Athal "the Mild" of the Greuthungi

Athal (Amal Dynasty)
Also Known As:	"Le Noble", "Mansuetudo", "The Noble One", "Athel d'Ostrogothie"
Birthdate:	circa 240
Birthplace:	Scythia (Present Ukraine)
Death:	circa 310 (61-79) Scythia (Present Ukraine)
Immediate Family:	Son of Hunuil of the Goths and (Generation 7) Husband of (Generation 8) Father of Odwulf of the Greunthungi and Achiulf of the Greuthungi
Occupation:	3rd King of the Ostrogoths (280-310), koning der Oostgoten, koning der Goten

Managed by:	Private User
Last Updated:	April 26, 2022

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About Athal "the Mild" of the Greuthungi

From the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy page on Hungary Kings:

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/HUNGARY.htm#_Toc146273201

B. DYNASTY of the AMAL GOTHS

Iordanes sets out the ancestors of Athal, in order, as follows "Gapt…Hulmul…Augis…Amal a quo et origo Amalorum decurrit…Hisarnis…Ostrogotha…Hunuil…Athal"[31].

ATHAL (Ostrogoth Generation 8)

ACHIULF (Ostrogoth Generation 9)

Iordanes names "Achiulf et Oduulf" as the sons of Athal[32].

References:

[31] Iordanes Getarum, MGH Auct. ant. V.1, p. 77.

[32] Iordanes Getarum, MGH Auct. ant. V.1, p. 77.

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This information is according to the Wikipedia page on Ukrainian Rulers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ukrainian_rulers

Greuthungi

The Amali dynasty, Amals, Amaler, or Amalings of the Greuthungi ("steppe dwellers" or "people of the pebbly coasts"), called later the Ostrogothi.

Athal (Athala), "The Noble One", born fl. 240 or ca. 243 in Ukraine

(Baldwin's Mythology gives him the nickname of "The Mild" instead of "The Noble One." http://bulfinch.englishatheist.org/theodoric/chapter1.htm)

From Jordanes' Getica:

http://people.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/Courses/texts/jordgeti.html#visi

XIV

(79) Now the first of these heroes, as they themselves relate in their legends, was Gapt, who begat Hulmul. And Hulmul begat Augis; and Augis begat him who was called Amal, from whom the name of the Amali comes. This Amal begat Hisarnis. Hisarnis moreover begat Ostrogotha, and Ostrogotha begat Hunuil, and Hunuil likewise begat Athal. Athal begat Achiulf and Oduulf. Now Achiulf begat Ansila and Ediulf, Vultuulf and Hermanaric. And Vultuulf begat Valaravans and Valaravans begat Vinitharius.

Ben M. Angel's summary: Very little is known about the life of Athal, which would have taken place, according to the Wikipedia page on Ukrainian Rulers, during the period of the Roman Crisis of the Third Century. If Jordanes and the authors of the Wikipedia page on Ukrainian Rulers are correct, he may also have been the first Goth to have been born in Scythia. Gothic interaction with Rome would have begun around this time as barbarian nations near to Rome began to sense easier pickings.

The following is a review of events that might have had an effect on Athal's life:

240: King Ininthimeus of the Bosporan Kingdom (present Crimea) dies and is succeeded by his son Rhescuporis V. By this time, his kingdom is under intense pressure from the invading Goths, who recently arrived on the Black Sea.

242: Emperor Gordian III evacuates the Bosporan Kingdom (present Crimea) of Roman soldiers. The Goths establish the Bosporan Kingdom (under King Rhescuporis V) as its own client state after the Roman evacuation, possibly under King Ostrogotha (the name Crimea would not be applied to the peninsula until it is occupied by the Turks).

244: The Goths invade Moesia (present northern Bulgaria) while other Germanic tribes raid Pannonia. The invasion takes 4 years for the Roman Empire under Philip the Arab to repel.

