had not, like the kings and generals
of a former day, the infancy of Rome to cope with: he
had to struggle with a great and flourishing empire; he
attacked the Romans in the meridian of their glory. He
stood at bay for a number of years with equivocal suc-
cess; sometimes victorious, often defeated, but in the
issue of the war still unconquered. He died at the age
of seven-and- thirty, after twelve years of fame and
power. In the rude poetry of the Barbarians, his name
is celebrated to this hour; unknown indeed to the
annalists of Greece, who embellish nothing but their
own story. Even amongst the Romans, the character
of this illustrious chief has met with little justice,
absorbed as the people are in their veneration of
antiquity, while to the virtue of their own times they
remain insensible and incurious."^
The relation of the Arminius story in Tacitus to
the Syrian Julian-Harman romance and the Persian
Ahriman cycle is perfectly plain. In the second Syriac
story the wronged Eleuthera is the daughter of Licinius,
counterking of Rome, and sister of Constantine. So,
too, Arminius has carried off a woman, who is the
daughter of a king or chief, Segestes, and whose brother,
> II. 9, 10. » II. 88.
172 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Segimund, is mentioned. Lieinius and Constantine are
opposed to Julian for the wrong done to his wife or
paramour, and so Segestes and Segimund are opposed to
Arminius, who has wronged them by stealing his wife.
The son of Arminius, in Strabo called "the one who is
sacrificed on the altar," is like the son of the maid-
servant whom Julian sacrificed on the altar. But in
Tacitus and Strabo the horrible practice of sacrificing
unborn children, which is specifically told in the first
Syriac romance,^ is mitigated to the appearance of
Thusnelda in a high state of pregnancy and the birth
of the son in captivity, to be educated in Ravenna.
It is interesting to observe that the account in
Tacitus agrees, even in small details, with the eastern
story. In Tacitus,^ Arminius' uncle, Inguiomer, joins
his conspiracy. In the first Syrian romance, it is
Julian's uncle, Julian, who carries his letter to the
emperor and joins him in revolt.^ The altercation
between Arminius and his brother. Flavins, who serves
the Romans, is based on the Persian story of the twin
brothers, Ormuzd and Ahriman, in their mother's
womb, from which by stratagem Ahriman came forth
first, ever afterwards to be in opposition to his brother,
Ormuzd.* It is probably no accident that the brother
of Arminius is called Flavins, for Flavins is the first
name of Julian himself, who is no other than Ahriman,
Arminius. Like Ahriman, Arminius is victorious for
a long time, and he overcomes the Romans, but ulti-
mately is killed by one of his relatives, at the age of
thirty-seven years, while Julian was killed in his
thirty-third year, or, according to the Chronicon
Paschale, in the thirty-sixth year of his life.
1 Zeitsehrift der deutschen morgenldndischen Gesellschaft, vol. XXVIII,
p. 269.
* I. 60.
» Loc. eit, p. 269.
* J. Darmesteter, Ormazd et Ahriman, Paris 1877, p. 327.
JORDANES 173
Velleius Paterculus says that Arminius was the son
of Sigimerus and that he had served in the Roman
army, where he had risen to equestrian rank. Relying
upon his power, he resolved to rebel against Rome,
and Varus was informed of the fact by Segestes, who
remained faithful to Rome. Although there is not
much left here of the Harman romance, we none the
less have reminiscences of it, for Julian, before be-
coming emperor, according to history, was a general
in the army, and according to the Syrian romances,
rebelled against Rome. According to Dio Cassius,
too, Arminius is coupled with Segimerus. In Strabo,
Segimerus is the father of Sesithacus. The brother of
Thusnelda is Segimundus. In Jordanes the brothers
who avenge the atrocity upon their sister are Sarus
and Ammius. In all these we have unquestionably a
corruption of Arab, v-^ r^ sahmgarh, which would
have been written Sahmgaru, and would produce
Segimerus, who is associated with Arminius. It is also
likely that sahmun **the arrow," is responsible for
Segimundus, who is the brother of Thusnelda. In
Tacitus the slayer of Arminius is not named, but we
are told distinctly that he fell by the treachery of his
own relations. Thus we meet in the Germanic myths
with the substitute of brother or relatives for the
"unknown arrow" of the Syriac and Arabic accounts.
No doubt many more interesting myths may be
discovered in Jordanes. In the meantime, I have
given enough to show that Jordanes is an eighth or early
ninth century forgery, without a trace of historic
background, except in a most distant way. I shall
return to the subject at some future time. Now that
I have discovered and described the condition of the
Gothic Antiquitas, from which Jordanes drew most of
his stories, I shall point out the most significant results
from this Arabico-Gothic forgery.
PSEUDO-BEROSUS.
In the preceding pages I have shown what the con-
stitution of the Gothic Antiquitas must have been, and
how it was composed out of scraps of Dio Chrysostom,
Persian mythology, and Syrian romances, many of these
through Arabic sources. The influence of this Antiquitas
on the works of antiquity has been enormous. Nearly
all writings which dealt with reference to the Goths
were in the eighth century "corrected" in the light
of what was supposed to be a genuine source of in-
formation. I have barely begun to trace the results of
that baleful school of "correctors," who have tampered
with genuine works, and the still more baleful school
of forgers, who, on the basis of the Antiquitas, have
created havoc in history.
In the following pages I shall trace the other Ger-
manic Antiquitates, which have arisen on the Gothic
foundation or independently of it. Fortunately, we
have a fairly good description of the Frankish Antiqui-
tas, which will give us some of the most important and
most startling results. The only Antiquitas which has
come down to us in the original, is what may be
denominated as the Alamannian Antiquitas,^ which I
shall give in full, as it will furnish us with an example
of the forgers' work. I shall confine my discussion to
such parts of it only as will bear on the proof that
Tacitus' Germania is a forgery.
1 Johannis Annius, Antiquitatum variarum volumina. XVII, 1512, lib. XV.
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 175
DEFLORATIO BEROSI.
Liber I.
1. Ante aquarum cladem famosam qua universus
periit orbis, multa praeterierunt saecula, quae a nostris
Chaldaeis fideliter fuerunt servata.
2. Scribunt illis temporibus circa Lybanum fuisse
Enos urbem maximam gigantum, qui universe orbi
dominabantur, ab occasu solis ad ortum. Hi vastitate
corporis ac robore confisi, inventis armis omnes oppri-
mebant, libidinique inservientes, invenerunt papili-
ones, et instrumenta musica et omnes delitias. Man-
ducabant homines et procurabant aborsus, in edulium-
que praeparabant, et commiscebantur matribus, fili-
abus, sororibus, et masculis, brutis, et nihil erat sceleris
quod non admitterent, contemptores religionis et
deorum.
3. Tum multi praedicabant et vaticinabantur, et
lapidibus excidebant, de ea quae ventura erat orbis
perditione, sed enim illi assueti corridebant omnia,
caelestium illos ira atque ultione perurgente pro
impietate atque sceleribus.
4. Unus inter gigantes erat, qui deorum veneratior
et prudentior cunetis, reliquus ex probis erat in Syria.
Huic nomen erat Noa, cum tribus filiis, Samo, lapeto,
Chem et uxoribus Tytea magna, Pandora, Noela, et
Noegla, is timens quam ex astris futuram prospectabat
cladem, anno .Ixxviii, ante inundationem, navim instar
arcae coopertam fabricari coepit. Anno septuagesimo
octavo ab inchoata navi, ex improviso exundavit
oceanus et omnia maria mediterranea. Fluminaque
ac fontes ab imo ebullientes inundaverunt supra omnes
montes accedentibus, atque impetuosissime et supra
naturam e coelo copiosissimis hymbribus multis diebus
corruentibus. Ita omne humanum genus aquis suffo-
catum, excepto Noa cum familia sua quae navi erepta
176 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
est. Nam elevata ab aquis in Gordiei montis vertiee
quievit, cuius adhuc dicitur aliqua pars esse, et homines
ex ilia bitumen toUere, quo maxime utuntur ad expi-
ationem.
5. Ab hoc igitur anno salutis humanae ab aquis
primordio sumpto, nostri maiores innumeros scrip-
serunt. Nos vero taediosum illorum sermonem ab-
breviaturi referemus origines et tempora, et reges
eorum dumtaxat regnorum, quae nunc magna habentur.
In Asia quidem nostrum omnium celsissimum Baby-
lonicum, in Aphrica Aegyptium et Libycum, quae
unum primo fuerunt, et sub uno narrabimus. Pos-
tremo in Europa quatuor nostri enumerant. Celti-
berum, Celtae, Kytim, quod illae gentes Italicum
appellant, et Tuysconum quod a Rheno fluvio per
Sarmatas in Pontum finit. Addunt quidam etiam
quintum dictum lonicum.
Liber II.
1. Necesse est igitur nos ex praemissis confiteri, quod
et Chaldaei et Scythae scribunt, siccato ab aquis orbe
non fuisse nisi dictos octo homines in Armenia Saga,
et ab his omne hominum genus in terris seminatum,
atque ob id Scythas recte dicere et appellare Noam
omnium deorum maiorum et minorum patrem, et
humanae gentis auctorem, et chaos et semen mundi.
Tyteam vero Aretiam, id est, terram in quam semen
chaos posuit, et ex qua tamquam ex terra cuncti
prodierunt.
2. Praeter vero tres primores filios, Noa post
diluvium gigantes pluresque filios genuit. Quare ad
abbreviandum plurimum conferet si omnium poste-
ritates figurabimus, ab ipso Noa sumpto exordio,
deinde sigillatim a caeteris. Primum itaque dixerunt
Ogygisan Sagam, id est illustrem sacrorum ponti-
ficem Noam Dysir.
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 177
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182 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Liber III.
1. Has igitur principum atque Heroum origines
atque posteritates abbreviamus ex nostris Chaldaeis
atque Scythicis libris, quoad satis sit. Nam et multos
alios memoriae mandant, quos quia vel nihil ad nos-
tram intentam accurtationem aut parum offerunt, ob
id dimittimus, resumpturi illos ubi opus fuerit.
2. Quo pacto exinanitus orbis fuerit coloniis et
hominibus oppletur dicendum est. Exsiccata humo et
torrefacta terra, Noa cum familia de monte Gordieo,
ut par erat, deseendit in subiacentem planitiem plenam
cadaverum, quam usque ad banc aetatem appellant
Myri Adam, id est, evisceratorum hominum, et in-
scripsit in lapide in monumentum rem gestam, et
vocant incolae locum, egressorium Noae. Congressi
vero coniugibus, perpetuo geminos edebant marem et
foeminam, qui adulti et coniuges effecti et ipsi binos
partu liberos semper edebant. Neque enim unquam
Deus vel natura defuit rerum necessitati quae ad
universi orbis spectat opulentiam. Eo pacto brevi in
immensum adaucto humano genere, omnique Armenia
completa, opus erat eos inde recedere, atque novas
sibi sedes conquirere.
3. Tunc senissimus omnium pater Noa, iam antea
edoctos theologiam et sacros ritus, coepit etiam eos
erudire humanam sapientiam. Et quidem multa
naturalium rerum secreta mandavit Uteris, quae solis
sacerdotibus Scythae Armeni commendant. Neque
enim fas est ilia, ulli inspicere aut legere vel docere
quam solis sacerdotibus, et inter sacerdotes dumtaxat,
sicut et quos rituales libros reliquit, ex quibus illis
primum Saga nomen fuit inditum, id est, sacerdos et
sacrificulus et pontifex.
4. Docuit item illos astrorum cursus et distinxit
annum ad cursum solis et .xii. menses ad motum
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 183
lunae, qua scientia praedieebat illis ab initio quid in
anno et cardinibus eius futurum contingeret, ob quae
ilium existimaverunt divinae naturae esse participem,
ac propterea ilium Olybama et Arsa, id est, caelum et
solem cognominaverunt, et illi plures civitates de-
dicaverunt. Nam et ad haec tempora Scythae Armeni
urbes habent Olybama et Arsa, Ratha, et eiuscemodi.
Cumque ivisset ad regendum Kitim, quam nunc
Italiam nominant, desiderium sui reliquit Armenis,
ac propterea post mortem ilium arbitrati sunt in
animam coelestium corporum tralatum, et illi divinos
honores impenderunt. Et ob id solum haec duo regna
Armenum quidem, quia ibi coepit: Italicum vero,
quia ibi finivit et docuit et regnavit, naturaliumque
atque divinorum quae eos erudivit libros plenissime
illis conscriptos reliquit, ilium venerantur simulque
cognominant coelum, solem, chaos, semen mundi,
patremque deorum maiorum et minorum, animam
mundi moventem coelos, et mixta vegetabiliaque et
animaHa et hominem, Deum pacis, iustitiae, sancti-
moniae, expellentem noxia et custodientem bona. Et
ob hoc ilium utraeque gentes signant in scriptis cursu
solis et motu lunae, et sceptro dominii quo malos et
noxios expellebat a coetu hominum, et castimonia
corporis et sanctimonia animi, duabus clavibus reli-
gionis et felicitatis. Neque minus Tytheam quae
mater omnium erat, Aretiam, id est, terram vocabant,
et Estam, id est, ignem post mortem cognominaverunt,
quia ipsa regina sacrorum fuerat, et puellas docuerat
sempiternum ignem sacrorum inextinctum servare.
Caeterum Noa antequam discederet ab Armenia
docuit illos simplicem agriculturam, magis curans
religionem et mores quam opulentiam et delitias quae
ad illicita et libidines provocant, et caelestium iram
nuper induxerant. Primus tamen omnium invenit
vites atque plantavit et vinum conficere docuit, cuius
184 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
vim inexpertus et vaporem ebrius efPectus minus pudice
in terram cecidit. Erat illi, ut diximus, filius ex
tribus primis adolescentior Chem, qui semper magicae
et veneficae studens, Zoroast nomen consequutus erat.
Is patrem Noam odio habebat,quia alios ultimo genitos
ardentius amabat, se vero despici videbat. Potissime
vero idem infensus erat patri ob vitia. Itaque nactus
opportunitatem cum Noa pater madidus iaceret, illius
virilia comprehendens taciteque submurmurans, car-
mine magico patri illusit, simul et ilium sterilem
perinde atque castratum effecit, neque deinceps Noa
foemellam aliquam foecundare potuit. Ob beneficium
inventae vitis et vini dignatus est cognomento lano,
quod Arameis sonat vitifer et vinifer. At vero Chem
cum publice corrumperet mortale genus, asserens et
re ipsa exequens congrediendum esse ut ante inun-
dationem, cum matribus, sororibus, filiabus, mascu-
lis, brutis et quovis alio genere, ob hoc eiectus a lano
piissimo et castimonia atque pudicitia refertissimo,
sortitus est cognomentum Chem esenua, id est Chem
infamis et impudicus, incubus, propagator. Est enim
Esen apud Scythas Arameos infamis et impudicus.
Enua vero tum impudicus, tum propagator. Eum
inter homines huius dogmatis sequuti fuerunt Aegyptii,
qui sibi ilium suum Saturnum inter deos adolescentio-
rem fecerunt, e«t civitatem illi posuerunt dictam Chem
Myn, a qua ad hanc aetatem omnes cives illius ap-
pellamus Chemmenitas. Verum posteri hoc vitiosum
dogma neglexerunt, retento quod fuit primi moris,
ut inter fratres et sorores coniugium iniri posset.
Liber IV.
1 . Multiplicatum est in immensum genus humanum,
et ad comparandas novas sedes necessitas compellebat.
Tum lanus pater adhortatus est homines principes ad
quaerendas novas sedes et communem coetum inter
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 185
homines agendum, et aedificandas urbes. Designavit
itaque illas tres partes orbis Asiam, Aphricam et Euro-
pam, ut ante diluvium viderat. Singulis autem his
principibus singulas partes ad quas irent partitus,
ipse per totum orbem colonias se traducturum pollicitus
est.
2. Itaque Nymbrotum creavit Babyloniae Saturnum
primum, ut ibi primum aedificaret cum coloniis suis.
Quare Nymbrotus assumpto filio love Belo cum
coloniis furatus est rituales lovis Sagi, et cum populo
venit in campum Sennaar, ubi designavit urbem et
fundavit maximam turrim, anno salutis ab aquis
centesimo trigesimoprimo, regnavitque annis .Ivi. et
deduxit turrim ad altitudinem et magnitudinem mon-
tium, in signum atque monumentum, quod primus in
orbe terrarum est populus Babylonicus, et regnum
regnorum dici debet. Ergo ab eo exordiemur, et per
ipsum mensurabimus omnia regna et eorum reges ac
tempora, abbreviando ilia in hunc modum.
3. Anno .cxxxi. a salute ab aquis prima omnium
gentium et civitatum, fundata est a Saturno Baby-
lonico nostro urbs et gens nostra Babilonica, multipli-
cataque est nimis numero posteritatis, magisque stu-
duit paci et religioni Saturnus deorum, quam opulentiis.
Et turrim quidem aedificavit, sed non complevit, nee
designatam urbem fundavit, quia post quinquaginta-
sex annos subito non comparuit translatus a diis.
4. Ab exordio huius, lanus pater misit in Aegyptum
cum coloniis Chemesenuum, in Lybiam vero et Cyrenem,
Tritonem, et in totam reliquam Aphricam lapetum
priscum Atalaa. In Asiam orientalem misit Gangem
cum aliquot ex filiis Comeri Galli. In Arabiam Felicem
Sabum cognomine Thuriferum. Arabum praefecit Ara-
biae desertae, et Petreium, Petreiae. Canam posuit
a Damasco usque in extima Palaestinae. In Europa
regem Sarmatiae fecit Tuysconem a Tanai ad Rhenum,
186 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
iunctique sunt illi omnes filii Istri et Mesae cum
fratribus suis ab Adula monte usque in Mesembericam
Ponticam. Sub his tenuerunt Tyras, Arcadius, Emath-
ius. Italiam tenuit Comerus Gallus. Samotes pos-
sedit Celtas, et lubal occupavit Celtiberos.
5. Hi sunt qui egressi sunt post Nymbrotum, singuli
cum familiis et coloniis suis, relinquentes nomina sua
locis in signum expeditionis a lano patre commissae,
et ad monumentum posteris ut scirent quis eorum
fuerit conditor. Hi iuxta mandatum lani coloniis
turri constructa pro metropoli, ipsi in veiis et cavernis
casas habebant. Solus noster Saturnus idcirco ex-
cessit mandatum, quia urbem urbium et regnum
regnorum voluit esse Babyloniam. Rursus his tem-
poribus lanus cum omnes in colonias missi abivissent,
eos qui remanserant bipartitus est. Nam secum reti-
nuit filios plurimos, quos post salutem ab aquis genuit,
et item maximam gentium multitudinem quum secum
in colonias conducturus erat. Scytha cum matre sua
Araxa et aliquot coloniis qui Armeniam incolerent, rex
primus relictus est constituto summo pontifice Sab-
batio Saga ab Armenia usque in Bactrianos: quae
longitudo a nobis ad hanc aetatem vocatur Scythia
Saga. Postremus omnium ipse lanus ab Armenia per
orbem colonias seminaturus, egressus est. Haec nostri
maiores multis libris tradiderunt. Nunc de temporibus
eorum ac posteritatibus dicemus, iuxta id quod in
nostra Chaldaica et primordiali Scythica historia fideli
memoria conservatum est.
Liber V.
1. Ut supra diximus, anno a salute humani generis
ab aquis centesimo trigesimoprimo, coepit regnum
Babylonicum, sub nostro Saturno, patre lovis Beli:
qui imperavit annis .Ivi. Anno huius decimo Comerus
Gallus posuit colonias suas in regno, quod post Italia
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 187
dicta est. Et regionem suam a suo nomine cognomi-
navit, docuitque illos legem et iustitiam. Anno eius
duodecimo lubal condidit Celtiberos, et paulopost
Samothes, qui et Dis Celtas colonias fundavit: neque
quisquam ilia aetate isto sapientior fuit, ac propterea
Samothes dictus est. Anno Nymbroti .xv. Oceanus
ad Ninum Aegypti consedit, et multos ex sorore
Tethyde edidit liberos. Inde supervenit ille corruptor
humani generis Chemesenuus, ubi Telchines magicam
docens, maxima opinione celebratur. Anno deci-
mooctavo eiusdem Babylonici regis, Gogus Sabeam
Arabiam Felicem cum Sabo suo patre puer tenuit, et
Triton Libyam, et lapetus priscus Atalaa Aphricam,
Cur Aethiopiam, et Getulus Getuliam. Anno eiusdem
.XXV. Thuyscon Sarmatas maximos populos fundavit,
et Mesa cum filiis Istri priscos Mesios posuit, usque
Ponticam Mesembriam ab Adula monte. Anno tri-
gesimooctavo eiusdem regis Sagae Armeni multiplicati
possederunt omnem Caspiam regionem, ab Armenia
usque in Bactrianos, et lanus pater laneos colonos
traduxit in Hircaniam, et lanilos in Mesopotamia
versus mare sub Babylonia. Anno quadragesimo
eiusdem regis aliquot coloni ex filiis Comeri in Bactri-
anis sibi sedes quaesiverunt. Et Ganges in India sedem
sui nominis. Anno quadragesimoquinto eiusdem regis
aliqui ex filiis Mesae ac Getuli iuncti simul primi Mesa-
getas in India propagaverunt. Eadem tempestate
Saturnus rex Babyloniae misit principes coloniarum
Assyrium, Medum, Moscum et Magogum: qui regna
condiderunt Assyrium, Medum, et Magogum in Asia,
Moscos vero et in Asia simul et Europa. Anameon
quoque adolescentulus Maeones a se dictos condidit,
et regnavit centum quinquaginta annis.
2. Secundus rex Babyloniae luppiter Belus filius
dicti Saturni, regnavit annis .Ixii. et fundamenta
designata Babyloniae oppidi magis quam urbis erexit.
188 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Pace fruebatur usque circa finem imperii sui. Anno .iii.
huius, Comerus more Scythico unde venerat docuit
suos Italos urbem curribus componere. Et idcirco
Veii appellati sunt vocabulo Sago, qui Veias plaustrum
appellant, et urbem ex his compositam si parva sit
Veitulam, si magna Ulurdum, si metropolis Cy Ocho-
1am ad haec quoque tempora Scythae plaustris et curru
pro domibus utuntur. Et sub solario quidem stabulum,
supra vero habent officinas domus. Concludit et loca
a se cognominata Tyras, postquam Tyrum fundavit,
cum principibus coloniarum littora maris tenuit, fun-
davitque Thraces Archadius Archadiam, Emathius
Emathiam tenuit. Anno .xlv. huius Beli lanus pater
posuit colonias in Arabia Felice, et a suo nomine unas
vocavit Noam, et a cognomine lanineas. Qui vero ex
posteritate Comeri erant Galli ab Avito cognomine
illos appellavit Gallos. Anno .Ivi. huius Beli Che-
mesenus venit in Italiam ad Comeros, et non com-
parente Comero, coepit colonias regere atque cor-
rumpere suis impietatibus et sceleribus.
3. lanus vero pater circa Arabiae Felicis fluvium
plures colonias relinquens, et a se lanineas cogno-
minans, in Aphricam ad Tritonem venit. Hac aetate
luppiter Belus coepit libidine dominandi torqueri. Et
paulo ante Araxa cum filio Scytha, creato omnium
gentium Sagarum rege Sabatio Saga, atque in Armenia
relicto, ipsa occupavit omnem partem Occidentalem
ab Armenia usque in Sarmatiam Europae. At vero
luppiter Belus quum non possit alios subiugare nisi
subacto et trucidato Sabatio Sagarum rege, clam
molitus est ilium perimere. Cumque Saturnus pro-
spiceret se non posse evadere quod innumeras insidias
sibi paraverat luppiter Belus, clandestina fuga se
tutabat, in Sagis Caspiis delitescando. Cumque natu-
rae concederet, iussit filio Nino ut Sabatium Sagam
funditus deleret, et omnes populos Babylonico regno
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 189
subiiceret, quia omnium in orbe primum fuisset. Quo
accepto Sabatius delitescebat in Bactrianis Sagis,
quousque cerneret tempus idoneum vel ad regnum vel
ad fugam. Ita arma lovis contra eum parata ilium
regno pepulerunt circa tempora Semiramidis. Eodem
tempore Triton reliquit filium Hammonem regem
Libyae, qui aecepit coniugem Rheam sororem Camese-
nui Saturni Aegyptiorum, sed tamen ex Almanthea
adolescentula clam Rhea Dionysium sustulit, et in
Nysam urbem Arabiae educandum misit.
4. Tertius rex Babyloniae a nostris scribitur Ninus,
lovis Beli filius, et regnavit annis .lii. Hie omnibus
suis viribus sumptis armis patris sui lovis Beli, omnibus
bellum intulit, nuUi parcens, et Sabatium Sagam quod
esset in omnium desiderio omni studio ad interitum
quaeritabat, quare etiam toto huius tempore exul apud
suos delituit. Hie omnium primus ex nostris regibus
Babylonicum regnum propagavit, et omnium primus
templum Belo patri, et matri lunoni, et Rheae aviae,
et statuas in medio oppidi Babyloniae erexit. Anno
huius Nini .iv. Tuyscon gigas Sarmatas legibus format
apud Rhenum. Idipsum agit lubal Celtiberos, et
Samotes apud Celtas. Econtra Camesenus Saturnus
Aegyptiorum Comaros Italos nitebatur corrumpere,
iuuantibus ilium convenis et advenis quos ille pro
Italiae coloniis conduxerat, quos ipsi vocant Montanos
Aborigines.
5. At apud Libyam lis orta est inter Rheam et
Hammonen ob stuprum admissum cum Almanthia,
quaerebatque Rhea ubi Dionysius esset ut eum per-
deret, et diu lis ista rixaque perseveravit. Anno Nini
.X. lanus pater ex Aphrica in Celtiberos Hispalos venit,
ubi duas colonias dimisit a se dictas Noelas et Noeglas.
His enim etiam antea cognominibus cognominaverat
uxores lapeti et Chemesenui. Nini anno .xix. lanus
pater veniens in Italiam cum comperisset Camesenuum
190 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
praeter opinionem corrumpentem iuuentutem, tribus
annis ilium aequo animo tulit. Deinde illi aliquot
coloniis assignatis, eum Italia excedere iubet. Ipse
omnes colonias divisit. Etenim omnes colonos Coma-
ros corruptos et convenas et advenas, montana trans
laniculum amnem colere iubet, illisque filiam suam
Cranam Helernam, id est, suffragio ab his electam et
exaltatam reginam cum sceptro Albam dat: namque
duos filios suos novissimos cum illorum posteritate
Cranum et Cranam lanus cum Comaro miserat, coa-
Iverantque in gentem atque posteritatem maximam,
quam nostra aetate lanigenam vocant, cognominant
autem Razenuam, id est, sacram propagatricem in-
cubamque, contra impietatem Camesenui. Itaque
suam posteritatem separatam ab aboriginibus esse
voluit cis laniculum amnem in planitie atque mariti-
mis. Cognominavit autem eam Razenuam, ut et
Cranum Razenuum. Interea quum Italia discessisset
Camesenuus, ad ilium Rhea venit, et illi nupta ambo
contra Hammonem cum Titanibus pergunt, ibique
bello commisso pellunt regno Hammonem et in Cretam
cogunt. Cum in Libya Camesenuus regnat, parit ex
Rhea sorore Osirim, quem cognominavit lovem. Vige-
simosecundo anno Nini lanus in Thuscia laniculum,
quod aetate Camesenui condidit, sedem sibi perpetuam
statuit usque Arnum, ubi colonias positas vocavit Aryn
lanuas .i. a lano exaltatas. Vetuloniae iura dicebat et
docebat atque regebat anno Nini .xliii. Sabatius quum
adverteret nuUo pacto sibi licere uti regnis, creato
Armenis Sagis rege filio Barzane, in Sarmaticum ponti
littus concessit. Eadem tempestate Dionysius Ham-
monis filius armis sumptis Rheam et Camesenuum
regno paterno pellens, et secum Osirim retinens, in
filiumque adoptans, eum a patre suo Hammonem
lovem cognominavit, uti a magistro Olympo Olympi-
cum, eique totius Aegypti regnum tradidit. Eodem
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 191
anno virgo Palladon apud Tritonidem lacum infantu-
la exposita ab eodem Dionysio love Libyco etiam
cognominato, adoptata in filiam fuit, quae omnem
militiam prima Libycos docuit. Eodem tempore
lanus pater lanigenas Razenuos docuit physicam,
astronomiam, divinationes, ritus, et rituales scripsit,
et omnia Uteris mandavit. Eisdem vero nominibus et
veneratione divina sunt prosequuti, quibus in Armenia
Saga erant usi. Anno .xlix. Nini, Celtiberos rexit
Iberus filius lubal, a quo Iberi nominati fuerunt. Nini
.li. anno apud Celtas regnavit Samotis filius Magus, a
quo illis oppida plurima posita sunt. Ultimo anno
Barzanes in Armenia a Nino superatur.
6. Quarto loco regnavit apud Babyloniam uxor Nini
Ascalonita Semiramis annis quadragintaduobus. Haec
antecessit militia, triumphis, divitiis, victoriis et im-
perio omnes mortales. Ipsa banc urbem maximam ex
oppido fecit, ut magis dici possit illam aedificasse quam
ampliasse. Nemo umquam huic foeminae compa-
randus est virorum, tanta in eius vita dicuntur et
scribuntur, cum ad vituperationem, tum maxime ad
coUaudationem magnifica.
7. Huius primo anno oritur ex Rhea et Camesenuo
in Aegypto luno Aegyptia cognominata Isis maxima,
frugifera, legifera, soror et uxor Osiridis.
8. Eodem anno Sabatius Saga a Ponto solvit in
Italiam ad patrem lanum, quem exceptum hospitio
post aliquot annos ilium Coritum creavit, et Aborigi-
nibus praefecit. Anno sexto Semiramidis apud Rheni
Sarmatas regnavit filius Tuysconis Mannus: et apud
lanigenas Razenuos Vesta uxor lani sempiternum
ignem custodiendum virginibus puellis edoctis sacra
tradidit. Anno .xii. Semiramidis, Sabatius Saba cum
lano regnat.
9. Anno .xvii. Semiramidis Sabatius Saga docet
agriculturam, et aliquantulum religionis.
192 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
10. Anno. Semiramidis vigesimosecundo Sabatius
Sabum praefecit Sabinis et Aboriginibus. Ipse iuxta
laniculum cum aliis Curetibus regionem coluit, et ibi
obiit. Anno, xxxiiii. eiusdem apud Celtiberos regnat
lubelda, filius Iberi, apud montem sui nominis.
11. Quintus apud Babylonios regnavit Zameis Nini-
as, filius Semiramidis, annis triginta octo. In regno
Babylonico hie parum resplenduit, ornavit tamen
templa deorum, et Chaldaeos ampliavit.
12. Eius anno primo cum Sabatius obiit, lanus pater
senissimus filium suum Cranum Coritum creavit,
octavoque post anno obiit, expletis vitae suae annis.
cccl. et lanigenae ilium Vortumnum appellantes,
templum illi et divinos honores, ut par erat,impenderunt.
13. Hoc anno Osiris inventis a se et a sorore Ado-
lescentula frumento et frugibus, coepit docere ilia in
Palaestina, inde reversus in Aegyptum et invento
aratro et his quae ad agriculturam pertinent, sensim
universum peragravit orbem, docens quaecunque in-
venerat, et ita universo imperavit orbi, exceptis genti-
bus quae iam in Babyloniorum venerant potestatem.
14. His temporibus regnavit apud Celtas Sarron,
qui ut contineret ferociam hominum tum recentum,
publica literarum studia instituit, et apud Tuyscones
Inghaeuon.
15. Sextus Babyloniae rex Arius regnavit annis
.XXX. qui adiecit imperio omnes Bactrianos. Nam
paulo ante mortem Niniae Camesenuus pulsus ab omni
ferme orbe in Bactrianos sese contulerat, et illos
Magico praestigio sibi devinxerat, adeo ut apud illos
maximis viribus imperaret. Coacto autem Camesenuus
maximo populorum exercitu invasit Assyrios, contra
quem Ninus dimicans superior fuit, et Camesenuum
obtruncavit, inde paulo post ipse obiit. Quare Arius
collecto exercitu, post patris Niniae obitum, Bactri-
anos et omnes Caspios subiecit.
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 198
16. Cranus lanigena sororem suam mortuam cum
lanigenis Razenuis suis et omnibus simul Aboriginibus
solemni pompa celebrat. Et illi Lucum iuxta lani-
culum, amnem, solemnesque ritus et diem sacrat, ipse
senex filium suum Aurunum Coritum creat.
17. Arii .xx. anno apud Celtiberos regnat Brygus,
qui multa oppida suo nomini fundavit, adiectis nomi-
nibus capitum originum, quibus ilia consignabat.
18. Apud Libyam regnavit priscus Hyarbas, vir
ferox armis et militia Paladuae.
19. Anno .xxiv. Arii apud lanigenas Razenuos regnat
Aurunus filius Crani. Anno .xxix. apud Celtas Dryius
peritiae plenus.
20. Septimus Assyriis imperat Aralius annis .xl. vir
iste claruit ingenio et studio militari, et primus adauxit
pompas et gemmas, et muliebres delitias. Apud
Libyam Hyarbas cum Paladuis foeminis belligerans,
non fuit illis par. Quare donis occurrens se ac regnum
illarum permisit potestati.
21. Apud Tuy scones regnabat Herminon vir ferox
armis, et apud Celtas Bardus, inventione carminum et
musicae apud illos inclytus.
22. Aralii anno .x. Armeni lanigenae Griphonii cum
coloniis suis ad Aurunum lanigenum venerunt, quos
exceptos hospitio, etiam sedem cum lanigenis Razenu-
is assignavit. Classe quoque Auson eodem tempore ab
Auruno fuit exceptus anno octavo sequente, et ipsi
sedes in orientali Italia ab eodem consignata fuit.
23. Idem Aurunus in Vetulonia lucum sacravit
Crano, et inter Isos, id est, deos annumeravit. lano
quoque Vortumno templum et statuam non procul
urbe dedicavit, et deo Razenuo in Vetulonia sacellum
condidit.
24. Novissimis annis Aurunus Malot Tagetem filium
creavit Coritum, et .xxxv. Aralii anno obiit et successit
Malot Tages.
194 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
25. Anno penultimo Aralii classe venit ad Malot
Tagetem lanigenum Razenuum Phaeton cum filiis
suis, qui inveniens omnia ab Ausoniis occupata ab
Oriente, et montana a Gallis et Aboriginibus possessa,
planitiem vero a Razenuis lanigenis habitatam, donatus
fuit parte Occidentali, posseditque cum sua posteritate
montes et totum Eridanum usque in regionem proxi-
mam, istis relinquens nomina locis.
26. Eo tempore Italia in tribus locis arsit multis diebus
circa Istros, Cymeos, et Vesuuios vocataque sunt a
lanigenis ilia loca Palensana, id est, regio conflagrata.
27. Octavus rex Babyloniae fuit Baleus cognomento
Xerses ^t regnavit annis .xxx. hunc appellaverunt
Xersem, id est victorem et triumphatorem, quod
imperaverit duplo plus gentibus quam Aralius. Erat
enim militia ferox et fortunatus, et propagavit regnum
usque prope Indios.
28. Huius Balei Xersis temporibus, regnat apud
Celtiberos Tagus cognomento Orma, ex quo patria
dicta fuit Taga. Apud Tuyscones regnat Marsus,
et apud Lygures Phaeton, relicto filio Lygure, re-
gressus est in Aethiopiam Maloth Tages ritus sacros a
lano traditos, et aruspiciam auxit.
29. Nonus rex Babyloniae Armatritis imperavit
annis .xxxviii. Qui magis ad voluptates et delitias
eonversus, ea quae ad libidinem spectant, cum invenit
turn maxime inventa ampliavit. Huius aetate apud
Celtas Longho regnavit, et apud Celtiberos Betus, a
quo regnum habuit nomen: et apud lanigenas Sicanus
filius Maloth Tagetis, a quo cognominata fuit Vetu-
loniae regio.
30. Anno vigesimo Armatritis Lygur misit Cydnum
et Eridanum cum coloniis, cum fratribus et nepotibus:
et occupaverunt usque Istrum in Italia.
31. Sicanus deificavit Aretiam, et nominavit eam
lingua lanigena Horchiam.
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 195
32. Osiris in Thracia peremit gigantem Lycurgum.
33. Anno Armatritis trigesimosecundo apud Celti-
beros tyrannidem assumpsit Deabus. Qui hoc cogno-
men turn promeruit a fodinis auri et divitiis, quas
primus ibi cepit et invenit opprimens colonias. Et
post duos annos apud Celtas regnavit Bardus iunior.
34. Decimus Assyriorum rex imperat Belochus, an-
nis trigintaquinque. Qui idcirco a Belo sumpsit
cognomen, quia cum imperium voluit exercere maxi-
mum pontificum Beli lovis, et maxime circa auspicia
et divinationes occupatus fuit eius animus. Apud
Tuyscones regnavit Gambrivius, vir ferocis animi.
35. Apud Emathios coepit regnare Macedon filius
Osiridis, a quo nunc nomen retinet provincial atque
circa hoc regnum Osiris depressit gigantes, qui iam
tyrannidem coeperant.
36. Vigesimonono huius Belochi anno, apud Celti-
beros Lomnimi florebant, et aedificaverunt a suo
nomine urbem magnam Lomnimiam. Anno autem
sequente Itali oppressi a tyrannis gigantibus in tribus
Palensanis, advocaverunt Osirim, qui cum coloniis ad
Istri vicinos fontes pervenerat. Osiris tota Italia
potitus, decem annis illam tenuit, et a se nominavit in
triumphum: et sub ditione positis gigantibus, regem
lanigenis reliquit Lestrigonem gigantem, sibi ex filio
Neptuno nepotem.
37. Anno .xxxiii. Belochi, rex Lucus regnare coepit
apud Celtas. Novissimis annis Belochi, tenuit mare
Atticum, et ebuUiens inundavit Atticam.
38. Undecimus rex Babylonis fuit Baleus annis
quinquagintaduobus. Hie post Semiramidem supra
caeteros enituit fama, splenduit imperio usque intra
Indiam. Libri multi de eius gestis sunt a nostris
conscripti. Huius anno decimo Porcus Cados Sene
insulam complevit Vetulonicis coloniis, partem reliquit
posteritati Lygures.
196 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
39. Huius Balei temporibus Indi sua obtulerunt
Babyloniis, Osiris in Aegyptum reversus columnam
quae permanet inscripsit in monumentum expedi-
tionis suae per totum orbem.
40. Apud Tuyscones regnat Suaevus, et apud Celtas
Celtes, a quo nomen habuerunt montes illorum maximi
a conflagratione sylvarum, qui dividunt Celtas et
Celtiberos.
