th centuries AD, it did not have a nutrient Roman medium, towns and other institutions of old civilization, though the IVth century Goths managed to assimilate a lot from that.
Most of Soviet scholars who rested upon the Marxist concept of history a priori assigned the Ostrogothic society to a stage known as a breakdown of tribal society (A.R. Korsunsky, E.A. Rikman, E.A. Symonovich, V.D. Baran, etc.). B.D. Grekov, B.A. Rybakov, V.I. Dovzhenok defined the Chernyakhov society as a forming early-feudal one. Recently some scholars started to lean towards a conclusion that this society was already at the stage of ‘proto-civilization’ (M.Y. Braychevsky, О. M. Prikhodnyuk). In our opinion, formation of an integrated archaeological culture occupying a vast territory and having several significant features characteristic for a stage of civilization is very indicative. In this regard classic Chernyakhov culture of IVth century AD may be considered as some kind of a ‘state’ culture of Ermanaric’s kingdom being a result and a material reflection of complex consolidation of various tribes and peoples within the framework of forming Gothic potestarity with preservation of certain local peculiarity in the provinces.
The analyzed data of narrative sources and archaeology allow us to conclude that Ostrogothic society of Ermanarich’s age appeared as a multilevel sociopolitical organization (over-tribal ‘imperial’, ‘national’ Gothic, regional and local communal levels) for regulation of social and interethnic relations in the forming stratified society. It was already divided into at least some estates (strata): a ruling family of Amali and its company, including king’s retinue; free Goths; various groups of dependent population, as well as tributaries from the remote periphery. Social organization of Goths did not have any features of feudal society but had a lot of attributes of forming early state’.
Our research showed that in IVth century AD the south of Eastern Europe was occupied by the vast Ostrogothic kingdom, which found its archaeological equivalent in the classic Chernyakhov culture. It cannot be defined by traditional categories used in Soviet historical studies, such as ‘alliance of tribes’, ‘federation, etc. The best name for that is an authentic ‘kingdom’ (regnum). By the end of Ermanaric’s reign it overgrew the scale of a ‘super-complex chiefdom’ and was becoming an early state’ demonstrating the development of exopdïitary system of exploitation focused on conquered ethnic groups and resources of remote areas (Jordanes’ ‘northern peoples’). Probably, if the development of Ostrogothic kingdom had not been forcibly interrupted by Huns, it would have transformed into a really mature state. But due to tragic events of 375—376 AD the polyethnic Ermanaric’s regnum remained somewhere at the edge of civilization and the earliest stage of statehood. But memory about that was preserved for centuries in early medieval Germanic sagas praising the image of tyrannical king Ermanaric/Heiðrek/Jormunrekk.
Макет и оформление Ю.В. Балабанов
Издательский редактор И.В. Румянцева
Корректор Н.С. Головин
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Подписано в печать 18.08.2018
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