248: After the Roman legions repel the Goth invasion of Moesia, the troops there rebel and proclaim Tiberius Claudius Pacatiuanus as their Emperor. Emperor Philip the Arab crushed the uprising and installs Gaius Messius Quintus Decius as governor. As Philip was celebrating the 1,000th birthday of Rome, troops along the Danube proclaim Decius as their new Emperor and march to the Imperial capital.

249: In September, Emperor Philip the Arab is killed in fighting near Verona. Decius succeeds him (he becomes known for restoring the office of censor, and for persecuting Christians).

250: The Carpi from Dacia invade the border regions between Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior, ahead of a major invasion by Goth military leader Cniva after the late Philip the Arab refused to continue tribute payments to the Goths (started by Maximinus Thrax over a decade earlier).

251: Cniva, a Goth military leader, begins his invasion of the Roman Empire by crossing with Sarmatian and Germanic allies across the Danube River into Moesia (he may have been as old as Athal's father, Huinul). Cniva takes Phillippopolis (present Plovdiv) and begins to return with slaves and loot. Before he can make it back, Emperor Decius catches up with him, but the Roman Emperor and his army are killed in battle near present Abritus. Trebonianus Gallus, his successor, is forced to sign a treaty with the Goths under duress, restoring tribute payments for another 20 years. In Rome itself, the Plague of Cyprian erupts. Over the next 15 years, it will take the lives of up to 5,000 a day (on its worst days) in the Imperial capital. The Christians would later blame Decius' persecution of them for the outbreak (most likely smallpox).

252: Pope Cornelius is imprisoned by Emperor Gallus as persecutions of Christians continue.

253: In the Bosporan Kingdom (present Crimea), Tiberius Julius Pharsanzes (Pharsanzus) is crowned as co-ruler alongside his father, the reigning King Rhescuporis V. The Goths invade Lower Moesia again, perhaps during the period that Gallus is succeeded by Aemilian, a general on the Moesian frontier. Valerian succeeds him before the end of the year.

254: In the Bosporan Kingdom (present Crimea), Pharsanzus, co-ruler with and son of King Rhescuporis V, dies. This event may have been related to the Goths, who now clearly dominate the peninsula.

258: The Goths ravage Asia Minor (present Turkey). Uncertain if this was by land or sea. Bosporan King Rhescuporis V's son Tiberius Julius Synges is crowned co-ruler alongside his father. Not much is known of the internal activities of the Bosporan Kingdom. Inegenuus, Pannonian governor, begins his rebellion after the death of Valerian II on the Danube River. Future emperor Gallienus is quick to suppress him (the rebel leader commits suicide). The death of the governor prompts a further raid by Germanic tribes into the Empire.

260: Gepids (supposedly Goth migration stragglers) begin to appear on the borders of the Roman Empire. Emperor Valerian is captured during peace talks with Persian Emperor Shapur following the Battle of Edessa. When he dies sometime in the next four years, his skin is stuffed with straw and placed in one of the most celebrated temples of Persia as a trophy. The empire is rocked by rebellion under his successor Gallienus.

267: Over the next two years, the Goths and other tribes invade the Balkans in great numbers. The Heruli raise an armada in the northern Black Sea and raid the ports of Greece (including Athens and Sparta).

268: Claudius II is proclaimed Emperor. He repels an invasion of the Alamanni into Raetia and Italy. In the meantime, a Scythian army of Goths (both coastal Greuthungi and inland Thervingi), Gepids, and Peucini, form a new and bigger armada with the Heruli at the mouth of the Tyras (present Dniester) River. They raid Byzantium, Chrysopolis, and the Aegean islands before laying siege to Thessalonica and Cassandreia.