41. Typhon Aegyptius, omnibus orbis gigantibus
consciis, fratrem suum Osiridem lovem iustum Aegyp-
tium peremit, et ipse in Aegypto assumit tyrannidem,
Busiris in Phoenicia, in Phrygia vero alius Typhon, in
Libya Anteus, in Celtiberia Lomnini, in Italia Lestri-
gones, et in toto mari Milinus Cretensis.
42. Hercules Osiridis filius, cui nomen est Libyus,
cum Iside in Aegypto sustulit Typhonem, in Phoenicia
Busiridem, alium vero Typhonem in Phrygia, Milinum
in Creta, Anteum in Libya, Lomninos in Celtiberia,
a qua substituto illis rege Hispalo, ad tyrannos Italiae
conversus est. Cumque in Italiam per Celtas transiret,
permissu parentum Galathea genuit illis Galathem
regem.
43. In Italia decem annis debellavit, et expulit
Lestrigones, postquam .xx. annos apud illos pacifice
regnavit, multaque illis oppida a suo nomine et a suo
cognomine Musarna sicut Gedrosiae et Carnaniae
fundavit, et loca aquis impedita habitationi hominum
commoda fecit. Anno itaque Balei .xli. orsus in Italia
pugnam contra gigantes, biennio ante illius obitum
illos delevit. Ita ab Hispalis Hercules venit in Italiam,
Lestrigones et omnes tyrannos sustulit, Arnos, Ly-
barnos, Musarnos a se cognominatos condidit, trigin-
taque annis rexit, et accersitum Thuscum illis regem
reliquit.
44. Altades duodecimus rex Babyloniis fuit, regnans
annis .xxxii. Hie interposuit tempus suum dehtiis
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 197
existimans vanum esse laboribus, et suae vitae miseria
continua laborare, non quidem aliorum humanaeque
gentis utilitate ac beneficio, sed exitio ac servitute.
Idcirco suum institutum fuit, ut vita divitiis et gloria,
aliena stultitia et miseria a suis maioribus partis sibi
frueretur quoad viveret.
45. Huius Altadis tempore Hercules filium Thuscum
ex Araxa susceptum, ex Tanaide regione evocat.
Galathes a quo Samothei Galli dicti, eius aetate
regnavit apud Celtas, et Vandalus apud Tuyscones.
46. Hercules Thuscum filium lanigenis creat Cori-
tum ex more. Quo etiam illis rege relicto, ipse senex
admodum in Celtiberos revertitur, anno Altadis tri-
gesimonono, et regnavit ibi atque obiit. Cui Celtiberi
templum ad illius Gades, et sepulchrum et divinos
honores tribuerunt, plurimasque illius triumpho et
nomini urbes dedicaverunt, ut Libysosonam, Libyso-
cam, Libuncam, Liboram.
47. Galatheum puerum ad Herculem missum in
Siciliam cum coloniis misit Thuscus. Idem Thuscus
primus Palatuam militiam, et initiamenta Razenuos
lanigenas docuit.
48. Tertiusdecimus Babyloniae rex Mamitus reg-
navit annis triginta. Is rursus milites exercuit et assue-
fecit laboribus, et interpositis delitiis, ungentis, et
opobalsamis, militiam et pugnas exequebatur, coep-
itque formidini esse Syris et Aegyptiis. Huius anno
vigesimosecundo Alteus Thusci filius regnat apud
lanigenas, et biennio ante Hesperus frater Kitym
apud Celtiberos, rursus apud Celtas Narbon, et apud
Tuyscones Teutanes.
49. Quartusdecimus rex Babyloniis imperavit Man-
caleus annis .xxx. Cuius anno primo apud Celtiberos,
Kitym pulso fratre Hespero in Italiam, regnavit.
50. Duodecimo vero anno Mancalei, apud lanigenas
regnat Kitym, relicto in Celtiberis rege filio Sicoro.
198 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Eiusdem Mancalei temporibus apud Tuyscones regnat
Hercules Alemannus, apud Celtas Lugdus, a quo
provincia et homines eognomenta sumpserunt.
51. Kytim ob mentis excellentiam lanigenae sua
lingua vocaverunt Italum Atala. Hie filiam suam
Electram lanigenarum principi Cambo Blasconi dedit
coniugem. Qui pro nuptiis colonias misit trans alpes
Italiae proximas, et Romam filiam suam Italus primo
subreginam Aboriginibus sacrat. Filium quoque suum
Morgetem Italus Kitym creavit Coritum.
52. Quintusdecimus Assyriis imperat Sferus annis
.XX. vir de cuius gestis et prudentia omne vulgus
personat. Huius temporibus Morges filius Itali creavit
Coritum suum cognatum Camboblasconem, et paulo
post idem Coritus manet Itus. Apud Celtiberos regnat
Sicanus filius Sicori, post obitum Sferi sub Mamelo.
53. Sextusdecimus rex Mamelus Babyloniis imperat
annis .xxx. cuius anno octavo Romanessos filius Romae
fit primus subregulus montanorum Aboriginum, et
Sicanus regnat apud Celtiberos.
54. Apud Celtas Beligius, a quo illi Beligici appel-
lantur, regnat, et apud lanigenas tandem a patre lasius
creatus est Coritus.
55. lasius creatus est Coritus, et anno sequente simul
coeperunt duo reges, videlicet primus rex Atheniensium
Cecrops priscus et lasius lanigena apud Celtas.
56. In lasii nuptiis affuit lo Aegyptia. Sola enim
foeminarum uno plus Dodone centenario vixit, et
universum ferme orbem lustravit post viri interitum.
57. Decimus septimus rex Babyloniorum fuit Spa-
retus, et regnavit annis .xl. Sub eo coeperunt miranda
in orbe. Nam terraemotus Babylonios terruit. Athe-
nienses regnum exorsi sunt anno .iv. eius. Et eodem
anno lasius lanigena imperavit Italicis, et Siceleus
aliquanto post Celtiberis.
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 199
58. Sub Spareti imperio finierunt Aegyptii reges
magni Orus, Acencheres, Acoris, et coepit Chencres
qui cum Hebraeis de Magica pugnavit et ab eis sub-
mersus fuit. Anno quoque huius .xxxiiii. et .xxxv. in
Thessalia diluvium fuit, non solum ex imbribus, sed
quod obturatis montibus casu, flumina planitiem
impleverunt, et subsequuto terraemotu apertis ostiis
montium, aquae in alveos regressae. Et in alia eorum
parte post terraemotum sequutum est incendium, sub
quodam illorum rege Phaetonte, et noster rex Phoe-
nices et Syros subegit. Antea vero anno .xx. huius
imperii ab Italia lo in Aegyptum regreditur. Et lis
prima intestina oritur pro regno inter Dardanum et
lasium. Aborigines sequebantur partes Dardani, lani-
genae vero et Siculi cum Siceleo partes lasii.
59. Decimusoctavus rex praefuit Babyloniis Asca-
tades annis .xli. qui funditus omnem Syriam ditionis
suae fecit, cuius anno .xiii. vitis inventa apud Graecos
narratur. Sub eodem anno Dardanus lasium dolo
peremit, et fugiens in Samothraciam diu ibi latuit.
60. lasio Coribantus filius successit.
61. Ascatadis anno. .viii. Cancres victus Hebraeo-
rum magica periit in mari, cui apud Aegyptios suc-
cessit Acherres, apud Celtiberos Lusus, apud Celtas
AUobrox, et apud Aborigines Italos Romanessus filius
Romae primus Saturnus consecratus mox obiit, cui
successit filius eius Picus priscus.
62. Anno ultimo regis Ascatadis, Ato donavit Dar-
danum parte agri Maeonici, et ita regnum Troianum
coepit. Dardanus si qua iura in Italiae regno habebat,
resignavit Turreno filio Atus.
63. Turrhenus adnavigans in Italiam lanigenam a
Cybele et Coribanto tamquam ex Herculeis hilari
hospitio exceptus, et civilitate Razenua donatus est.
64. Ipse Turrhenus multa Maeonica ornamenta
proferens, dedit. Coribantus vero et Cybeles ornata
200 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Dynastia duodecim ducum duodecim populorum qui
essent ex lanigenis, ipsi in Phrygiam se contulerunt.
65. Porro etiam sub Ascatade apud Aegyptios fuere
reges Cherres et Armeus qui cognominatus est Danaus, et
Ramesses cognomento Aegyptus. Itaque qui reges et
tempora traduntur a nostris de primoribus regnis orbis a
lani diluvio primo usque ad Dardaniae regnum conditum,
his nostris brevissimisannotationibus sint hactenus dicta.
Poor Annius Viterbensis! What obloquy has been
heaped upon him in the last four hundred years! As
great a scholar as Trithemius, to whom we owe the
preservation of one of the most important forgeries of
the eighth century, he has suffered even more at the
hands of his detractors, as well as his friends; but
it will not be difficult to reestablish his reputation as
one of the great Renaissance writers.
"Annius of Viterbo (Giovanno Nanni), a Dominican
monk," says the Grosses vollstdndiges Universal-Lexicon
of 1732, "pretended to be well versed in ancient history
and the learned languages, but it was all idle bragging,
and he betrayed himself most shamefully when he
edited certain lists of old kings and history under the
name of Berosus, Manetho, Megasthenes, Fabius
Pictor, Cato, Sempronius, etc., whose true writings had
long been lost, trying to persuade people that he had
found them in old manuscripts. . . . How little he under-
stood Greek, may be partially judged from the fact that
he did not even know the name of Megasthenes, whose
books he claimed to reconstruct, since he ascribed them
to Metasthenes." After this follows a story about his
having faked inscriptions, and a long list of authors
who have denounced him and the names of a few who
have taken his part.
Two years before, there had appeared in Paris
volume XI of the Memoir es pour servir a Vhistoire des
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 201
hommes illustres, where we have a complete account of
the man and of his work. He was born in 1432 and died
in 1502. He entered early the order of St. Dominic, where
he became very famous for his science, but still more for
his impostures in matters of erudition and antiquity.
The only work of his that interests us is the Antiqui-
tatum variarum volumina. XVII, which appeared in
its first editions in 1498 in Rome and in Venice, and
contained the following books:
1. Notitia generalis sequentium sexdecim.
2. Institutio de aequivocis circa Etruscam originem,
3. Vertumniana Propertii.
4. Xenophon de aequivocis hominum nominihus.
5. Quintus Fdbius Pictor de aureo saeculo, et de
Origine urhis Romae ac vocabulorum ejus.
6. Myrsilus Lesbius Historicus de hello Pelasgico et
origine Italiae et Thyrrenorum.
7. Fragmenta Catonis.
8. Fragmenta duo Itinerarii Antonini Pii.
9. Sempronius de Divisione et Chorographia Italiae.
10. Epithetum Archiloci de Temporibus.
11. Metasthenes Persa de judicio temporum et annali-
um Persarum.
12. De primis temporibus et XXIV. Regibus His-
paniae, et ejus antiquitate.
13. Etrusca simul et Italica emendatissima Chrono-
graphia.
14. Philonis Breviarium de temporibus.
15. Defloratio Berosi Chaldaica Libris V.
16. Manethonis Sacerdotis Aegyptii supplementum
ad Berosum.
17. Anniae quaestiones ad consobrinum suum F.
Thomam Annium ejusdem Ordinis.
The author of the Memoires gives a long list and
discussion of writers who have rejected or defended
Annius, but sides with the "best" critics, who assert that
202 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
the whole book is the invention of Annius, who did not
even know the true names of the authors whom he pro-
duced, for he called Metasthenes an historian who was
known in antiquity as Megasthenes.
The most sensible view in regard to Annius was
given by Apostolo Zeno/ who after a long and critical
review of all opinions, comes to the conclusion that it
is unthinkable that Annius, a most learned man, who
was Master at the Vatican, should have tried to cheat
with his literary work, and asserts that Annius was
simply the victim of some cheat; and Tiraboschi, in
his Storia delta letteratura italiana, vol. VI, Book III,
accepts Zeno's moderate view. But Ginguen^^ returns
to the old accusation, even repeating the slur that
Annius called Megasthenes Metasthenes.
How ill founded is the accusation of Annius' ignor-
ance in all the critics quoted, is proved by the fact
that Annius did not make any such mistake about
Megasthenes as is claimed by the critics, who did not
trouble themselves about verifying their baseless state-
ment. Annius says distinctly in the introduction to the
De iudicio temporum of Metasthenes, that Metasthenes
was a Persian chronographer and a priest, who was
not in any way to be confounded with Megasthenes,
the Greek historian and layman.^ One can look only
with contempt upon the whole brood of critics who
were guilty of such criminal negligence, and who have
thrown down this misstatement as their trump card.
Far more decent is Sebastian Muenster, who in the
Third Book of his Cosmographia has a chapter,
De antiquis Germaniae populis, where he says that he
1 Dissertazioni Vossiane, Venezia 1753, vol. II, p. 186 ff.
* Histoire litteraire d'ltalie, Paris 1824, vol. Ill, p. 406 flf.
3 "Corruptissime tamen inveni hunc in aliquibus Megasthenem pro
Metasthene, quia primus fuit Graecus et historicus, hie vero Persa et chrono-
graphus, et ille laicus, hie vero sacerdos, quia non seripsit nisi publica et
probata fide, quod erat proprium sacerdotis offieium, ut hoc loco ipse
Metasthenes indicat."
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 208
cannot agree with those who reject Berosus, because
it does not agree with the other authors. ** However
it may be, I know this much, that as far as the Hebrew
words are concerned, of which there is a great number
in these fragments, no deception can be discovered,
and I am obliged to have faith in the book and the
author, because at the time when Berosus was pub-
lished by a certain monk, there was no one among
the Christians who was expert in Hebrew. Indeed,
who among the unlearned monks, who knew almost
nothing of languages, could have known what Estha,
Maia, Arecia, and Ruha meant?"
The works of Annius show stupendous learning,
even at a time when the poly historians were abroad.
He supplied the texts which he published with a very
detailed commentary, based on all the classics access-
ible to him, and on the wisdom of the Talmud. He
quoted, not perfunctorily, but specifically, and many
of them very often, ^ Aristotle, Varro, Livy, Ovid,
Virgil, Ptolemy, PHny, Ennius, Junius, Propertius,
Cato, Suetonius, Plutarch, Valerius Maximus, Hero-
dotus, Solinus, Strabo, Archilochus, Hyginus, etc.,
etc. He was well acquainted with the works of
Jerome, especially with the Onomastica^ and quoted
for his information about Hebrew and Aramaic his
friend. Rabbi Samuel, the Talmudist, obviously
Samuel Zarfati, the court physician of Alexander VI,
a most learned Spanish Jew,^ and two other Talmud-
1 1 give these sources in the order in which they are mentioned in the
Index of the edition of 1512,
2 "Ut noster Samuel dicit," fol. XLa; "ut erudite noster Samuel Talmul-
dista interpretabat," fol. XLb; "al enim teste Hieronymo commixtionem
significat, et ut Talmudista doctus dicebat, etiam ligaturam et fasciculum,"
fol. XLVIIIb; "ut Rabi Samuel interpretatur," fol. Lllla; "ut Samuel noster
exposuit," fol. LXb; "teste Talmudista Samuele et divo Hieronymo,"
fol. LXVa; "ut Talmudista noster interpretabat," fol. LXXIIIa; "verum
Aramei teste Thalmudista nostro Samuele, unico verbo haec praedicta
quattuor concludunt," fol. CLVIIIa; "similiter phescem armatum equitem
Aramee significet, ut rabi Samuel exposuit," fol, CLXXa, etc.
204 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
ists.^ The extraordinary care exercised by him is proved
in one case where he replied to his cousin's enquiry as
to the origin of the name " Ascreanum" and its adjoin-
ing places, by saying that he had not yet found out
whether or not Ascreanum was an Aramaic word.'^
On the other hand, he gave the precise references to
passages in the Talmud, wherever such had been
furnished him by his friend Samuel.^
It is sheer madness to accuse such a man of wilful
forgery. A man who is supposed to have concocted all
the Italian and Germanic antiquities would most certain-
ly have committed a forgery on the Spanish antiquity,
since his whole volume is dedicated to Ferdinand and
Isabella; but he only builds up the origin of Spain by
harmonizing Eusebius, Berosus, and the other authori-
ties, in so far as they bear on Spanish antiquity. Of
course, the books he published were all forgeries, but
they were forgeries made in the eighth or ninth century
by that clever school of genealogical forgers who pro-
duced the writings of Aethicus, Virgil Maro, Hegesip-
pus, Jordanes, Tacitus, etc. Most, possibly all, the
books, came from a collection which was made in 1315
by a certain Guilielmus of Mantua,* in which there
was also a fragment of Verrius, which he quoted.^
' "Quaeris quae et quot sint ilia nomina quae in octavis pascae feme
quinque jam annis superioribus cum rabi Samuele et duobus aliis Thal-
mudistis conferebam," fol. CLXIXb.
* "Ascreanum nondum comperi an sit Arameae originis," fol. CLXVIb.
' "Talmudistae vero in libro Aaboda Zara, in distinctione qua incipit
Lipfne Idiem aiunt," etc., fol. Cb; "de zanedrin vero deletionem Hebraei
scribunt in Talmud in libro Baba Bathra, in distinctione Assutafin," fol. Clb.
* "Porro quae habentur nunc Itineraria Antonini non sunt, sed forte ex
fragmentis aliquot coUecta, et plura his addita, multa diminuta, plura
immutata. Argumento sunt duo fragmenta quae apud me sunt ex coUec-
taneis magistri Guillelmi, collecta anno Salutis MCCCXV," fol, LXXIIb;
"quisquis fuerit iste Cato qui de originibus scripsit, non potui eum integrum
habere, nisi fragmenta et quidem inordinata in collectaneis vetustis cuiusdam
magistri Guilielmi Mantuani. Nos vero in ordinem solum fragmenta re-
degimus," fol. LVIIa.
' "Quaeris an Turrenam Graecus Hercules attigerit, quia dicis Faulam
puellam fuisse praemium virtutis eius. Responsio. Lactantius in primo
divinarum institutionum libro, de propria religione Romanorum dicit eam
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 205
Zeno^ adduces the statement of Michele le Quien
that he had seen in the Colbertine Library a catalogue
of authors quoted in an old manuscript, which was
compiled between 1220 and 1230, where there was
reference to -Orosius (for Berosus) de Historia Chal-
daeorum, and Megasthenes de Historia Indica. Un-
fortunately, it is not possible to verify this statement.
Zeno also mentions the fact that Leibniz published a
chronicle, which was written shortly after 1240, where
there is a reference to a chronology by Philo, like the
one used by Annius. This statement we can verify.
Annius published a very brief Breviarium de tempo-
ribus, ascribed to Philo. It has nothing in common with
the works of Philo Judaeus, but the name of the
author. In Annius' fragment we have a genealogy
from King David on. In the Chronicon Alherici,
Monachi Trium Fontium,^ Philo says that the Scyth-
ians were derived from Japheth, and from these later
came the Trojans, and from the Trojans came the
fuisse scortum Herculis, et producit Verrium testem; tamen in fragmento
Verrii, quod magister Guilielmus Mantuanus coUegit, non utitur Verrius
vocabulo scortum sed praemium. Sic enim iacent eius verba. Accam
Larentiam Faustuli Thusci uxorem, quem haeredem instituerit Romulus,
sacris parentalibus donaverunt. Tuscam item adolescentulam Faulam quia
virium Alcei praemium ad lacum Cyminium Fanumque Volturnae fuit, in
deam retulerunt. Haec Verrius," fol. CLXIVb.
1 Op. cit., p. 190 f.
* "Anno L. aetatis Phalec dicit Philo ex tribus filiis Noae eo vivente nati
sunt XXIIII milia virorum et centum, extra mulieres et parvulos. Nemroth
filius Chus filii Cham regnavit super filios Cham, Jectan super filios Sem,
SufFene super filios Japhet. Anno L° aetatis Phalec Reu filii sui XX turris
aedificatur. Abhinc post diluvium et divisionem linguarum quatuor princi-
palia regna surrexerunt in terra: primum Scytharum ab aquilone tempore
Saruc, ubi primus regnavit Thanus, a quo fluvius Thanais denominatur.
Scithae fuerunt de Japhet, a quibus postea descenderunt Troiani et a
Troianis Romani et Franci et multi alii. Secundum regnum Aegyptiorum
a meridie ubi primus regnavit Zoel sive Mineus. Tertium regnum principale
• Assyriorum ad orientem caeteris excellentius similiter de Cham et ex parte
de Sem. Quartum regnum Sciciniorum [Sicyoniorum] ad occidentem in
insula moncionis dicitur fuisse de Sem. De Sem namque fuerunt non solum
Judaei sed et Medi et Persae et Graeci, de Cham Assyrii et Aegyptii et
Chananaei. De Japhet Scithae et Troiani, Romani et Franci. Item de
Sem gentes XXVII, de Cham XXX et de Japhet XV," G. G. Leibniz,
Accessiones historicae, Hannoverae 1698, vol. II, p. 3 f.
206 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Romans, Franks, and many others. This at once
places Philo with the eighth and ninth century forgers
who derived the Franks from the Trojans. The forgery
cannot have been committed later, because the interest
in the Troy origin for chronological purposes wanes
after that. Thus we get the confirmation that Annius
merely reproduced eighth or ninth century forgeries,
taking them in good faith, even as d'Avezac, Pertz,
and Wuttke, in the nineteenth century, found it incum-
bent upon themselves to defend the Aethicus forgery
as a genuine work of St. Jerome, and as all scholars
have credulously accepted the Germania of Tacitus as
a real work of the Latin author.
Thus far we have not discovered even a distant
trace of forgery in Annius himself. The Defloratio
Berosi he claims to have received as a gift at Genoa
from Master George, the Armenian.^ Annius knew
full well of the original Berosus, for in the introduction
to the first book he quotes from Josephus as to his
having been a Babylonian. Berosus, according to
Annius, flourished in the time of Alexander the Great,
was versed in Greek, and taught at Athens the Chaldaic
science, especially astronomy. The work of Berosus is
called Defloratio, says Annius, because, to use the
expression of Josephus, he culled (defloravit) the whole
Chaldaic history, mentioning the deluge, the ark,
Noah, and his sons. As a matter of fact, Defloratio
was the usual word for an historical work among the
church fathers, and is, for example, so used by Cassio-
dorus. It is just the kind of title an eighth century
forger would have affected, but a fifteenth century
writer would not have thought of it.
^ "Frater autem Matthias olim provincialis Armeniae ordinis nostri,
quern existens prior Genuae ilium Comi hospitio excepi, et a cuius socio
magistro Gaeorgio similiter Armeno, banc Berosi deflorationem dono habui,"
fol. CXIIIIb.
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 207
1.4. The forger supplied Noah with two classical
wives, Tytea and Pandora, and with two others,
representing two cities in Spain, Noela and Noegla,
mentioned in Pliny, IV.lll, because these permitted
an etymological relation with Noah. In V.5, the forger
forgot that Noela and Noegla had been mentioned by
him as women, and now made them colonies estab-
lished by lanus, i. e., Noah, in Spain. The forger was
acquainted with Pliny.
1.5. The forger proposes to write a brief account of
the world. Italy is here called Kytim, while Germany,
extending from the Rhine to the Pontus, is given as
Sarmatia.
In V.48, Kytim was at first settled in Spain, but,
according to V.50, he reigned in Italy, ^ and according
to V.51, was called I talus Atala "ob mentis excel-
lentiam." Kytim is the Cethim, Chetim of Daniel,
XI.31, which Jerome translated by Romania But
the forger, who made Kytim. the eponymous hero of
Italy, had to explain the reason for the change of name.
He wrote in V.51: "Kytim ob mentis excellentiam
lanigenae sua lingua vocaverunt Italum Atala." An-
nius was always ready with sources to prove the
etymologies which are quoted in the passages pub-
lished by him. But in this case, as in several others,
neither the classical sources nor Rabbi Samuel could
help him. So he confined himself to explaining as
nearly as he could the meaning in Berosus.^ He did
not even attempt to inform us what kind of language
that of the lanigenae was. The forger, as usual,
employed Arabic etymologies, where Jerome's Onomas-
1 "Kitim, quam nunc Italiam nominant," III. 4.
^ "Siim quippe et Chethim quos nos trier es et Romanos interpretati sumus,
Hebraei lialos volunt intelligi atque Romanos," Comment, in Danielem,
XL 31.
^ "Magis per expositionem quam distinctionem nominis dicit Berosus,
aut traductor Berosi, Italum Itala. Quasi dicat: Vocaverunt eum ob ex-
cellentiam mentis Italaa sive Atalaa, quia eundem significant," fol. CXLIa.
208 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
tica failed him, thus giving himself away as to the
age in which he wrote. The forger derived Italus
from Arab, ^i HttaWa or ^i 'atW "he got or
obtained knowledge."
Annius could not possibly have made the mistake
of confounding the Sarmatians with the Germans.
Indeed, he discusses the matter quite sensibly in IV.4,
where the forger says that Janus made Tuiscon king of
Sarmatia from the Danube to the Rhine, by quoting
Tacitus' Germania and Ptolemy. In 1.5, Tuisconus is
the name of the nation from the Rhine through the
Sarmatians up to the Pontus. In II. 3, Tuiscon is
given as "Germanorum et Sarmatum pater." Ac-
cording to V.l, Tuiscon established the Sarmatian
nations. In V.4, Tuiscon, the giant, gave laws to the
Sarmatians on the Rhine. In V.8, the son of Tuiscon,
Mannus, ruled over the Sarmatians on the Rhine. In
V.21, the Tuiscones, that is, the Germans, are ruled
over by a fierce King Herminon. In V.28, the king of
the Tuiscones is Marsus; in V.34, he is succeeded by
Gambrivius; in V.40, by Suevus; in V.45, by Vandalus;
in V.48, by Teutanes; in V.50, by Hercules Alemannus.
The forger, who was a Goth resident in France, or,
far more likely, in Switzerland, knew the current
name for "German," preserved in the oldest French
sources as tiesche, tiesque, thyos, ties, etc., and which
is given in LLatin, among others, as tutiscus, hence, in
Oltalian, tudesco, now tedesco. Obviously he pro-
nounced it tuisco, and so created his eponymous hero,
Tuiscon. From this Tuiscon he derived the eponymous
heroes for the tribes that he knew from history, the
Suevi, Vandals, and Teutons. From the Annales of
Tacitus, 1.56, and 11.25, he knew of the Marsi, and
from the same source he knew of Arminius, the fierce
king. Thus Herminon and Marsus became descend-
ants of Tuiscon.
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 209
The eponymous heroes, Suevus, Vandalus, Teu-
tanes, need no explanation, but Gambrivius is un-
questionably the eponymous hero of the Langobards,
because Gambara is given in the Origo gentis Lango-
bardorwm} as the first queen of the Langobards. In
the Codex Gothanus she is called "parens Langobardo-
rum."^ Gambara is apparently the same as Cambra
of Hunibald, the wife of Antenor, the most beautiful
and the wisest of women among the Franks, to whom
she gave laws and whom she taught how to build
forts — a woman by sex, a king and priest by intelli-
gence. From this comes the name of Sicamber=" nuia
et tu Cambrae calles prudentiam."^ This is identical
with the account of Gambara in Ariprandus:^ "cecidit
autem sors super filiam regis Gambaram nomine et
super omnes terre illius meliores." Hunibald's equation
of cambra — "prudentia" is borne out by the OHGerman
glosses, "gambri sagacitas, agonia," ''gambren strenuus,"
*'kdbare uuizzigen Snellen strenuis."^ The word stands
alone in OHGerman and is, no doubt, Arab, j^- ^abbar
"strong, omnipotent, great, high."
Hercules Alemannus (in V.50) presupposes another
Hercules, even as Alemannus is related to M annus,
the son of Tuiscon (V.8). It is clear that the forger
of Berosus was trying to write a genealogy chiefly for
the Alamannians, hence the son of Tuiscon is Mannus,
the eponymous hero of the Alamannians, and he
strengthens their importance by giving them a special
Hercules. Hercules was easily bandied about, and there
cannot be the slightest doubt that Saxnot, the Saxon
divinity, mentioned by the side of Woden and Thunaer
' MGH., Scriptores rerum langobardicarum et italicarum, p. 2; also pp. 62,
195, 221, 234.
2 Ibid., p. 7.
^ Trithemius, Opera historica, p. 5.
■• MGH., Scrip, rer. lang. et ital., p. 593 f.
" Steinmeyer and Sievers, vol. II, p. 291.
210 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
in the Saxon Abrenuntiatio didboli,^ is an abbreviated
Hercules Saxanus, who is given in a large number of
inscriptions^ near Pont a Mousson and near Brohl,
but always in stone quarries. Obviously, Saxanus is
derived from Lat. saxum ** stone," but the relation to
Saxones seemed so plain to the forger of the Saxon
Antiquitas, who directly or indirectly knew of the
presence of Hercules in the region of the Rhine, that
he created Hercules as a Saxon divinity, perpetuated
in the Abrenuntiatio as Saxnot. But, if there was a
Hercules Saxanus, why not create a Hercules Aleman-
nusf
In 1.4 one of Noah's wives is given as Tytea magna.
In II. 1 Noah is mentioned as the father of all the gods
and men, chaos and the seed of the world. Chaos
deposits the seed in Tytea, that is, Aretia, or earth, and
thus everything is produced from it. In III. 4 Noah
goes to Italy and becomes Janus, "the heavens, sun,
chaos, seed of the world," etc., while Tytea is "the
mother of all, whom they called Aretia, that is. Earth,
and whom they called Esta, that is. Fire, after her
death." Curiously enough, Gedaliah Ibn Yahya, in
his Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah, adopted this story from
Pseudo-Berosus and spoke of the identification of
Noah with Janus, deriving the latter, like Pseudo-
Berosus, from yayin "wine." His wife was by him
given as Aricia, from Heb. erez "earth," she being the
mother of every living thing. After her death she was
called Eshta, from esh "fire," on account of her as-
cension to heaven.^
The whole of III. 5 is a farrago from the Bible
account of Noah and from the early mediaeval know-
ledge about Janus. Ibn Yahya showed the Semitic
1 MGH., Leges, vol. I, p. 19.
* See Pauly-Wissowa, Real-encyclopadie der elaasischen Altertumawissen-
sehaft, new edition, vol. XV, col. 610.
» The Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. IX, p. 322.
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 211
origin of the words employed by Pseudo-Berosus, but
he was mistaken as to their Hebrew origin, for Pseudo-
Berosus gives them as Aramaic. Janus "vitifer,
vinifer" is, no doubt, derived from Heb. and Chald.
]!1 yain "wine." Similarly, Esta is Syr. ]bitJ\, Chald.
^5^^ ^^i^ "fire." But Aretia represents more nearly
Arab. (>j^ *ard "earth," or ^Ji»iJ\ 'arid "good earth"
than Heb. fHH erez, for which there is no correspond-
ing Syriac word. The Chaldaic derivatives are
here, no doubt, due to an adherence to a Hebrew
account of Noah. None of these words have survived
in the Germanic languages, except Arab. fj»j\ 'ard.
The Arabic word means "earth, ground," while
Vj» Hrdah means "abundant herbage, pasture,"
u^.J^ (>->' 'and, 'arid "land that is thriving, that
collects moisture, and becomes luxuriant with herb-
age." The first datable occurrence of the word in
European languages is in two documents of the year
788, where harde means "common pasture."^ The
oldest OHGerman forms are herda, haerda, eratha
"earth, soil, humus." It is, therefore, very likely that
OHG. hirdi, hirti "shepherd" is derived from harde
"pasture." Herta "herd" is recorded only in Not-
ker, and becomes popular only later. Apparently the
Arabic word was applied specifically to pasture land,
whence this development. O French records only harde
"flock, herd," which shows once more the relation to
this group. The Gothic has differentiated air pa
"earth" from hair da "herd." The ASaxon has
similarly eard, eorpe, eorp "earth" and heard "flock,
herd," but also eorod, eored "legion, troop."
* "Dono in pago salinense in marca gisoluinga iurnales XVI forastum unum
et portionem meam de ilia harde," C. Zeuss, Traditiones possessionesque
wizenburgenses, Spirae 1842, pp. 200, 201.
212 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
The classical allusions in the Janus story are taken
from a large number of sources, which may be dis-
covered by looking in Forcellini under Janus, where
"chaos, caelus, pacem habens," etc., will be found
applied to him just as in Pseudo-Berosus. But to us
is of special significance the fact that the chief source
of the story is Ovid's Fasti, 1.103 ff.:
"Me Chaos antiqui — nam sum res prisca — vocabant.
Aspice, quam longi temporis acta canam.
Lucidus hie aer et quae tria corpora restant,
Ignis, aquae, tellus, unus acervus erant."
Annius referred to this source.^ He also pointed out
the confusion of Aretia with the Magna Mater, Cybele,^
a confusion which, as we shall see later, led the forger
of the Germania to create a special deity for the
Germans.
In the same III. 5 we have another proof that Annius
could not possibly have concocted the Pseudo-Berosus,
who places in Armenia the cities, Olyhama, Arsa, and
Ratha. It is hard to tell where he got this job lot of
cities, but fortunately he gives the etymologies of
Olyhama as "caelum" and of Arsa as "sol," which
allows us to identify them. Olyhama is given in
Genesis, X.IO, as a city in Edom, which Jerome
etymologizes as " tabernaculum meum in aliquo uel
tabernaculi altitudo," which apparently produced the
mistake; for "caelum" could have had in the original
only Arab. LJi ^alsamd, which, by mistaking it for
U-Ji in the texts which so frequently left off the dots,
was read as alihama, producing Olyhama. Similarly,
Arsa is Arab. <j\ *arasah "fire, flame."
1 Op. cit., fol. ClXb.
2 Ibid., fol. CXVIa.
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 213
In V.32 Deahus was so called from the gold mines.
This is Arab, v^i dzahab "gold." Had the forger
had in mind the Hebrew word, he would have written
Zahahus, and not Deabua.
We can now investigate the important triad of the
Inguaeones, Istaevones, and Hermiones, on whom so
much of wrong history has been constructed. In
Pseudo-Berosus the three are not mentioned as derived
from three brothers. In the Generatio regum et genti-
um,^ which is from Codex Sangallensis 732 and belongs
to the ninth century, we have the following genealogy:
"Primus rex Romanorum Alaneus dictus est.
Alaneus genuit Papulo.
Papulus genuit Egetium.
Egetius genuit Egegium.
Egegius genuit Siagrium.
per quem Romani regnum perdiderunt.
Tres fuerunt fratres,
Erminus Inguo et Istio frater eorum:
unde sunt gentes XII.
Erminus genuit
Gotos [Walagotus] Wandalus Gepedes et Saxones.
haec sunt gentes IV.
Inguo frater eorum genuit
Burgundiones Thoringus Langobardus Baioarius.
haec sunt gentes IV.
Istio frater eorum genuit
Romanos Brittones Francus Alamannus.
haec sunt gentes IV."
Later editions of this genealogy write for Istio also
Hisicio, Escio, and for Inguo they write Ingo, Tingus,
Nigueo. Besides, the order of the derived nations is
rearranged. MS. D has "Armen genuit Gothos
Guandalos Brjgjdos Saxones, Tingus genuit Tuscos et
^ K. Muellenhoff, Germania antiqua, Berolini 1873, p. 163 f.
214 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Longobardos Burgondiones Bajoarjos," while MS. E,
which is from the Codex Cavensis, of the eleventh cen-
tury, has **De Ermenone nate sunt generationes
V. Gothi Uualagothi Cybedi Burgundio et Lango-
bardos, de Nigueo nate sunt generationes quattuor, id
est Uuandalos Saxones Baioarios et Toringus."
We have an older form of this genealogy in the His-
toria Brittonum, of which the oldest manuscript goes
back to the ninth or tenth century. Here we read:
"Primus homo venit ad Europam de genere lafeth
Alanus cum tribus filiis suis, quorum nomina sunt
Hessitio, Armenon, Negue. Hessitio autem habuit
filios quattuor: hi sunt Francus, Romanus, Britto,
Albanus. Armenon autem habuit quinque filios:
Gothus, Valagothus, Gebidus, Burgundus, Longo-
bardus. Negue autem habuit tres filios: Vandalus,
Saxo, Boguarus. ab Hisitione autem ortae sunt
quattuor gentes Franci, Latini, Albani et Britti. ab
Armenone autem quinque: Gothi, Valagothi, Gebidi,
Burgundi, Longobardi. a Neguio vero quattuor Bogu-
arii, Vandali, Saxones et Turingi. istae autem gentes
subdivisae sunt per totam Europam."^ This the
Nennius interpretatus gives as follows: "Primus homo
venit ad Europam de genere laphet Alanus cum
tribus filiis suis, id est Isacon, Armenon et Negua.
Isacon habuit filios quattuor: Francum, Romanum,
Britum, Albanum. Armenon autem habuit quinque
filios: Gotum, Uilegotum, Cebetum, Burgandum,
Longobardum. tres fuerunt filii Neguae: Uandalus,
Saxo, Boarus. a Saxone filio Neguae orti sunt Saxo-
nes."2
In spite of the discordant texts, it is clear that the
genealogy meant to identify the Gothic peoples with
Hermino, the Romans with Istaevo, and the Lango-
1 MGH., Auctor. antiq., vol. XIII, p. 159 f.
« Ibid., p. 149.
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 215
bards with Inguaeo. We have already seen from the
Hermanric story how Ahriman has given the valiant
warrior of the Goths of the north. Istaevo is written
Isaco in the Historia Brittonum, and the other forms
for this name show that Isaco or Isco must have been
the original word. This allows us at once to derive the
genealogy of the Romans and the Franks (the latter
are also related to the Romans in Hunibald, as we
shall later see) from an Arabic source.
Mas'tidi^ gives the following account of the origin
of the Romans. "People do not agree as to the origin
of the name of Rum. Some say that it should be de-
rived from the city of Rum, which is called Rome in
the language of that country. The name of this city
has been Arabicized under the name of Rum, but the
people call themselves Romans in their language, and
the neighboring nations do not call them otherwise.
Others have thought that the name was that of the
father of the people, namely Rum, son of Samahliq,
son of Herian, son of 'Alqa, son of Esau, son of Isaac,
son of Abraham, the friend of God. According to
others, these people owe their name to the chief of
their race. Rum, son of Labt, son of Yundn, son of
Japheth, son of Sunah, son of Sarhtin, son of Rumiyah,
son of Barbat, son of Tavfil, son of Rtiman, son of
al-A§far, son of al-Nafr, son of Esau, son of Isaac.
There are still other systems in regard to this. . . . Esau
had thirty sons. The last of the Rums are the sons of
al-A§far, sons of al-Nafr, sons of Esau, sons of Isaac.
