Empire in Crisis: Gothic Invasions and Roman Historiography

Empire in Crisis: Gothic Invasions and Roman Historiography. Beiträge einer internationalen Tagung zu Dexippus Vindobonensis (Wien, 3.6. Mai 2017), hrsg. von Fritz Mitthof, Gunther Martin und Jana Gruskov (TYCHE, Supplementband 12), Wien: Verlag Holzhausen 2019 A few years ago a previously unknown ancient text was discovered in a Greek manuscript of the Austrian National Library in Vienna. The historical fragments deal with the invasions by Germanic (mainly Gothic) warrior bands from the Black Sea region onto Roman territory in the mid-3rd century CE. The fragments derive from the Scythica (History of the Scythian Wars) by the contemporary Athenian historian Dexippus. His work had been copied in the 11th century. Washed off and covered with Christian texts in the 13th century, it remained hidden for centuries. The accounts given in the palimpsest have been made legible through special technical means, funded by the FWF. They cast new light on a badly attested period, thus gaining extra significance. After the publication of the recovered text, a conference entitled Empire in Crisis: Gothic Invasions and Roman Historiography (again supported by the FWF) was held in Vienna in May 2017 to discuss the state of scholarship and its impact. This volume presents the contributions given at the occasion, deals with the fragments from historical, philological, archaeological, Byzantinist and medievalist angles. The first section introduces the topic and offers paleographical remarks on the manuscript. The Key Note Lectures, on legitimacy of rulers in early medieval warrior groups and on the ways of making sense of historical developments exemplify the wide scope of research areas to which the new texts are relevant. The section on Dexipp-Studien shows how the fragments have increased our knowledge about the author and about third-century historiography in general. Issues of Dexippus place in the context of historiography, such as the relationship between his work and later historians, are treated in the next section. The longest section, on the historical context, deals foremost with the barbarian invasions as such, discussing what information we derive from the new texts. The appendices provide, among other things the current state of transcription of the fragments, processed images of the manuscript and an up-to-date bibliography. The newly found texts this volume deals with are of major significance and have proved their relevance for future research right from their discovery. It presents the current state of scholarship in the field and gives new impulses. The authors discuss new ideas and explore the possibility of a consensus on the pressing issues. This unique collection also offers insights that combines the expertise of established scholars through the multidisciplinary approach: e.g. it puts into relief the interrelation between the historical reality of the Germanic invasions and its literary representation. By its detailed and thorough exploration of the text it opens up new horizons and inspires future research.