269: The Gothic invasion is put to an end when Claudius II defeats a barbarian coalition near Naissus (present Nis, Serbia), killing or capturing some 50,000 Goths and earning the title "Gothicus". Future Emperor Aurelian led the decisive cavalry charge in the battle. Many of those that survived eventually died of disease before returning home. Late in the year, Roman Emperor Claudius II Gothicus arrives in Sirmium (present Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina region of Serbia) in preparation for an attack against the Vandals. Before it can start, the Emperor catches the Plague of Cyprian (likely smallpox) and dies early in the following year. His brother, Quintillus, rules for only days before he too was dead and replaced by Lucius Domitus Aurelianus (Emperor Aurelian).

270: Aurelian is proclaimed Emperor at Sirmium in September by the Roman Legions there, likely after arranging for Quintillus' death. He immediately carries out a campaign to expel the Vandals, Juthungi, and Sarmatians in northern Italy, and earns the title of Germanicus Maximus. Several usurpers attempt to seize power.

271: The Alamanni raid the Po River valley and occupy Placentia. With some initial difficulties, Aurelian drives them out of Italy. He then returns to the Balkans and attacks the Thervingi Goths, killing military leader Cannabaudes. This earns the Roman Emperor the title of Gothicus Maximus. Nonetheless, he carries out a strategic withdrawal of all Romans from Dacia, abandoning the province to the Thervingi and allied tribes. He organizes Moesia into a new province called Dacia Repensis, establishing Serdica as the capital.

272: Aurelian carries out a campaign against Queen Zenobia and the breakaway Palmyrene Empire (present Syria, Palestine/Israel, Egypt, and southeastern Turkey) in the Eastern Mediterranean. Queen Zenobia was captured and paraded onto the Roman streets as a captive. For this, he became known as the Restitutor Orientis.

273: Achiulf is supposedly born in Scythia, the son of Athal "The Mild", as emperor Aurelian defeats the Carpi in Dacia, earning the title Carpicus Maximus. Many Carpi prisoners, evacuated with Roman troops from Dacia (Roman citizens had likely evacuated long before this), are settled into Pannonia near present Pecs, Hungary. Nonetheless, the Carpi, also called "Free Dacians" remained a functioning entity that perhaps dominated much of evacuated Dacia (albeit under Goth protection).

274: Aurelian defeats the breakaway Gallic Empire, earning the title Restitutor Orbis. His "restoration of the world" adds 200 years to the life of the Roman Empire.

275: Aurelian is murdered at Caenophrurium (present Corlu, Turkey) by a conspiracy of high-ranking officers that appeared likely to face punishment (urged on by Zosimus, his secretary).

276: In the Bosporan Kingdom (present Crimea) Rhescuporis V's son Synges, his co-ruler, dies. The aging king brings his next eldest son Teiranes to the throne before he himself passes away. Teiranes tries to co-rule with his eldest son Sauromates IV, but his son dies before the end of the year. All that is known of Teiranes' reign is that his coinage contained a copper-based alloy not previously found in bronze and silver coins of the realm.

277: Emperor Probus, who came to succession after a brief term by Tacitus, carried out a new attack against the Thervingi Goths on the lower Danube River, defeating them. He was given the title of Gothicus. A year later, after defeating the Franks and Burgundians invading Gaul, he inflates this to Gothicus Maximus, to go along with his new title Germanicus Maximus.

278: King Teiranes of the Bosporan Kingdom crowns his son Theothorses as co-ruler.

279: In the Bosporan Kingdom, King Teiranes dies, leaving Theothorses as the sole ruler. The only thing that is known about Theothorses' reign is that his coins contained large amounts of lead in them (his sons would be the last to rule the Bosporan Kingdom). In Illyricum within the Roman Empire, Emperor Probus defeats a Vandal invasion.

282: After Emperor Probus leaves Rome to carry out a new campaign in the east, Senator and Praetorian Guard Prefect Marcus Aurelius Carus carries out a coup. When Probus sends troops to put it down, they change sides. Upon news of this mass defection reaching his headquarters in Sirmium in October, his remaining soldiers turn on him and kill him.