This fact is established by a number of pre-Islamitic
poets. It has been more especially advanced by *Adi,
son of Zaid al-*Abadi, when he says: 'The Benu'l-
A§far, these illustrious sovereigns of Rome, not one of
them is left to be talked about.'"
' C. Barbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille, Ma^oudi, Les prairies
d'or, Paris 1863, vol. II, chap. XXVIII, p. 293 ff.
216 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Mas'tidi says that these genealogies are based on
the Thorah and the other Hebrew books. ^ This is
correct, for the Romans were by the Jews identijfied
with Edom, that is, with Esau, even as the Syrians
derived the Romans from Esau and Isaac. ^
If we turn to the Generatio regum et gentium, we ob-
serve that it is dealing with a genealogy which refers
to the fall of the Roman empire under Siagrius, in 487.
The last of the Romans disappear, and in their stead
come the Britons, the Franks, and the Germans, who
claim a relationship, at least politically, with the
Romans, with whom they are classed. Hence the
genealogy, made up in the eighth century, creates a
common forefather for them, Isaac, who in the manu-
scripts becomes corrupted to Istaevo, Istio, etc. Now,
who is Inguaeof We have also the reading Nigueo,
who in the Historia Brittonum is given as Negue. He
appears as the eponymous hero of the Langobards
and some other nations that are grouped around them.
Here the Arabic genealogical science failed the forger,
because the Arabs did not provide any genealogy for
the nations lying so far outside their interest. And
yet, it is again the Arabic that furnished the forger
with an eponymous hero. Just as Arab. jU I 'dlamdn
** Alamannian" had led Pseudo-Berosus to create an
eponymous hero, Mannus, so the Langobards, through
an original form j>^J Alangobard, which is not used,
led to the common form ^^y nuqobar(P "Langobard,"
1 Ibid., p. 295.
* "Et imperium postmodum in adventu suo tradidit Romanis, qui filii
Esau vocati sunt, ipsi autem filii Esau imperium ei qui illud dedit adser-
vant," Patrologia syriaca, pars prima, vol. I, col. 230 f.; "imperium dedit
priuB filiis Jacob, eisque submisit filios Esau, sicut Isaac ad Esau dixit;
'Jacob fratri tuo servies? Cumque in imperio baud prospere succederent,
abstulit ab eis regnum, filiisque Esau dedit, donee veniet is cuius est,' "
ibid., col. 234.
' Mas'udI, op. eit., vol. Ill, p. 76.
PSEUDO-BEROSUS 217
which produced the eponymous hero, Negue, hence
Inguaeo.
We have in Pliny the following passage: "Incipit
deinde clarior aperiri fama ab gente Inguaeonum,
quae est prima in Germania. mons Saevo ibi, in-
mensus nee Ripaeis iugis minor, inmanem ad Cim-
brorum usque promunturium efficit sinum, qui Co-
danus vocatur, refertus insulis, quarum clarissima est
Scatinavia, inconpertae magnitudinis, portionem tan-
tum eius, quod notum sit, Hillevionum gente quin-
gentis incolente pagis: quare alterum orbem terrarum
eam appellant. . . . Germanorum genera quinque:
Vandili, quorum pars Burgodiones, Varinnae, Charini,
Gutones. alterum genus Inguaeones, quorum pars
Cimbri, Teutoni ac Chaucorum gentes. proximi
autem Rheno Istuaeones, quorum mediterranei
Hermiones, quorum Suebi, Hermunduri, Chatti, Che-
rusci. quinta pars Peucini, Basternae, supra dictis
contermini Daeis. "^
In the light of the above discussion it is obvious that
we have here an eighth or ninth century interpolation.
It will be observed that some manuscripts have a
lacuna after '* Istuaeones quorum." This is not
accidental. The Burgundians and Gutones (apparently
for the Goths) have been classed as Vandili, and,
instead, Suebi, Hermunduri, Chatti, and Cherusci are
mentioned as Hermiones, while Cimbri, Teutoni, and
Chauci have been substituted for Burgundiones, Thor-
ingi, Langobardi, Boiarii, whom Tacitus could not
have known, as Inguaeones. Here it was easy enough
to make the changes. But the interpolator was com-
pletely baffled about Romans, Britons, and Franks.
Hence the best some manuscripts could do was to
mention Cimbri as Hermiones, although they already
appear as Inguaeones, while another manuscript repeats
» IV. 96, 99- 100.
218 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
all three, Cimbri, Teutoni, and Chauci, as Hermiones.
It will be observed that in IV.99 the Inguaeones are
mentioned as a '* genus," and in IV.96 as a "gens,"
which still further increases the confusion; and, to
make ma^1;ers still worse, Frisians and other Germanic
tribes, among them the Chauci, who have already
been located twice, appear in IV. 101 outside of the
classification. The blundering interpolation is too
obvious to need much discussion.
Solinus (XX. 1) repeats the first sentence from Pliny:
"Mons Saevo ipse ingens nee Riphaeis minor collibus
initium Germaniae facit. Inguaeones tenent, a quibus
primis post Scythas nomen Germanicum consurgit."
The quotation in Solinus is absurd. As we have no
Solinus manuscripts before the ninth century, it is
not possible to ascertain what really stood in Solinus,
but it is significant that Isidore of Seville quotes
the sentence immediately preceding and the sentence
immediately following, while of the whole Germanic
nomenclature in Pliny there is not a trace in any
writer who quoted from Pliny or Solinus. We have,
it is true, a quotation in Pomponius Mela, III. 3, "in
eo sunt Cimbri et Teutoni, ultra ultimi Germaniae
Hermiones," which, by calling the Hermiones a people,
and not a classification, and by locating them north
of the Cimbri and Teutoni, shows that it is taken from
a faulty manuscript of Pliny, where there was already
a lacuna or a repetition. But Traube has long ago
shown that Mela is interpolated.^ I do not discuss
the corresponding passage in Tacitus' Germania, be-
cause I shall analyze this silly forgery later on.
* Sitzungsberichte der Miinchner Akademie, 1891, p. 399.
HUNIBALD
The accusation of forgery against Trithemius in
his account of the origin of the Franks has been best
summarized by I. SilbernagP as follows: "While
Trithemius was working on the second part of his
Hirsau Annals, he seems at the same time to have
busied himself with the plan of a complete history of
the Franks. For, according to a letter of 1515 to Bishop
Laurentius of Bibra, to whom he dedicated the Com-
pendium of the first volume of the Annals on the
Origin of the Franks, and according to the introduction
of said Compendium, Trithemius claims to have
written three large volumes on the origin, progress,
and particular deeds of the kings, princes, and people
of the Franks. The first volume was from the year
440 B. C. up to 749 A. D., the second from 750 to
1265, and the third from 1266 to 1514. But in all
probability Trithemius never elaborated this large
historical work of the Franks. This is proved by the
Compendium itself, which is not an excerpt from a
finished work, but a compilation from existing, un-
finished historical materials, even as Trithemius begins
the second volume in the Compendium with the divi-
sion of the Frankish Empire among the four sons of
Chlodwig, and at the same time gives a list of the
historical writers from whom he drew for the second
and third volumes of his Annals. If, therefore. Bishop
Julius of Wtirzburg observes that his predecessor
Frederic has shown him the manuscript of this great
historical work, which was kept in the castle, we can
1 Johannes Trithemius, Regensburg 1885, p. 182 flf. (first edition, Landshut
1868, p. 188 ff.).
220 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
unquestionably understand by it nothing more than
an unformed collection of material. Trithemius fin-
ished on November 20, 1514, the Compendium which
he dedicated to Bishop Laurentius of Wtirzburg. We
have also another Compendium, which announces itself
as being an extract from the last twelve books of
Hunibald, and contains a series of the Wtirzburg
bishops. It is less well worked out than the first,
but goes to the year 850, that is, up to the
division of Gaul and Germany. This circum-
stance, in conjunction with the genealogy of the
house of Habsburg from the Frankish King Guntram
and with the remark at the end that Maximilian
should not be called the Roman King, but the King
of the Germans, since the kingdom belonged to the
Germans and was not in need of a papal confirmation,
like the Roman Empire, seems to indicate that this
Compendium, which was also written in 1514, was
intended for Emperor Maximilian, who, as we already
know, used to honor Trithemius with scientific orders.
"If we look at the sources which Trithemius used
for his two Compendia, we at the start meet with an
old Frankish historian, by the name of Hunibald,
on whom the whole history of the Franks from its
origin to Chlodwig is based. This substantial chrono-
grapher, according to Trithemius, lived in the time of
Chlodwig and wrote his eighteen books on the basis
of Dorac, Wasthald, and others. In the first six books
he treats the origin of the Franks from the fall of
Troy up to the death of Antenor (440 B. C), in the
following six books, the history of the Franks from
Antenor to Pharamund (419 A. D.), and in the last
six, from Pharamund to Chlodwig. Hunibald's chron-
icle ends with the death of Chlodwig, which Trithe-
mius, like Sigebert of Gembloux, places in 514. Huni-
bald himself wrote his history on the basis of that of
HUNIBALD 221
the Scythian or Sigambrian Wasthald, who had writ-
ten a history of the Franks from the fall of Troy up
to the death of King Marcomir (412 B. C.)» then from
the deeds of the Frankish heroes by Heligast, from
the sage Amerodac, at about 248 B. C, from the
poem of Pontifex Arebald about the deeds of King
Ratherus (+89 B. C), from the biography of King
Richimer (+113 A. D.), from the seer Ruthwic, from
Dorac, who flourished about 130 A. D. and wrote a
history of his people in verse, and, at last, from Hilde-
gast, who celebrated the deeds of King Sunno (+213
A. D.) in German. Such are the statements of Tri-
themius, besides whom no one ever heard of a historian
Hunibald. Gorres, in his disquisition on Hunibald
(Schlegel's Museum, vols. Ill & IV), concludes from
the words of Count Hermann of Nuenar, 'I assume
that an expert has taken some things from Hunibald,
and that, too, without order or judgment, and has
placed it in a book, as it is now found in various
writers,' that the count had Hunibald himself before
him, whereas Count Nuenar only speaks of the Latin
of Hunibald, as found in Trithemius and other his-
torians who followed him, which he rejects as too
barbarous for the time of Hunibald. For the same
reason the contemporaries of Trithemius declared Huni-
bald to be a myth, independently of the fact that there
were other causes for doubting its genuineness. And
if, in spite of this, Gorres, Phillips, in his German
History, Mone, in his History of Paganism in Northern
Europe, and Ttirk, in his Critical History of the Franks,
want to maintain the genuineness of Hunibald as a
source, we shall oppose to them the testimony of Tri-
themius himself, who in the sixth book of his Poly-
graphia considers the work of Hunibald as a fiction.
This much is certain: Hunibald's History of the origin
of the Franks is a forgery, and the only question is
222 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
whether Trithemius was deceived by some one else who
ascribed these forged Annals to Hunibald or whether
he himself concocted this Hunibald. This latter fact
is not admitted by those who otherwise recognize the
mythical element in Hunibald. Yet there are impor-
tant reasons for it. In the first place, the arbitrary
changes made by Trithemius in the history of his
Hunibald. According to the Compendium and also
the Annales Hirsaugienses, the Franks came to Ger-
many in 439 B. C, whereas Johannes Stabius, who,
in matters of Hunibald, was, at the request of Peut-
inger, sent by Emperor Maximilian to Wiirzburg,
declares that in St. James Abbey in Wtirzburg it was
stated on the wall of the sundial, about the portraits
of the Frankish princes, that the Franks arrived in
Germany after the death of their prince, Priam, in
the year 380 A. D., as we read in Sigebert of Gem-
bloux, Geoffrey of Viterbo, and others. And, in the
letter which Trithemius on April 21, 1513, sent to the
Emperor by the Herald of Geldern, John of Cologne,
he makes Hunibald continue the history of Wiso-
gastalth, who came to Thuringia with the princes
Marcomedes and Sunno and there described the deeds
of the Franks up to the sixth year of King Pharamund.
Out of Wasthald of the Compendium and of the
Annales Hirsaugienses is made here Wisogastalth, who
writes the history of the Franks, not up to 412 B. C,
like Wasthald, but up to 425 A. D. Outside of other
variations, the two Compendia do not agree as to the
dates of reign of the Frankish kings from Chlodomir,
who, according to the first Compendium, dies in 230
B. C, according to the second, in 222 B. C, up to
King Hilderich (+484 A. D.). Again, according to
the second Compendium, Wasthald wrote the first
twelve books of Hunibald, which rather agrees with
the work of Wisogastalth, while according to the first
HUNIBALD 223
Compendium and the Annales Hirsaugienses, only the
first six are by Wasthald, from whom Trithemius took
nothing into the Annales Hirsaugienses, because he
did not have the codex at hand. But from the other
twelve books he claims to have made extracts sixteen
years before. It must be kept in mind that Trithemius,
according to his letter to Emperor Maximilian, drew
for his history of the Franks on the basis of Hunibald,
partly from excerpts and partly from memory, that,
therefore, he had no codex. Emperor Maximilian wished
to obtain from Trithemius the codex of Hunibald,
and for this purpose sent the Herald of Geldern to
him. Trithemius gave to one of his monks a sheet
of paper on which there was a description of various
chronicles, among them that of Hunibald, and sent
him at first to Mayence and then to Spanheim, in
order to make a search for Hunibald. Meanwhile
there came an imperial official to Trithemius, who at
once handed him a letter to the Emperor, in which he
informed him that if Hunibald could not be found at
Spanheim, it should be looked for at Hirsau, since his
successor at Spanheim had sold several volumes to
the Abbot of Hirsau. *I know,' wrote Trithemius,
* the manner of the bibliophiles, especially of the monks
who, if they are not properly denunciated, not to say
surrounded, do not like to communicate their books
to the mighty. If the Diet of Worms will express
itself with vigor, I shall perhaps do my utmost to find
the captive Hunibald, which I left behind in April,
1503, at Spanheim, with two thousand other books.'
And on November 22, 1515, Trithemius wrote to the
Emperor, *As you commanded me, I went in person
to Spanheim, in order to find Hunibald, but I did
not find it. I presume that the book was sold with
others for a consideration. I went to the abbey and
made a careful examination, but I could not see the
224 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
library, because I was told that it had disappeared.'
But where is the old codex of Hunibald which Trithem-
ius had in hand when he wrote the Polygraphia at
Wtirzburg? Who does not observe from these letters
in what embarrassment Trithemius was placed by the
Emperor's desire to get possession of Hunibald? In
Spanheim Trithemius knows as yet nothing of a Huni-
bald, and in the Chronicon Hirsaugiense, which he left
behind unfinished in Spanheim, there is not the slightest
reference to Hunibald's History of the Franks in
connection with his mention of Rudolf of Habsburg.
Trithemius made its acquaintance first at Wtirzburg,
and after the composition of the Annales Hirsaugienses
he recanted, in a letter to Nicholas Basellius and under
the influence of the History of the Franks, his former
view of the German Kingdom and the Roman Empire.
How is it? Trithemius did not get the codex of Huni-
bald, if it really was at Spanheim? Did he not im-
mediately ask his friend John Damius to buy up the
Greek codices and books for him, when he learned
that the Abbot of Bursfeld during the visitation had
ordered their sale? Could he then not have obtained
Hunibald, which to him was such an important source?
But Trithemius possessed Hunibald only in paper
excerpts, which, indeed, were found at Wtirzburg after
Trithemius' death by Stabius, and where Hunibald's
History was frequently changed, and he also carried
them in his mind, wherefore he was unable to give
a good account of Hunibald's codex in the description
given to the monk, although he described the other
codices. What else can be concluded from all this
but that the whole history of the Franks originated in
Trithemius' head? We are ready to admit, with
Gorres, that Trithemius had no special genius, no
great inventive spirit for a large, consistent forgery,
but he did not need any in this particular case. The
HUNIBALD 225
myth of the Trojan origin of the Franks had been told
long ago by the oldest historians, Gregory of Tours,
Regino, Otto of Freising, Geoffrey of Viterbo, Vin-
centius Bellovacensis, Aeneas Sylvius, and others, and
Trithemius merely expanded them by making the
Franks or Sigambrians appear in Germany eight
hundred years earlier and inventing the necessary
dynasty up to the time of Emperor Valentinian. His
knowledge of many old chronicles and his constant
occupation with historical works had given him a
certain dexterity in the presentation of historical events,
even as Gervinus remarks that in Hunibald's History
much is fashioned after the Getica of Jordanes, which
Trithemius unquestionably knew."
Hardly a statement made by Silbernagl in proof of
a forgery committed by Trithemius is correct. Sil-
bernagl says, in a footnote, that Trithemius in his
Polygraphia, written in 1507, confessed that he was
tricking his readers, because he wrote, "The old codex
could hardly be read, wherefore I am afraid that I
have been rather deceived by a forger (von irgend
einem Falscher getauscht worden zu sein) than to have
found Hunibald's true and certain opinion. Be it as
it may, if it is Hunibald's true account, I have written
well, but if it is somebody's fiction, it will neither hurt
me, nor do the reader any wrong. "^ As a matter of
fact, Silbernagl gives the Latin version of the passage
in the first edition (p. 191), where, however, there is
no reference to a forger, but to an interpolator. To
make matters worse, Silbernagl consciously perverts
the facts in the case by quoting one sentence out of
its context. In the Polygraphia^ Trithemius gives an
1 Ibid., p. 185.
* I was able to procure only a late edition of this extremely valuable work
for the determination of the origin of the Gothic and Runic writings, namely,
the one entitled, loannis Trithemii abbatis Peapolitani quondam Spanhey-
mensia ad Maximilianum I Caes. Libri Polygraphiae VI, Argentinae 1600.
226 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
alphabet, ascribed to Wasthald, which he recognizes
at once to be of Greek origin, but finding some letters
made quite differently from what they are in Greek,
he exclaims: "If I have not been deceived by the
copyist's blunders, I think I have given a fairly cor-
rect copy of the alphabet, in which some characters
differ totally from the Greek, while others seem partly
to be assimilated to them. I do not know what to
think of its inventor, because, although he did not
keep the forms of the Greek letters, he none the less
preserved their order. The Codex was very frail from
old age and could hardly be read, hence I am afraid
that I have rather been deceived by some interpolator
than that I found Hunibald's true opinion. But let
us pass to what remains, for, if it is Hunibald's true
statement, it is written well by me, but if it is some-
body's fiction, it cannot hurt me nor do any injury
to any reader."^ Trithemius does not raise any doubt
about the authorship of the work, but only about the
authenticity of the particular alphabet. This only
gives evidence of his critical spirit and intellectual
honesty, and does him honor. Besides, how could he
foresee in 1507 that after 1515 doubt would be raised
in regard to what he wrote in 1514?
Silbernagl accuses Trithemius of weakmindedness,
because he contradicted himself several times in
regard to the number pf books that Wasthald wrote
and to the period which he covered. Here, again,
Silbernagl perverts the truth, or, rather, repeats older
1 "Nisi vitium scriptoris me deceperit Vuastaldi alphabetum conuenienter
arbitror effigaui, in quo aliqui characteres a Graecis penitus discrepant,
nonnuUi etiam partim eis assimilari videntur. Nescio tamen quid iudicem,
inuentor eorum quisquis fuerit, quanquam formam Graecarum non tenuerit,
ordinem tamen literarum obseruauit. Codex nimis uetustate caducus vix
poterat legi, unde me vereor deceptum potius ab aliquo intersertore quam
Hunibaldi veram et certam reperisse sententiam. Sed transeamus ad ilia
quae restant, quoniam si vera est Hunibaldi positio, bene scriptum a nobis
fuerit, sin autem fictio cuiuspiam est, neque nobis officiet, neque iniuriam
facit lectori."
HUNIBALD 227
authorities without having taken the trouble to look
up the matter in Trithemius' works. Early in 1513,
or a year before he even thought of writing the History
of the Franks, Emperor Maximilian, who had heard
from him of the precious volume of Hunibald, was
anxious to acquire it. Unfortunately, Trithemius had
left Spanheim Abbey before 1506, abandoning his
whole magnificent library. He did not know what
had become of his books, but he was only too glad to
give the Emperor all the information in his possession.
So, on April 21, 1513, he wrote to him, saying that, as
far as he remembered, the name of the author of the
Origin and Deeds of the Franks was Hunibald. Then
he proceeded to give a brief account of the contents
of the book, and mentioned the fact that Wisogastalth
had described the deeds of the Franks up to the time
of Marcomedes and Sunno, and that Wisogastalth,
the historiographer of the Franks, and Salagast, the
legislator, had great authority among the Franks.
Trithemius ends the letter by saying that he had made
extracts from Hunibald's book and otherwise remem-
bered some other facts from it.^
1 "De origine et gestis Francorum decern et octo libros Parciales in uno
volumine, si recte memini, scripsit Hunibald. Francus tempore Clodouei
regis Francorum in Germania et Gallia quinti, Primus enim fuit in theutonia
circa Wirtzburg electus pharamundus filius Marcomedis ducis qui populum
de Sarmacia cum Sunnone ad thuringiam eduxerat, Secundus Clodius crinitus
Tercius meroueus Quartus Hilderich Quintus Clodoueus Sextus Theodorich
Septimus Clotharius, quo mortuo filij eius Regnum diuiserunt inter se
partibus quinque, videlicet Herberth Helperich, Guntram, Sigeberth et
Odeberth. In ea divisione regni Odebert Alsaciam Burgundiam superiorem-
que cisrenane Prouincie partem in porcionem accepit cum adiacentibus,
Hie Odebert quatuor filios reliquit Arbogist Odoberth, Gunthram et Vuem-
her. Vervun diuisio regno facti sunt Comites et duces ex his Odeberth iam
dictus Comes primus fuit in Habspurg sed nunc propositum sequamur.
Auctor memoratus Hunibald historiam usque ad annum regis Franconmi
clodouei vicesimum quartum deduxit, incipiens a sexto anno Pharamimdi
regis primi vbi historiam Francorum Wisogastalth moriens terminavit.
Vuisogastalt cum Marcomede et Sunnone ducibus ex Sarmacia sycambrorum
in Thuringiam veniens originem, duces, clades et gesta Francorum ab exitu
troyanonim secutus precedentes breviter descripsit. Quem Hunibald
sequutus historiam ut diximus continuavit. Vuisogastaldt Francorum
Historiographus et a Secretis fuit Salagast legislator. Ambo philosophi,
228 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Silbernagl accuses Trithemius of having changed the
name of Wasthald of the Compendium and the Annates
Hirsaugienses to Wisogastalth, and he says that Wast-
hald wrote the history of the Franks up to 412 B. C,
whereas Wisogastalth continued it to 425 A. D.
Besides, according to the second Compendium Wast-
hald wrote twelve books, while according to the first
Compendium and the Annales Hirsaugienses Wast-
hald wrote only the first six, says Silbernagl. Now the
facts are these:
Trithemius in the Annales Hirsaugienses,^ indeed,
speaks of six books (of Wasthald), but he distinctly
says that they cover a period of 750 years. A few lines
further down he speaks of six books of Hunibald, covering
a period of 405 years, and six more, covering 109 years. ^
Trithemius says distinctly that he did not have the
codex at hand, having left it at Spanheim, and that he
had made an excerpt of the last twelve books some six-
teen years before, and now would give a list of the kings,
without elaborating upon their deeds. ^ The Annales
Hirsaugienses, according to the Colophon, were begun in
1509 and finished in 1514. It is, therefore, clear from
his own statements that he drew for the brief account
either on his memory or from his written abstract.
ambo sapientes et magne apud Francos Auctoritatis teste Hunibaldo.
.... Hec et alia multa memoratu dignissima in predicto volumine
brevi et lucida narratione continentur e quibus ego quedam in scedis non-
nuUa vero in memoria teneo locata," J. Chmel, Die Handschriften der
k. k. Hofbibliothek in Wien, Wien 1840, vol. I, p. 318 f.
1 St. Gall 1690, vol. II, p. 22.
' "Nam primi sex libri memorati Auctoris Hunibaldi continent historiam
annorum DCCL In aliis sex Hunibaldi libris historia continetur
annorum CCCCV. . . . porro in ultimis Hunibaldi sex libris historia
continetur annorum CIX."
' "Porro quot hujus gentis fuerint Reges a primo Duce, cum quo exierunt
a Troja, primis Hunibaldi sex libris a Wasthaldo conscriptis habetur, de
quibus nos hac vice non intromittimus, quia Codicem in Sphanheim di-
missum ad manum non habemus. Ex alijs duodecim Hunibaldi libris,
quae ante sedecim annos nos excepimus, breviter et compendiose his
Annalibus inserenda censemus, sola Regum nomina, tempora et annos
quibus regnarunt, gesta eorum praetereuntes," ibid., p. 23.
HUNIBALD 229
In 1514 Trithemius wrote the Compendium and
De origine gentis Francorum. In the Compendium he
states that he follows the compilation of Hunibald, who
about the year 500 wrote a history, using as sources
Dorac, Wasthald, and others. The division in books
is the same as in the Annates Hirsaugienses.^ It is
only natural that, not having the codex at hand, he
should not have remembered the precise obligation to
Wasthald as regards the number of books ascribed to
him. He distinctly states that Wasthald covered a
period of approximately 758 years, ^ that is, we have
the identical statement as in the Annales Hirsaugienses.
Absolutely the same statement, except for slight
variations in dates, is made in the De origine,^ but
the title of this latter work speaks of Wasthald as
* "Scio multos de origine Francorum et varie et diuersa scripsisse, quorum
nonnuUi gentem contendunt indigenam, caeteri vero nescio de qua Sicam-
brorum vrbe aduentitiam. Quorum diuersas opiniones neminem posse vel
discernere vel concordare credimus, quern Hunibaldi compilatio non illu-
strat. Is etenim solidus Francorum historiographus claruit in humanis
Clodouei regis, quem sanctus Remigius praesul Romanorum baptizauit,
temporibus, anno dominicae natiuitatis quingentesimo; et scripsit post
Doracum philosophum, Wasthaldum historicum, et alios plures rerum ges-
tarum antiquissimos scriptores insigne opus, quod in libros decern et octo
distinxit. In sex primis, gentis Francorum primaeuam deducit originern
ab excidio Troiano vsque ad mortem Antenoris regis, quem Scanziani,
Gothi, Suecique siue Suedi, circa Danubij ostia interfecerunt, anno videlicet
ante Christi natiuitatem quadringentesimo quadragesimo. In aliis vero
sex libris, tempus complectitur ab interitu regis Antenoris memorati, vsque
ad Faramundum regem Francorum, secundi ordinis quadragesimum tertium.
A Faramundo reliqui sex libri continuantur vsque ad vltimum annum
Clodouei primi ex regibus Francorum christiani, qui obiit anno dominicae
natiuitatis quingentesimo quartodecimo. Et quia de omnibus his in primo
volumine annalium nostrorum latius scripsimus, ratio nominis Breuiarij
postulat, vt istic breuitati studeamus," Trithemius, Opera Historica, Franco-
furti 1601, p. 2.
* "Vsque in hunc annum Wasthald Scytha, siue Sicamber, patrio sermone,
historiarum opus gentis suae deduxit, per annos plus minus D. CC. LVIII,"
ibid., p. 4.
^ "Ad hunc annum Wasthaldus duodecim libros suos, de origine Sicam-
brorum; ab excidio Troiano perduxit, atque compleuit per annos continu-
ando, DCCLXVIII. Ab hinc Hunibald, in sex libris historiam, de regibus
et gestis Sicambrorum continuat per annos, DCCCCXXX. vsque ad obitum
Clodouei regis magni," ibid., p. 64.
230 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
having written the first twelve books. ^ Here, then,
we have an agreement with the letter to Emperor
Maximilian, except that Wasthald is changed to
Wisogastalth. Did Trithemius bungle matters? Was
he such a reckless forger as to give himself away so
easily? Obviously not. The confusion arose in his
mind because Wisogastalth and Wesogast and Gast-
hald are given at the end of the next six books as
important legislators, and Wesogast is mentioned as
one of those who wrote the Salic laws. The same
confusion in names is found in the case of another
legislator, who is mentioned as Salogasthald and as
Salogast. From this confusion of names Trithemius,
who professedly had not the codex before him, in the
letter to the Emperor ascribed the history to the great
legislator, instead of to Hunibald. But he distinctly
says that Hunibald composed this work from the songs
of the flamens, and, if so, Wisogastalth, or Wesogast,
may have been one of the sources quoted by Hunibald.
In no case does Trithemius claim to give an account
from Wasthald, but only from Hunibald's compilation.
It is in the last six books that Hunibald was supposed
to speak from his own experience, and thus there is
no contradiction on any point brought forward by
Trithemius. Indeed, his assertion that he had made
extracts from Hunibald's book is only corroborated
by Stabius, who made an investigation of the case and
from the start assumed an inimical attitude towards him,
for he actually found, after Trithemius' death, excerpts
from Hunibald, with many changes by Trithemius.^
Now, it is true that on the sundial Trithemius said
that the Franks arrived from Sarmatia in Germany
^ "Ex duodecim ultimis Hunibaldi libris, quorum sex primos Wasthaldus
conscripsit," ibid., p. 63.
2 Vita Trithemii, in M. Ziegelbauer, Historia rei liter ariae Ordinis S.
Benedicti, Augustae Vind. et Herbipoli 1754, vol. Ill, p. 328.
HUNIBALD 231
in the year 380 A. D.,^ and he similarly mentioned
the fact in his letter to Emperor Maximilian. But
both these statements were made before the year 1514,
when he for the first time quoted from Hunibald. He
merely depended on his memory in these cases and
on the usual statement in the histories. But when he
looked up his notes, which, according to his state-
ment,^ he had written up in 1498, he found that he
had confused Wasthald with Wisogast, and that a
correction was necessary. This he noticed only after
the second volume of the Annales Hirsaugienses was
written, that is, in 1514, wherefore he tore out two
quaternions and substituted the two in which the
history of the Franks was given from Hunibald. He,
therefore, in a letter to Nicholas Basellius, attached
to the second volume of the Annales, begged him
before publication to correct throughout the work all
those mistakes which arose from this misconception
and which were due to his confessed blundering.^
This letter was written April 12, 1514.
^ Chmel, op, cit., p. 313.
* See note on p.
• "In huius autem secundi Voluminis principio Rudolphus de Habspurg
quondam Rex Germanorum occasionem dedit, quod originem gentis
Francorum altius quam volui repetere, sum compulsus. Cuius rei gratia
primos duos quaterniones, quos scripseram, necessario abieci; propterea,
quod communem secutus opinionem cum pluribus erraveram, qui Francos
temporibus Valentiniani Caesaris (nescio unde) primum in Germaniam
venisse somniarunt: cum ex multis constet auctoribus, illos diu ante Sicam-
bros dictos circa Rheni fluminis ostia (ubi nunc sunt HoUandij, Frisij, et
Geldrij) sedes habuisse. Quod autem prius dicti fuerint Sicambri quam
PVanci, S. Remigius innuit: qui baptizando Regi Francorum Clodoveo
dixit: Mitis depone colla Sicamber. Adora quod incendis: incende quod
adorasti. Alios ergo in locum priorum quaterniones duos reposui: in
quibus Hunibaldum secutus, veram originem Francorum breviter descripsi.
Hinc factum est, quod mihi apud plures iuste videbor contrarius: qui et in
primo Volumine, et in secundo (per inscitiam meam, fateor) saepius Regein
Germaniae (satis imperite) nominavi Romanorum, ac Regni Vrbes dixi
praeter debitum imperiales: quod tamen non debere fieri manifestum est
omnibus intelligentibus et Regni, et Imperij originem ac rationem. Item
cum sit usus Curiae Romanae, nuUam sine Cathedra Pontificali scribere
Civitatem, errasse me fateor, quoties Niirenberg, Franckefort, Vlmam,
vel quodcunque aliud oppidum (ubi non est Sedes Episcopalis) civitatem
nuncupavi; quanquam eorundem incolas non loci, sed Regni cives dicere
232 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Stabius discredits Trithemius by saying that he
was unable to give a description of the volume of
Hunibald when Emperor Maximilian asked for it.
That is quite untrue. He described the volume in
detail/ as much as anyone could have done after the
lapse of nine years and after having made extracts
from it fifteen years before. It is doubtful whether
anyone could have given a better description after
so many years.
If we now arrange the information in regard to Huni-
bald in chronological order, we get the following:
1507. Trithemius, in his Polygraphia,^ refers to Phar-
amund as the forty-third king and Clodius as the
forty-fourth king after Marcomerus. He gives an
alphabet of the ancient Germans (to judge from the
reference in Silbernagl, by Wasthald) and another
alphabet invented by Dorac. Obviously Trithemius,
who at that time did not even think of a History of
the Franks, was quoting from Hunibald's History.^
potuerim. His te propterea monuerim, ut si olim rescribenda fuerint haec
ipsa volumina, errorem corrigas: Regem Germanis: Imperium Romanis
adscribas: Vrbesque et Civitates Germaniae liberas, non Imperlales,
sed Regales potius nuncupandas fore intelligas. Haec si volueris errata,
citius emendabis," op. cit., pp. 3-4.
* "Hunibaldus de origine et gestis Francorum in pergameno arctus forme
est volumen et si recte memini albo corio porcino coopertum sunt libri
parciales octodecim ut puto," Chmel, op. cit., p. 316.
2 Unfortunately the Latin edition of 1518 is not accessible to me, and I
quote from the corrupt edition of 1561.
3 Silbernagl's accusation that Trithemius might have bought up Huni-
bald, as he did try to buy his Greek codices in Spanheim, is absurd, because
Trithemius ordered Damius to buy up the Greek books, which the Abbot
of Bursfeld, during his visitation at Spanheim, commanded to be sold.
Trithemius specifically says that he would greatly have preferred the books
to remain at Spanheim, but since the abbot had taken a dislike to the
Greek books, he wished Damius to buy them up, in order to save their destruc-
tion or dispersion. In the same letter he mentions that the Spanheim
library contained works in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Chaldaic, Arabic, Indian,
Ruthenian, and Tartar. (Epistolae familiares, lib. II, XLVII, in Trithem-
ius' Opera historica, ed. of 1601, part II, p. 559). Silbernagl might just as
well have claimed that no such foreign books existed, because Damius was
not ordered to buy them for Trithemius.
HUNIBALD 233
April 21, 1513. Trithemius gives Emperor Maximilian
his aid in trying to obtain the volume of Hunibald
which was left behind at Spanheim in 1506.
April 26, 1513. Trithemius has just learned^ that
his successor in Spanheim had sold several books to
the Abbot of Hirsau, and that a careful inquiry should
be instituted there.
April 21, 1514. Trithemius, inspecting his notes on
Hunibald, tears out two quaternions from his manu-
scripts of the Annates Hirsaugienses and corrects the
history of the Franks according to Hunibald.
His De origine gentis Francorum was begun about the
same time. In its title and in the text, Wasthald is
accredited with the second set of six books, but it is
evident that he now is no longer supposed to have
written up to the reign of Marcomedes, as in the
letter to Emperor Maximilian, but only up to Marcomi-
rus, who died in 410 B. C. Obviously Trithemius recog-
nized, when he looked at his notes, that he was not
justified in identifying Wasthald with Wisogasthald,
as he had done from memory in writing to the Emperor.
He now assumed from his incomplete notes that he
had made a mistake in accrediting Wasthald with the
work of Wisogasthald, and that, although the twelve
books were all by or from Wasthald, Wisogasthald had
nothing whatsoever to do with it. In the same year
appeared his Compendium, which agrees with the De
origine in all particulars.
Trithemius' mistake consisted, when quoting from
memory, in confusing Wasthald and Wisogasthald,
because he had professedly not made any excerpts
from the first six books, and because the second set
of six books was really Wasthald's. Assuming that
these six books were the first six books of the eighteen,
he could not help mistaking Wasthald and Wisogast-
1 Chmel, op. cit., p. 319.
234 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
hald, the latter of whom belonged to the end of the
next period touched upon. As soon as he noticed his
mistake, he properly ascribed the first twelve books to
Wasthald, but in every case, after the off-hand letter to
the Emperor, he accredited Wasthald only with the period
for which he had no notes.
Taking his statements chronologically, Trithemius
looms up as a man of scrupulous veracity, who would
not, for the sake of uniformity, abide by an involuntary
blunder, even though he might have passed unde-
tected, and who dared to confess his mistake, no
matter what the consequences would be. All the
caviling of Stabius is of no avail. Of course, Hunibald
was a forgery, but it was not Trithemius' forgery.
We shall see later that it belongs to the eighth century.
But Trithemius did not possess the critical acuteness,
nor did anyone else in his time, to observe that Huni-
bald was no other than the one who supplied the so-
called Fredegar's Chronicle, The Liber historiae Fran-
corum, the Vita Sancti Columbani, and Paulus Diaconus
with apocryphal matter, and in his credulity he actually
believed he had before him a work of the fifth century.
Besides, Trithemius does not give us a translation of
Hunibald, but a compendium of history, based chiefly
on Hunibald, hence it would be dangerous to accept
Trithemius' works as substitutes for the first. But,
with proper caution, it is possible to ascertain what
Hunibald really did say. It is only a pity that
Trithemius exercised a critical spirit in dealing with
that work and cut out all fabulous material, because
it is precisely the latter that has been preserved by
the writers of the eighth century, and not the his-
torical material.
It is possible to prove the genuineness of Hunibald,
as an author long preceding Trithemius, by a number
of statements contained in Trithemius' excerpts. In
HUNIBALD 235
his Polygraphia he gives an ancient alphabet of the
Germans. Here the order and the letters are obviously
Greek. Unfortunately, as Trithemius himself informs
us, the alphabet was almost illegible in the codex, but
even as it is, we may see at a glance that we have
here the Gothic alphabet. Some of the letters seem
to be turned around sideways, but some are character-
istically Gothic. We have b II, which corresponds
well to Goth. iS; Gr. 57 is represented by h, which gives
rise to Goth, h (h); th is represented by <d, which at
once explains the form V, which it assumes in Gothic;
i is given as ^, which explains Goth. 5; phis rendered
by p, which gives Goth. P; y is given inverted as /,
which probably explains Goth, n (u).
That is not a mere coincidence. Not a single one of
the many other alphabets given by Trithemius admits
even distantly any identification with the Gothic, or
with any known alphabet, and the first inkling of
a Gothic alphabet was had only half a century later.
Consequently it is beyond a shadow of a doubt that
Trithemius actually found the alphabet in Hunibald.
Unfortunately, Trithemius has not preserved for us
any part of Wasthald's books, so it is not possible to
ascertain the reason for the formation of a Greek
alphabet for the ancient Germanic, but there are
enough indications left to show why it was chosen for
the Gothic language.
