The Gutones: At the Beginning of the Goths

The Gutones are named by Tacitus and Ptolemy in the area of the lower Vistula. They are widely regarded as the early Goths, before these moved south.

A people under kings

Tacitus stresses that the Gutones were ruled more strictly by kings than other Germani – an early hint of the firm kingship that later shaped the Gothic realms.

From the Vistula to the Black Sea

In the 2nd/3rd century Gothic groups moved south-east from the Vistula. Archaeologically this path is linked with the Wielbark and Chernyakhov cultures. From the Gutones on the Baltic came the Goths of world history.

"The Gutones are ruled somewhat more strictly by kings than the other Germani."after Tacitus, Germania 44 (public domain, own translation)

A people on the Vistula

The Gutones sat on the lower Vistula, on the southern Baltic coast. Tacitus singles them out in his "Germania" because – unlike many Germanic peoples – they were ruled by strong kings with greater power. Many regard them as an early branch of the later Goths.

The Wielbark culture

Archaeologically the Gutones are usually linked with the Wielbark culture in today's Poland. Their cemeteries without weapon goods, their women's dress and jewellery draw an independent picture – a window into the world of the East Germanic peoples.

The long march south

Over the centuries parts of these peoples moved down the rivers to the south-east, as far as the Black Sea. There arose the mighty kingdoms of the Goths – Visigoths and Ostrogoths – who later shook late antiquity.

Jordanes and the Scandza legend

The Gothic historian Jordanes tells in the 6th century that the Goths once migrated from the island of Scandza (Scandinavia) across the Vistula. This origin legend is famous – but scientifically disputed.

Why this moves us

The Gutones stand at the beginning of one of the greatest peoples' histories of antiquity – that of the Goths. At GLANZ & GRAVUR we tell it from the sources, and keep the origin legend cleanly apart from the archaeological finding.

The Gutones stand at the beginning of Gothic history. Continue with the Goths and Bastarnae.

Read more with us

The Goths · The Gepids · The Rugii · The Vandals · The Bastarnae.

Sources & literature

• Image credit (header image): “POL Odry Kamienne Kręgi Gotów 01”, Wladyslaw Golinski, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
Tacitus, Germania 44; Ptolemy; Jordanes, Getica; quote public domain (own translation).

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