G O T 11 S. 
'lofi 
were facrificecf, and tlieir bleeding bodies fufpended in 
the facred grove adjacent to the teiT.ple. The only 
traces that now I'ubfiii: of tliis barbaric fuperflition are 
contained in the Edda, a fydeiri of mytliology com¬ 
piled in Iceland about tlie tliirteenth century, and 
fhidied by the learned of Denmark and Sweden, as the 
ir.oft valuable remaiirs of their ancient traditions. 
fl hough fo many luccedive generationsof Goths might 
be capable of prelerving a faint tradition of their Scan¬ 
dinavian origin, we are not to expeit, from fuch unlet¬ 
tered barbat ians, any diftinbt account of the time and 
circumftances of their emigration. To crofs the Baltic 
from their ancient feat, wasaneafyand natural attempt. 
'1 he inhabitants of Sweden were nialters of a fufficient 
number ot large veflels, with oars, and the didance is 
liitlenuore than one hundred miles from Carlfcroon to 
the neared ports of Pomerania and Pruflia : and here W'e 
begin to trace i'omewltat of hilloric ground. At lead 
as early as the Chridian asra, and as late as the age of 
the Antonines, th.e Goths, according to Tacitus, were 
cdablidied towards the mouth of the Vidula, and in that 
tortile province where tlie commercial cities of Thorn, 
Elbing, Konigdoerg, and Dantzic, were long after- 
w'ards founded. Wedward of the Goths, the numerous 
tribes ot tlie Vandals were fpread along the banks ot the 
Oder, and tiie fea-coad of Pomerania and Mecklen- 
biirgh. A Itrikiug refcmblance of manners, com¬ 
plexion, religion, and language, feemed to indicate tliat 
tlie Vandals and the Gotiis were originally one great 
jteople. 'Phe latter appear to have been I'ubdivided 
into Oltrogoths, Vidgotlis, and GejiidaE. 'I'he Ollro 
and Vifi, the eadern and vvellerii Goths, (fay.s Jornandes, 
c. 17,) obtained thole denominations from their original 
feats in Scandinavia. In all their future inarches and 
fettlements tliey preferved, with their names, tlie fame 
relative lituation. When they fird departed from Swe¬ 
den, tlie infant colony was contained in tliree ved'els. 
'I'he tliird being a heavy tailor lagged beliind, and tlie 
crew, wliich afterwards fwelled into a nation, reccivecl 
from that circumdance the appellation of Gepidx or Loi¬ 
terers, The didinction among the Vandals was more 
drongly marked by the independent names of Ileruli, 
Burgundians, Lombards, and a variety of other, petty 
tlates, many of which, in a future age, expanded them- 
iclves into powerful monarchies. 
Ill tlie age of the Antonines, the Goths were dill feat- 
ed in Pruliia. About the reign of Alexander Severus, 
the Roman province of Dacia had already experienced 
their proximity by dedrudfive inroads. In this inter¬ 
val, tJierefore, of about feventy years, we mud place 
the fecond migration of the Goths trom the Baltic to 
the Euxine; but the caule that produced it lies con¬ 
cealed among the -various motives which adduate tlie 
conduct of unlettled barbarians. Either a pedilence 
or a famine, a victory or a defeat, an oracle ot the gods 
or the eloquence of a daring leader, were futliciciit to 
impel tlie Gothic arms on the milder climates of the 
loutli, Beddes the influence of a martial religion, the 
numbers and fpirit of tlie Goths were equal to the molt 
ci.iiigerous enterpril'es. The ufe of round bucklers and 
lliort fwords rendered them formidable in a clofe en¬ 
gagement ; the manly obedience which they yielded to 
liereditary kings, gave union and liability to their coun¬ 
cils ; and the renuuned Amala, the hero of that age, 
and tlie tenth ancedor of Theodoric, king of Italy, en¬ 
forced, by the aiceiidant of perfonal merit, the prero¬ 
gative of his birth, which he claimed to derive trom 
tlie Anjh, or demigods ot tiie Gothic nation. 