In the days of King Priam, in the middle of the
fourth century B. C., Trithemius says there was a
priest Theocalus, who was versed in Greek, Scythian,
and German, and was chosen pontifex of Jove by the
Sicambrians. At that time the priests used the Greek
language in their holy places. There had been no
temples, and the priests sacrificed in groves, under
236 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
leafy trees. Only then a temple was built, and here
Theocalus taught the children of the nobles, prophesied
the future to the people and sang the deeds of the
kings, which the youths were obliged to learn by heart
and to sing on festive days. In certain seasons the
priests did not live in the cities, but in the solitude,
where they ate little and taught the course of the
stars and ancient history.^
One recognizes here at a glance Caesar's description
of the Druids in the Commentaries, VI. 13 ff. But
Trithemius could not possibly have transferred such a
description of the Gallic priests to the Germans, if
he had not found the transformation elsewhere. Now
Tacitus, or, to speak more correctly, Pseudo-Tacitus,^
has consistently transferred the description of the
Gauls to that of the Germans, in order to harmonize
the Gallic and Germanic sides of the Franks. In the
Germania the account of the Druids is found scattered
in various chapters. In chapter VII we are told that
no one among the Germans dared to punish criminals
except the priests, as the crime was considered one
1 "Anno Priami regis sexto, mortuus est Marcomir dux, qui nepos fuit
primi Sunnonis, de quo supra dictum est, quod cum aliis ducibus gentem
perduxerit in Germaniam. Hie inter multos liberos, filium habuit vnum,
nomine Theocalum, virum in omni sapientia Graecorum, Scytharum, et
Germanorum praestantissimum, quem Sicambri magnum louis pontiiicem
constituerunt: et erat illis antistes, parens, augur, et vates. Vtebantur
autem sacerdotes Graeco sermone in sacris multo tempore, nee alterius
linguae commixtionem admittebant. Templa deorum vsque ad illud tempus
non habuerunt, sed immolabant numinibus suis sub certis frondosis arbori-
bus; quas iudicio praecedente sacerdotes consecrauerant. . . . Templum
quoque in eadem vrbe Neomago loui constituerunt magnum atque fortissi-
mum, in quo Theocalus pontifex cum sacerdotibus habitans, filios principum
atque nobilium in moribus et scientia instituit, vaticinia populo dixit, regum
fortiter acta carminibus scripsit, quae iuuentus memoriter discere compulsa,
diebus festis canere in templo consueuit. Certis tamen anni temporibus,
non in vrbibus, sed in solitudine, commorabantur sacerdotes, quibus et
cibus erat parous, et ingenij exercitatio ad discendum cursus astrorum,
carminaque et veterum historias continua," Trithemius, Opera historica,
p. 5f.
2 See p. 324 flF.
HUNIBALD
237
against the gods. This is a paraphrase of the judicial
duties of the Druids in Caesar:
Tacitus.
Ceterum neque animadvertere ne-
que vincire, ne verberare quidera,
nisi sacerdotibus permissum; non
quasi in poenam, nee ducis jussu,
sed velut deo imperante, quern
adesse bellantibus credunt, Germ.,
VII.
Caesar.
lUi rebus diuinis intersunt ..
Nam fere de omnibus controuersiis
publicis priuatisque constituunt, et,
si quod est admissum facinus, si
caedes facta, si de hereditate, de
finibus controuersia est, idem de-
cernunt, praemia poenasque con-
stituunt. . . Hue omnes undique,
qui controuersias habent, conueniunt
eorumque decretis iudiciisque parent,
Comm., VI. 13.
The commentators, who have not even dreamed of
this transference from the account of the Gauls to
that of the Germans, have in despair given up the
job of harmonizing the statement in Tacitus with the
specific assertion in Caesar, VI. 23, that the kings had
the power of life and death over their subjects.^
Chapter IX in Tacitus is similarly cribbed out of
Caesar, VI. 16 and 17:
Tacitus.
I. Deorum maxime Mercurium co-
lunt.
II. Cui certis diebus humanis quo-
que hostiis litare fas habent.
Herculem ac Martem concessis
animalibus placant.
III. Ceterum nee cohibere parieti-
bus deos, neque in uUam humani
oris speciem assimulare, ex mag-
nitudine coelestium arbitrantur.
Caesar.
Deum maxime Mercurium colunt,
VI. 17.
Qui sunt adfeeti grauioribus mor-
bis quique in proeliis periculisque
uersantur, aut pro uictimis homines
immolant aut seimmolaturosuouent,
VI. 16.
Martem bella regere. Huic, cum
proelio dimicare constituerunt, ea
quae bello ceperint, plenimque de-
uouent: cum superauerunt, animalia
capta immolant, VI. 17.
Alii inmani magnitudine simulacra
habent, VI. 16.
1 A. Baumstark, Ausfiihrliche Erlauterung des allgemeinen Theiles der
Germania des Tacitus, Leipzig 1875, p. 364 f.
238 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
The reference to Mercury is so clearly taken out
of Caesar, down to the very phraseology, that no further
discussion would be necessary. But here the per-
versity of scholars is so marked that I shall go over
the matter in detail. Baumstark^ claims that Caesar
was the first to have mentioned German gods, that
Mercury, Mars, and Hercules were named as such by
Tacitus in his Annales and Historiae, and that Jor-
danes, Paulus Diaconus, Jonas of Bobbio, and Gregory
of Tours gave the names of Germanic divinities.
Jordanes I have already discussed, and Paulus Diacon-
us and Jonas of Bobbio I shall discuss at another time.
Gregory of Tours may be dismissed with a few words.
He does not mention any German gods, for in II. 29 he
gives only a stereotyped account of Roman divinities
as an example of idols. He tells of Saturn, who was
to be deposed by his son, Jupiter, who lived in incest,
and Mars and Mercury, who were given to magic arts.
There is not even a trace of German gods here. Caesar
similarly says distinctly (VI. 21) that the Germans have
only the visible sun, fire, and moon as gods, and that
of the rest they have not even heard by report. This,
then, leaves Tacitus all alone.
Tacitus, in his Historiae, IV. 64, makes a messenger
of the Tencteri, in a speech, thank the common gods,
and especially Mars. This is merely a general phrase
which tells nothing of the Germanic gods, any more than
the statement of Procopius, in his De hello gothico,
II. 15, "rov ^^jOJy '^eov uofxt^ouffi [xeycarov.^^ In either
case, we have only a reference to the fighting pro-
pensities of the Germans. In Annales, XIII. 57 we
have a distinct reference to a sacrifice in men and
horses to Mars and Mercury,'^ but this is obviously a
mistake in judgment by Tacitus, who remembered
1 /bid., p. 411.
^ "Victores diversam aciem Marti ac Mercuric sacravere, quo voto equi,
viri, cuncta victa occidioni dantur."
HUNIBALD 239
the passage in Caesar, VI. 17, where the reference is
to the Gauls. It will be seen later that several pass-
ages in the Germania are based on Tacitus' Historiae,
and possibly Annales. It is most likely, therefore,
that the forger confused the account of the Germans
and the Gauls, because he found it so in Tacitus. In
Annales, II. 12, Tacitus speaks of the meeting of
Germans in a forest sacred to Hercules. It is im-
possible to assert that Hercules is here a German
divinity, because there were along the Rhine several
localities named after the Roman Hercules.
We are thus left with a few vague references, and
only in Tacitus, from whom the forger drew his state-
ments.^ The fatal coincidence in wording, Deorum
(so also in some texts of Caesar) maxime Mercurium
colunt, shows that we have here a transference from
Gaul to Germany, which cannot be met by any argu-
ment to the contrary.
Tacitus. Caesar.
Ceterum Harii super vires, quibus Ingenti magnitudine corporum
enumeratos paulo ante populos Germanos, incredibili uirtute atque
antecedunt, truces, insitae feritati exercitatione in armis esse praedica-
arte ac tempore lenocinantur. nigra bant (saepenumero sese cum his
scuta, tincta corpora, atras ad congressos ne uultum quidem atque
proelia noctes legunt, ipsaque formi- aciem oculorum dicebant ferre po-
dine atque umbra feralis exercitus tuisse), I. 39.
terrorem inferunt, nullo hostium
sustinente novum ac velut infernum
aspectum: nam primi in omnibus
proeliis oculi vincuntur, Germ.,
XLIII.
Ariovistus gave rise to the soldiers of the Arii, who,
to produce a still more startling effect than told by
Caesar, painted their shields and bodies black and
1 P. Hochart {De I'authenticite des Annales et des Histoires de Tacite,
Paris .1890), is unquestionably mistaken in his assumption that Poggio
Bracciolini forged the Historiae and Annales, because the Germania was
written before 851 and is based on them. But, to say the least, the His-
toriae and Annales have interpolations of as late as the eighth century, and
these I discuss elsewhere.
240 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
fought in dark nights. The forger did not know the
German adage, "In der Nacht sind alle Katzen grau,"
and that there was no need to paint bodies and faces
black, in order to appear black at night time. After
that comes the parallel from Caesar that the Germans
were terrible; but the perfectly clear statement, "ne
uultum quidem atque aciem oculorum dicebant ferre
potuisse," is here turned into a supposedly Tacitean
hon mot that the first things to be conquered in battle
are the eyes.
In chapter XI of the Germania we have a good illus-
tration of the eclectic way in which the history of the
Germans was made up.
Tacitus. Caesar.
Coeunt, nisi quid fortuitum et Hanc reperiebat causam, quod
subitum incidit, certis diebus, cum apud Germanos ea consuetude esset,
aut inchoatur luna aut impletur: ut matresfamiliae eorum sortibus et
nam agendis rebus hoc auspicatissi- uaticinationibus declararent, utrum
mum initium credunt. proelium committi ex usu esset,
necne; eas ita dicere: non esse
fas Germanos superare, si ante no-
uam lunam proelio contendissent,
1.50.
Nee dierum numerum, ut nos, Galli se omnes ab Dite patre pro-
sed noctium computant. sic con- gnatos praedicant idque ab druidibus
stituunt, sic condicunt: nox ducere proditum dicunt. Ob eam causam
diem videtur. spatia omnis temporis non numero
dierum, sed noctium finiunt; dies
natales et mensium et annorum
initia sic obseruant, ut noctem dies
subsequatur, VI. 18.
Caesar tells how Ariovistus declined to give battle
and how he learned that the German women, who were
given to vaticinations, had declared that the Germans
would not be victorious, if they began the battle before
the new moon. From this particular case the forger
generalized the statement that the Germans had their
meetings in the beginning and at the end of the new
moon. Having once pointed out the importance of
the night for the Germans, the forger proceeded to
HUNIBALD 241
transfer Caesar's statement in regard to the Gauls,
who counted their months and years by the nights,
and made the Germans the followers of the Druids.
As usual, the forger changed Caesar's perfectly simple
statement, "sic obseruant, ut noctem dies subsequatur,"
into another Tacitean hon moty "sic constituunt, sic
condicunt, nox ducere diem videtur." It will be
noticed that the provenience of the Gauls from Pluto
was by the forger transferred to the Arii, who with
their blackened forms gave an impression of the
infernal host, "formidine atque umbra feralis exercitus
terrorem inferunt."
From what precedes it is clear that the forger who
wrote the Germania, either on his own account, or
because he found it so in his sources, tried to ascribe
all the qualities of the Gauls and Druids to the Germans,
that is, to the Franks. This is precisely what is done
throughout Hunibald's work, as we learn from Trit-
hemius' compilation. Caesar says, whatever his source
for it may have been, that the Druids, for private and
public reasons, used Greek letters.^ Caesar also tells
of Greek inscriptions in Helvetian territory.^ From
these two statements, and from the Trojan origin of
the Franks, as told in the Antiquitas, the writer of the
Germania concocted the story of the arrival of Ulysses
in German territory and establishing himself at Asci-
burgium on the Rhine. Ulysses is supposed to have
left there an altar, naturally with a Greek inscription,
and other Greek inscriptions were still supposed to
have existed in Raetia and in Germany.^
1 "Publicis priuatisque rationibus Graecis litteris utantur," VI. 14.
* "In castris Heluetiorum tabulae repertae sunt litteris Graecis confectae,"
I. 29.
' "Ceterum et Ulixen quidam opinantur longo illo et fabuloso errore in
hunc Oceanum delatum adisse Germaniae terras, Asciburgiumque, quod in
ripa Rheni situm hodieque incolitur, ab illo constitutum nominatumque
. . . aram quin etiam Ulixi consecratam adiecto Laertae patris nomine
eodem loco olim repertam, monumentaque et tumulos quosdam Graecis
242 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
We can trace this whole humbug in the Germania
from its sources.
From Trithemius' account of Hunibald's work it
appears that the original writer (Wasthald) had given
the history of the fall of Troy, followed by a long list
of kings, up to the death of King Antenor, whom the
Scandinavians, Goths, and Swedes killed near the Dan-
ube in the year 440 B.C. This, of course, is not the
original Antenor of Troy, but one of the many Antenors
mentioned among the kings of the Franks.
Dudo, of Sain t-Quen tin, wrote about the year 1020
De morihus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum,^
where he says that near the Danube there lived in
Dacia the nations that, like a swarm of bees, had issued
from Scandinavia.^ After telling of the piratical ex-
peditions of the men from Scandinavia, he makes the
statement that the Dacians, called by their own people
Danai or Dani, boasted of being descended from
Antenor, who, after the fall of Troy, escaped from the
Achivians and came to the country of lUyricum.^
G. Heeger* assumes that Dudo got his idea of Ante-
nor as the ancestor of the Danes from the Gesta Fran-
corum, due to Dudo's incredible ignorance, and that
the confusion of Dacia and Dania is the result of this
litteris inscriptos in confinio Germaniae Raetiaeque adhuc extare: quae
neque confirmare argumentis, neque refellere in animo est: ex ingenio
suo quisque demat, vel addat fidem," III.
1 J. Lair, in Mimoires de la socUte des antiquaires de Normandie, 3« s6rie,
vol. Ill, pt. 2, 1865.
2 "In copiosa igitur intercapedine a Danubio ad Scythici ponti usque
confinium diffusae, commorantur ferae gentes et barbarae, quae ex Canza
insula, Oceano hinc inde circumsepta, velut examen apum ex canistro, seu
gladius e vagina, diversitate multimoda dicuntur prosiluisse, consuetudine
barbarica," ibid., p. 129.
» "Igitur Daci nuncupantur a suis Danai, vel Dani, glorianturque se ex
Antenore progenitos; qui, quondam Trojae finibus depopulatis, mediis
elapsus Achivis, lUyricos fines penetravit cum suis," ibid., p. 130.
* t}ber die Trojanersagen der Franken und Normannen, Landau 1890,
p. 31 ff.
HUNIBALD 243
same stupidity. But H. Prentout^ has, with greater
justice, shown that the reference to the location of the
Dacians is taken out of Jordanes, even as to the
wording, and he shows that Jordanes did not make the
mistake of confusing the Dacians with the Danes.
Prentout, however, agrees with Heeger that the deri-
vation of the Danish kings from Antenor, is Dudo's
blunder, due to a wilful change from the Gesta
Francorum.
Both writers are to some extent mistaken. Already
the eighth century shows a confusion of the Dacians
and the Danes, and Dudo must have derived his story
of the Trojan origin of the Danes from a source which
quoted Hunibald, where the Danes are brought in
direct contact with Antenor near the Danube, that is,
in Dacia.
Aethicus says that the Meopari are a race of sailors
in the north. ^ They are wonderful shipbuilders and
the first to use submarines and torpedoes.^ Myoparon
' ^tude critique sur Dudon de Saint-Qiientin et son Histoire des premiers
Dues Normands, Paris 1916, p. 35 5.
^ "Et alias scribit idem philosophiis insolas septentrionales, ubi Meoparos
nauticos esse adfirmat," Wuttke, op. cit., p. 11; also p. 13 (insolae Meo-
parotae), and pp. 33, 34, 43.
^ "Deinde ad insolas Meoparonitas Aethicus pervehitur, quas duarum
geminatas Januarum ambitum inquiens in oceanum magnum borricum in
longitudine[m] non modica circumvallatas ipso pellago; nam inundatione
fluminum inrigua populo barbarico fecundae, ingenio efficace tamque
yeloce [in] arcium navalium et strinuo[s] in fabrorum fornace, eorum peritia
in diversis operibus occupata. Nonnumquam etiam tarn veloce sunt navi-
gatione, ut latenter trieribus aut scaphis seu carinis dolose foramine per-
tunsis, earum ruinam et necem navigantium vel ruinam maximam faciant,
et omnia quae inibi sunt violenter auferant. Et ad extremum iterum peri-
clitatis nauticis, naufragio[m] perpetrato[m], iterum navium instructionem
pristinam reparant. Habent itaque industriam operandi nauticam, quam
in nuUis partibus mundi vel insolis maris conperire se dicit ad inventionem
arcium quarum ab hominibus incertum duceretur. Faciunt nimpe naves,
quas Colimphas nuncupant, adnectant catinul[l]as ferro ductile insertas
cortice in gyro usque ad summum miro ingenio, adstrictus tantummodo
fundus lignis levigatis, et ab intus stagno et crudo admodum et extento corio
cum bitumine viriliter adstrictae, videlicet asincito. Meopari quoque
cytimam confectionem, inquiunt, apparato solis speculo electrino et vitrio
valde e lucidissimo spissoque connectentes acerrimo culice ponunt. Tarn
sub aquarum densitate quam et mediam inundationem si incumbuerint,
244 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
is the name for a light piratical boat, both in Greek
and Roman literature, from which Aethicus has named
the piratical islands of the north. The northern pirates
who are mentioned in Greek and Latin writers since
the days of Ptolemy are the Saxons, and Apollinaris
Sidonius said of them: "contra Saxonum pandos myo-
parones, quorum quot remiges videris, totidem te
cernere putes archipiratas ; ita simul omnes imperant,
parent, docent, discunt latrocinari; unde nunc etiam
et quam plurimum caveas, causa successit maxima
movendi; hostis est enim hoste truculentior; impro-
visus aggreditur, praevisus elabitur, spernit obiectos,
sternit incautos: si sequatur intercipit, si fugiat
evadit." It is from this description, supposedly of the
end of the fifth century, that the Historia which
Isidore of Seville quotes^ and Aethicus got their
description of the Saxon pirates. But it is most likely
lumine nunquam indigent in tenuem in[g]luviem aquarum sursum re-
spicientes. Tantam vim ingeniorum sunt edocti ut resubpinatis viribus
iuxta ilia specula parva, voragine cum bitumine supradicto lita, aquae
interius introire non queant. Uncinis ferreis adeo in manuum vel digitorum
similitudinem curvatis cum catinolis ferreis miro ingenio productis, ut in
quibuscumque gurgitibus impetu velocissimo emissae fuerint, mox [ut]
quamvis modico lapillo contigerint, colimphas ubicumque voluerint ancho-
ram figere, statim quando voluerint stationem faciant, et aliarum navium
ruinam non incurrant. Ventorum vehementiam tolerant absque uUo peri-
culo. Tempestates maris, quas aequor ille saepius patitur, non metuunt
nee periculum illarum incurrunt, sed in tanta velocitate elevationem aquarum
sufferunt, ut absque aliqua molestia portum quo tendunt pertingant.
Maxime ab initio mensis Junii, quando situm stellarum vel signa praecipua
cognoverint, usque Kalendas Novembris quasi ad praedam sine ulla inter-
missione[m] erumpunt. Unde idem philosophus ait: O tu mare brume-
ricum, catago multorum hominum, aquilonis pinna[s] ad summum nau-
fragium gentium ad extremum ultra magnitudinem, piscium et biluarum
ac hominum hamum, triumphatorium hostium cachinfatorum naufragium,
aulonium navium. Privata vehicula nauclerium subsecuta iam morte
periculum, limphaque arma adsumitur et carina magna trituratur, trieris
singultu[m] rigatur, sc[h]afa dolose obprimitur. Ululant naves maris
murmure vorante decipula colimphas in mod[ic]um testitudinis cocleia
adamantinis; at erga navium umbelicos aculeum. Meoparorum insidias
ruina multorum fi[g]eri. Gement naves maris praedonum crudelium sub
latice fore dromones. Barbarica enim lingua Dromu vagines pirnas nuncu-
pant, id est aquarum praedones sub aqua degentes," ibid., p. 21 fif.
1 "De qualibus Historia 'Gens,' inquit, 'Saxonum mioparonibus, non
viribus nituntur, fugae potius quam bello parati,' " XIX. 1. 21.
HUNIBALD 245
that the Historia of Isidore is one of the Antiquiiates,
hence an interpolation of the eighth century.
The account of the pirates is found in Tacitus'
Germania, but here we no longer have the Saxons, but
the Swedes, accredited with piracy, hence a much later
account, of not earlier than the end of the eighth
century. Hochart observed,^ quite correctly, that in
Tacitus' Annates and Historiae there is a queer descrip-
tion of a ship that has a prow at both ends and can
move in either direction. Curiously enough, the Ger-
mania has the same account, and from a study of the
three passages it may be shown that we have before us,
to say the least, eighth century interpolations in the
Historiae and Annates,
In the Annates we are told of ships which had a rudder
at each end, so that the rowing could be done in either
direction.^ No such ships are described anywhere
else, except in the case of the Egyptian ships of state.
Assuming that we have here a correct description by
Tacitus, it is certainly strange that even to the word-
ing it? should coincide with a description of such
ships in the Historiae. Here we have the description
of pirates' boats, called camarae, which are covered
with roofs in storms and move this way and that way
by interchanging the oars.^ There is no reference here
to two rudders, though the prow is supposed to be at
either end.
We have a detailed description of these pirates'
boats in the same region of the Pontus by Strabo. He
says that they have light boats, narrow and long,
which can hold from twenty-five to thirty men, and
which the Greeks call xdfj.apac. These xdfxapat are
used by them as freight-boats. When they return
> OV' at., p. 126.
* "Plures adpositis utrimque gubernaculia, converse ut repente remigio
hinc vel illinc adpellerent," Annalea, II. 6.
» Historiae, III. 47.
246 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
home they carry these boats on their shoulders into
the forest. They similarly hide their boats when out
on piratical expeditions on land.^ There is an inter-
polation in this passage of Strabo. After a correct de-
scription of the boats, there follows the statement that
the Greeks call them xdfiapm, although no such name
occurs elsewhere in Greek. What Strabo talks about
is the fit>o7tdp(ov, which is repeatedly mentioned as a
pirate boat in the Greek and Latin writers, and which,
as myoparones, we have seen has survived in Apollinaris
Sidonius, Isidore of Seville, and Aethicus. Apparently
xdfxapat has been substituted in Strabo for fiooTzdpojv
throughout the whole story.
In Greek and in Latin, camara, besides meaning "a
room," means "a covered carriage." If, therefore, it
means a boat, it can be only a covered boat; but in
Strabo there is not even a distant reference to such
a vessel. Indeed, a boat that could easily be carried
on men's shoulders could not be a covered boat.
Aethicus described the camara and camereca as covered
^«MeTd 8^ TTiv 2iv8ixf)v xai xiV FoQYiJtiav ejtl xfj ^ak6.xxx\ •^ twv 'A-
Xaiwv xai Zvyibv xai 'Hvioxov jtagaXia, to nXiov akiiiEvoc, xai opeivri, xoO
Kaxmaaov M-egog ovaa. Zcboi bk djto xcov xaxd ■ftdXaxxav XtitJXTioitov, dxdxia
IxovxE? ^.EJTxd, axEvd xai xovq^a, ocrov dv&QCOJtovc Jtevxe xai etxooi 8ex6neva,
ojtdviov 8e xQ'idxovxa Se^acr&ai xoug Jtdvxa^ 6mrd4i£va* •KaXovai 8' a'uxd oi
"E^A.T)veg xando'ag" (paal 8' ojto xf\c, 'Idaovog orxQaxidg xovq nev ^^itoxag
'Axaioug xt|v evftd8e 'Axatav olxiaai, Adxowag be xr\v 'Hvioxiav, &v f\QXOv
'Pexag xai 'Anqpioxoaxog, ol xcov AioaxoijQ<ov t|vioxou, xai xovg 'Hvi6xous
djto xouxtov elxog obvondadaf xcov 6' oJv xanapcov oxokovq, xaxaoxEva^-
pievoi xai imnkiovxeg xoxe niv xai? 6Xxd(3i, xox^ bk x<^0<? fivl r\ xai n6kei
d^aXaxxoxQaxoijar jtQooXan,6dvou(Ti 8' ea§' oxe xai ol xov BoarcoQov IxovxEg,
vJq)6onx)us xoQTlYoi^vxEg xai dvoQav xai 8iddEaiv x&v doJta^O|XEV(ov ^avi-
6vxE5 88 eI? xd oixEia xwoia, vav^oxEiv ov% IxovxEg, dvadEHEVoi xolc, &-
H,oig xdg v.aii6.Qag dvaqpEOOvoiv EJtl xoug 8(ju(xovg, Iv olojteo xai olxoOoi,
XwiQav aQovvxez ytj'v x.aixaqpE0ovm. 8e Jtdjiiv, oxav ■^ xaio^s toO JtXetv. T6 8*
auxo Koiovoi xai ev xfj aXXoxgiq., yvdiQi\x,a exovxei; {jXcoSt] xoiQia, iv olg d-
jtoxovTpavxEg xdg xandpag auxol nkav&vxai JtE^fj vuxxcoq xai jied' i]\iiQav
dv8Qajto8ioinoi) x«Oi'V' a 8' fiv X,d6a)Oiv imXvxga jwkoOcti p(j.bi(a<;, fiexd xohz
axankovg [XTivvovxEg xoig ojto^Eaaaiv ev niv o^ xoig 8trvacn;EUOfiEvoi5 xojcoig
iaxi xig 6oridEia ^x xcov tiyeM'Ovcov xoig d8ixov(XEVoig' dvxEJtixidEVXca yaQ no\-
Xdxig xai xaxdYoumv auxdv8oovg xdg xandoag' ■n 8' vnb Toixaioig d6oTi-
OriToxeoa daxl 8id xtiv 6XiYcooiav xcov rtEHJtofiEvcov,* XI. 2. 12.
HUNIBALD 247
boats. ^ The description in Aethicus, as probably
everything else in it, is not due to a translation from
a Greek original, as claimed by Klotz,^ but to a trans-
lation from the Arabic. The Arabic original may have
existed also in a Greek translation, or the translator
wrote in that horrible Graeco- Latin style which charac-
terizes the Latin translators of the Syrio-Latin texts
of the Gospels; but the Aethicus before us is so full
of Arabic words as to make the translation from the
Arabic an absolute certainty. Speaking of the came-
reca, the translator says that it had in the middle a
hunched colcherium like the hump of a camel. Col-
cherium does not occur elsewhere in Latin. It is the
Arab. J^ kalkal "the hollow chest, the keel."
This Arab, kalkal has given rise to the "keel" words
in the Germanic and Romance languages. We have
OHG. keola, a translation of "rates (naves)." The
lemma is due to Servius,^ "rates abusive naves, nam
proprie rates sunt convexae invicem trabes," from which
it is obvious that "rates" was taken to be "the beams
tied together" or "the keel of a ship." Now, the
translation of rates in Arabic is ^ kalak, which origi-
nally means "a bag filled with air and used for swim-
ming." It is from the Pers. kalak "a kind of float for
passing rivers, constructed of bundles of reeds and the
like, and a number of inflated skins," which is, no doubt,
related to Pers. kilk "a hollow reed." We have Syr.
' "Camereca navis opinatissima ob hoc nuncupata quod camelorum more
in medio curvum colcherium quasi gybbum cameli habeat, quod fenestras
obliquas modicas ad ventorum receptacula ferat. Camara sursum consuta
coriis magnis coniunctis umbone[m] in similitudinem lebetum facta[m] in
ipsum gibbum, qui[a] ut anhelitum ventorum reciperet, mox in similitudinem
tonitrui magni reboat terribilem sonitum. Tempestates maris sine periculo
tol[l]erat. Ad navale bellum robustissimo vigore obfirmata atque munita
narratur. Hanc navem Cycrobem in oceanas insolas Frisargicas in suae
artis peritia[m] idem historicus invenisse naiTat[ur]," Wuttke, op. cit., p. 34.
2 Philologus, vol. 65 (1906), p. 97.
' To Aeneid, I. 43.
248 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
/ia^ kalkd "internatatorius, ratis, navicula, cymba."
From Arab. ^ kalak "float, ferry" developed J^
kalkal "inflated, chest, keel," and from either one or the
other we get in Aethicus colcherium "inflated body,
keel" and OHG. "rates keola,'' where "rates" combines
the two meanings of "keel" and "ship." Later OH-
y German and the ASaxon glosses ventured on a Latin
» etymology and wrote "celox ceola;'' but that is absurd,
since ceola means "keel," and hence, like "carina," is
used for "ship" in general, but never means "swift
boat," as implied by "celox." All the Germanic words
for "keel" and all the Romance words of the same
group, generally derived from the OH German, are in
L reality derived from an Arabic gloss to "rates."
Aside from Aethicus, no other source knows any-
thing of camereca, and no other source but Strabo and
Tacitus record camara. The form camereca at once
shows where Aethicus got his ship. Athenaeus^ gives
an account of some ships of an enormous size which
Ptolemy Philopator built. One of them was called
§aXafir)y6(:. It was half a stadium in length and was
fitted out most luxuriously within. The keel was
naturally flat and there were double prows and poops,
in order to withstand the high waves. Suetonius says
that Caesar went with Cleopatra up the Nile in a
thalamegus} Athenaeus does not distinctly say that
either end of the boat could be used as a prow, but
that is apparently what he meant by the double
prows. The enormous length of the ship and its flat
bottom made it difficult for it to turn in the riverbed,
and so, no doubt, the ship could be rowed in either
direction. It was this that gave rise to the legend of
a boat which had two prows and which Minerva,
according to Hyginus, first built for Danaus when he
1 V. 37, 38.
» Caesar, 52.
HUNIBALD 249
fled to Egypt. ^ But it is only through the story of
Noah's ark that the idea of a boat which could go in
either direction was developed. Aethicus translated
i^aXafir)x^<: by camereca, and invented the second boat,
camara, because Noah's ark is mentioned in the Bible
as "navis bicamerata" and "tricamerata." Aethicus
also describes a boat, vagio, which is due entirely to his
imagination, for the name does not occur again. He dis-
tinctly mentions that the vagio was built like the ark and
says that it could go hither and thither.^ This is taken
out of a description of the ark, falsely ascribed to Bede.'
We can now see how the reference to camara occurred
in Tacitus. The Gr. d^aXafirjj6<: gave rise to Lat.
camara, which is mentioned as a ship in the catalogue
given by Aulus Gellius.* Camara could refer only to a
ship which had decks or cabins, and obviously was a
ship of state used on the Nile. Hyginus ascribed the
invention of such a ship to Minerva, when Danaus went
to Egypt, that is, he had in mind the Egyptian ^aXafji-^joz.
Tacitus, therefore, could not have committed the mis-
take of calling a pirate boat, such as Strabo described
specifically, by the name of a ship of state. The
mistake made by the interpolator arose only through^
a misunderstanding, which Aethicus was the first to
create. From ApoUinaris Sidonius he got his idea of
» "Tunc primum dicitur Minerva navem fecisse biproram in qua Danaus
profugeret," CLXVIII, Hygini Fabulae, ed, M. Schmidt, Jenae 1872, p. 31;
"Minerva prima navem biproram Danao aedificavit, in qua Aegyptum fra-
trem profugit," CCLXXVII, ibid., p. 153.
* "Vagiones naviculas in mare miro ingenio fabricatas, ut philosophus
adserit, ex tenuibus tabulis levigatis ac dolatis, aereis laminis circumdatis.
Turriculas sursum caelatas conclusas esse gypsis bituminatis dicit, sicut
archa[m] fuisse legimus factum. Et ob hoc vagiones nuncupati, quasi
hue illucque veloci cursu vagantes et cito properantes qualesque in Troianica
obsidione in Simoente fuerunt. Nam Albani, et Timazeti, Meoti, Minazeti,
Gangines, Tulchi has naves utuntur et eas pirones in barbarica lingua
appellant. Utilioris enim quam dromones sunt, adtamen in mediterraneo
mare nusquam reperiuntur," Wuttke, op. di., p. 35.
' "Ilia super fluctus diluvii hue atque illuc fatigata ferebatiu-," Migne,
Patrol, lat., vol. XC, col. 1179.
* X. 25. 5.
250 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
the naval prowess of the Saxons, who were reputed to
be dreaded pirates. He may have learned from
Pliny ^ that the German pirates made their canoes out
of a single tree, which could hold thirty persons. So
he created a nation of Myoparones who operated in
the North. He united the information about marvel-
ous naval architecture from Athenaeus, as a com-
parison of the passage from Aethicus quoted on page
292 with Athenaeus, V. 36-44, shows, added to it all
he knew about the navis camerata of the Bible, and made
the pirates build ships which the Egyptian Ptolemies
only knew how to build. Thus arose the camara^
camereca, and vagio of Aethicus. The interpolator of
Historiae, III. 47, learned about the camara from
Aethicus and possibly from the Bible, and finished
by saying, "sic inter undas volvuntur, pari utrimque
prora et mutabili remigio, quando hinc vel illinc
appellere indiscretum et innoxium est." The inter-
polator took such a liking to the ship that could go
hither and thither that he repeated the same story,
almost in the same words, in regard to ships that he
had the Romans build on the island of the Batavians,
that is, in the region described by Aethicus.^ In this
new passage the relation to Athenaeus' ^akafir^yoi; and
Aethicus' camereca is even clearer than in the Historiae.
The interpolation in Strabo of the word xdfiapa for
fjtuoTtdpwv is unquestionably later than that in Tacitus,
because here we have no reference whatsoever to a
boat with two prows, the word xdfxapa having already
become conventionalized for a piratical boat.
1 XVI. 203.
^ "Mille naves sufficere visae properataeque, aliae breves, angusta puppi
proraque et lato utero, quo facilius fluctus tolerarent; quaedam planae
carinis, ut sine noxa siderent; plures adpositis utrimque gubernaculis,
converse ut repente remigio hinc vel illinc adpellerent; multae pontibu*
stratae, super quas tormenta veherentur, simul aptae ferendis equis aut
commeatui, velis habiles, citae remis, augebantur alacritate militum in
speciem ac terrorem," Annates, II. 6.
HUNIBALD 251
The forger of the Germania went one better. He
took the whole passage from the Historiae, III. 47,
and concocted a new story for the Swedish pirates.
In the Historiae, III. 46, we are told that the Dacians
were becoming restless. In the next chapter we have
an account of the other nations in the Pontus, who were
being roused to sedition by a slave, a former prefect
of the navy, by the name of Anicetus. He corrupted
the barbarians with the promise of spoil even for the
poorest. Then we get the statement that the bar-
barians traveled about in ships called camarae, which
were built with decks, so as to keep out the waves.
From this account we get the absurd statement in the
Germania^ that the Swedes honor wealth, that they
are ruled by one man, and that their arms are in the
custody of a slave. The sentence, **praeter viros
armaque classibus valent," was intended, no doubt,
for ''praeter vires armaque classibus valent," which is a
counterpart of Isidore's "gens Saxonum non viribus
nititur, fugae potius quam bello parati," or, still more
closely, of Hegesippus'^ ** (Saxonia) validissimum genus
hominum perhibetur et praestans ceteris, piraticis tamen
myoparonibus non viribus nititur fugae potius quam
bello paratum." From the sentence in Historiae^
III. 47, "corrupto in spem rapinarum egentissimo
quoque," we get here the absurd statement, "est apud
illos opibus honos." From the mention that Anicetus
was impatient of change, "mutationis impatiens," we
^ "Suionum hinc civitates, ipso in Oceano, praeter viros armaque classibus
valent. forma navium eo differt quod utrinque prora paratam semper appul-
sui frontem agit. nee velis ministrant nee remos in ordinem lateribus adiun-
gunt: solutum, ut in quibusdam fluminum, et mutabile, ut res poseit, hinc
vel illinc remigium. est apud illos et opibus honos; eoque unus imperitat,
nuUis iam exceptionibus, non precario iure parendi. nee arma, ut apud
ceteros Germanos, in promiscuo, sed clausa sub custode, et quidem servo,
quia subitos hostium incursus prohibet Oceanus, otiosae porro armatorum
manus facile^ lasciviunt: enimvero neque nobilem neque ingenuum, ne li-
bertinum quidem armis praeponere regia utilitas est," Germania, XLIV.
2 V. 15.
252 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
get the similarly absurd elaboration, "eoque unus
imperitat, nuUis iam exceptionibus, non precario iure
parendi." From the perfectly natural statement that
Anicetus, a barbarian slave, started a rebellion, "arma
moverat," we get the horribly perverted statement
that the arms were not kept promiscuously, as among
the other Germans, but were guarded by a slave,
**nec arma, ut apud ceteros Germanos, in promiscuo,
sed clausa sub custode, et quidem servo." It would
be difficult to find a more stupid transformation of
an already interpolated story.
These northern pirates are called Suiones} Beyond
the Suiones, according to the Germania, live the
Sitones. It is clear from Jordanes that these are identi-
cal with his Suetidi,^ and from the Arabic accounts
we see that Suetidi, Sitones are derived from Al-
aswad, the ** Black Sea," near which they lived. Beyond
Suebia, according to the Germania, live the Peucini,
Veneti, and Fenni. The Peucini were originally called
Bastarnae and are by speech, culture, and domicile
Germans, contaminated only with the Sarmatians by
intermarriage.^ The Peucini are universally recognized
to have been Celts who lived at the mouth of the
Danube.* Only Pliny thought them to be Germans
who lived near the Dacians,^ who otherwise were
called Getae.^ From the fourth century on, the Getae
were confused with the Gothic and at the same time,
no doubt, the Daci began to be confused with the
» See p. 251.
* "Suetidi, cogniti in hac gente reliquis corpora eminentiores," Getiea,
III (23).
* "Hie Suebiae finis. Peucinorum Venetorumque et Fennorum nationes
Germanis an Sarmatis ascribam dubito: quamquam Peucini, quos quidam
Bastarnas vocant, sermone cultu sede ac domiciliis ut Germani agunt.
sordes omnium ac torpor procerum; conubiis mixtis non nihil in Sarma-
tarum habitum foedantur," XLVI.
* K. Zeuss, Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstamme, Miinchen 1837, p. 127 ff.
* "Peucini, Basternae, supra dictis contermini Dacis," IV. 100.
* "Getae, Daci Romanis dicti," IV. 80.
HUNIBALD 253
Dani. Jordanes speaks in the same breath of Gothi
and Peucini, but leaves the latter near the Danube.^
But the forger of the Germania, mistaking the Dad
for the Dani, placed the Peucini next to the Sitones.
