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Jordanes Redeemed: A Reconsideration of the Purpose and Literary Merit of the Getica

Swain, Brian Sidney
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1245386187

Abstract Details

2009, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, History.
Jordanes, writing in mid-sixth century Constantinople, provides us with the only history of the Goths to survive from antiquity. Crucially, Jordanes wrote his history (known as the Getica and written in Latin) at a moment when Roman-Gothic relations had disintegrated into total war, as the emperor Justinian was engaged in the conquest of Gothic Italy. That Jordanes, a Roman/Byzantine citizen of Gothic descent, would write a history of a people with whom Rome was currently at war is clearly significant and had no precedent in Roman tradition. Yet despite this, there remains a paucity of scholarship which treats seriously Jordanes’ historiographical aims and literary merit. Moreover, most of what work there is on Jordanes has denounced his alleged derivative nature, stylistic decadence, and intellectual limitation. Some recent commentators have departed from such views, but ultimately grant Jordanes only limited concessions to authorial autonomy and literary ability. This paper seeks to push this rehabilitation further. A close reading of the Getica reveals both a marked level of authorial independence from its sources (contrary to what has been assumed before) and sophisticated literary craft at work. The latter is demonstrated by looking closely at two heretofore unappreciated allusions to the Aeneid seamlessly interwoven into the narrative of the Getica which work symbolically to incorporate the Goths into the fold of Roman history. Indeed, this is exemplary of one of Jordanes’ primary thematic thrusts in the Getica: the “classicization” of Gothic history; that is, his intention at all times to draw the Goths out of the northern hinterland and into Mediterranean antiquity. It is clear that Jordanes’ historical gaze is not only one that looks to the past but more importantly one that is deeply rooted in and highly conscious of the present. In other words, Jordanes means to account for the state of the Goths in the mid sixth century as an incorporated people of the Roman Empire by articulating the greater Gothic past as likewise related to a Roman past. If my reappraisal of Jordanes stands, then he must be taken seriously both as a competent author and as a singular source for understanding the dynamics of Gothic integration into the Roman Empire during the late antique period.
Tim Gregory, PhD (Committee Chair)
Anthony Kaldellis, PhD (Advisor)
Kristina Sessa, PhD (Committee Member)
68 p.
Ancient Civilizations; History
Jordanes; Getica; Goths; Ostrogoths; Visigoths

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Swain, B. S. (2009). Jordanes Redeemed: A Reconsideration of the Purpose and Literary Merit of the Getica [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1245386187

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Swain, Brian. Jordanes Redeemed: A Reconsideration of the Purpose and Literary Merit of the Getica. 2009. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1245386187.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Swain, Brian. "Jordanes Redeemed: A Reconsideration of the Purpose and Literary Merit of the Getica." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1245386187

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.