283: Shortly after seizing power, Emperor Carus marches eastward and carries out an attack against the Quadi and Sarmatians on the Danube River before continuing on to Asia Minor and the Persian Sassanid Empire. While there, in August, Carus is found dead after a lightning storm. His son Numerian and his brother Carinus (who had gone west) rush back to Rome to reestablish their authority.

284: Carinus returned quickly to Rome, but Numerian hardly made it to Bithynia near the Sea of Marmara when he was found dead in his carriage. Diocletian is chosen to succeed him. the new Emperor's first task was to secure the border and to purge the empire of all threats to his power - he establishes a Tetrarchy to better organize his control. At the same time, Aurelius Julianus takes possession of northern Italy and Pannonia, at least until Carinus overruns his capital of Siscia (present Sisak, Croatia).

285. In Spring, Emperor Diocletian meets with armies sent by Carinus in Moesia near present Belgrade. Carinus is killed by his own men, who turn on him during the Battle of Margus. Following this, Diocletian turns north and attacks the Quadi and Marcomanni on the Danube River. After a brief visit to Rome, the Emperor returns to meet with the Sarmatians in November near present Ptuj,Slovenia. The Sarmatians demand assistance in recovering lands lost to them within the Empire, to which Diocletian refused. Instead, he drove them off.

291: The Thervingi are described by Claudius Mermentinus as "another division of the Goths" who joined with the Taifali in a tribal confederation to attack the Vandals and Gepidae Goths (then under King Fastida).

296: Constantine carries out a campaign against barbarians on the Danube before switching eastward against the Persians the following year.

297: Diocletian crushes the Carpi in their 13 year long war in Dacia, effectively removing them as a threat to the Empire. Except for a handful of refugees, the tribe is deported into Roman territory. Some may have been integrated into the Gothic Empire

299. Emperor Diocletian's haruspices (fortune tellers) claim that they cannot predict the future because of the presence of Christians in the Roman Royal House. Driven on by Galerius, the Emperor demands a sacrifice be made by all members of his household, and a purge of any Christian living there.

303: The Wikipedia page author for Ukrainian rulers estimates that Airmanareiks was born this year. One of his first conquests, Tiberius Julius Rhescuporis VI, is crowned co-ruler of the Bosporan Kingdom (present Crimea) by his father, King Theothorses. In November, Diocletian begins the last great Roman persecution of Christians after attacking the Manicheans.

305: After becoming deathly ill, Diocletian leaves office, becoming the first to voluntarily retire. He settles at his palace on the Dalmatian coast (present Split) where he spends the last six years of his life tending his garden. Galerius continues the fight against the Persians and persecutions of Christians during this same time period, effectively leaving the Goths to their own devices.

309: King Theothorses of the Bosporan Kingdom dies, leaving Rhescuporis VI as sole king. Not long after, Rhadamsades is crowned as his father's replacement as co-ruler, alongside Rhescuporis VI.

310: Licinius carries out a major campaign against the Sarmatians, defeating them.

311: The Christian cross is reported to have been first seen in Gothic Crimea. In the Roman Empire, Galerius dies of what was likely bowel cancer. Licinius carries out a 2-year war of succession against rival Daia and Constantine in order to secure the Empire for himself.

312: During the lull in Roman action against the barbarians, Constantine begins construction of a series of walls across the Pannonian plains and around "Free Dacia" that are later called "Devil's Dykes". This system of walls will take the remaining 25 years of Constantine's life to complete.

316: Constantine defeats Licinius in a Balkan-based contest for supremacy in the Roman Empire resulting in a division of rule between the two Emperors.

318: Licinius attacks the Sarmatians. During the attack, likely the Carpi tribe is transferred from Dacia into Pannonia and integrated into the Empire.

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Goths which formed the two tribes of the Visigoths & the Ostrogoths, came (legend says by boat) from Southern Scandinavia south to what is now the Ukraine in the latter half of the 2nd century

   (150-200 AD).

Född: 240 Abt , södra Skandinavien