Here again we see that Strabo was interpolated after
the Germania was in existence, for he, too, places the
Peucini near the Icdovei;.^ There cannot be the slight-
est doubt about an interpolation here, because the
Peucini are correctly placed at the mouth of the
Danube, whereas the Sidones, as we see from the Ger-
mania, are somewhere in Norway. It is more than
likely that the Itdrjvoi, Iido)vt(; of Ptolemy, placed
indefinitely somewhere near the Northern Ocean, are
a similar interpolation. Jordanes puts the Dani
together with the Suetidi,' just as the forger of the
Germania placed the Peucini, that is, the nation near
the Daci, near the Sitones.
We can now see why the forger took the passage in
the Historiae, III. 47, as a basis for his account of the
Suiones. To him the Pontus was a sea into which the
Danube flowed, but he recklessly transferred the whole
region to the north. A nation near the Pontus was
given to piracy. So was the nation in the north,
called Myoparones by Aethicus. The forger knew
from Arabic accounts about the I sit and Aswad.
He had a faint idea that the Daci and Dani were
one and the same, and he knew that the ships
with double prows were made for Danaus. From all
that confusion arose the hodge-podge of the account
in the Germania dealing with the extreme north.
We can now return to the Fall of Troy.
» Getica, XVI (91).
*«'Ev 8^ Ttj yitaoyaiq. BacrcdQvai \ikv T015 Tvoev^Taig SM'OQOi xal Feo-
jiOBvoig, axeb&v xt xal ouxol tou Fe^navixoO yivovq Svres, slg jiXeico tpvhi
fiiTiPTinevoi. Kal yaQ "Atnovoi "kiyavrai, ti-ve? xcA 2i66vEg, oifift
TTjv IIeuxtiv xataoxovres xal ttiv i\ T<p "lorpcp vfjoov nev)uvoi,» VII. 3.
17.
» "Dani, ex ipsorum stirpe progressi," III (23).
254 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
There is not a trace of a relation between the Fall
of Troy and the Germans in Gregory of Tours or in
any author before the year 727. The Liber historiae
Francorum begins with the history of the Fall of Troy.
Aeneas escapes and settles near the Maeotide Swamp,
where he builds the city of Sicambria. The Alanians
make an incursion upon the Maeotide Swamp and are
ejected by the Trojans, who are now called Franci by
Valentinian on account of their ferocity.^ Unwilling
to pay taxes to Rome, the Franci move on and settle
near the Rhine. Here Faramund, the son of Marcomir,
was chosen king. Then they began to have (Salic)
laws. Thereupon we come to the account in Gregory
of Tours, according to which Chlodius, the son of
Faramund, lived in Disbargum, a fortified place in
Thuringia, a region of Germany. Fredegar's Chronicle,
which has additions made in the eighth century,^
as is proved conclusively by the reference to Francus
and Vasso as of the Franks, quotes this
place as Esbargium, Asobargim, Hesbargim,^ etc.,
which is not far removed from the Asciburgium of the
Ger mania. The Trojans, although enemies of the
Greeks, were confused with the Greeks, hence the
Esbargium of Thuringia led to Asciburgium of Tacitus,
where Greek inscriptions were found. The whole
Troy origin of the Franks arose in the eighth century,
when it became fashionable to consider the Franks
as the true political descendants of the Romans. This
was expressed in the genealogies, which I have dis-
cussed in connection with Pseudo-Berosus,* where the
Franks and Alamannians were classed together with
Britons and Romans, as descendants from Isaac.
1 MGH., Scrip, rer. merov., vol. II, p. 241 ff.
* G. Schniirer, Die Verfasser der sogenannten Fredegar-Chronik, Freiburg
1900, p. 90 ff.
» MGH., Scrip, rer. merov., vol. II, p. 95.
*Seep. 213flf.
HUNIBALD 255
Of course, such a relationship could have been pre-
dicated from the Chronographus anni CCCLIIIP or
the Liher genealogus anni CCCCXXVII,^ but the
abbreviated form of the derivation of the Romans
directly from Isaac, shows that the relationship was
made out anew on the basis of the Arabic genealogy.
From the relationship of Rome to Troy arose also the
relationship of the Franks to Troy.
This follows inevitably from the account of the
Liber historiae Francorum, which, to judge from the
last date recorded, namely, 727, was written soon after
that date. But it is in the account given by Hunibald,
and reported by Trithemius, that we get the real reason
for the correlation of Franks and Romans, which actu-
ated the Troy story. According to Hunibald,^ the
Trojans, later called Scythians, and still later, Franks,
were located near the mouth of the Danube. Their
king, Antenor, was killed in battle with the Goths, who
came from Scanzia. This was in 440 B.C. Then his
son, Marcomir, ascended the throne and determined to
avenge his father's death. He called together the
ministers of his gods, who evoked the spirits. Marcomir
saw before him a three-headed monster, of which one
head was that of a toad, the second of a lion, the third
of an eagle. The eagle's head said: **Your offspring
will subdue my head; they will destroy both the lion
and the toad." Similar predictions were made by the
toad's and lion's heads. Then suddenly the monster
was changed into the form of a man, with the scepter in
the left hand and the sword in the right, who confirmed
the prophecy. Marcomir asked the aliruna what the
significance of this prophecy was. She told him that
he was to travel towards the west, to where the people
representing the lion, and descended from the Trojans,
^ MGH., Auctor. antiq., vol. IX, p. 15 ff.
2 Ibid., p. 154 flf.
' Trithemius, Opera historica, p. 2 flf.
256 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
was situated on this side of the Rhine. The toad
nation was living across the Rhine, while the nation
represented by the eagle was that of the Romans. The
Franks were to settle between the two, the lion and
the toad. They would wage many wars with the toads,
and many would be killed; but after many years they
would possess themselves of the country of the toads,
and also of the territory of the lions, until, after three
generations, there would be one king over all that land.
The Franks sent a legation to the Saxons, asking from
them permission to settle in their territory, after which
they emigrated to Frisia, and Marcomir conquered
much territory. It is up to the death of Marcomir that
Wasthald composed his account in the Scythian lan-
guage, from the Fall of Troy.
Here we have a sufficient reason why the Franks
are coupled with the Romans as descendants of Isaac.
We also have a sufficient reason why they, like the
Romans, should be derived from the Trojans. If
the year 727 may be taken as the approximate date of
the creation of the Troy story, we get the time of Charles
Martel, who conquered the rebellious Alamannians in
725, as the one in which the pretensions to the Roman
Empire were first mooted. But it may be that, in
spite of the last recorded date of 727, the work was
really accomplished after 754, when Pope Stephen III
crowned Pippin and his two sons, Charles and Kar-
loman, kings.
It is not easy to get at the Prankish origins in the
Liber historiae Francorum, because it is such a hodge-
podge from various sources; but a certain amount of
order may be established in it. We are told in this
account, that when Aeneas fled to Italy, Antenor came
in ships to the shores of the Tanais, where he built
the city of Sicambria near the Maeotide Swamps. At
that time the Alani rebelled against Valentinian, who
HUNIBALD 257
defeated them, whereupon they fled from the shores
of the Danube to the Maeotide Swamps. At the
request of Valentinian, the Trojans ejected the Alani
from them, for which reason Valentinian called them
in the Attic language, Franks, which means ''ferocious."
After ten years the Emperor was going to collect taxes
from the Franks, but they refused to pay them, saying
that they had always been free. Valentinian attacked
them, and they moved away from Sicambria and set-
tled near the Rhine. With the counsel of their leader,
Marcomir, the Franks chose his son, Faramund, for
their longhaired king, and it was then that they began
to have laws. After the death of Faramund, they
chose Chlodio, the longhaired one, as their king. They
came to Thuringia, where Chlodio lived in the castle
Dispargum.
We have a still older account of the Trojan origin
of the Franks in Aethicus. Before giving the story
as contained there, we must ascertain more definitely
the age in which Aethicus wrote. Much learning has
been wasted to prove that St. Jerome was the real
translator into Latin of this impossible work,^ whereas
it is very easy to show that it was written after 711.
The chemical terms that occur in this work are such
as are found in Arabic works on alchemy, some of them
being of Arabic origin. Aethicus says of the earth:
" Terram dicit in ipsam massam cum suis possessoribus,
et pecoribus ac bestiis volatilibus, cum aere ut
hemitica, carpaica, sataica et sorectica ac humarrica
atque athomica torradicaque safargica, spuraca et
brumarrica in eaque massa posita."^ Here it is not
safe to identify the various terms, as their meanings
are not given. Fortunately, two of these terms occur
^ H. Wuttke, op. eit.; d'Avezac, ^thicus et lea outrages cosmographiques
intitules de ce nam, Paris 1852; K. Pertz, De Cosmographia Ethici libri tres,
Berolini 1853.
* Wuttke, op. dt., p. 3.
258 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
again. We have Humericus lacus "the Sea of As-
phaltum."^ Aethicus distinctly calls it "bitumi-
natum," hence it is Arab. ,j*>- humar "bitumen Ju-
daicum." It cannot be from the Hebrew, because
there it is ^^H hemdr. The second word is safargica,
which occurs again in connection with afrodica, to
express earth in which gold and copper are found. ^
The Gr. d.fpodizrj was used by the Syrians and Arabs
for "copper,"^ and Arab. J^ ^ufur, '^i 'a^-^afra'u
is "gold."
Thus the age of the Cosmographia is established,
beyond a shadow of a doubt, as after 711. But it
is right here that we have an important account of the
Trojan origin of the Franks. Aethicus confuses the
Alani with the Albani. According to him, they lived
near his country of Istria. Romulus waged war on the
' "Porro Scihtarum gentes in multam munitionem tam montanam quam
et saltuum refertissimam; campestria frugum uberrima et usque ad oceanum
sericum porrecta[m] atque mare Caspium, quod respicit occasum, exinde a
meridie usque locum Humericum bituminatum, a parte aquilonis magnum
enim in gyrum dilatatum quasi stadiis centum a radicibus monti[bu]s
Humerosi[s], ita ferventem velut candentem fornacem; de qua aqua si
volucres attigerint vel palpaverint ultra nequaquam vivere possunt. Idem
narrat, sicut et superius multa praefatus est, quod de calore et vapore
Humericorum montium, quia a parte inferorum vidisse se adserit fumantes,
prae nimia ariditate vel ustione, mortis foetorem inducit," ibid., p. 48.
" "Dein in insolas Brittanicas et Tylen navigavit quas ille Brutanicas
appellavit. Imperitissimam gentem, horrorem nimium. Sectantes artes
multas et ingenio maximo terrarum poUent. Metalla in venire ibi narrat
auri et argenti, oricalci et stagni magnitudinem ac ferri. Multasque alias
adinventiones quae investigabiles ab aliis gentibus. Erudiens discipulos
suos fecit eos artifices mirificos, et usque nunc artifices multi in eas insolas
usi sunt eo modo, ut si in litoribus maris aut fluminum glarea candorem
cretae cum sabulo reddiderit et venarum parte pauxilli rivi processerint
ebuUientes ac ferventes, non nimis cal[l]idae rufaeque commixtim afrodica
terra et safargica, aut aurum aut oricalcum metallum reperies vel aes, tam
in litoribus, quae sarfaicam et acervicam habuerint arvam. Sed in raris
locis sic invenitur argenti et stagni metallum vel mina, Aquitania yalde et
Hispania, Valeria, et multas terrarum regiones habere, et levius invenire
possunt, non difficile ab habitatoribus vel quaestionariis suis. Nam auro
fodinam et oricalcum gnaros artifices ea arte, quam supra commemoravit,
invenire praedixit," ibid., p. 14 f.
^ Berthelot, La chimie au moyen dge, Paris 1893, vol. II, pp. 9, 11, 22, etc.
HUNIBALD 259
Albani and founded Rome. Then he crossed the Simois
and fought with Francus and Vassus, the descendants of
the Trojans, and conquered them. But Francus and
Vassus united with the Albani, crossed the Ister, and
attacked Romulus. They were again defeated. Fran-
cus and Vassus, seeing they were lost, escaped with a
few of their men, and the Albani returned to their
homes. Francus and Vassus crossed Raetia and
built the city of Sicambria near the Maeotide Swamps.^
1 "Lacedaemonia, Pannonia et Histria post celeberrimam Graeciam;
suarum generationum repetens ait: me circuitu[m] viarum mearum et
opus et rumor subrepsit, ut decidentium si falsa fuerunt retroacta obmitterem,
aut si vera reciperim, si ambigua frustra ducerer. Pondus laboris mel meae
causae extetit, ut itineris vacatio, Veritas labor[ar]em sequatur. Quantae
clades in Lacedaemonia, Norico et Pannonia, Histria et Albania, vicinae
meae septentrionalium regiones, primum a Romanis et Numitore tyranne,
dein sub Romolo Remoque fratribus postque Tarquinio Prisco, Superbo.
Cum taedio cordis mei stragem subolis meae cogor propalare; et postmodum
orientalium ac loca meridiana, quae obmisi, retexam. Numitor igitur regno
male usurpato hostem et vastationem Tusciae saevissimam intulit; Pirre-
neos montes Cisalpinaque iuga peracessit, Noricos obtinuit, Histriam crudeli-
ter obpr[a]essit, Histrum transiens cum Albanis altercavit sed superare non
potuit, cum magnis spoliis remeavit. Nee multo post obiurgantes mutuo
nepotes cum avo consurrexitque Romulus super avum, Numitorem inter-
fecit, regnum sagaciter et adroganter usurpavit. Euandriae urbis muros et
moenia ampliavit. Ipsam nimpe urbem a suo vocabulo Romam nuncupavit.
Ipse vero post avum fatricida extitit, Remum necavit spurcitiae omni deditus
et luxoria freniticus pellexator nefarius. Commoto exercitu Romanorum avi
crudelitate arreptusLacedaemones crudeliter debellavit,Pannoniamvastavit,
Semoen transiit, post primam eversionem Troiae secundus cruentator
peraccessit, cum Franco et Vasso qui ex regia prosapia remanserant certando
dimicavit, ipsosque superatos. Il[l]io dinuo capta remeavit ad urbem.
Francus enim et Vassus foedus apud Albanos patraverant mutuo moventes
exercitum contra Romolum, montana Histriae transeuntes fixerunt tentoria,
contra quos Romolus castra obponit; cum Franco et Vasso dinuo bellaturus
properavit in montem sacrum arasque lovis famosissimas. Praeparavit
ad aciem perduellis hostes invicem dimicantes. Romulus post cruentissimam
stragem, sicut maximum moverat exercitum, victor extetit debellaturosque
superavit. Francus et Vassus caesum cernentes exercitum cum paucis qui
remanserant per fugam lapsi evaserunt. Albani prostrati atque devicti,
qui evadere potuerant a caede maxima, reversi sunt ad propria. Francus,
ut diximus, et Vassus videntes se superatos, terram autem adflictam et
vastatam in solitudinemque redactam, relinquentes propria cum paucis
sodalibus sed viris expeditis pulsi a sede statim, Raetiam penetrantes ad
invia et deserta Germaniae pervenerunt, laevaque Maeotidas paludes de-
mittentes more praedonum P3^[r]aticiun et fero fisorum atque latronum
degentes urbem construunt; Sichambriam barbarica sua lingua nuncupant
idem gladium et arcum, more praedonum externorumque positam," Wuttke,
op. cit., p. 76 f.
260 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
The Alani, Albani are no other than the Alamanni,
whom the Franks defeated in the beginning of the
eighth century, but who are also mentioned as de-
feated by Gratian^ and Valentinian,^ wherefore the
whole account is placed in the time of Valentinian.
Indeed, many manuscripts of Gregory of Tours and
the other early sources read Alamanni for Alani.
The Frankish kings are supposed to have lived in
Thuringia, in a castle or fortified town called Dis-
bargum, before they settled in Gaul. This rests on a
compound blunder. It was started by Isidore, who
said that the Burgundians were subdued by the
Romans and then settled on the banks of the Rhine,
and that their name was derived from the word burgus
"castle," because they settled in hamlets which were
so called.^ We have also the stupid statement in the
Germania that the Germans who were the first to cross
the Rhine were then called Tungri, but now are called
Germans.* As the Germans are already mentioned in
the time of Caesar and earlier, the statement in Tacitus
is most absurd. If they were called Germans before
they were called Tungri, why were they again called
Germans afterwards? But we get an answer to the
blunder the moment we look into Hunibald. Here we
are told that Theodomir, son of Richimer, was con-
stantly at war with the Romans. At that time the
country of the Franks was in the region of the Tungri,
» MGH., Audor. antiq., vol. XI, p. 153.
* Ibid., vol. IX, p. 241.
' "Burgundiones quondam, a Romanis subacta interiori Germania, per
castrorum limites positi a Tiberio Caesare in magnam coaluerunt gentem,
atque ita nomen ex locis sumpserunt; quia crebra per limites habitacula
constituta burgos vulgo vocant. Hi postea rebelles Romanis effecti plus
quam octoginta milia armatorum ripae Rheni fluminis insederunt, et nomen
gentis obtinuerunt," IX. 2. 99.
* "Ceterum Germaniae vocabulum recens et nuper additum; quoniam,
qui primi Rhenum transgressi Gallos expulerint, ac nunc Tungri, tunc
Germani vocati sint: ita nationis nomen, non gentis evaluisse paulatim,
ut omnes primum a victore ob metum, mox a seipsis invento nomine Germani
vocarentur," II.
HUNIBALD 261
across the Meuse, in a castle which the Antiquitas called
Dispartum. From the Franks, up to the Loire, lived
the Gauls, under Roman rule. Beyond the Loire were
the Goths, mixed with other nations. The Franks
occupied a great part of Gaul, beyond the Meuse.
Theodomir's son, Clogio, waged war with the Romans,
who had just been fighting the Alamanni. This was
in the days of Julian the Apostate. Afterwards,
Valentinian waged war with the Saxons, who were
defeated.^
Hunibald did not confuse the Tungri with the
Thuringians, who are frequently mentioned by Trit-
hemius as Doringi. Indeed, they are discussed at large
immediately before the Tungri. The Doringi asked
aid of the Frankish king, Clodomir, against the Suevi,
and gave the Franks land in their country in which to
settle.^ Under Valentinian the Burgundians settled
near the Rhine. ^ It is clear that the account in Huni-
bald is the original one from which all the confusion
arose. It is original, because it is more free from
blunders and contains the explanation of the later
corruptions. Instead of Alani, we have here Alamanni,
the Franks come from the country of the Tungri and
make settlements in Thuringia, and about the same time
the Burgundians settle near the Rhine. The reference
to Dispartum is apparently not from Hunibald, as
Trithemius refers to the Antiquitas, by which he means
some other old source, Gregory of Tours, or the Liher
historiae Francorum.
The authors who quoted Hunibald confused the
Tungri with Thuringia, the Alamanni with the Alani,
and, from the fact that the Franks were at first at the
Rhine, where the Burgundians are placed at first,
assumed that the Franks lived "in castellis id est
^ Trithemius, Opera historica, p. 27 f. and p. 76.
* lUd., p. 26.
» Ibid., p. 76.
262 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
hurgis\" and so arose the idea of their living "in
castello Disburgo,'' preserved to us in many corrupted
forms, as "in castello Disbar go,'' etc. But the forger,
who noticed that the Franks, that is, the Germans,
at first lived among the Tungri and then gave the name
of Franks to all of Gaul, jumped to the conclusion
that the Germans were at first called Tungri and then
Germans again.
There was good reason for substituting the Alani
for the Alamanni. The Franks were originally located
at the Maeotide Swamp. In this the writers of the
Frankish Antiquitates followed the Gothic example,
which made out of Borysthenis a Gothic city. The
Goths were made congeners of Homer, and their no-
bility found an external expression in long hair; they
became the capillati of Jordanes.^ Presto, the kings
of the Franks were distinguished for their long hair;
they became the criniti. Hunibald says that Clodio,
the son of Faramund, commanded that all the Franks
should wear long hair, to distinguish them from the
conquered Gauls, wherefore Clodio was called crinitus
or capillosus.^
The story of Valentinian and the Alani, castellum
Dispargum, and Clodius crinitus, are all in Gregory
of Tours, ^ but as all this follows immediately after
the mention of Orosius, which is an interpolation, it
is difiicult to ascertain whether this does not belong
to an earlier legend, which was already current in the
sixth century. Especially the reference to the long
hair, as an attribute of royal power, would seem to
be old, since it seems to be implied in several stories
in Gregory. When Chlodovech was killed and thrown
into the river, for instance, he was later recognized
1 See p. 78.
=* Trithemius, Opera historica, p. 35.
' II. 9.
HUNIBALD 263
by his long hair;^ to make it impossible for Chararich
and his sons to become kings, Chlodovech had their
hair cut off ;'^ Chlotachar had Gundovald shorn, because
he did not want to recognize him as his son.^ These
cases prove nothing, however, since not only kings,
but also those who might become kings, wore long hair.
They only prove that those who had their hair shorn
could not become kings, because the shearing of hair
was considered a disgrace, if it was done forcibly. In
the sixth council of Toledo it is distinctly explained
that one shorn a monk or basely deprived of his hair,
could not become a king.^ Long before that Jerome
had said that dandies, soldiers and barbarians wore
long hair,^ and Honorius, in 416, passed a law forbidding
the wearing of long hair.^ In all this there is not even
distantly a reference to a law demanding that only
kings should wear long hair. This is found only in
the passage in Gregory of Tours, in connection with
the rest of the legend, and in Agathias.
Agathias is supposed to have written toward the
end of the sixth century. That he is a base plagiarist,
getting his material pell-mell from Herodotus, Thucy-
dides, etjB., has been shown beyond any possibility
of cavil. ^ The introduction is cribbed out of Hero-
dotus.^ Almost in the very beginning of the history
is found the fulsome praise of the Franks, where we
are told it was a law that the Frankish kings should
wear long hair.^ There are several passages in Hero-
1 VIII. 10.
2 II. 41.
« VI. 24.
* "Rege vero defuncto nullus tyrannica praesumptione regnum assumat;
nuUus sub religionis habitu detonsus, aut turpiter decalvatus, aut servilem
originem trahens, vel extraneae gentis homo, nisi genere Gothus et moribus
dignus, provehatur ad apicem regni," can. XVII.
' Gothofred's Codex Theodosiamis, editio nova, vol. V, p. 240.
« Ibid.
'' G. Franke, Quaestiones Agathianae, Trebnitziae 1914.
8 Ibid., p. 3 ff.
» Agathias, I. 3.
264 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
dotus which tell of wearing long hair, but it is the
Lacedaemonians who passed a law demanding that
long hair be worn.^ There can be no question about
the mythical value of the story about the long-haired
kings of the Franks. The only point is whether it
was already known in the sixth century. This is very
doubtful, since it is most likely that, in spite of the
assertion to the contrary, and the reference to Agathias
in Euagrius, the work was written in the eighth or
ninth century. Agathias seems to have had some Sy-
riac or Arabic source before him. He himself mentions
Sergius, who lived at the Persian court, as his source,
and it has been proposed that it is the Syrian Sergius,
who lived in the sixth century.^ Certainly his judgment
of the Franks coincides amazingly with that of Mas-
*udi, who says: "The Franks, Slavs, Langobards,
Spaniards, Gog and Magog, Turks, Khazars, Burgun-
dians, Alans, Galicians, and other nations who live in
the north, are descended from Japheth, the youngest
son of Noah, as unanimously accepted by men of learn-
ing and the doctors of the law. Of all these people
the Franks are the most warlike, the best defended
against invasion, the best equipped, the most powerful
in territory, where there are numerous cities, the best
organized, the most subjected to the authority of
their princes. It must be remarked, however, that the
Galicians are even more warlike and more redoubt-
able than the Franks, since one Galician will stand out
against several Franks. The Franks form one con-
federation, and there is among them no discord, no
faction."^
There is even another evidence of an Arabic borrow-
ing in connection with the Franks. After describing
the appearance of the Franks in battle, which is cer-
1 1. 82.
' W. Wright, A Short History of Syriae Literature, London 1894, p. 90.
» Op. cit., vol. Ill, p. 66 f.
HUNIBALD 265
tainly impossible for the sixth century, Agathias
describes at length their angones, double-edged short
spears, provided with barbs, which inflict severe
wounds upon the enemy. ^ This is identical with the
Arab. »>* 'anazah "a short spear, longer than a
staff and shorter than a spear, having a pointed iron
foot at the lower extremity, the point of an adz or ax,
the long iron point of a long double-headed pickaxe."
As we have also the form jj^ 'akuz for "a staff having
a pointed iron foot at the lower extremity upon which
a man leans or stays himself," there is little doubt
that we have here a derivative of Lat. uncus "a hook."
But the particular spear and the form dy-jrof in Agathias,
show that we have the description of an Arabic weapon.
So, too, the description of the Persian kings is very
much like that in Mas'tidi. No doubt an investigation
will disclose surprising Syriac or Arabic obligations.
For our purposes Agathias is worthless, and the account
of the "reges criniti,'' based as it is on the doubtful
passage in Gregory of Tours, cannot be dissociated
from the same aprocryphal source as the capillati in
Jordanes.
We have thus found sufficient reason for ascribing,
not only a Roman, but also a Greek past to the Ger-
manic races. We can now turn to the discussion of
the Gothic alphabet and of the runes.
Aethicus gives us an alphabet, which he claims to
have invented. A glance at the table convinces us that
his inventive genius was exercised only from the
letter which stands for I, as the first ten letters are
only transmogrifications of the first ten Greek numer-
als, written in cursive. It is true, the other letters are
also ill-disguised Greek letters, but there is a break
» II. 5.
266 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
after k, for the Greek «, /9, y, 8, e, f, C? V^ ^j ' stand
respectively for a, 6, c, d, e, /, gf, h, i, k, and Aethicus
had to make a new start, where he gave the Greek
letters, and not the numerals, the corresponding
Latin values. Obviously Aethicus was handicapped,
in the case of the first ten letters, by something which
was already established.
It has been fully ascertained that the Arabs received
their notion of the Hindu numerals from the Syrians,
for Severus Sebokht mentioned the nine signs for the
numerals as early as 662.^ The Arabs considered the
Hindu numerals as forming the basis of an Indian
alphabet. We have the best account of this in Ibn
Wahsiyah,^ who gives two forms of it, with a mnem-
onic arrangement by signs. ^ It will be observed that
the nine signs are used for the Ab^ad order of the
Arabic alphabet, after which the next nine are indi-
cated by dots, and in the second form by an additional
circle. Similarly, the third series is indicated by two
dots or two circles. It is not to be wondered at that
the cipher sign for ten is not used, since it was not
originally a numeric sign, but only the indication for
an absent numeral. As Ibn Wahsiyah wrote in the
beginning of the tenth century, his speculation repre-
sents that of the ninth century or earlier. In any case,
the Arabs believed that the nine numerals were used
for the whole of the Hindu alphabet, or, at least, made
up a secret Arabic alphabet on the basis of the Indian
numerals.
* F, Nau, La pltts ancienne mention orientate des chiffres indiens, in Journal
asiatique, lO^ serie, vol. XVI, p. 225.
2 J. Hammer, Ancient Alphabets and Hieroglyphic Characters explained,
in the Arabic language by Ahmad Bin Abubekr Bin Wahshih, London 1806,
pp. 6-8; also in G. Flugel, Kitdb-al-Fihrist, Leipzig 1871, vol. I, p. 18 f.,
and the 17th Rasala of vol. II of the Bombay edition of Rasa ilu Ihwdn
al-Safd.
3"See table 4.
HUNIBALD 267
That the Greek numerals were similarly used in
the West, from the Arabic example, is amply proved
from an alphabet, which in Trithemius' Polygraphia is,
according to Pseudo-Bede, ascribed to the ancient
Norsemen. Here we have ca. representing I, e^ stand-
ing for m, X for u, etc. The Greek alphabet, not in
its numerical values, but as used in writing, had been
used for cryptographic purposes, by merely changing
at will the existing cursive letters. Berthelot^ records
two such alphabets, which are interesting to us because
they show that they were formed by turning around
or lengthening the existing cursive letters, each original
letter remaining in its place. The alphabet of Aethicus
shows remarkable resemblances to the two quoted by
Berthelot, which is not accidental. When we recall
that Aethicus betrays a thorough acquaintance with
Graeco-Arabic alchemy, as we have observed in the
case of the names of various kinds of earth used by
him, we are prepared to find his alphabet modeled in
the same way as are the Greek alchemists' alphabets.^
The resemblance of the signs for b, c, d of Aethicus to
those for /?, y, d in the first Greek alphabet, and of
e to that for e in the second, is particularly striking.
But it is not necessary to draw a very close analogy,
as the whole alphabet of Aethicus is whimsical. All
we need to observe is that a, /?, ;-, 8, e, f, ^, 351, t?, e
are present in Aethicus, and that x has dropped out,
because the original speculation was only on the first
ten letters and the rest of the Greek letters were
introduced later. Another important point is this,
that ^ is written with a downward stroke, and ^
arising from the long cursive e with turnings at each
end, has assumed a new and unusual form.
1 Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, Paris 1887, vol. I, p. 156.
' See table 3.
268 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
The two other alphabets from Pseudo-Bede,^ given
by Trithemius, although more fanciful, will, upon close
inspection, appear as mere modifications of that of
Aethicus. Thus, for example, the sign for k in the
second is identical with that in Aethicus, while the
first six letters of the first alphabet are but ill-disguised
forms from the same source. For our purposes the
most important is the alphabet which by Hunibald
is ascribed to Wasthald,^ and which Trithemius saga-
ciously guessed as being a transformation of the Greek
alphabet, which order it followed. The relation of this
alphabet to that of Aethicus is obvious in the case of
the signs for a, b, e (^), th, i, t, and those for g, d, e,
z, I, p, s, y, are more nearly like those in the Greek,
except that some of them are turned around. While
all the previous alphabets show their obligations to
the Greek cursive, this alphabet of Wasthald makes
an attempt at aligning itself with the Greek uncial.
That the Gothic alphabet is merely a Greek normal-
ization of Wasthald's alphabet, with the digamma
replaced, appears beyond a shadow of doubt, when we
look at the right hand alphabet in the Vienna Codex,
discussed by Grimm,^ for here th is represented by ^,
as in Aethicus and Wasthald, from which develops
the sign ^, in Codex No. 140^ and elsewhere in Gothic.
This latter codex in unusually interesting, because it
shows better than anything the relation of the Gothic
alphabet to that of Wasthald and Aethicus. B is here
represented as d B u, where we have various ap-
proaches to Aethicus and Wasthald on the one side,
and the Greek on the other. Similarly, one form of e
is <->, which shows at a glance its relation to Aethi-
cus' fh. In these Gothic alphabets, the Greek c has
1 See table 3.
2 See table 3.
' Jahrbiicher der Literatur, vol. XLIII, p. 1 f. See table 2.
* Ibid., p. 6.
HUNIBALD 269
been brought back in the normalization and 5 » which
is obviously a development of the i in Wasthald and
Aethicus, itself the descendant of cursive long t, has
assumed its value of T before a vowel.
I have already referred to the two Norsemen's
alphabets in Pseudo-Bede. It is perfectly clear that
they represent a stage in the development of the runes.
Now it is the first, now the second, which explains
all the varieties of runes which we have. If we look
at tables 1 and 3, we shall see at once the runes arose
from the numerical values of the Greek alphabet, as
it appears in cursive, and as it was transformed by
the alchemists. The signs for a and 6 need no dis-
cussion, because their derivation from the Greek or
Latin is obvious, but the sign for a is reversed as
compared with Wasthald's and Aethicus' shape. C
everywhere represents Greek 7-, but in some, as, for
example, in Cod. Exon., the second stroke is down-
ward. D is interesting: in Wasthald it is the Greek
capital letter, in Aethicus it is a form of the cursive d,
which, being generally written <P in the eighth century,
produced 8 in Pseudo-Bede, and in most of the runic
alphabets appears in the square form ix», while some
give it halved, as />. Similarly, e, from Greek e,
written in cursive d, c , etc., produced, as we have
seen, if in Wasthald, <-> in one Gothic alphabet,
and forms of m in the runes. F is the Greek digamma,
which in some runic alphabets is written ^, and under
the influence of the Latin, produced forms of F. G
naturally is represented by Greek C» the numerical
value of which is 8; but C is cursively represented by
a form resembling Olrish g, or by a Latin z crossed,
which differs in form but little from x, hence we have
in one Pseudo-Bede a z form, in another, a simple x,
and the latter predominates in the runes; in the
Gothic alphabet it has been normalized back to a
270 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Greek y. I is represented either by e, or by a long i,
or, as in the Gothic, and in Aethicus and Pseudo-Bede
for k, by a form of Greek cursive long e. Greek ^,
which has the numerical value of 9, and appears as /
in Gothic, and in Wasthald and Aethicus with the
value of the ninth letter, namely, i, is not represented
in the runes. The letter for k gave the makers of the
runes trouble, because, as we have already observed
in the case of Aethicus and Wasthald, it was crowded
out by the Greek decimal order of the letters; hence
some give it distinctly the shape of c, that is, of Greek
r, while others give it as a modified g, that is, a modified
X, and the Gothic reintroduced the Greek x. The
rest of the letters are distinctly related to the corres-
ponding Greek cursive letters, as table 3 shows. There
is, however, one letter which represents especial
interest, and that is ASaxon wen, which has the value
of w, Gothic huun, which has the value of hv. In the
Vienna Codices it occupies the place of the Greek
digamma, which it really is, the normalized / retaining
the position of Greek <p in one of these alphabets.
There cannot be the slightest doubt as to the rela-
tion subsisting between the runes, the Gothic alphabet,
and those of Aethicus and Wasthald, on the one hand,
and the Greek cursive of the alchemists, influenced by
the Hindu numerical speculations, on the other.
Obviously this relation can be established only through
the Arabic introduction into Europe of the Hindu
numerals, which we have already met with in Pseudo-
Boetius and in Virgil Maro.^ But, if this is so, what
becomes of all the cherished theories as regards the
antiquity of the runes? The whole elaborate structure
collapses at a stroke, hence it is necessary to investi-
gate what we really know about the runes.
1 See my Contributions, vol. I, p. 7 ff.
HUNIBALD 271
F. Burg, who did not for a moment doubt the anti-
quity of the runes, was led to investigate the matter
from a purely objective standpoint.^ He observed
that the date of the inscription on the golden horn
of Gallehus was originally established by the arch-
aeologists, who kept removing it farther and farther
back, without assigning any adequate reason for such
a removal.^ His own linguistic study of this inscrip-
tion led him to the conclusion that the date can be
established only relatively, that is, as regards the date
of the Ulfilas translation of the Bible, wherefore he
placed the golden horn of Gallehus not farther back
than 500,^ and the golden bracteates somewhere
between 450 and 750."* But, as I have already shown
that the Gothic Bible was written near 800, the whole
fabric of the runic chronology collapses, and has to
be built up anew.
We have also other proofs of the close relationship
between the runes and the Hindu numerical system as
introduced by the Arabs. Ibn Wahsiyah^ mentions
an alphabet of Dioscorides, the philosopher, commonly
called the Tree alphabet, with which he wrote on trees,
shrubs, and herbs, and he also has another alphabet,
which he calls that of Plato, having resemblances
to the Tree alphabet.^ Both are in the Abgad order,
and the first, which is of especial interest to us, con-
sists of letters composed of a central shaft, having one
to eight strokes on the right, and one to four strokes
on the left. It accounts for all the 28 letters of the
Arabic alphabet, but as of the class having four strokes
on the left only four letters are used, it is clear that the
original alphabet provided only for an alphabet of
^ Die alter en nordischen Runeninschriften, Berlin 1885.
» IMd., p. 4.
» Ibid., p. 148.
* Ibid., p. 30.
■> Op. cit., p. 38.
« Ibid., p. 46.
272 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
24 letters, which was arranged in three classes of
eight letters each. The forms of these letters and
the division into three classes of eight letters, are
identical with the Tree-runes of the Maeshow inscrip-
tion.^ It is impossible to assume, as did R. R. Brash,*
that the Arabs learned this from the Scandinavians.
Only the reverse is probable, namely, that the Scandi-
navians received it, together with the other runes,
from the Arabs, through Wasthald, Aethicus, and
other forgers. The arrangement of these Germanic
Tree-runes is apparently identical with the futhork
arrangement of the runes. I cannot ascertain the reason
for this arrangement, but it is clear that the alphabet
was divided into three classes of eight, to serve for
cryptographic purposes. It is, no doubt, not accident
that the Irish Ogham alphabet gives to each of its letters
a tree value. This stands in some relation to the Tree-
alphabet of the Arabs. But this needs a thorough in-
vestigation. Whatever the origin of the Ogham may
prove to be, this much is certain: the Germanic runes
and the Gothic alphabet did not exist before the eighth
century, and ultimately owe their origin to the Arabico-
Gothic culture.
1 L. F. A. Wimmer, Die Runenschrift, Berlin 1887, p. 238 f.
' The Ogham Inscribed Monuments of the Gaedhil, London 1879, p. 369.
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS.
A number of passages in the Germania have already
been shown to proceed from a forger. We can now
review the whole and discuss the borrowings and
forgeries in detail.
Chapter II contains the genealogy of Pseudo-Berosus
and the absurd statement that the Germans were first
called Tungri and then Germans again. This has
already been discussed in full.
In chapter III we have not only the statement that
Ulysses came to Germany and there built Asciburgium,
but also the assertion that the Germans worship
Hercules, whom, above all others, they mention in
their songs when they are about to go to battle.^ The
passage in Dio Chrysostom which speaks of the respect
paid by the Borysthenitae to Homer, has the identical
statement.^ In Dio Chrysostom there follows what
may be an interpolation, in which there is a reference
to Tyrtaeus, who had the same effect upon the Lace-
daemonians.
This may have added to the forger's continuation
in the Germania about the Germans, who sing their
songs, called harritus, in order to incite the mind to
victory and to frighten the enemy, when the line has
sounded. The sound of the battlecry is increased by
putting the shield to the mouth and vibrating it.^
^ "Fuisse apud eos et Herculem memorant, primumque omnium virorura
fortium ituri in proelia canunt."
*<M6vou vdo 'O|XT|00i) nvrpovevoutfiv ol JtoiriTal avtt&v iv tm? jtoiTJ-
yiaavv, xai ^XXcog \iev elcofl'aai "KiyEW, del fie 6jt6Tav \i.i}Jk(oai |xdxe(r&(u,>
J. de Arnim, op. cit., vol. II, p. 3 f.
' "Sunt illis haec quoque carmina, quorum relatu, quem barritum vocant,
accendunt animos, futuraeque pugnae fortunam ipso cantu augurantur.
terrent enim trepidant ve, prout sonuit acies; nee tarn vocis ille quam
274 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
This whole description is cribbed out of Vegetius,
De re militari, where it says that the battlecry, which is
called barritus, must not be raised until the lines have
joined on both sides, because the enemy is frightened
most when the horror of the noise is increased by the
striking of the weapons. But first of all the line must
be properly arranged.^ The clumsy forger misunder-
stood the statement about what the line must do before
the battlecry is raised, and assumed that ictu telorum
"the striking of the weapons" meant the repercussion
of the shields caused by putting them against the
mouth.
