Vinitharius

Vinitharius also Winithar or Vinithar (died 376 ) was a possible leader ( rex ) of the Greutungen around 375/76.

Vinitharius is only mentioned by Jordanes in his Getica . He is said to have become the new leader of the Greutungen in 375 after the death of Ermanarich . Ammianus Marcellinus , however, reported that Vithimiris was Ermanarich's successor.

Vinitharius is said to have fought against Anten under their leader Boz . He had defeated them and had Boz, his eight sons and 70 noblemen of the Anten crucified. In 376 Vinitharius is said to have been killed by the Hun leader Balamir . This then took his daughter to wife.

The presentation of the events is problematic, not least with regard to the inclusion of the antas, for whose appearance in the 4th century only Jordanes' description exists as evidence, while they are definitely documented for the 6th century. In part, Vinitharius is therefore also regarded as a fiction. Other researchers, however, consider Jordanes' description to be imprecise or assume that the ante of the 4th century were an early (not Slavic) group. Vinitharius therefore existed and can possibly be equated with Vithimiris, whereby Vinitharius was a pomp name. It cannot be ruled out that the Greutungen subordinated themselves to different leaders, namely Vinitharius and Vithimiris.

literature

• Hermann Reichert :  Vinithar. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 32, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2006, ISBN 3-11-018387-0 , pp. 430–431, ( paid for via GAO , De Gruyter Online).
• Arne Søby Christensen: Cassiodorus, Jordanes and the History of the Goths: Studies in a Migration Myth. Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen 2002, ISBN 8772897104 , pp. 140–156.

Remarks

1. ↑ Jordanes, Getica 48, 246ff.
2. ↑ Ammianus 31.3.
3. ↑ Cf. Herwig Wolfram : Die Goten. 4th edition. Munich 2001, p. 254.
4. ↑ Cf. with objections to the equation Herwig Wolfram: Die Goten. 4th edition. Munich 2001, p. 254ff.
5. ↑ For research cf. the documents from Hermann Reichert: Vinithar. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . Volume 32 (2006), pp. 430f.