The t.uiie of a great enterpriCe excited the braved 
warriors from all the Vandalic dates ot Germany, many 
of wiiom arc (een a few years afterwards combating un¬ 
der the coniiiion llanciard ot the Goths. '1 he fird motions 
of the emigrants carried them to the banks of the Pry- 
pec, a river conceived by the ancients to be the loutliern 
branch of the Borydliencs. 'Phe windings of that great 
dream through the plains of Poland and Ruftia, gave a 
direition to tlieir line of march, and a condant fupply 
of frefh water and yiadurage to their numerous herds of 
cattle. They followed the unknown courfe of tlie ri¬ 
ver, confident in tlieir valour, and carelefs nf whatever 
power might oppofe their progrefs. The Bad.inne and 
the Veiiedi were the fird who prefented iliemfelves; 
and the flower of their youth, either from choice or 
compulfion, increafed by their numbers the Gothic 
army. The Badarnas dwelt on the northern fide of the 
Carpathian mountains ; the inimenfe tract of land that 
feparated the Badarnas from the favag.es of Finland, was 
poflell'ed, or rather waded, by tlie Venedi. 'I'here is 
Ibnie reafon to believe that the. fird of tliefe nations, 
which didinguidied itfelf in the Macedonian war, and 
was afterwards divided into the formidable tribes of 
the Peucini, tlie Borani, the Carpi, &c. derivmd its ori¬ 
gin from tlie G.rmans. With better authority, a Sar- 
luatian extraction may be adigned to the Venedi, who 
rendered themfelves fo famous in the middle ages. 
Jornandes has diewn, tJiat the Venedi, the Slavi, and 
the Antes, were the three great tribes of the fame peo¬ 
ple. But tlie confudon of blood and manners 011 that 
doubtful frontier, often perplexed tlie mod accurate ob- 
lervers. As the Goths advanced near tiie Euxine fea, 
they encountered a purer race of Saniiatians, the Jazy- 
ges, the Alani, and tlie Roxolani; and tliey were proba¬ 
bly the fil'd Germans who faw the mouths of the Bo- 
ryithenes, and of the Tanais. If we enquire into the 
cliaracleridic marks of tlie jieople of Germany and of 
Sariiiatia, we lliall difeover that thofe two great por. 
tions of human kind were principally didinguidied by 
fixed huts or moveable tents, by a clofe drefs, or flow, 
ing garments, by the marriage of one or of feveral wives, 
by a militar)' force, confiding, for the mod pard, either 
of infantry or cavalry ; and above all by the ufe of the 
Teutonic, or of the Scl.ivonian, language ; the lad of 
which has been difl'ufed by conqued, from the confines 
of Italy to the neighbourhood of Japan. 
The Goths were now in podedioii of the Ukraine, a 
country of confiderable extent and iincommon fertility, 
interfected with navigable rivers, which from either 
fide difciiarge tliemfelves into the Borydlienes ; and in- 
terfperfed witli large and lofty foreds ot oak. The 
plenty of game and filli, the innumerable bee-hives de- 
pofited in the hollows of old trees, and in tlie cavities of 
rocks, and forming, even in that rude age, a valuable 
branch of commerce, the lize of the cattle, the tempe¬ 
rature of the air, the nptnefs of tJie foil for every fpecies 
of grain, and the luxuriancy of the vegetation, all dif- 
played the liberality of nature, and tempted the iadul- 
try of man. But tlie Goths withdoodall tliefe tempta¬ 
tions, and dill adhered to a life of idleiiefs, of poverty, 
and of rapine. 
Tlie Scythian hords, which, towards the ead, bor¬ 
dered on the new fettlements of the Goths, preiented 
no temptation to their arms, except the doubtful chance 
of an unprofitable vidtory. But the profpebl ot the Ro¬ 
man territories was far more alluring; and the fields of 
Dacia were covered with rich harveds, town by the 
hands of an iadudrious, and expoled to be gathered by 
thofe of a warlike, people. It is probable, tirat the 
coiiqueds of '’J'rajaii, inaint.iined by his fuccedbrs, lei's 
for any real advantage tiian for ideal dignity, had con¬ 
tributed to weaken the empire on that dde. I'lie new 
and unl'ettled province of Dacia was neitlier drong 
enough to refid, nor rich enough to I'atiate, the rapa- 
cioulnefs of the barbarians. As long as the remote 
banks of the Nielter were confidered as the boundary of 
the Roman power, the fortifications of the Lower Da¬ 
nube were more carcleisly guarded, and the inhabitants 
of Miclia lived in fupine I'ecuriiy, fondly conceiving 
themfelves at an inaccefnble didance from any barba¬ 
rian invaders. The irruptions of the Gotiis, however, 
under the reign of Philip, convinced them of their niif- 
1 take. 