Ammianus, too, took a liking to the word. He tells
the story of the Cornuti and Braccati of the Roman
army, who raised the barritus, in order to frighten
the Alamanni. This barritus begins with a whisper
and grows to an enormous din.^ According to him
it is a foreign word,^ but he describes its use in the
Roman army precisely in the sense of Vegetius. After
the line has approached on either side, the fighters
look at each other fiercely, and the Romans, singing
martial songs, beginning in low voices and becoming
louder, produce what is called by the gentiles barritus,
virtutis concentus videtur. aflfectatur praecipue asperitas soni et fractum
murmur, obiectis ad os scutis, quo plenior et gravior vox repercussu in-
tumescat."
' "Clamor autem (quem barritum vocant) prius non debet attoUi, quam
acies utraque se iunxerit. Imperitorum enim, vel ignavorum est, vociferari
de longe; cum hostes magis terreantur, si cum telorum ictu clamoris horror
accesserit. Semper autem studere debes, ut prior instruas aciem, quia
ex arbitrio tuo potes facere, quod tibi utile iudicas, cum nuUus obsistit:
deinde et tuis auges confidentiam, et adversariis fiduciam minuis: quia
fortiores videntur, qui provocare non dubitant. Inimici autem incipiunt
formidare, qui vident contra se acies ordinari. Huic additur maximum
commodum, quia tu instructus paratusque ordinantem et trepidum ad-
versarium praeoccupas. Pars enim victoriae est, inimicum turbare ante-
quam dimices," III. 18.
^ "Cornuti enim et Braccati usu proeliorum diuturno firmati eos iam gestu
terrentes barritum ciere uel maximum: qui clamor ipso feruore certaminum
a tenui susurro exoriens paulatimque adulescens ritu extoUitur fluctuum
cautibus inlisorum," XVI. 12. 43.
^ "Pro terrifico fremitu, quem barbari dicunt barritum," XXVI. 7. 17.
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS 275
while the barbarians sing the praises of their ancestors.^
That this account of Ammianus is a forgery, together
with the account in Tacitus, is shown by the fact that
both confuse harritus with harditus, a derivative from
bardus "a bard," and make the soldiers sing martial
songs as they proceed into battle. But in the Germania
this mistake was caused by the quotation from Dio
Chrysostom, and, possibly, from the reference to
Tyrtaeus, where, indeed, the Greeks go into battle
singing battle-songs.
This harritus found its way into the vocabularies,
where it is glossed as ** clamor elephantis, "^ etc.,
while we have '^harrit elephans cum vocem dat," and
similar explanations. Virgil Maro somewhere read
elephans for "elephans" and took it to mean "emitting
a sound," wherefore he made from it a verb clef are
"to speak out," clefium "a sound."' That this is
really the origin of this strange word is proved by the
various forms which elephans has assumed in the
Codex Vaticanus 3321 glosses. We have in the Amplo-
nianum Primum and Secundum^ in Goetz, "barrit
eleuans cum uoce emittit," in Codex Cassinensis 90,
"borrit uoce eleuaV The latter shows that the word
elephans was not generally understood, and was taken
to be a participle of some verb, with the meaning "to
call, shout." It entered into OHGerman as claffon
^ "Ergo ubi utrimque acies cautius incedentes gressu steterunt immobili,
toruitate mutua bellatores luminibus se contuebantur obliquis. et Romani
quidem uoce undique Martia concinentes, a minore solita ad maiorem pro-
toUi, quam gentilitate appellant barritum, uires ualidas erigebant. barbari
uero maiorum laudes clamoribus stridebant inconditis, interque uarios
sermonis dissoni strepitus leuiora proelia temptabantur," XXXI. 7. 11.
^Already in Vegetius: "Elephant! in praeliis magnitudine corporum,
harritus horrore, formae ipsius nouitate, homines equosque conturbant,"
III. 24.
' "Literarum autem numerus omnibus tritus est; figura quoque palculis
patet. de potestate autem, quia magna ex parte legestum est, bigerro ser-
mone clefabo" J. Huemer, Virgilii Maronis Grammatici opera, Lipsiae 1886,
p. 8; "male quidam loquelas in elocutione intelligi uolunt, cum loquelae
diminutiuae sunt quasi simplicia clefia," ibid., p. 21.
276 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
**to emit a sound," and into ASaxon as clepian, cleo'
pian, clypian "to make a sound, call."
The hodge-podge borrowing by the forger is illus-
trated throughout the Germania. A few examples
will suffice. In chapters VII and VIII the forger
says that the kings were chosen on account of their
nobility and the leaders on account of their bravery,
but that no one could punish, except the priests, not
as though at the command of the leader, but as though
by the command of God, who, they thought, was
present with the fighter; and the men carried certain
standards, which they had taken from the forest, into
the battle. The families of the fighters were near
them, and many a time the defeated ranks were re-
established by the women. The Germans considered
their women to be divine, thence they did not neglect
their vaticinations. As an example, Veleda may serve,
who, in the time of Vespasian, was considered a goddess.
But there were formerly other women, especially
Albruna.
These chapters, as well as the next few, are based
chiefly on Caesar's description of Gaul. The description
of the duces is based on that of the equites among the
Gauls, whose main occupation is war and who gather
around them their clients and followers, in proportion
as they exert military power. "This is the only
source of influence and power that they are familiar
with,"^ as Caesar says. The forger has paraphrased
this as follows: "Et duces exemplo potius quam
imperio, si prompti, si conspicui, si ante aciem agant,
admiratione praesunt."
The reference to the punishment meted out by the
priests is taken out bodily from Caesar, who says
that the Druids pass on nearly all public and private
crimes and decree the apprppriate punishment. Those
^ VI. 15.
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS
277
who are so punished are considered to have sinned
against the divinity.
Caesar.
Nam fere de omnibus controversiis publicis
privatisque constituunt, et si quod est admis-
sum facinus, si caedes facta, si de hereditate,
si de finibus controversia est, idem decernunt,
praemia poenasque constituunt; si qui aut
privatus aut populus eorum decreto non stetit,
sacrificiis interdicunt. Haec poena apud eos
est gravissima. Quibus ita est interdictum,
hi numero impiorum ac sceleratorum habentur,
his omnes decedunt, aditum sermonemque
defugiunt, ne quid ex contagione incommodi
accipiant, neque his petentibus ius redditur
neque honos uUus communicatur, VI. 13.
Then there follows a misquotation from Tacitus*
Historiae, IV. 22.
Tacitus.
Ceterum neque ani-
madvertere neque vin-
cire, ne verberare quidem
nisi sacerdotibus permis-
sum, non quasi in poenam
nee ducis iussu, sed velut
deo imperante, quem ad-
esse bellantibus credunt,
VII.
Germania.
Effigiesque et signa
quaedam detracta lucis
in proelium ferunt, VII.
Historiae.
Hinc veteranarum cohortium signa, inde
depromptae silvis lucisque ferarum imagines,
ut cuique genti inire proelium mos est, mixta
belli civilis externique facie obstupefecerant
obsessos, IV. 22.
In the Historiae the reference is to standards which
represent animals of the forests, while in the Germania
these standards are represented as being brought out
of the woods.
The vaticinations of the German women are men-
tioned in Caesar, I. 50, and this is one of the few
genuine references to Germans in the Germania.
Suetonius mentions a soothsaying Chatta woman, ^
who was telling Vitellius his fortune; but it does not
follow from this that the German women were more
especially addicted to fortune-telling than any other
women. The story about Veleda, Albruna, and Ganna,
» Vitellius, XIV.
278 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
who are given as German women who told fortunes,
belongs to the Arabic period, that is, it arose only in
the eighth century. Prophetesses are mentioned in
all the chronicles. We find, among others, Deborra
and Anna in Chronographus anni CCCLIIII} In one
edition of this work two Annas are mentioned: "Anna
mater Samuhelis et alia Anna que genuit Mariam, de
qua Christus natus est." Deborra is naturally coupled
with Barach,^ and is frequently mentioned in Arabic
sources, as, for example, in Mas'udi^ and Tabari,*
where she is called Dlwdn, a mere misreading, through
faulty diacritical marks, of hy,:> as d^j^i .
There is a reference both to Veleda and to Ganna
in the Excerpta Ursiniana of Dio Cassius, which runs
as follows: ^^^Otc Mdauo<: 6 Ztfxv6vo)v ^aadelx; xai Fduva
(nap^ivoQ ^v //era ttjv Obtk^dav iv t^ KbXtcx^ ^ecd^ouffo) ^X^ov
npbz Tov Aofuuavbv, xai TCfifji; nap^aoTOO tu^6vt£c: duexofiia^jjaav.**^
1 MGH., Auctor. antiq., vol. IX, p. 133.
* "Sub eo propetetavit Deborra uxor Lapidod de tribu Effrem et per
ipsam ducatum gessit Barac Aminoen de tribu Neptalim. hie denuntiavlt
labin regi et occidit eum et regnavit iudicans cum Debborra ann. XL,"
ibid., p. 117; "sub isto prophetavit Deborra uxor Lafiu et per ipsam tenuit
principatum filiorum Israhel Barach ille de Aminoem de tribu Neptalim.
iste pugnavit contra Sisara principe labis et superavit eum: et regnavit
super filios Israhel iudicans eos Deborra cum Barach annos XL. fiunt
simul anni quattuor milia CXI. In diebus autem Deborra et Barach omnes
dedena scribuntur esse. Athineorum autem tunc regnavit Cecrops, qui
vocabatur dipsyis, annos L: dipsyis autem vocabatur, quia statura procerus
erat," ibid.; "deinde Debbora iudicavit eos annis XL. huius temporibus
fugit Sisarra in domo lail, 'quem ipsa lail' occidit de palo tabernaculi sui
persequente Barach principe militiae," Liber genealogus anni CCCCLII,
ibid., p. 188; "Debbora cum Barac ann XL, ex quibus sunt ann XXX,
quibus post obitum Aod Hebreos alienigenae habuere subiectos. fuit autem
Debbora ex tribu Efrem, Barac vero ex tribu Neptalim," Prosperi Tironis
epitoma chronicon, ibid., p. 389; "Deborra an. XL prophetissa de tribu
Effraim, cum Barach de tribu Nepthalim, cuius in initio ducatus obpressit
filios Israhel labin rex Chanaan XX an., qui regnabat in Asor. sed occiso
ab Israel principe militiae eius Sisara humiliatus tandem ac deletus est,"
Bedae chronica, ibid., vol. XIII, p. 259.
3 Op. cit., vol. I, p. 102.
* H. Zotenberg, Chronique de Abou-Djafar-Mo'hammedrBen-Djarir-Ben-
Yezid Tabari, Paris 1867, vol. I, p. 413.
» LXVII. 5. 3, Boissevain, op. cit., p. 180.
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS 279
These excerpts are of Spanish provenience and are older
than the tenth century, because the identical phrase
is found in Suidas; but they are worthless for the
determination of what was in Dio Cassius' original.
Indeed, the reference to Ganna and Veleda as nap^ivoc
shows at once that by the second Deborah is meant,
for Veleda is the Arab. ooJj valldah nap^evo^, "young
woman." There can be no doubt, therefore, that we
have here an account from an Arabic or Spanish
source, where Veleda is made to be Celtic, instead of
Jewish. We also find Veleda in the Siluae of Statins,^
but as all the editions go back to one copy, supposedly
found by Poggio at St. Gall, and are all interpolated,^
it is quite useless to quote this occurrence of Veleda
in support of its genuineness. This leaves us all alone
with Tacitus.
In the Historiae we are told that this maiden ruled
over the Bructeri, and her authority was great, be-
cause she had predicted victory to the Germans and
the destruction of the Roman legions.^ She was in-
accessible, and her prophecies were announced from
a tower and carried by intermediaries.*
Here we have an Arabic transformation of the
Jewish tradition. In the Bible, Deborah prophesies at
the same time that Barak rules over the people; in
the tradition, Barak is her husband.^ In the Bible,
^ "Captiuaeque preces Ueledae," I. 4. 90.
* E. Baehrens, P. Papinii Statii Siluae, Lipsiae 1876, p. VI f.
* "Munius Lupercus legatus legionis inter dona missus Velaedae. ea virgo
nationis Bructerae late imperitabat, vetere apud Germanos more, quo
plerasque feminarum fatidicas et augescente superstitione arbitrantur deas.
tuncque Velaedae auctoritas adolevit: nam prosperas Germanis res et ex-
cidium legionum praedixerat," IV. 61.
* " 'Arbitrum habebimus Civilem et Velaedam, apud quos pacta san-
cientur.' sic lenitis Tencteris legati ad Civilem ac Velaedam missi cum donis
cuncta ex voluntate Agrippinensium perpetravere. sed coram adire ad-
loquique Velaedam negatum: arcebantur aspectu, quo venerationis plus
inesset. ipse edita in turre; delectus e propinquis consulta responsaque ut
internuntius numinis portabat," IV. 65. See also V. 22, 24.
' L. Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, Philadelphia 1913, vol. IV, p. 34 fF.
280 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Deborah prophesies under a palm tree; in the tradition,
she dispenses judgment in the open air, for it was not
becoming that men should visit a woman in her
house.^ In Tacitus, Veleda rules over the Bructeri,
who are here made a nation out of Barak, even as
mater Samuelis becomes in the Excerpta Ursiniana
Md(Tuo(: b IsfjLuoviov, and Anna (through the Arab.
<^ ) becomes Ganna; and, in accordance with Moslem
prejudice, Veleda does not leave her tower, lest she
should meet men face to face, but sends her judgments
through her relatives. In the Germania we are told
that Veleda was by many considered as divine, and that
formerly there had been Albruna and several other
women who had been venerated. I have already
shown that Albruna is of Arabic origin.^ Although it
is not certain that Trithemius gives us the precise
contents of Hunibald's history, it is very likely that
his description of the aliruna^ is taken directly from
Hunibald. She is represented as a necromancer and
a Sybil. It is most likely that the forger of the Ger-
mania had Hunibald in mind when to Veleda of the
Historiae he added his Albruna.
Chapter IX of the Germania begins with cribbings
from Caesar, where again the religion of the Gauls
is described. Then there follows the statement that
the Suevi sacrificed to Isis, and that the emblem of
Isis, the ship, indicated that the religion was brought
from abroad. This statement is as meaningless as
the following, that the Germans did not place their
gods within walls or give them the human form,
**ex magnitudine coelestium arbitrantur." They con-
secrated groves and called by the names of the gods
the secret places, which they held in reverence.
1 Ibid., p. 35.
» See p. 90.
» Op. cit., p. 3.
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS 281
The whole looks like a paraphrase of the religion of
the Jews in Historiae, V. 5, where it says that the Jews
understood their divinity only with the mind, and
considered those profane who represented the images
of the gods in mortal form ; hence they placed no images
in their cities or in their temples, and worshiped
neither kings nor Caesars.^ Now it is precisely of the
Jews that the Historiae say that one theory considered
them to be a colony from Egypt, when that country,
during the reign of Isis, overflowing with inhabitants,
poured forth its redundant numbers under the conduct
of Hierosolymus and Juda.^ Just as Deborah became
a German prophetess, so the Judaei became Suevi, and
Isis was a goddess brought to the people from afar.
Chapter X deals with the German method of divin-
ation. "Their attention to auguries, and the practice
of divining by lots, is conducted with a degree of
superstition not exceeded by any other nation. Their
mode of proceeding by lots is wonderfully simple. The
branch of a fruit tree is cut into small pieces, which,
being all distinctly marked, are thrown at random on
a white garment. If a question of public interest be
depending, the priest of the canton performs the cere-
mony; if it be nothing more than a private concern,
the master of the family officiates. With fervent
prayers offered up to the gods, his eyes devoutly
raised to heaven, he holds up three times each segment
of the twig, and as the marks rise in succession, inter-
prets the decrees of fate. If appearances prove un-
favorable, there ends all consultation for that day: if,
* "Aegyptii pleraque animalia effigiesque compositas venerantur; ludaei
mente sola unumque numen intellegunt: profanes, qui deum imagines
mortalibus materiis in species hominum efRngant; summum illud et
aeternum neque imitabile neque interiturum. igitur nulla simulacra urbibus
suis, nedum templis sistunt; non regibus haec adulatio, non Caesaribus
honor."
^ "Quidam regnante Iside exundantem per Aegyptum multitudinem duci-
bus Hierosolymo ac luda proximas in terras exoneratam," V. 2.
282 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
on the other hand, the chances are propitious, they
require, for greater certainty, the sanction of auspices. "^
This method is identical with the one in Herodotus,
IV. 67: **Scythia has an abundance of soothsayers,
who foretell the future by means of a number of willow
wands. A large bundle of these wands is brought and
laid on the ground. The soothsayer unties the bundle,
and places each wand by itself, at the same time
uttering his prophecy: then, while he is still speaking,
he gathers the rods together again, and makes them up
once more into a bundle. This mode of divination
is of home growth in Scythia."^ Ammianus, too, tells
of the use of willow sticks for divination by the Alani.^
Bede tells of the use of sortes by the Saxons in their
choice of a leader,^ and mittunt sortes, used by him, is
translated by Alfred as "hluton hi mid tanum," and
sors ostenderit by "se tan atywde," that is, "sors" is
translated by tan "twig." In the Leges Frisonum there
is also reference to divination with twigs, called teni}
This word for "twig" is found in all the Germanic
languages, from which, however, it has almost entirely
disappeared in its original meaning. We have in
Gothic tains "twig," tainjo "basket." In ONorse we
have teinn "a divining wand, spit, stake, stripe," and
teinur "basket, creel." In ASaxon we have at an early
time tenil and stic-taenil "fiscellus." The latter com-
pound shows that an osier basket is meant. In OHGer-
man we get zain, zein "calamus, canna, sarmentum,
regula," and zainja, ceine, etc., "basket." Zain obvious-
ly meant also "a sharp metal stick," hence we have
1 Quoted from Murphy's translation.
* IV. 67, quoted from G. Rawlinson, The History of Herodotus, London
1859, vol. Ill, p. 56.
' "Futura miro praesagiunt modo. nam rectiores uirgas uimineas colli-
gentes, easque cum incantamentis quibusdam secretis praestituto tempore
discernentes, aperte quid portendatur norunt," XXXI. 2. 24.
* Historia ecclesiastica, V. 10.
» W. C. Grimm, Ueber deutsche Runen, Gottingen 1821, p. 296 ff.
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS 283
zainjan *'m fila ducere, to make wire, forge thin
sticks." From this we get the verb zeinjan "to point
out, show," used almost exclusively by Otfrid. Hence
ONorse tina **to pick, recount, narrate" is certainly
derived from ONorse teinn "twig." Dialectically we
have Ger. Zaine "basket" and Zain "withe, rod, wire,"
hence zainen "to make wire;" hence Eng. tine "prong"
is most certainly derived from the AS. tan "rod."
The Greek and Latin have the root can- for both
"rod, reed" and "basket," such as xdppa, xavMv^ xdvsov,
canna, canalis, canister, all of which are related to the
Assyr. qanu, "reed, staff, measure of length." But
into the Semitic languages there enter sporadically
words from this root, not from the Assyrian, but from
the Egyptian. In Egyptian we have not only kanen
"sugarcane," but also l^ena, ienu "basket, a dry
measure," which produces Heb. ^P.^ tene, Chald.
^A^. zene "basket," hence Talm. ^|1^ tuna "burden,
weight," ""^^ t&nl "a large metal container," ^^V zinnd
"basket, woven container," already found in the Bible
as ^P.X^V zinzene{. From these come Arab, o^ sin
"basket," J^ tinn, i}» tunn "a bundle of reeds or
canes, a leafy bundle put together and bound round,
and having flowers, or blossoms, and plucked fruits
put in the interior thereof," jl* tann "a half load,
such as is borne on one side of a beast."
Thus we see that it is only in Arabic that the idea
of a living twig, with its leaves and blossoms, has
developed, apparently from the way the fruit was
transported in freshly plucked twigs, in order to pre-
serve its freshness as long as possible. Hence it is
most certain that Goth, tains, which refers several
times to living grapevine, and tainjo "basket," are
284 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
derived from the Arabic, through the new method of
transporting fruit, and have been transmitted to the
other Germanic languages. When the writer who first
employed the passage in Herodotus for a Germanic
forgery, or possibly his Arabic prototype, found the
reference to l)d^doc hlivac, he at once jumped to
the conclusion that irituat was identical with Arab.
tinn, and so created the divination by a branch from a
fruit-bearing tree, " virgam, frugiferae arbori decisam."
The remaining divinations of chapter X in the
Germania are of no avail, because they are quite
universal, and are widely recorded. But in the next
chapter we have again an example of the forger's hodge-
podge method. According to him, the Germans meet
on certain days in the first quarter or at the full of the
moon, because they consider this time most auspicious
for transacting business. They do not count time
by days, but by nights, for night seems to lead the day.
This is all cribbed out from Caesar's description of
the Gauls, and from a reference to Ariovistus.
Tacitus. Caesar.
Coeunt, nisi quid for- Galli se omnes ab Dite patre pro^atos
tuitum et subitum incidit, praedicant idque ab druidibus proditum dicunt.
certis diebus, cum aut Ob eam causam spatia omnis temporis non
inchoatur luna aut im- numero dierum, sed noctium finiunt; dies
pletur: nam agendis re- natales et mensium et annorum initia sic ob-
bus hoc auspicatissimum servant, ut noctem dies subsequatur, VI. 18.
initium credunt. nee Cum ex captivis quaereret Caesar, quamobrem
dierum numerum, ut nos, Ariovistus proelio non decertaret, banc reperi-
sed noctium computant. ebat causam, quod apud Germanos ea consue-
sic constituunt, sic con- tudo esset, ut matresfamiliae eorum sortibus et
dicunt: nox ducere diem vaticinationibus declararent, utrum proelium
videtur. committi ex usu esset necne; eas ita dicere:
non esse fas Germanos superare, si ante novam
lunam proelio contendissent, I. 50.
All the elaborate account in chapter XI about the
manner in which the Germans proceed in public matters
is a mere verbose elaboration of what Caesar tells of
the Gauls, with an occasional reference to what he
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS 285
says of the Germans. The forger says that the princes
decide only in minor matters, whereas in matters of
greater import all are consulted. They sit armed,
and the priest orders silence. Then the prince and the
nobles give their opinion. Dissent is expressed by a
murmur, assent, by beating the spears, because it is
most honorable to give assent with arms. They are
slow to convene, and this fault arises from their
freedom.
Caesar says that the magistrates conceal those mat-
ters which may disturb the masses, hence no one is
allowed to speak of public matters except in the
council.^ We have already heard that it is the priests
who decide public matters. We are also told that there
is one chief Druid, whose authority is absolute, and
that all those who have any dispute go to the seat of
the chief Druid and obey his commands.^ From this
it follows clearly that the silence in the council could
be broken only when the presiding Druids gave the
command. But of the Germans we are told that in
times of peace they have no common magistrate, but
the chiefs of the villages and districts pronounce
judgment and diminish the controversies. From this
it follows that in time of peace, that is, in affairs of
minor importance, the chiefs decide controversies, but
not when war, that is, a matter of greater importance,
is at hand. Hence they then choose a magistrate,
who has the power of life or death in his hands. ^ But
we learned from the manner of conducting a council
among the Gauls, that it was the magistrate who
enforced silence in public matters. Hence we have
the perfectly correct inference that in major affairs it
was not the chiefs who decided, but alj, that is, the
» VI. 20.
» VI. 13.
» "Cum bellum civitas aut illatum defendit aut infert, magistratus, qui
ei bello praesint, ut vitae necisque habeant potestatem, deliguntur," VI. 23.
286 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
council. Now, who constituted the council of the
Gauls? We are told that the plebs had no voice at all
in public matters, but that they were all decided by
the equites, the men of war, — at least, this is the only
inference possible from the division of the Gauls into
Druids, knights, and plebs. The knights are always
busy with affairs of war, and their power rests solely
on the number of warriors they can command.^ From
this it follows that it is most honorable to determine
matters in the council by means of the weapons. This
is, indeed, made necessary, since speech is not allowed,
except by special permission of the priests. The refer-
ence to the slowness with which the Germans convene
or transact business is taken from the reference to
Ariovistus, who was not in any hurry to continue
battle, because their women had told them that it would
not be propitious if begun before the full moon.^
Thus the whole account of the German council is
based on the hodge-podge method of quoting from
Caesar.
Chapter XII is a continuation of the same hodge-
podge. We are told here that in the councils they
choose the chiefs, who speak the law in the districts
and villages. This is precisely what we were told of
the Germans by Caesar, only that the forger did not
notice that it was the chief magistrates who are chosen
at the council, and not the chiefs, who in peace time
pronounce judgment.
Tadtus. Caesar.
Eliguntur in iisdem Cum bellum civitas aut illatum defendit aut
conciliis et principes, infert, magistratus, qui ei bello praesint, ut
qui iura per pagos vicos- vitae necisque habeant potestatem, deliguntur.
que reddunt. In pace nullus est communis magistratus, sed
principes regionum atque pagorum inter suos
lus dicunt controversiasque minuunt, VI. 23.
»VI. 16.
•L60.
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS 287
We are told that the chiefs are accompanied by
hundreds from the plebs, to add counsel and authority.
That is precisely what we are told in Caesar of the
Gaulish equites.
Tacitus. Caesar.
Centeni singulis ex Alterum genus est equitum. Hi, cum est
plebe comites, consilium usus atque aliquod bellum incidit (quod fere
simul et auctoritas, as- ante Caesaris adventum quotannis accidere
sunt. solebat, uti aut ipsi iniurias inferrent aut illatas
propulsarent), omnes in bello versantur, atque
eorum ut quisque est genere copiisque amplis-
simus, ita plurimos circum se ambactos clientes-
que habet. Hanc unam gratiam potentiamque
noverunt, VI. 15.
The forger says that accusations leading to capital
punishment were preferred at the council, and that
various punishments were inflicted: traitors were
hanged, cowards were drowned in swamps, and lighter
offences were punished by weregeld, of which part was
paid to the king or state, and part to the person
offended or his family. In the hit or miss process of
establishing ancient customs, the forger may have
guessed something correctly. There would be nothing
strange in hanging traitors and drowning cowards,
since these are fairly universal customs, and certainly
weregeld is recorded in the later Germanic laws. But
I have already shown that the composition for crimes
and the payment to the king or state arose after the
third century from Roman laws,^ and even the com-
position in horses, instead of money, is amply accounted
for by the fredum, which is of the same Roman origin;
hence it is totally impossible for Tacitus to have even
distantly represented the condition of German law in
his time. The statement about the fine which is
1 Commentary to the Germanic Laws and Mediaeval Documents, p. 142 flf.
On p. 157 I cautiously adduced Tacitus as a proof that the blood feud may-
have existed in his time among the Germans. Now that the Germania
appears as a downright forgery, my discussion of fredum, faida gains
enormously in cogency.
288 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
divided between the state and the offended party can
only be based on conditions existing in the sixth and
later centuries.
After speaking of the fines, the forger actually quotes
Caesar as regards the duties of the principes.
Tacitus. Caesar.
Eliguntur in iisdem conciliis et Principes regionum atque pago-
principes, qui iura per pagos vicos- rum inter suos ius dicunt contro-
que reddunt. versiasque minuunt, VI. 23.
This time the reference is to a real German custom,
but, alas, the election of the chief in a council is ob-
viously borrowed from the Druids, who alone are
represented by Caesar as deciding in council matters
of public importance.
In chapter XIII we have the watered stock of Caesar's
account about the treatment of the children of the
Gauls. Caesar says that the Gauls differ from all
others, in that they do not allow the children to come
into their presence until they have become old enough
to bear arms, and that it is considered disgraceful to
allow the boys to appear in public with their fathers.^
We have already heard that it is only the equites^
that is, the men in arms, who appear at the councils.
This led the forger to say: **A German transacts no
business, public or private, without being completely
armed. The right of carrying arms is assumed by no
person whatever, till the state has declared him duly
qualified. The young candidate is introduced before
the assembly, where one of the chiefs, or his father,
or some near relation, provides him with a shield and
javelin. This, with them, is the manly gown: the
youth from the moment ranks as a citizen: till then
he was considered as part of the household; he is now
a member of the commonwealth."
« VI. 18.
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS 289
Similarly, the statement in Caesar that the glory of
an eques consists in having as many followers about
him as possible,^ only produces the obvious plagiarism:
"The chief judges the pretensions of all, and assigns
to each man his proper station. A spirit of emulation
prevails among his whole train, all struggling to be
the first in favour, while the chief places all his glory
in the number and intrepidity of his companions. In
that consists his dignity; to be surrounded by a band
of young men is the source of his power; in peace,
his brightest ornament; in war, his strongest bulwark.'*
More than that. It gives the forger a chance to ex-
patiate on the young men, who form the comitatus of
the princes: "In honour of illustrious birth, and to
mark the sense men entertain of the father's merit,
the son, though yet of tender years, is called to the
dignity of a prince or chief. Such as are grown up
to manhood, and have signalized themselves by a
spirit of enterprise, have always a number of retainers
in their train. Where merit is conspicuous, no man
blushes to be seen in the list of followers, or compan-
ions." What is much worse — the sentence, **ut munus
militiae sustinere possint," in the description of the
boys who are admitted into their fathers' presence,^
was understood by the stupid forger to mean "when
the time has come for them to receive the gifts con-
nected with military service," and has produced the
following: "Nor is his fame confined to his own
country; it extends to foreign nations, and is then of
the first importance, if he surpasses his rivals in the
number and courage of his followers. He receives
presents from all parts; ambassadors are sent to him;
and his name alone is often sujB&cient to decide the
issue of a war.**
» VI. 16.
» VI. 18.
290 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Nor is the forger satisfied with this expansion.
He remembers a particular case of the comitatus in
Caesar, about the Gaulish devoti, called soldurii, who
enjoy the same advantages in life as those to whose
friendship they have devoted themselves, and who
commit suicide if their chief is killed.^ This, con-
nected with the statement of Caesar that the Ger-
mans do not busy themselves with agriculture,^ pro-
duces the whole of chapter XIV in the Ger mania: "In
the field of action, it is disgraceful to the prince to be
surpassed in valour by his companions; and not to
vie with him in martial deeds is equally a reproach
to his followers. If he dies in the field, he who sur-
vives him survives to live in infamy. All are bound
to defend their leader, to succour him in the heat of
action, and to make even their own actions subser-
vient to his renown. This is the bond of union, the
most sacred obligation. The chief fights for victory;
the followers for their chief. If, in the course of a
long peace, the people relax into sloth and indolence,
it often happens that the young nobles seek a more
active life in the service of other states engaged in war.
The German mind cannot brook repose. The field of
danger is the field of glory. Without violence and rapine
a train of dependants cannot be maintained. The
chief must show his liberality, and the follower expects
it. He demands at one time this warlike horse, at an-
other, that victorious lance imbrued with the blood of
the enemy. The prince's table, however inelegant, must
always be plentiful: it is the only pay of his followers.
War and depredation are the ways and means of the
chieftain. To cultivate the earth, and wait the regular
produce of the seasons, is not the maxim of a German :
you will more easily persuade him to attack the enemy,
» III. 22.
« VI. 22.
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS 291
and provoke honourable wounds in the field of battle.
In a word, to earn by the sweat of your brow, what
you might gain by the price of your blood, is, in the
opinion of a German, a sluggish principle, unworthy
of a soldier."
With a little patience one may find the origin of all
the romantic account of the Germans in Caesar's
De hello gallico. I have shown enough to prove that
the forger combined rascality with a ready wit and a
certain amount of linguistic stupidity in his retelling
of Caesar. I shall now proceed to investigate those J
parts which show unmistakable Arabic influence, thus
definitely locating the forgery after 711.
Caesar tells of the ox that resembles a stag, but
has only one horn in the middle, with spreading bran-
ches. The male and the female have the same nature,
both having the same sized horn. There are also those
which are called elks.^ It must be noticed that the
last sentence has nothing whatsoever to do with the
unicorn, for it is the beginning of the account of the
elks. But the forger included it in the account of the
ox, which he transmogrified so completely that it
would have remained totally unrecognized as a plag-
iarism, if it were not for this last sentence, and the
localization of the account in the Germania among the
Naharvali.
** Among the Naharvali there is shown a grove
famous for its religious rites. The priest appears in
a female dress. They worship as gods those who by
the Romans are called Castor and Pollux. Such is the
meaning of the divinity — its name being Aids. There
are, indeed, no idols in their country, no traces of
' "Est bos cervi figura, cuius a media fronte inter aiu-es unum cornu
exsistit excelsius magisque directum his, quae nobis nota sunt, cornibus;
ab eius summo sicut palmae ramique late diflfunduntur. Eadem est feminae
marisque natura, eadem forma magnitudoque comuum. Sunt item, quae
appellantur alces," VI. 26 f.
292 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
foreign superstition, but they are venerated as brothers,
as youths. '"^
In Sanskrit we have the name of the rhinoceros as
khadga, khadgin, and of the female rhinoceros, khadga-
dhenu, "the sword, horn of the rhinoceros." Of the
Indian origin of this word there cannot be any doubt,
because kad, kat, khat, khad are fundamental roots,
which mean "to cut, sharp," in the Dravidian, as well
as in the Semitic languages, and many Sanskrit words
are derived, apparently through the Dravidian, from
this family. When and how this Sanskrit word for
"rhinoceros" first entered the languages of the West
would demand a special investigation, but it is certain
that Aelian already knew it, for he not only describes
the rhinoceros as an Indian animal, but also gives it
an Indian name.
"They say that there are mountains in the interior
of India, which are inaccessible to man and abounding
in animals, which are domesticated with us, but there
are in a wild state. . . . The historians and the
wise men of the Indians, including the Brahmans,
who agree on this point, say that there is an innumerable
number of these beasts. Among these animals is the
Monokeron, which by them is called Kartazonon, which
is of the size of a full grown horse, and has a mane and
yellow hair, excels in swiftness of foot, and, like an
elephant, has undivided hoofs and has the tail of a
boar. It has between the eyes one black horn, which
ends in a sharp spear point. I understand it makes a
most peculiar sound, and that it is meek towards
other animals which approach it, but fights its own
kind. And not only do they fight with the males, but
^ "Apud Nahanarvalos antiquae religionis lucus ostenditur. praesidet
sacerdos muliebri ornatu; sed deos interpretatione Romaiia Castorem Pollu-
cemque memorant. ea vis numini: nomen Alcis. nulla simulacra, nullum
peregrinae superstitionis vestigium, ut fratres tamen, ut iuvenes venerantur,"
XLIII.
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS 293
also with the females, whom they fight to a finish,
for they are powerful in body and are provided with
an invincible horn. It roams through the deserts, and
stays solitary. In breeding time it becomes tame
towards its mate, but when the mate has conceived, it
again begins to roam by itself."^
Even though Ctesias and Aristotle knew the animal
long before Aelian, there can be no doubt that Aelian's
description, which is fairly correct for that of the
rhinoceros, is taken from an Indian account, nor could
it well be otherwise, since the one-horned rhinoceros
is not found outside of India and the islands to the
south. Indeed, the reference to the solitary habit of
the rhinoceros is expressed in Sanskrit, where it is also
called eka-cara "wandering or living alone." Near
approaches to the Sanskrit form are found in Coptic
Xarkinos, apparently through a Greek form, as the
ending would indicate. We already find the Sanskrit
name in Assyrian inscriptions, where it is given as
kurkizannu, that bears a remarkable resemblance to
xapTa^tov of Aelian, and khadga-dhenu of the Indians.
From the Assyrian it passed into the other Semitic
languages. We have Arab. d->^J^ karkadan and -^J^
karkand. But xapza^wv, or xapxa^cbu, or a form nearer
to the Sanskrit word, has produced a large variety of
forms of which the last letter is s, or a sound like it.
We have in the Talmud ^2P.. 9^^^^» ^^ Arabic j^,j>- i^anl,
Aethiopic haris "the one-horned animal," usually "the
rhinoceros,"
The Pers. karg, kargadan show their Sanskrit origin
clearly, and are, no doubt, the forms from which the
Arab, karkadan was formed. But there is also a form
arj, which is close enough to Arab. (^.^ harU, and
1 XVI. 20.
294 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
which is represented in the Bundehesh by the forms
ariz, arez. But this refers only to the large one-horned
fish, kar, wherefore it is called mdhl{k)arez, literally
"water-unicorn," or kar-mdhlik) "the kar-fish," which
is considered to be the chief of all fish. It is this
Middle-Persian word which has enriched the Arabic
with two more unicorn words, namely, tr^y-^' marmls,
and a-^y harmls. There is also recorded in Arabic a
form ^\y> mira^^ "a one-horned hare."
That the latter Arabic words in the eighth century
were applied to a sea-monster, even as in the Bun-
dehesh, is proved by the legend of the unicorn of the
Merovingians. In Fredegar's Chronicle there is an
account which explains the origin of the Merovingians
from Meroveus or Meroheus, who was conceived by
his mother from a sea-monster.^ This mythical origin
of the Merovingians has puzzled historians very much.
It is obvious that the etymology of Meroveus, Meroheus
must have been suggested by something connected
with the searmonster, a beast resembling a centaur, or
something like it. We have in Fredegar's Chronicle
also the account of a dream of Childeric's wife, Basina.
On the first night after the marriage, Basina, before
allowing Childeric to stay with her, sent him out to
see what was taking place before the palace. At first
he saw a vision of a lion, a unicorn, and a leopard.
Then, imitating Daniel's vision, he saw other beasts.
The conclusion was that a son would be born to them,
1 S. Bochart, Hierozoicon, Francofurti ad Moenum 1675, col. 941.
* "Fertur, super litore maris aestatis tempore Chlodeo cum uxore resedens,
meridiae uxor ad mare labandum vadens, bistea Neptuni Quinotauri
similis earn adpetisset. Cumque in continue aut a bistea aut a viro fuisset
concepta, peperit filium nomen Meroveum, per co regis Francorum post
vocantur Merohingii," III. 9, MGH., Scrip, rer. merov., vol. II, p. 95.
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS 295
who would be like a lion, and his sons would be as
strong as a leopard and a unicorn.^
The same story is told by Hunibald, who, however,
puts more emphasis on the rhinoceros, that is, the
unicorn,^ which is mentioned as a generous beast. It
is, therefore, clear that the first race of the Merovin-
gians was related to the unicorn, and the name of
Meroveus is in Fredegar to be derived from that mons-
ter of the sea that begat him from the wife of the king
of the Franks.
If we now turn to the Germania, we find the unicorn
of Caesar's account turned into a nation, the Nahar-
vali. We see at a glance that Narharvalus is nothing
but the Narwhale, the sea-unicorn of the Germanic lan-
guages. The mdhl-arez or mdhl-arig, which in Fredegar
was used to explain the etymology of Meroeus, here
turns up in the form of naharvalus. The etymology
of narwhale has always been a puzzle, but it is obviously
a corruption maharvaeus, or some such form, caused by
the assumption that the last part is valus, the wal,
* "Cum prima nocte iugiter stratu iuncxissent, dicit ad eum mulier:
'Ac nocte a coitu virile abstenebimus. Surge secrecius, et quod videris ante
aulas palaciae dicis ancillae tuae.' Cumque surrexisset, vidit similitudinem
bisteis leonis, unicornis et leupardi ambolantibus. Reversusque, dixit
muliere que viderat. Dicit ad eum mulier: 'Domini mi, vade dinuo, et
quod videris narra ancillae tuae.* Ille vero cum foris adisset, vidit bysteas
similitudinem ursis et lupis deambulantibus. Narrans et haec mulieri,
conpellit eum tercio, ut iret et quod videbat nunciaret. Cumque tercio
exisset, vidit bisteas minores similitudinem canis et minoribus bistiis ab
invincem detrahentes et volutantes. Cumque Basinae haec universa narras-
set, abstinentes se caste usque in crastinum, surgentes de stratu, dixit Basina
ad Childericum: 'Que visibiliter vidisti viritate subsistunt. Haec interpre-
tationem habent: Nascitur nobis filius fortitudinem leonis signum et instar
tenens; filii viro eius leupardis et unicornis fortitudine signum tenent.
Deinde generantur ex illis qui ursis et lupis fortitudinem et voracitatem eorum
similabunt. Tercio que vidisti ad discessum columpna regni huius erunt,
que regnaverint ad instar canibus et minoribus bisteis; eorum consimilis
erit fortitudo. Pluretas autem minoribus bisteis, que ab invicem detrahentes
volutabant, populos sine timore principum ab invicem vastantur,' " II.
12, ibid., p. 97.
* Trithemius, Opera historica, p. 38 f.
296 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
walr of OH German, Jl bdl of the Arabs, which means
"whale," and is derived from LLat. halaena, halaera
of the vocabularies.
The forger, mindful of the two putative parents of
Meroveus, the king and the sea-monster, as told by
Fredegar, created two gods for the Naharvali, whom
he denominated Castor and Pollux. Caesar says that
the nature of the male and female is the same. This
led the forger to cause the priest to wear a woman's
garments. ^' Bos cervi figura" apparently suggested
to the forger sacerdos, which explains the transform-
ation from the unicorn to the priest. What really,
more than anything else, caused the forger to change
the unicorn into Castor and Pollux, is the fact that
these were frequently represented with radiating stars
above their heads, and Caesar speaks of the radiating
shape of the unicorn's horns.
The borrowing of the story in the Germania from
Caesar is so obvious, as not to need even the forger's
slip, Naharvali "the unicorns," in order to prove it.
But the forger was such a fool or such a scoundrel that
he gave himself away in still another way. He took
Caesar's "sunt item, quae appellantur alces'' to be a
continuation of the story about the narwhale or unicorn,
and went on to say that the name of the divinity was
aids, "ea vis numini, nomen aids.'* Stupidity, it
would seem, could go no further, but the forger man-
aged to perpetrate still another unspeakable insipidity.
The rest of the story about the elk, namely, that it
has no joints and cannot lie down and cannot get up
if it does fall down, found its way into the Germania.
Of course, it is now fairly well accepted that this story
of the jointless elk, like that of the unicorn, is an inter-
polation in Caesar.^ This only makes the case worse,
' W. W. Hyde, The Curious Animals of the Hercynian Forest, in The Classi'
eal Journal, vol. XIII, p. 231 ff.
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS 297
because, if it is an interpolation in Caesar, it must
have come considerably later than the time of Tacitus.
And yet, Tacitus not only has made use of this joint-
less elk, but in the chapter in which he refers to the
great author, the divine Caesar,^ he discussed the
Hercynian forest, which is intimately connected in
Caesar with the story of the unicorn and the jointless
elk.
The jointless elk, like the unicorn, is transformed
into a Germanic tribe. "The Semnones are ambitious
to be thought the most ancient and respectable of the
Suevian nation. Their claim they think confirmed by
the mysteries of religion. On a stated day a procession
is made into a wood consecrated in ancient times, and
rendered awful by auguries delivered down from age
to age. The several tribes of the same descent appear
by their deputies. The rites begin with the slaughter
of a man, who is offered as a victim, and thus their
barbarous worship is celebrated by an act of horror.
The grove is beheld with superstitious terror. No
man enters that holy sanctuary without being bound
with a chain, thereby denoting his humble sense of
his own condition, and the superior attributes of the
deity that fills the place. Should he happen to fall, he
does not presume to rise, but in that grovelling state
makes his way out of the wood."^ Just as the elk
cannot lie down, or get up, if he has fallen down, so
the Semnones have their legs tied, and, if they fall
down, are not allowed to get up.
Immediately after this we are told of the Reudigni
and other Suebian tribes, that they worship Nerthus,
that is, Mother Earth, "whom they consider as the
common mother of all. This divinity, according to
their notion, interposes in human affairs, and, at times,
» XXVIII.
« Chapter XXXIX.
298 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
visits the several nations of the globe. A sacred grove
on an island in the Northern Ocean is dedicated to her.
There stands her sacred chariot, covered with a vest-
ment, to be touched by the priest only. When she
takes her seat in this holy vehicle, he becomes im-
mediately conscious of her presence, and in his fit of
enthusiasm pursues her progress. The chariot is drawn
by cows yoked together. A general festival takes place,
and public rejoicings are heard, wherever the goddess
directs her way. No war is thought of; arms are
laid aside, and the sword is sheathed. The sweets of
peace are known, and then only relished. At length
the same priest declares the goddess satisfied with
her visitation, and re-conducts her to her sanctuary.
The chariot with the sacred mantle, and, if we may
believe report, the goddess herself, are purified in a
secret lake. In this ablution certain slaves officiate,
and instantly perish in the water. Hence the terrors
of superstition are more widely diffused; a religious
horror seizes every mind, and all are content in pious
ignorance to venerate that awful mystery, which no
man can see and live. This part of the Suevian nation
stretches away to the most remote and unknown
recesses of Germany."^
We have already found Aretia "Earth" in Pseudo-
Berosus. It is obvious that this Aretia is no other than
our Nerthus, Herthus, and it is also clear that the
description of the worship of Nerthus is identical with
that of Cybele in Ovid's Fasti, IV. 291 ff. and in other
places.^ The agreement is perfect. We have the same
story of the washing of the chariot, which is drawn
by cows, the sacred mantle, the gorgeously attired
priest, the mysteries, the festivities, the officiating of
freedmen. The only addition in the Germania is the
1 Chapter XL.
'^ See Roscher's Ausfiihrliches Lexikon der griechischen und romischen
Mytkologie, sub Kybele (romischer Kultus).
THE GERMANIA OF TACITUS 299
drowning of the slaves in the lake, which is evidently
an elaboration of the emasculation, or, possibly,
the taurobolium, with which the worship of Cybele
was connected. But the form Herthus, Nerthus,
which we find in the Germania, is, no doubt, due to
the confusion of Aretia with Aretium, of which it is
an etymon in Pseudo-Berosus. In any case it is a
Semitic word, which entered the Germanic languages
only in the eighth century.
The utter worthlessness of the Germania is patent,
beyond any possibility of defence. Only the mentally
blind will defend it, even as the nineteenth century
forgeries, such as the notorious Koeninginhof
Manuscript, still find advocates. It is sad to con-
template that Germanic history and allied subjects
are based on the Germania and the Getica, two monu-
ments of conscious fraud and unconscious stupidity,
the result of the first fiower of Arabic romance, which
led to The Thousand and One Nights. One may as well
reconstruct history from this latter work, as draw
any historical conclusions whatsoever from the Ger-
mania and the Getica.
PSEUDO-VENANTIUS.
I.
In the present article, we shall undertake a historio-
logical study of four musical terms, leudus, harpa,
rotta, crotta, first found in writings attributed to Ven-
antius Fortunatus.
1. Preface to Venantius' Poems:
Quid inter haec extensa viatica consulte dici potuerit,
censor ipse mensura, ubi me non urguebat vel metus
ex iudice vel probabat usus ex lege nee invitabat
favor ex comite nee emendabat lector ex arte, ubi
mihi tantundem valebat raucum gemere quod cantare
apud quos nihil disparat aut stridor anseris aut canor
oloris, sola saepe bombicans barbaros leudos arpa
relidens; ut inter illos egomet non musicus poeta, sed
muricus deroso flore carminis poema non canerem, sed
garrirem, quo residentes auditores inter acernea pocula
salute bibentes insana Baccho iudice debaccharent.^
2. Epistle to Count Lupus (traditional date, 573-4) :
Sed pro me reliqui laudes iibi reddere certent,
Et qua quisque valet te prece voce sonet,
Romanusque lyra, plaudat tibi barbarus harpa,
Griaecus Achilliaca, crotta Britanna canat.
lUi te fortem referant, hi iure potentem,
lUe armis agilem praedicet, iste libris.
Et quia rite regis quod pax et bella requirunt,
ludicis ille decus concinat, iste ducis.
Nos tibi versiculos, dent barbara carmina leudos:
Sic variante tropo laus sonet una viro.
Hi celebrem memorent, illi te lege sagacem:
Ast ego te dulcem semper habebo, Lupe.^
^ F. Leo, Venanti Honori Clementiani Fortunati opera poetica, in MGH.,
Auctor. antiq., vol. IV, p. 2.
'Ibid., p. 162 f.
PSEUDO-VENANTIUS 301
Our study will show that the senses retained by these
words, through their descendants in the Celtic and
Germanic languages — Irish emit, Eng. harp, Ger.
Lied, etc. — were not original, but were developed
during the eighth century and after, as a result of the
Arabico-Gothic or Carolingian revival of learning.
Leo has shown that all manuscripts of Venantius,
exclusive of the St. Germain Codex 2", with which we
are not concerned, since it has not the texts under dis-
cussion, have descended from a corrupt archetype,
preserved in the middle of the VIII. century.^ Now in
two manuscripts of the ninth century we have the
following poem in tirade rhyme:
Felicis patriae (nostrae) praeconanda fertilitas.
In qua Christi mandatorum declaratur prof unditas.
Quae nee poterit absque gloria esse civitas,
In qua sensum sapientum veneratur subUmitas,
Per quos praesentis temporis calcatur cupiditas
Et peritura huius vitae evitatur vanitas.
Ac in tabulis scriptitatur cordis vera caritas
Atque valde stabilitur futurae vitae aetemitas.
Per Moysen latorem legis — sic refert antiquitas —
Populo praecepit deus: cum terrae vobis repro-
missae venerit hereditas,
Mensae vestrae peregrini comedent dilicias,
Ut vobis semper ministretur datae terrae bonitas.
Per lesum Christum confirmatur, qui est vita et
Veritas,
Peregrinorum quanta sit susceptionis qualitas
Et metendi huius fructus caelestis summa dignitas.
Hyronimo Bethlem recepto ecclesiae crevit sano-
titas.
» Ibid., p. XV.
302 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Et Martino Armorigo refulsit magna claritas,
Cuius vita et virtute Toronus multas epulas
Mendici ac flebiles dirimunt per plateas.
Et Fortunate ab Ravenna Pictonum floret civitas.^
W. Meyer, the latest authority on the text of Ven-
antius, holds that this eulogy on the poet, composed,
according to his first theory, "in early Carolingian, or
even in Merovingian times,"^ or, to take his later view,
"in Poitiers, shortly after Fortunatus' death, "^ was
inserted in the first complete copy of Venantius' works.
The conscious use of tirade rhyme, as Professor Wiener
has shown, was a peculiarity of Arabic poetry, and
spread through Europe from Spain, as a result of the
Arabico- Gothic renaissance.^ We must conclude, there-
fore, that both the author of the eulogy and the com-
piler of the archetype were of the Arabico- Gothic
school. Tampering with texts and documents, even
to the extent of the most impudent forgery, was one
of the many accomplishments of this same school.^
The acknowledged spuriousness of the Laudatio S.
Mariae, and of a number of the hymns attributed to
Venantius, shows that forgeries were committed in
his name.^ We may, then, infer that the Arabico-
Gothic editor or editors of Venantius in the eighth
century were not too scrupulous in their publication,
under his name, of other matter than the ipsissima
verba of the poet himself.
So far, then, the logic of our investigations leads us
to seek, not a Franco-Latin, but a Spanish-Latin
origin for our musical terms. We shall discover that
' W. Meyer, Ein Merowinger Rhythmus fiber Fortunat und altdeutsehe
Rhythmik in lateinischen Versen, in Gdttingisehe Naehrichten, 1908, pp. 32-3.
2 Ibid,, p. 33.
' W. Meyer, Vber die Handschriften der Gedichte Fortunais, ibid., p. 87.
* L. Wiener, Contributions toward a History of Arabico-Gothie Culture,
vol. I, pp. 42-4, 49.
»/6tU, pp. XXXIV, 119, 120, 125, 178, 188; cf. p. 47-8, vol. II, The
Letter to the Goths, passim.
• F. Leo, op. cit., pp. 371-86.
PSEUDO-VENANTIUS 303
they possess a diagnostic significance for the genuine-
ness of the lines in which they are found.
II. Leudus.
In the Mozarabic Ritual, the word lauda is used
consistently as a rubric, to introduce a hymn of praise.
This liturgical sense survives in the Gothic words,
liuthon "to sing praises," liuthareis "temple-singer,"
(Ezra, II. 41, Nehemiah, VII. 1.)^ There is also in
Gothic awiliud "thanksgiving, eucharistia." This,
however, as Professor Wiener has shown, is either the
Arab. oUji 'awlaydt of the Mozarabs, or a blend,
eulogia x ohlata} Etymologically, awiliud, and the
verb formed from it, awiliudon, are unrelated to
liuthon, liuthareis, both of which have the special
connotation of ritual singing. That is to say, Goth.
liuthon, liuthareis are, like OSpan. laude "song,"
Latin loan-words, to be traced to the rubric lauda of the
Mozarabic Ritual.^ In Gothic, the form of the word
has been assimilated to that of the more common
awiliud, awiliudon. The original meaning has been
extended by a natural process of semantic change, to
take on the inclusive sense of "sing." Yet the con-
nection of the word with the Mozarabic Ritual rubric
was still clear in the mind of the scribe of Codex F of
Venantius, so that he emended leudos to laudes.
The Codex G of Venantius, moreover, has leudos
glossed by winileodos. This gloss is unquestionably
taken from Charlemagne's Edict of March 23, 789:
"Et ut nulla abbatissa .... winileodos {winileudos.
* LXX, idorrts, Vulg., cantores.
^Ov- ciL, p. 211-12.
' Codex Ambros. C. 301 (VIII. cent., Ed. G. Ascoli; ATchivio glottologico
italiano, vol. V, p. 349) has on Ps. LXVIII. 30 "ut omnia in ludes eius
magna dicantur."
304 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
venileudus) scribere aut mittere praesumat . ' ' ^ We have,
then, in the Edict, the earliest exactly datable refer-
ence to the currency of leodus (OHG. leod, in the
Keronian Glosses) as a Germanic word. What these
winileodos were, beyond the fact that they were a kind
of secular poetry which the nuns were forbidden to
write or exchange, we do not know. Nevertheless,
the variant reading venileudus, together with the emen-
dation in Codex F of Venantius, leudos to laudes,
suggests that vini laudes "praises of wine," is the real
meaning of the word.
III. Harpa.
The word harpa (OHG. harpha) is not found at all
in Gothic, nor is it in the Keronian, the oldest of the
OH German glosses. By a study of the Latin and
Germanic glosses to the works of Prudentius, however,
its history and semantic evolution may be traced.
Let us, then, set down in order all the Prudentius-
glosses in which the word is found, together with the
lemmata, and the Latin glosses from which the Ger-
manic are derived :
1. Cathemerinon, IX. 1:
Da, puer, plectrum.
OHG. SS.,'* II, 488: plectrum harfa.
2. Peristephanon, II. 399:
Ultro e catasta iudicem compellat affatu brevi.
MS.I: e catasta=e craticula qui in catasta erat.
OHG. SS., II, 434: catasta i. genus poene harapha
I ritipoume screiatun.
» MGH., Leges, Sect. II, vol. I, p. 63.
• SS. = E. Steinmeyer and E. Sievera, Die althochdeutgche Glossen.
PSEUDO-VENANTIUS 305
3. Peristephanon, X. 467:
Emitto vocem de catasta celsior.
OHG. SS., II, 389: catasta harfa
II, 394: catasta .i. harpha
II, 492: catasta harfa
II, 563: catasta hbrphb (harpha)
II, 581 : catasta harpon
4. Apotheosis, 148:
Organa, sambucas, citharas, calamosque, tubasque.
OHG. SS., II, 482: sambucas harephan.
5. Apotheosis, 388:
Quidquid casta chelys, quidquid testudo resultat.
MS. I: chelys = cithara, musa. chelae, id est, brachia
vel cithara magna in caelo.
testudo = musa, vel cythara magna in caelo.
OHG. SS., II, 408: chelis .i. musa I harpha
II, 485: chelys harepha
II, 513: chelis hbrphb (harpha)
II, 526: chelys hbrbphb (harapha)
II, 537: gelis harpha I misa I citara
II, 565: chelys harfa harfb
II, 542: testudo haraffa.
The senses assigned to OHG. harpha are "plectrum,
rack, torture, stringed instrument (chelys, cithara,
sambuca, testudo).'' To these we must add Span.,
Prov. arpa "claw, talon," Span., Prov., Ital. arpa
"harp," The task before us is to reconcile these
differences in meaning.
Our starting point is with a Semitic word. We have
in Assyrian harbu "lance, javelin," Heb. ^^.H h^reb
"sword," Arab. \j>- harbah "dart, javelin."^ This
word has passed as a loan-word into Greek, Sipni^
"sickle, scimetar, javelin, goad," which, in turn, has
gone into Latin, as we learn from Servius: "Falcatus
*■ This Arab. *»^ l^arbah has given Fr. harpon, Eng. harpoon.
306 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
autem ensis est harpe, qua usus est Perseus. Lucanus
ait (IX. 603): 'harpen alterius monstri iam caede
rubentem*".^ That the semantic changes afifecting
derivatives of ^/>7r3y, harpa in the Romance and Ger-
manic languages were the product of the glossographer's
studies in synonymology, in and after the eighth
century, is quite clear in the case of the OHG. gloss
plectrum harfa. We have in Latin the glosses
CGL.,'* V, 321, 30: plextrum astella unde cy there
modulantur,
IV, 552, 49: plectrum astella unde cythara
modolatur uel quo corde tan-
guntur.
Since the synonym hastella : S-pnt) already existed, it was
an easy advance in synonymology for harpa, OHG. harfa,
to assume the sense of ** plectrum," in accordance with
the definition in the foregoing glosses. The other mean-
ings of the word, namely, "rack, torture, stringed
instruments," have come about by synonymological
association of harpa, OHG. harfa, with the glosses to
fldicula.
Prudentius uses this word "fidicula" in the sense
of a kind of torture, in Peristephanon, X. 481: "Nee
distat ignis et fidiculae saeviant." Isidore thus
expounds its meaning and etymology: "Ungulae
dictae quod effodiant. Haec et fidiculae, quia his rei
in eouleo torquentur, ut fides inveniatur."^ From
Isidore's explanation have come the following glosses:
CGL., II, 384, 34: ovy/ec ol e/c rac ^aadvouc, fidiculae.
II, 256, 10: ^affdvou y^voi: fidicula.
V, 23, 15: fediculae sunt ungulae quibus tor-
quentur in eculeo ad persas.
For our purpose, however, the most important gloss
is that of Iso on the above line of the Peristephanon:
^ Servius, on Aeineid, VII. 732, "falcati cominus enses."
* CGL. = Corpus glossariorum latiiwrum, ed. G. Goetz.
» Etymologiae, V. 27. 20.
PSEUDO-VENANTIUS 807
"Fidiculae = funes ad flagellandum, quamvis fiidicula a
fidibus dicatur, in hoc tamen loco significat ungulas, vel
genus tormenti, quo rei in eculeo suspensi torquentur,
ut fides et Veritas inveniatur. fidicula genus tormenti,
vel ferri subtilissimi, quo incidebantur martyres." From
this in turn have come:
CGL., V, 456, 53: fidicula genus tormentorum sic
profetontide lamminea.^
Prudentius-gloss : fidiculae ungulae quibus torquentor
martyres in eculeo.^
OHG. SS., II, 509: fidiculae geiselun.
II, 536: fidicule genus ferri subtilissimi quo
incidebantur martyres .i. geiselun.
Now S.pTcrj, harpa, already meant "scimetar," LLat.
harpa "weeding-hook," whence expansion of meaning
to signify any sharp or pointed and curved weapon or
tool was quite natural. The ungula, that is, the fidicula,
was a sharp-pointed iron hook or claw, the Gr. ovu^,
of the gloss ouwj^ei: ol c/c 7«c ^aadpou^ fidiculae. It is men-
tioned in the Greek Acts of St. Menas: '' Kai rip ^oXcp
fxeriiopov yevea'&cu napaaxeudcrac^y ixiXeue acdrjpoi<^ ovu^t to ato/aa
dcaanapdTzta^at'' } In this way Span., Prov. arpa comes
to mean "claw." For OHGerman, however, the de-
velopment must be traced through the intermediary
stage of the ca^as^a-glosses. These are as follows:
1. Prudentius, Peristephanon, I. 56:
Post catastas igneas.
MS. I: Catastas = genus tormenti, id est, lecti ferrei,
quibus impositi martyres, ignis
supponebatur.
OHG. SS., II, 535: catasta genus tormenti .i. ritebouma.
1 The corrupt "profetontide lamminea" stands for rpo<prrrwv taedae,
lammina, a reminiscence of Lucretius, III. 1030: "Verbera, camifices,
robur, pix, lammina, taedae."
* J. M. Bumam, Glossemata de Prudentio, in University of Cincinnati
Studies, Series II, vol. I, no. 4, p. 97.
' Analecta Bollandiana, vol. Ill, p. 264.
308 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
2. Prudentius, Peristephanon, VI. 33:
Fratres tergeminos tremunt catastae.
Iso: catastae = eculei ardentes. lectus ferreus.
OHG. SS., II, 445: cataste eculei ardentes I genus
tormenti I screiata.
3. Prudentius, Peristephanon, X. 467:
Emitto vocem de catasta celsior.
OHG. SS., II, 594: catasta prennis.
We observe that to the glossographers catasta was
a word of not very distinct signification, applicable
to various kinds of torture, though properly meaning
the iron bed, or craticula, the griddle, on which the
victims were roasted to death over a slow fire. Iso's
eculei ardentes, distinguished from the torture of the
griddle, must be traced to a confusion between eculeus
"rack, or wooden horse," and aculeus "prickle," that
is, the ouu^ or ungula. That such confusion of the two
words existed is shown by ninth century versions of
the Martyrdom of St. George:
1. Codex Gallicanus: "Tunc iratus imperator
iussit eum in haeculeum adpendi et ungulis radi."^
2. Codex Sangallensis: "Et iussit rex ut Georgius
mitteretur in aculeo, ut ardeant latera eius."^
In these texts, however, the confusion is the opposite
of that in the glosses, since aculeus of the Sangallensis
stands for the haeculeus "rack" of the Gallicanus.
That catasta was supposed to refer to the torture by
hot iron hooks is still further shown by the gloss:
"catasta prennis" (that is, "burning iron"). Now,
' W. Arndt, in Berichte der Geselhchaft der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig,
1874, p. 50. This version is close to the original form of the Martyrdom of
St. George.
» Ibid., 1875, p. 267.
PSEUDO-VENANTIUS 309
harfa is equated with catasta in the following glosses:
SS., II, 389: catasta harfa
II, 394: catasta .i. harpha
II, 434: catasta i. genus poene harapha I ritipoume
screiatun
II, 492: catasta harfa
II, 563: catasta hbrphb (harpha)
II, 581 : catasta harpon.
Thus, through the catasta-glosses, as the meaning of
catasta became more generic, harpha was established
as a partial synonym of fidicula for the Germanic
glossography.
The final stage in the semantic evolution of harpa is
attained only when this word takes over all the senses
of fidicula. We are to note first the etymology of
Isidore: " Veteres autem citharam fidiculam vel fidicem
nominaverunt, quia tam concinunt inter se chordae
eius, quam bene conveniat inter quos fides sit."^ This
explanation was taken over almost verbatim by one
Latin glossographer, and recast by another:
CGL., V, 200, 17: fidibus cordis, fides autem dicte
quod fidem sibi servent, nee alterius
sonos imitentur.
To these we may add the following glosses:
CGL., II, 375, 63: veupa to. t^c xSdpa<: fides
III, 170,5: lira fidicula
IV, 76, 11: fidiculae corde cithare
IV, 238,52: fidicule corde.
The confusion of meanings of fidicula is shown by a
gloss to Prudentius, Peristephanon, X. 481, found in
the Valenciennes Codex 413, and independent of Iso's
gloss to the same lemma: "Fidiculae id est parve
cordae quibus martyr ligabatur."^ That the synony-
mological equation fidicula : harpa, in the sense of a
' Etymologiae, III. 22. 4.
* J. M. Bumam, Commentaire anonyme sur Prudence, Paris 1910, p. 213.
310 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
musical instrument, took place prior to the develop-
ment of the Germanic glosses, is proved by the fact
that we have Span., Prov., Ital. arpa, Fr. harpe "harp."
The word first appears in ASaxon in the Leiden
glossary: "fidicen harperi."^ In the OHG. Pruden-
tius-glosses, as we have seen, harfa is equated with
chelys, cithara, sambuca, testudo, to which we may add
the testimony of the Bible-glosses:
SS., I, 289: psalterium salmharfun
I, 635: psalteria salmhariphun salmharipha salm-
harpha salminherfa
I, 660: simphoniae harfpfa
IV, 98: sistrum salmharpha salmharphe salm
haerphe.
Yet, even in post- Car olingian times, harpa, harfa was
felt to be a new word, not sufficiently naturalized in
the Germanic languages to escape the Teutonic
passion for textual emendation. This is clear from
the readings of the manuscripts of Venantius, in the
passage under discussion:
harppa, P (9 cent.), harpa, D (9 cent.), L (8-9 cent),
g, m, harpha, B (10 cent.), f.
partha, G (9 cent.), pharpa, C (10 cent.), pharpha,
R, F (9 cent.)
pharphas, A (9 cent.)
Had harpa been a mere back-Latinization of a good
Germanic word, such variants could not have occurred.
They are not blunders, but the result of a conscious
effort to better the text, which, as Meyer has shown,
was one of the aims of the Carolingian scribes.^ We
may at least suspect that the reading pharphas {pharpha,
pharpa , partha) is an Arabico-Gothic gloss, c-^ bar-
* J. H. Hessels, A Late Eighth-Century Latin-Anglo-Saxon Glossary, Cam-
bridge 1906, xlvi, 9.
* Vber Handsehriften der Gedichte Fortunats, in Gottingische Nachrichten,
1908, p. 104.
PSEUDO-VENANTIUS 311
hut, itself a loan-word through the Persian, from the
Gr. ^dp^iToc "bass-lyre."
IV. ROTTA.
In the text of the Epistle to Lupus, the Codex F
has rotta, whereas the other manuscripts have variously
crotta (A, P, M, G, L, R), crottam (C), chrotta (B, D, g).
This word rotta is found in a letter of Cuthbert of
Northumbria to Lull of Mainz: ''Delectat me quoque
oitharistam habere, qui possit citharizare in cithara,
quam nos appellamus rottae; quia citharum habeo,
et artificem non habeo. "^ No trace of it, however,
is to be discovered in the ASaxon glosses. On the
other hand, we have OFr. rote and OSpan. rota as
names of stringed instruments, so that we are led to
seek the origin of the word in Spain.
From Al-Makkari, in The History of the Mohamme-
dan Dynasties of Spain, we have the following state-
ment: "Musical instruments of all sorts may at any
time be procured in Seville, where they are manufac-
tured with the greatest skill. There wilt thou find the
khiydl, the kerbehh, the 'otid, the rdtteh, the rab§,b,
etc."^ No such word as '*i»j rotteh is given in the
Arabic dictionaries, yet it is easily to be explained as a
loan-word, which had come into Spain with the Ori-
ental professional musicians of the court of the Arab
kings. We have in Persian, as names for these pro-
fessionals, rudgar "musician, maker of strings for musi-
cal instruments," rudzan "harper," rudsaz "musician."
There is also a word rud^amah "lute." The first part
of these compounds is seen in Pers. rud, rod "bowstring,
string of a musical instrument, vocal or instrumental
^ P. Jaff6, Monumenta Moguntina, Berolini 1866, p. 302.
* Vol. I, p. 58 f., translated by P. de Gayangos. Al-Makkari here quotes
from the RiscUeh of Ash-Shakandi (d. 1231-2).
312 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
music," ruda "gut, string," also in Pehlevi, rude, rotik
"gut." The reading rotta of Codex F, since it is so
close to Span, rota "stringed instrument," serves still
more to show that the text of Venantius has been
through an Arabico-Gothic recension.
Not before the tenth century is there any certain
evidence of the currency of rotta as a Germanic word.
The first writer to use it is Notker, who equates it
with psalmus, psalterium. On Psalm 80.3 he says:
"Daz saltirsanch helzet nti in dtitiscun rdtta, a sono
uocis, quod grammatici facticium uocant, ut titin-
nabulum, et cl6cca."^ That is to say, rotta was in
Notker's time established as a book-word. Later, in
the eleventh century, we have the glosses:
SS.,III,65: lirarodda
III, 140: cythareda roddari roddare rodtare roddar.
That we are dealing with a loan-word in Germanic
is further shown by the variations in orthography.
We have in OHGerman rodda, rotta, as we had also
OHG. harpon, harpha. Unlike harpa, however, this
rotta never established itself permanently in the Ger-
manic languages.
V. Crotta, chrotta.
There is no early evidence of the existence of such a
word as crotta, chrotta, independently of the lines in
the Epistle to Lupus, in which it is found. The word
survives in Irish cruit "harp," Welsh crwth, Eng.
crowd "fiddle." Since in the line of the Epistle the
text reads
Graecus achilliaca, crotta Britanna canat,
the Irish glossographers presumed that the word was
"Celtic," hence it passed into Olrish crott "harp,"
cruitte "harper," and Welsh crwth, the name of a
» Cf. Psalms, 56.9, 67.1, 91.2.
PSEUDO-VENANTIUS 313
bowed instrument. In Olrish it is found already in
the Wiirzburg Glosses, made about the year 800. The
fact that there were no bowed instruments in Europe
till they were introduced by the Arabs, excludes for
the Welsh crwth the possibility that name or thing is
Celtic.
In Germanic, this crotta-ioria is found only in a
gloss to Daniel, III. 5:
SS., I, 660: sambuce hruozza
1,801: sambuces hruozzun.
As to the origin of crotta^ and its relation to rotta,
we can only suggest that, if it be not a mere copy-
ist's blunder in the Carolingian archetype of Venan-
tius' works, which the scribe of F was clever enough
to emend to rotta, it is a blend of rotta x corda, due to
the influence of the fidicula-corda glosses. In either
case, it is a ghostword.
VI.
Our conclusion, from the history of the four
musical terms — or three, leudus, harpa, rotta, if we
exclude crotta — is that the Preface to Venantius*
poems is a forgery, and the two couplets in the Epistle
to Lupus are interpolations. The association of
rotta, crotta with Britain gives us a clew to the date
when the interpolations and the forgery were made.
Cuthbert, in his letter to Lull, says of the cithara,
"quam nos appellamus rottae,'^ whence the forger, who
must have known this letter, assumed that rotta was
the native name of the British national instrument.
Wherefore, he inserted the couplet
Romanusque lyra, plaudat tibi barbarus harpa,
Graecus achilliaca, rotta Britanna canat,
while he failed to observe the fact that the interpolated
couplet interrupts an otherwise well arranged group.
814 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Moreover, when he added the other spurious couplet,
he was oblivious of the fact that, whereas in the
Epistle the poet had used the first person singular,
he had yet written:
Nos tibi versiculos, dent barbara carmina leudos:
Sic variante tropo laus sonet una viro.
The last half of the elegiac line is taken bodily from
another poem by Venantius:
Diversis linguis laus sonat una viri (VI. 2.8).^
The words leudus, harpa, rotta were out of the way
terms, bookish and learned, none more so than the
achilliaca, the name of the supposed national instru-
ment of the Greeks. This is the achilliakon, mentioned
elsewhere only in a Greek alchemic document: *'iarc
yap TzXiv^iov to 8ca. raJv X^, Xopa fj did r<ov iuvia, d'^^dXeaxbv, to
dcd «a ."2 In the Preface, the forger copied himself, so
clearly is the phrase, sola saepe homhicans harharos leudos
arpa relidens, a combination of "barbarus harpa" and
"dent barbara carmina leudos." The fact that his
Latinity is touched with the floridity and bombast of
the Hisperic Jargon affected by the Arabico-Gothic
school and their imitators, again shows his associa-
tion with this school.
1 F. Leo, op. cit, p. 131.
• M. Berthelot, Collection des anciens alehemistea grees, vol. Ill, p. 438.
WORD INDEX
Aeth. = Aethiopian. — Arab. = Arabic. — AS. = Anglo-Saxon. — Assyr.
=» Assyrian. — Avest. = Avestan. — Chald. = Chaldaic. — Copt. = Coptic.
— Egyp, = Egyptian. — Eng. = English. — Finn. = Finnish. — Fr. =
French. — Ger. = German. — Goth. — Gothic. — Gr. = Greek. — Heb. =
Hebrew. — Ir. = Irish. — Ital. = Italian. — Lat. = Latin. — LLat. = Low
Latin or Late Latin. — MPers. = Modern Persian. — Navar. = Navarrese.
— OCatal. = Old Catalan. — OFr. = Old French. — OHG. = Old High
German. — Olr. = Old Irish. — Oltal. = Old Italian. — ONorse = Old
Norse. — OPers. = Old Persian. — OPort. = Old Portuguese. — OS. = Old
Saxon. — OSpan. = Old Spanish. — Pehl. = Pehlevi. — Pers. = Persian. —
Prov. = Provencal. — Sansk. = Sanskrit. — Scand. — Scandinavian. —
Span. = Spanish. — Syr. = Syriac. — Talm. = Talmudic. — Welsh =»
Welsh.
Lat.
aculeus, 308.
MPers.
ariz, arez, 294.
Lat.
aerumna, 10.
Pers.
arj, 293.
Arab.
'afan, 'afin, 95. —
OHG.
arm, aram, 10.
LLat.
afrodica, 258.
Goth.
armhairtei, 10.
Gr.
i<pf>oSlT7i, 258.
OHG.
armida, 10.
Gr.
«77w, 265.
Goth.
armosta, 9 f.
Goth.
air pa, 211.
ONorse.
arwr, 10.
Arab.
'akHz, 265.
Goth.
arms, 9 f .
Arab.
'alahrdm, 159.
Span., Prov., ital. arpa, 305, 310
Arab.
alamdn, 216.
Gr.
ipirv, 305.
Arab.
albairuhun, 90.
LLat.
artous, 134.
OPort.
alcaQarias, 125.
Arab.
'a§far, 110.
OSpan.
alcazar, 125.
ONorse.
ass, 80.
Navar.
alcazaria, 125.
Arab.
'a^-?afrd'u, 258.
LLat.
aliurunna, 90.
Arab.
aS-Sariqiy, 133.
Arab.
alqa^r, 125.
Arab.
aS-Sarq, 138.
OHG.
alruna, 90.
Arab.
al§rdgu(, 133.
Arab.
'alsamd, 212.
Gr.
dffuvreX^i, 136.
Arab.
'alyabrufyun, 90.
Gr.
dreX^s, 136.
Arab.
'anas, 79 f.
Arab.
'a«a,' 208.
Arab.
'anazah, 265.
Arab.
'airafa, 91.
Arab.
'anls, 79 f.
Goth.
awiliud, 303.
Arab.
'anisa, 80.
Arab.
'aw;toi/d{, 303.
Arab.
'ararfi, 9.
Arab.
'azlm-'il-^dh, 84.
Syr.
'aram, 9.
Arab.
'arasaft, 212.
Arab.
6d?, 296.
LLat.
arcatura, arcaturia, 125.
LLat.
balaena, balaera, 296.
LLat.
arctous, 134.
Arab.
baldgun, 78.
Arab.
•ard, 211.
LLat.
balcatorium, 126.
Chald.
'aremid, 9.
LLat.
balcheteria, 126.
Arab.
'arid, 211.
LLat.
6aic/iio, 127.
Syr.
'arm, 9.
LLat.
balchonus, 127.
Arab.
'arm, 'arm, 9.
LTiat.
6afco, 127.
WORD INDEX
/
317
LLat.
balkeria, 126.
AS.
drifan, 128.
TJ.at.
ballatorium, 127.
OHG.
durfti, 93.
Gr.
/3<ip/3tToi, 311.
Arab.
dzahab, 213.
Arab.
barbui, 310 f.
LLat.
barcaturia, 126.
AS.
eard, eorP, 211.
LLat.
baricatorium, 127.
AS.
earm, arm, 10.
LUt.
barritus, 273 ff.
Lat.
eculeus, 308.
LLat.
belagines, 74, 78.
Sansk.
eka-cara, 293.
OHG.
bidarbi, 93.
LLat.
eleuans, 275.
OHG.
bidurfan, 93.
Gr.
i)IUKi>fffUOV, 102.
AS.
bilage, 78.
AS.
cored, eorod, 211.
AS.
burhruna, 90.
AS.
eorl, 108.
Scand.
bylag, 78.
AS.
eormen-cyn, etc., 156
AS.
eostur-monaih, 138.
LLat.
eamara, 245 f .
OHG.
eraiha, 211.
LLat.
camereca, 246 ff.
Heb.
erez, 210 f.
Lat.
canalis, 283.
LLat.
erile, 108.
Lat.
canister, 283.
OS.
erl, 108.
Lat.
canna, 283.
LLat.
erttK, 108.
OHG.
cascritan, 103.
Chald.
eUa, 211.
OHG.
easeritant, 104.
LLat.
C(rfas<a, 307 ff.
AS.
/oloed, 109.
OHG.
cetnc, 282.
Arab.
falaha\, 110.
AS.
ceola, 248.
OFr.
/aWe, 109.
Copt.
xarkinos, 293.
OPort.
/aZdra, 109.
LLat.
cftro«a, 311 ff.
OS.
Jaled, 109.
OHG.
cia#on, 275.
AS.
/dud, 109.
LLat.
ckfare, 275.
Fr.
Sange, 96.
LLat.
elefium, 275.
Ital.
/anj/o, 96.
AS.
clepian, cleopian, 276.
Goth.
/am, 96.
AS.
clypian, 276.
LLat.
feld, 99, 108 f.
LLat.
colcherium, 247 f.
OHG.
feld, 109.
LLat.
eollybista, 122.
AS.
/«id, 109.
Olr.
cro«, 312.
ONorse
/en, 96.
LLat.
cro«a, 300, 311 ff.
OHG.
femia, 96.
Eng.
crowd, 312.
Lat.
fidicula, 306 f.
Ir.
crutZ, 301, 312.
LLat.
fidicula, 309.
Olr.
crMi«c, 312.
LLat.
/inni, 96.
Welsh.
crici/i, 312.
AS.
/oZd, /oJde, 109.
Pers.
frahvar, 146.
Arab.
daraba, 128.
MPers.
fravar, 146.
OHG.
darben, 93.
OPers.
fravaSay, 146 f.
OHG.
dar/, 93.
Goth.
fruma jiuleis, 139.
Arab.
dan6, 128.
OHG.
der6, 93.
Arab.
gabdnat, 82. ^^
Goth.
draibjan, 128.
Arab.
Jafebdr, 209.
LLat.
draparia, 128.
Goth.
flfodraftan, 128.
LLat.
drapantts, 123.
OHG.
gambren, 209.
TiTiat.
draperius, 128.
OHG.
gambri, 209.
OCatal.
drop^s, 122.
Arab.
^and6, 137.
LLat.
drapMs, 123, 128.
Arab.
^anafta, 137.
Goth.
dreiban, 128.
Arab.
^anu6, 137.
OHG.
drfban, 128.
Pers.
ffdz, 124.
ONorse.
dri/a, 128.
Pere.
gdzur, 124.
318 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
LLat.
gepanta, 81 f.
Gr.
KdfMpa, 245 f .
Syr.
gerd depurqdnd, 146, 148.
OHG.
kambaren, 209.
AS.
giuli, 139.
Egyp.
kanen, 283.
Assyr.
gizzu, 124.
Gr.
Kdveov, 283.
TiTiat.
gremium, 9.
Gr.
Kdvva, 283.
Arab.
gunub, 137.
Gr.
Kavdv, 283.
Arab.
kdnun, 139.
OHG.
haerda, 211.
MPers.
kar, 294.
Goth.
hair da, 211.
Pers.
karg, kargadan, 293.
LLat.
haliurunna, haluirunna, 87,
Arab.
karkadan, 293.
90.
Arab.
karkani, 293.
Arab.
harbah, 305.
MPers.
kar-mdhl, 294.
Assyr.
harbu, 305.
Gr.
<copTof(6j', 293.
LLat.
harde, 211.
OHG.
keola, 247 f.
OFr.
harde, 211.
Sansk.
khadga, kha4gin, kha^ga-
OHG.
harfa, 304 ff.
dhenu, 292.
Aeth.
harls, 293.
Pers.
kilk, 247.
Arab.
harU, 293.
OHG.
kistritant, 104.
Arab.
harmls, 294.
Gr.
KOff/i^eiv, 102.
Eng.
harp, 301.
Gr.
K6(r/«)$, 102.
LLat.
harpa, 300.
Assyr.
kurkizannu, 293.
Lat.
harpe, 306.
Fr.
harpe, 310.
AS.
Zaffu, 78.
OHG.
harpha, harfa, etc., 304 flf.
LLat.
kttda, 303.
AS.
helirun, hellrun, 90.
OSpan.
ZoMde, 303.
OHG.
helliruna, 90.
OHG.
leod, 304.
Heb.
/lemar, 258.
LLat.
ieodiis, 303 f .
AS.
/leord, 211.
LLat.
leudi, 303 f .
OHG.
/lerda, 211.
LLat.
Zetidtts, 300.
Heb.
hereb, 305.
Ger.
Lied, 301.
Lat.
/lerMS, 108.
Goth.
liuthareis, 303.
OHG.
Mrdi, hirti, 211.
Goth.
liuthon, 303.
Arab.
Mm, 151, 158.
ONorse,
toff, 78.
OHG.
houscrich, 105.
OHG.
hruozza, 313.
MPers.
mahl(k)arez, 294.
Arab.
humor, 258.
Arab.
magsMTOun, 102.
LLat.
humericus, 258.
LLat.
marcholo, morcholom, 159.
Arab.
marmls, 294.
Arab.
'ins, 79.
Syr.
Mdr< Maryam, 139.
Arab.
'insdn, 80.
LLat.
Meroheus, 294.
Arab.
'irda/i, 211.
LLat.
Meroveus, 294 f .
OHG.
irmingot, etc., 156.
LLat.
micosmiw, 102.
OHG.
irwiTCSMZ, 154 f.
Arab.
mira§, 294.
OS.
irminthiod, etc., 156.
AS.
modranicht, 139.
Gr.
ixAVot, 284.
Gr.
/iuoxdpwi/, 246, 250.
Arab.
'ittala'a, 208.
Arab.
muqassimun, 102.
Arab.
TOM(ra6a(, 92.
ONorse.
jaW, 108.
Arab.
mulraf, 91 f.
Goth.
jiuleis, 139.
Arab.
mwirift, 92 f .
ONorse.
jdrmuv^gandr, etc., 156.
LLat.
myoparon, 243 f .
Arab., Pers. kalak, 247.
Eng.
narwhale, 295.
Syr.
fcoZH, 248.
OHG.
nori, word, 134.
Arab.
fcaZJfcaZ, 247 f .
Arab.
nuqobar4, 216.
WORD INDEX
319
ONorse.
olrun, 90.
LLat.
ormista, 9 f .
AS.
OS, 80.
OHG.
ostarun, 137.
LLat.
partha, 310.
LLat.
peculiarina, 136.
LLat.
pharpha, etc., 310.
OHG.
piscrit, 103.
Syr.
qagdrd, 124.
Syr.
qoQrd, 124.
Assyr.
qanu, 283.
Arab.
qasama, 102.
Arab.
qa^ara, 124.
Arab.
qa?r, 124.
Syr.
qQar, 124.
Talm.
qereS, 293.
Arab.
qi§dra^, 124.
Pers.
rod, 311.
OHG.
rodda, 312.
OSpan.
rota, 311.
OFr.
rote, 311.
Pehl.
ro<iA;, 312.
LLat.
ro«a, 300, 311 f.
OHG.
rotta, 312.
Pers.
rwd, riida, 311 f.
Pehl.
rttde, 312.
Pers.
rud^dmah, 311.
Pers.
rudgar, 311.
Pers.
rudsaz, 311.
Pers.
rudzan, 311.
LLat.
safargica, 258.
Arab.
?a/rd 'm, 110.
Arab.
sahmgarb, 173.
Arab.
sahmun garbun, 148.
LLat.
sappherinus, 110.
Arab.
laro^a, 106.
Heb.
?and, 106.
Arab.
5art4, 106.
LLat.
scamma, 109.
OHG.
schrecken, 105.
OHG.
8cK//i, 107.
OHG.
serai, scrato, 106.
OHG.
scrazzo, 106.
OHG.
screitan, 104.
OHG.
screzzo, 106.
OHG.
scn'c, 105.
OHG.
scrtcan, 105.
OHG.
scrichit, 105.
AS.
scrtd, scrida, 103.
AS.
scridan, 103.
AS. scride, 103.
OHG. scriti, scritamal, 103, 105.
Arab. siw, 283.
Arab. 5irad, 106.
Gr. (rKofpw,106.
Gr. (TKiprdu, 106.
ONorse. skrida, 103.
ONorse. skrida, 104.
ONorse. skrida, 104.
ONorse. skridna, 104.
ONorse. skridr, 104.
ONorse. skrikan, 106.
OHG. sZa(/ie, 107.
OHG. sieiMa, 107.
OHG. sie«o«, 107.
OHG. siezo, 107.
AS. sfidan, 107.
OHG. shddo, 107.
AS. siide, 107.
OHG. sZi/aw, 107.
OHG. sRftaw, 107.
OHG. slito, 107.
Syr. srad, 106.
AS. stic-taenil, 282.
LLat. strava, 90, 92 f.
OBulg. strava, 93.
OHG. strecchan, 105.
OHG. sine, 105.
AS. sincow, 106.
ONorse. strid, 105.
AS. stride, 104.
AS. sindii, 104;
OHG. strit, 105.
OHG. stritlaufo, 105.
OHG. stritlaufi, 105.
OHG. struchon, 105 f.
Arab. ?tt/Mr, 258.
OHG. sMndar, 137.
OHG. sundaric, 137.
LLat. sundrialis, 134, 136.
LLat. SMndrittW, 134 f, 136.
Goth. sundro, 137.
Gr. (TuvrAeio, 137.
LLat. suntelites, 136.
Gr. ffwreklrris, 136.
OHG. suntriga, 137.
Finn. smo, 96, 111.
Finn. suomi, 96, HI.
Syr. swrddd, 106.
Goth. tainjo, 282 f .
Goth. tains, 282 f .
AS. tdn, 282 f.
Arab. tann, 283.
320 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Pers. tarb, 92.
Avest. tarej), 91.
Pers. tarfenda, 91 f.
Arab. iarib, 93.
Arab. iariba, 92 f.
Arab. \arifa, 91 f.
Arab. ia'rim, 9.
Talm. (arpM(, 91.
ONorse. teinn, 282 f .
ONoree. teinur, 282.
Egyp. iena, \enu, 283.
Heb. tene, 283.
LLat. tent, 282.
Talm. t&nl, 283.
AS. tenil, 282.
Talm. ^rap, 91.
Gr. flaXoMTyAi, 248 flf.
Goth. >ar6a, 93.
Goth. parbs, 93.
Goth. Paurban, 93.
Goth. paurfts, 93.
Goth. paurp, 93.
OFr. tiesche, tiesque, etc., 208.
ONorse. /f?ta, 283.
Eng. «n«, 283.
Arab. tinn, 283.
MPers. «r, 147.
LLat. iraparia, 128.
LLat. traparium, 122.
LLat. (rapezeta, trapezita, 122 f.
LLat. trapus, 122 i.
OBulg. fr^6o, 93.
LLat.
OBulg.
Oltal.
Talm.
Arab.
Arab.
LLat.
OHG.
Lat.
Arab.
LLat.
LLat.
LLat.
LLat.
OHG.
LLat.
OHG.
Ger.
Ger.
Ger.
OHG.
OHG.
OHG.
Chald.
Talm.
Heb.
trebo, 92.
tribovati, 93.
tudesco, 208.
tuna, 283.
tunn, 283,
turM, 91 f.
tuiisctis, 208.
unbidarbi, 93.
ungula, 308.
vali4ak, 279.
ran?, 96.
varicatoria, 126.
reicda, 279 f.
pcntiettdi, 304.
trail, tt)aJr, 295 f .
winileodi, 303 f .
Heb. yain, 211.
zatn, zetn, 282.
Zain, 283.
Zatnc, 283.
zainen, 283.
zainja, 282.
zainjan, 283.
zeinjan, 283.
zenc, 283.
2tnna, 283.
zinzenei, 283.
SUBJECT INDEX
Ab^ad order of Arabic letters, 266.
Ablabius, 79, 111.
Achilles of the Vandals, 84.
Adites, 100.
Adogit in Jordanes, 95.
Aelian and the rhinoceros, 292.
Aethicus, and Orosius, 17; his Cos-
mographia, 155; and the Meopari,
243 f.; vises Arabic words, 247 f.,
258; written in the eighth cen-
tury, 257 f.; and the Fall of Troy,
257 ff.; and the Gothic alphabet,
265 f.; and the Greek alchemists'
alphabet, 267.
Agathias interpolated, 263; and an
Arabic weapon, 265.
Ahriman, source of Hermanric, 144
ff.; written backwards, 159; see
Arminius, Hermanric.
Alamanni confused with Alani, Al-
bani, 260.
Alani confused with Albani, 258.
Albruna, 90, 280.
Alces of Caesar turned into a nation
in the Germania, 291, 297.
Alchemists' alphabet and Aethicus,
267.
Aliruna, see Albruna.
Alruna, its etymology, 90.
Amali = Amalekites, 100.
Ambrose and the Goths, 4 f .
Ammianus Marcellintis, and the
Julian myth, 147 f.; a forgery,
151, 275; and barritm, 274 f.
Angones an Arabic weapon, 265.
Annales Hirsaugienses, see Trit-
hemius.
Annius Viterbensis, not a forger,
200 ff.; Zeno's opinion of him,
202; Tiraboschi's and Gingue-
ne's opinion of him, 202; Muen-
ster's opinion of him, 202 f.; and
Rabbi Samuel, 203; and the
Talmud, 203 f.
Anonymus Valesianus has original
story of Theoderic the Visigoth,
116.
Anses, 79.
Antenor and the Franks, 242 f.
Antiquitas, Gothic, and Jordanes,
67; its meaning in Paulus Dia-
conus, 67; Saxon, 151.
Apollinaris Sidonius, and the Os-
trogoths, 117; and Orosius, 118;
^ 246.
( Arabic element in the Germania,
I 291 ff.
\ Arabic genealogy and the Troy
j origin, 255.
•Arabic origin of chemical terms in
; Aethicus, 259 f.
'Arabic source of Ravenna cosmo-
[ grapher, 101 f.
Arabic words in Aethicus, 247 f ., 258.
Arabs and Hindu numerals, 266.
^Aretia, in Pseudo-Berosus, 210 f.,
298 f.; is the Magna Mater, 212;
see Nerthus.
Arian Goths, unknown to St. Au-
gustine, 2; in Italy, 4 f.; martyrs,
a misnomer, 7f.
Arii in Tacitus, and Ariovistus, 239.
Ariminum, creed of, and Ulfilas,
7, 58.
Ariprandus, 209.
Aristotle and the rhinoceros, 293.
Arminius myth, 142 ff., 160; in
Dio Cassius, 162 f.; and Velleixis
Paterculus, 163, 173; and Florus,
164; and Tacitus, 164 ff.; and
Strabo, 164; in Tacitus derived
from the Syrian romance of Julian,
171 f.
Arsa = Arab, 'arasah, 212.
Asciburgium, 254; see Disbargum.
Asdingi, 83 ff.; its etsmiology, 84;
interpolated in Lydus and Dra-
contius, 85 f.
Asia and Julian's death, 145 f .
Athanaric, 2 ff. ; his persecution of the
Goths, 2, 4, 6; and Fritigern, 112.
Audiu^ establishes monasteries in
Gothia, 1.
322 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Augiistine favorably disposed toward
the Goths, 5; knows nothing of
Orosius' history, 12; and Maxi-
minus, 53, 57 ff.
Autololes proves Orosius' borrowing
from Isidore, 20.
Auxentius, and Ambrose, 4 f. ; and
Ulfilas, 48 ff.; his spelling is of
Spanish origin of the eighth
century, 48 f . ; of Dorostorum, a
false emendation by Kauffmann,
49 f. ; discussion of his work, 49 ff.;
of Dorostorum unknown to his-
tory, 50; his use of comitatum of
late origin, 52 f.; and Maxi-
minus, 53 ff.
Atixentius of Milan, 50 f., 57 f.
Balcony, history of, 127.
Barak and Bructeri confused, 279 f .
Barrittis in the Germania, 273;
confused in Ammianus with hardi-
tus, 274 f.
Bede and Easter, 137 ff.
Belagines in Jordanes an Arabic
word, 78.
Bishops of the Goths, 1 ; see Auxen-
tius, Bretanio, Georgius, John,
Moduarius, Selenas, Serapion, Sil-
vanu^, Theophilu3, Ulfilas, Unilas.
Borysthenica of Dio Chrysostom
source of Jordanes, 69 ff.
Borysthenis, description of the city
by Dio Chrysostom, 71 f.; trans-
formed into Buruista, 75.
Bretanio, bishop of Tomes, 44 f,
Bructeri and Barak confused, 279 f.
Bundehesh, 144 f., 294; and Ahri-
man, 146 f.
Burgundiones, etymology of, 260.
Burning of the Gothic Church, 4,
38 ff.
Buruista in Jordanes, 73 ff. ; derived
from Borysthenis, 75; in Strabo,
76 ff.; in the time of Sulla, 77.
Caesar, borrowing from him in the
Germania, 236 ff.; see Germania.
Camara, 245 f . ; in Aulus Gellius, 249.
Cambra, see Gambara.
Gamer eca, formation of the word,
248.
Capillati, 262; in Jordanes, 69.
Cassiodorus, his Historia tripartita,
25; not quoted in MS.V of Isi-
dore, 25 f . ; his Historia tripartita
a forgery, 30 ff.
Castor and Pollux in the Germania
and the unicorn, 296.
Cedrenus does not know of Visi-
goths, 114.
Chemical terms in Aethicus, 257 f.
Chronicon Alberici, 205 f .
Chronicon Paschale, 145.
Circe and Alruna, 90.
Claudian and Ostrogoths, 116.
Codex No. 140 and Gothic alphabet,
268.
Comitatum, as used in Auxentius,
52 f.; of the Germania merest
nonsense, 289 ff.
Compendium, 219 ff.; see Trit'
hemius.
Conciliabulum of Constantinople, 42.
Constantine and the Goths, 46.
Crimean Goths, see Tetraxite Goths.
Criniti, 262; see capillati.
Ctesias and the rhinoceros, 293.
Cursive Greek and the Gothic alpha-
bet, 267 ff.
Cybele, and Aretia, 212; and Ner-
thus, 298.
Dacia and Dania confused, 243,
252 f.
Danaus and the Dani, 253.
Dani, 243; and Dad confused,
252 f.
Deahus = Arab, dzahab, 213.
Deborah is source of Veleda, 278,^ff.
Decebalus transformed into Dici-
neus, 75.
Decretum Gelasianum and Orosius,
27.
Demophilus and Ulfilas, 50.
De origine Francorum, see Hunibald.
Devoii of Caesar turned into comi-
tatus in the Germania, 290.
Dexippus, 83.
Dicineus in Jordanes, 73 ff.; derived
from Decebalus, 75.
Dictys, a source of Jordanes, 68.
Dio Cassius, a source of Jordanes,
68 f.; and Arminius, 162. ^i'V^Wj
Dio Chrysostom, a source off Jor-
danes, 68 ff., 84; and Procopius,
113 f.; and Tacitus, 273.
SUBJECT INDEX
323
Disbargum, 261 f. ; see Asciburgium.
Dispartum, see Disbargum.
Divination and the Germania, 281 ff.;
and Ammianus, 282.
Dlwdn = Deborah, 278.
Dorac, 229.
Doros, a city of the Goths, 129.
Dorpaneus = Decebalus, 79 f.
Dory, and Priscian, 130; etymology
of, 130 f.; indefinitely used for a
region north of the Pontus, 131.
Dracontius, interpolation in, 85 f .
Druids and the Germans, 236 f., 241.
Duces in the Germania taken from
Druid equites in Caesar, 276.
Dudo and the Dani, 242.
Duras = Dorpaneus, 80.
Edessa and the Goths, 130 f.
Elks transformed into worshipers in
the Germania, 297.
EirapxiKbv Bt/SXfov, 132.
Epiphaniv^, his account of Audius,
1; does not know of Ulfilas, 2.
Eudoxius and the Goths, 7 f., 43 f.
Eusebius-Hieronymus, source of Isi-
dore, and, indirectly, of Orosius,
20.
Eusebius of Caesarea, and the Goths,
46; and Auxentius, 49, 51.
Eutropivs, a source of Orosius, 22 f .
Fall of Troy, and the Germans,
254 ff.; and the Liber historiae
Francorum, 254 f.; and Arabic
genealogy, 255; and Aethicus,
258 f.
Feld, in the Origo Langobardorum,
98; its history, 108 ff.
Finni, in Ptolemy, an interpolation,
94 f . ; etymology of name, 95.
Floru^, and Orosius, 34; andArmi-
nius, 164.
Fragmenta Valesiana, 80.
Franci = feroces, 157 f.
Francus, in Orosius, 161; and
Vasso, 254, 259.
Franks, 241; and the Fall of Troy,
254 ff.; as viewed by Mas'udi
and Agathias, 263 f.
FravaSay, 146 f.
Fredegar's Chronicle, has come down
in eighth century rifacimento,
254; and the sea-monster myth
origin of the Merovingians, 294 ff.
Fredum, 287.
Fritigern, 6; and Athanaric, 112.
Fulleries, history of, 123 ff.; in
Spain, 125; in Italy, 125 ff.
Futhork order explained, 272.
Gaetuli and Mauri, an interpolation
in Isidore, 157.
Gaina and the Goths, 36 ff.
Gambara, 209.
Gambrivius in Pseudo-Berosus, 209.
Ganna, 278 f.
Gaulales, a blunder in Isidore, 19.
Gedaliah Ibn Yahya, 210.
Generatio regum et gentium, 213.
Gennadius and Orosius, 28 f.
Georgius, bishop of the Goths, 131.
Gepanta = Gipedes, 81.
German mythology, its borrowings
from the Roman, 238 ff.
Germani, Isidore's etymology of,
156; and Tungri in Tacitus, 260 f.
Germania of Tacitus, 80, 273 ff.;
mentions Finns who in Ptolemy
are an interpolation, 94; bor-
rows from Caesar, 236 ff.; and
the Swedish pirates, 251 f.; crib-
bing from the Historiae, 281
discussion of chap. Ill, 273 ff.
VII, 236 f., 276; IX, 237 f., 280 f.
X, 281ff.;XI,240f., 284 ff.; XII
287 ff.; XIII, 288 f.; XIV, 290 f.
XXVIII, 297; XXXIX, 297; XL
298 f.; XLIII, 239, 291 ff.; XLIV
251 f.; XLVI, 252.
Gesta abbatum Fontanellensium, 65.
Gesta Aquileia, see Auxentius.
Getica, not written by Dio Chrysos-
tom, 68; see Jordanes.
Cfinguene on Annius, 202.
Gipedes, its etymology, 81.
Gothic alphabet, and the Polygraphia,
235; and the Greek numerals, 265;
and the runes, 265 ff.; and the
cursive Greek, 267; a normalized
alphabet of Wasthald, 268; forma-
tion of its letters explained, 268 f.;
and the Vienna codices, 268 f.;
see Wasthald.
324 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Gothic language in the church at
Constantinople, 41.
Goths, mentioned by St. Augustine,
2; and John Chrysostom, 3; in
Italy, 4; in the ecclesiastical
writers, 6; and Valens, 43 ff.; and
Constantine, 46; of Edessa, 130 f.;
and Moors, see Gaetuli.
Greek language and the Teutons,
235.
Greek numerals, basis of Gothic
alphabet, 265 ff.; and the Poly-
graphia, 267.
Gregory of Tours, and Orosius, 32 flf.;
and Ostrogoths, 116; and Ger-
man divinities, 238; interpolated,
262 f.
Guilielmua of Mantua, 204.
Haliurunna, see Alruna.
Harman = Hermanric, 148 f.; con-
fused by Arabs with Hermes, 151.
Heeger and the Dani, 243.
Hercules Alemannus, 209.
Hercules Saxanus, 210.
Hermanric, 142 ff.; = Ahriman,
144 flf., 148 f.
Hermes, builder of pyramids, 151.
Herminon, in Pseudo-Berosus, 160.
Hermiones in Mela, 218.
Herodotus, and the Borysthenitae,
72.
Herthus, see Nerthus, 298 f .
Heruli, etymology of, 108.
Hindu alphabet, supposed to be iden-
tical with the numerals, 266;
and the Arabs, 266; in Pseudo-
Boetius and Virgil Maro, 270.
Historia = Antiquitas in Isidore,
245.
Historia Brittonum, 214.
Historia tripartita of Cassiodorus,
25, 30 ff.; and Ulfilas, 35.
Hoamer of the Vandals, see Homer.
Homer, transferred to the Goths,
71; turned into Vandal Hoamer,
83 f.
Hunibald, and the Germans, 157;
219 ff., 229; his work lost, 223 f.;
a forgery, 234; and the Gothic
alphabet, 235; and the Druids,241;
and the unicorn, 295; see Trit-
hemius.
Huns, story about them taken out
of Herodotus, 88 ff.
Hydatius, source of Isidore, and,
indirectly, of Orosius, 23 f.
Hyginus, source of Isidore and Oro-
sius, 13; and ships with double
prows, 249.
Ibn WahSlyah, 266; and the tree-
alphabet, 271 f.
Inguaeo derived from Langobard,
216 f.
Inguaeones, in Generatio regum et
gentium, 213 ff.; in Historia Brit-
tonum, 214; in Nennius, 214; in
Pliny, 217; in Solinus, 218.
Irminsul, origin of the myth, 151 ff.
Isaac, the forefather of the Romans,
216.
Isacones, see Istaevones.
Isidore, source of Orosius, 11 ff.;
does not know Orosius, 30; does
not know the Historia tripartita,
32; and Orosius, 33; interpo-
lations in his Etymologiae, 156 f.;
etymology of Germani, 156; in-
terpolations in, 245.
I sis, and Tacitus, 280; and the
Jews, 281.
Istaevones, see Isaac.
IsU, the country of the, 110 f.
Italus derived from Arab, 'ittala'a,
208.
Janus, 210 f.
Jerome, a source of Isidore, and,
indirectly, of Orosius, 23; and
Aethicus, 257.
John, bishop of the Goths, 119 ff.;
purloined from the Syrians, 119 ff.
John Chrysostom, and the Goths,
3, 40 f.
Jordanes' Getica, as viewed by
Mommsen, 65 f . ; testimonia of this
work, 65 ff.; and the Ravenna
Anonymus, 66; introduction a
plagiarism, 66; the Gothic Anti-
quitas its source, 67 f . ; quotations
from Dio Chrysostom, 68 ff.;
confuses Borysthenitae of Hero-
dotus with the inhabitants of
Borysthenis, 72; and the division
of Goths into Ostrogoths and
SUBJECT INDEX
325
Visigoths, 111 flf.; and the Span-
ish Goths, 140 f.; follows a hodge-
podge method, 141 f.
Julian the Apostate, stories of his
death, 144 ff.; and Mercurius,
145 ff.; in the Syriac romances,
145 ff.
Justin, source of Isidore, and, in-
directly, of Orosius, 20, 22 f .
Justina and the Goths, 5.
Kauffmann and Auxentius, 48 ff.
Langobards connected with feld, 108.
Leibniz, 205.
Leo and Venantius, 301.
Liber historiae Francorum and the
Fall of Troy, 255.
Long hair and the Franks, 263 ff.;
see capillati.
Lull and Venantius, 313.
Lydus, interpolations in, 85.
Malalas and Julian's death, 145.
Mannus in Pseudo-Berosus, 209.
Marcellini Comitis Chronicon and
Orosius, 29.
Mars, Gothic worship of, due to
misunderstanding of passage in
Dio Chrysostom, 73.
Marsa and the Goths, 3.
Marsi, and the Goths, 3 f.; in
Pseudo-Berosus, 160; in Isidore,
160 f.; in Strabo, 161; in Orosius,
161; and Arminius in Tacitus,
161 f.
Marsus in Pseudo-Berosus, 208.
Martinvs Dumiensis and the Ostro-
goths, 116 ff.
Mas'Udl, and the Istaevones, 215 f.;
and the Franks, 264.
Maximinus, and Auxentius, 53 ff.;
the source of Auxentius' plagiar-
ism, 57.
Mela, a source of Orosius, 13; and
Hermiones, 218.
Meopari in Aethicus, 243 f.; see
Myoparones.
Mercurius and Julian's death, 145 ff.
Mercury in Tacitus taken from
Caesar, 237 f.
Merovingians and the unicorn, 294 ff.
Micosmin in Ravenna Anonymus,
102.
Mills of Arabic origin, 129 f.; see
Fulleries.
Moduarius, deacon of the Goths, 3.
Mommsen, his view of Jordanes, 65 f . ;
and the Ravenna Cosmographer,
101.
Morcholom=lTmmsvi, 155; =Ahri-
man written backwards, 159.
Muenster on Annius, 202 f .
Myoparones, 243 ff.; a nation, 250;
origin explained, 253.
Naharvali in the Germania = uni-
corn in Caesar, 291 f.; explained,
295 ff.
Navis earner ata, 250.
Nennius interpretatus, 214.
Nerthus, in the Germania, 297 ff.;
and Aretia, 298; and Ovid's
Fasti, 298.
Nigue, see Inguaeo.
Noah's ark and the ship with double
prow, 249.
Odin, 98 ff.
Ogham and tree-runes, 272.
Olybama = Arab, 'alsamd, 212,
Olymi)iodorus does not know of
Visigoths, 114.
Onomastica of Jerome, 96.
Oribasius and drapus, 123.
Origo Langobardorum and Scandi-
navia, 98.
Ormista, the title of Orosius' work,
8ff.
Orosius, his history a forgery, 8;
based on Isidore, 8 ff.; not
mentioned by St. Augustine, 12;
quotes from De civitate Dei after
his own death, 12; in the De-
er etumGelasianum, 27; in Pseudo-
Isidore, 27 f . ; and Marcellini Com-
itis Chronicon, 29; not mentioned
by Isidore, 30; mentioned in
interpolated Chronicon of Prosper,
30; in interpolated Gregory of
Tours, 32 ff.; and Isidore, 33;
and Florus, 34; and Valens, 46 f. ;
in ApoUinaris Sidonius, 118; and
the Marsi, 161.
Ostrogotha, 111.
326 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Ostrogoths, 111 ff.; and Visigoths
unknown to Hydatius, Marcelli-
nus, Victor Tonnensis, Johannes
Biclarensis, Marius Aventicensis,
1 1 4 f . ; in Chronica Ca^saraugustana
an interpolation, 115; in Isidore
an interpolation, 115; in Claudian,
116; in interpolated Gregory of
Tours, 116; in ApoUinaris Sido-
nius, 117; and Martinus, 118.
Ovid's Fasti and Nerthus, 298.
Paulus Diaconus, and Jordanes, 66;
and Scandinavia, 98 f.; and the
division of the Goths, 112,
Peculiar e, meaning of the word, 136.
Petrus Patridiks, 80, 86.
Philo, his Breviarium de temporibus,
205.
Philostorgius, and Gaina, 38; and
Ulfilas, 46 f.; and Photius, 47;
is based on Auxentius, 63.
Photius and Philostorgius, 47.
Phrygia, and Julian's death, 145 f. ;
its etymology, 146.
Pilleati in Jordanes, 69.
Pliny, a source of Orosius, 13; and
Inguaeones, etc., 217.
Points of compass in the Germanic
languages, 134 flf.
Polygraphia, and the Gothic alpha-
bet, 235; and Greek numerals,
267; Silbernagl's incorrect quo-
tation from it, 225 f.
Priscian and Dory, 130.
Procopius, interpolated, 83 f.; on
Scandinavia, 96 ff.; and the
Visigoths, 112; and Dio Chry-
sostom, 113; and the Tetraxite
Goths, 118 f.;and Dory, city of the
Goths, 129 f.; describes Dory like
Edessa, 131.
Prosper of Aquitaine's Chronicon
interpolated, 30.
Pseudo-Bede, and Noah's ark, 249;
and Greek numerals, 267; and
Aethicus, 268.
Pseudo-Berosus, 160, 174 flf.; and
Tuiscon, 208; and Marsus, 208;
and Gambrivius, 209; and Man-
nus, 209; and Aretia, 210 f.; and
Inguaeones, 213.
Ptolemy, interpolation in, 94.
Rasia and Julian's death, 145 f.
Ravenna Cosmographer, and Jor-
danes, 66; and older sources, 101 f .
Rerefeni, 99, 102 f.
Rhinoceros, and the Naharvali, 291 f. ;
and Ctesias and Aristotle, 293.
Rockdwellers of Scandinavia are the
Thamudites of the Arabs, 100.
Run^s, 265 flf.; origin of letters ex-
plained, 269 flf.; related to Wast-
hald's alphabet, 270; no older
than eighth century, 271.
Samuel, Rabbi, and Annius, 203.
Saru^ and Ammius, 142, 149.
Saxnot, 209.
Saxon Antiquitas, 151 flf.
Scandinavia, and Procopius, 96 flf.;
in the Origo Langobardorum, 98;
its myth explained, 100 ff.
Scandza in Jordanes, 94, 99.
Scholia Statiana and Jordanes, 65.
Screrefennae, 99.
Scridofinni, Scrithifinni, in Proco-
pius, 97; in Paulus Diaconus, 98 f.
etymology explained, 103 f.
Scythians, includes the Goths, 45.
Sea-monster and the Bundehesh,
293 f; see Unicorn.
Segimerus = Arab, sahmgarb, 173.
Segimundus = Arab, sahmun, 173.
Selenas, bishop of the Goths, 41 f.
Serapion, bishop of the Goths, 3.
Servius, a source of Isidore, 11;
and, indirectly, of Orosius, 15 f.
Ships with two prows, 245 ff.; =
thalamegus, 248; = Noah's ark,
249.
Sievers and the Ulfilas question, 55.
Sigebert of Gemblaux, the first to
mention Historia tripartita, 32.
Silbernagl, on Trithemius, 219 ff.;
incorrect and unjust in his criti-
cism, 225 ff.
Silvanus, bishop of the Goths, 1.
Sirdifeni, 102 ff.
Sitones in Tacitus, 252 f .
Ski in Jordanes and elsewhere, 103 f .
Socrates, 1, 41 f.; and the Arian
Goths, 6.
Soldurii, see Devoti.
Solinus, a source of Isidore, and,
indirectly, of Orosixis, 14, 16, 17;
and the Inguaeones, 218.
SUBJECT INDEX
327
Sozomentis, 39 f; and the Goths, 6f.
Spanish Goths, in Southern Russia,
121; and Jordanes, 140 f.
Stabius and Trithemius, 230, 232.
Statitcs interpolated, 279.
Strabo, interpolations in, 76 S, 246
£f., 253; and Arminius, 164.
Suehans, 110.
Suetidi, they are the Adites of the
Arabs, 100; in Jordanes, 252.
Suetonius and the ship with double
prow, 248.
Suevi, confused with Judaei, 281.
Suiones = Isfl, 110; in Tacitus, 252.
Sundrium, meaning of the word,
134 ff.
Sunilda, 142, 149 f.
Swedish pirates and Tacitus, 251.
Sybel and Jordanes, 66.
Syriac chronicle and Julian, 148 f.
Syriac romances of Julian, 145 flf.;
and Tacitus, 171 f.
Syriac saint purloined by the Goths,
119 ff.
Tacitus and Arminius, 164 ff.; his
Historiae interpolated or a for-
gery, 238, 245 ff.; his Annales
interpolated or a forgery, 162,
238, 245; and Dio Chrysostom,
273; and Vegetius, 274; see
Germania.
Talmud and Annius, 203 f.
Tamfanae = tamen fanum, 161.
Tarabosteseos, in Jordanes, explained,
69.
Tetraxite Goths, 113 f.; in Procopius,
1 18 f . ; a blunder for trapezitae, 121.
Thamudites, 100.
Th^odoretus and the Goths, 7 f., 41.
Theogonius and Auxentius, 51.
Theophilus, bishop of the Goths,
1, 6, 43.
Thuringia, 260 f .
Thv^nelda = Sunilda, 164.
Tiraboschi and Annius, 202.
Tiitrya, 146 f.
Tomaschek and the Goths, 129.
Translatio S. Alexandri and the
Irminsul myth, 151.
Trapezitae in Byzantine law, 132;
see Tetraxite Goths.
Tree-alphabets, 271 f.; and Ogham,
272.
Trithemius, his Annales Hirsaugi-
enses, 219, 228; as criticized by
Silbernagl, 219 ff.; his Polygra-
phia, 225 f.; and the work by
Hunibald, 225 ff.; and Wasthald,
226; his cautious statements,
226; his blunder in regard to the
number of books in Hunibald ex-
plained, 229 f,; and the Com-
pendium, 229; and the sundial,
230; tearing out two quaternions
from the Annales, to correct a
blunder, 231; and Stabius, 230,
232; chronology of his relation to
Hunibald, 232 f.
Trojan origin of the Franks, 241.
Tuiscon, in Pseudo-Berosus, 208;
its etymology, 208.
Tungri, and Germans, in Tacitus,
260 f.; confused with Thuringia,
261.
Ulfilas, his Arianism unknown to
contemporary authors, 1; un-
known to Epiphanius, 2; in
Socrates, 6; in Sozomenus, 6;
absent from Orosius, 8; in Isi-
dore interpolated, 25 ff.; in the
Historia tripartita, 32, 35; and
Selenas, 41 f.; at the conciliabu-
lum of Constantinople, 42 f.; as
mentioned in the ecclesiastic
writers, 43 ff.; and Valens, 45 f.;
and Philostorgius, 46 f.; and
Auxentius, 48 f.; and Demo-
philus, 50; his life and activity
according to Auxentius, 55 f . ; his
creed based on Maximinus, 58 ff.;
contradictions in his creed, as
given by Auxentius, 61; ex-
planation of the origin of the
myth, 61 ff.
Unicorn, and the Merovingians, 294
ff.; and Castor and Pollux, 296.
Unilas, bishop of the Goths, 3; is
Umias, 56 f.
Ursiniana, 86.
Vagio, a ship with double prow, 249 f .
Valens and the Goths, 43 ff.
Vasso and Francus, 254, 259.
Vegetius and Tacitus, 274.
Veleda, 277 ff.
328 HISTORY OF ARABICO-GOTHIC CULTURE
Velleiv^ Paierculus and Arminiiis,
163, 173.
Venaniius interpolated, 300 fF.; his
text corrupt, 301; spurious poems
in, 302; and Lull, 313.
Vesegothae, see Visigoths.
Vesi and ApoUinaris Sidonius, 117.
Vestgothi, its etymology, 133.
Vestiarii in Byzantine law, 132.
Victor Tonnensis, his Chronica, 85.
Vienna Codex with Gothic alphabet,
268 f.
Visigoths, 111 f.; and Procopius,
112; unknown to Zonaras, Ce-
drenus, Olympiodorus, 114; in
Isidore interpolated, 115; in Ano-
nymus Valesianus, 116; its ety-
mology, 133.
Visu = Isu, 133.
Wadd, 100.
Wake, history of the, 90 ff.
Wasthald, 226, 229 flf.; and the
Gothic alphabet, 226, 268 f.;
and Wisogastalth confused, 230.
Wisogastalth, 227 ff.
Yule, origin of, 139.
Zarfati, see Samuel.
Zeno, his opinion of Annius, 202;
and Annius, 205.
Zonaras, leans on Procopius, but
does not know of Visigoths, 114;
has not the Arminius story, 162.
Zosimus, and Gaina, 38; inter-
polated, 39.
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WILLIAM T. LONG
DS Wiener, Leo
215 Contributions toward
W4, a history of Arabi co-Gothic
V.3 culture
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
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