The Nicene Age · AD 313–400 · External witness
Athanaric
iudex of the Goths c. AD 365–381 · Iudex of the Thervingian Goths · Persecutor · Gothia (beyond the Danube)
External witness
Who Athanaric was
Paramount judge of the Thervingian Goths, and the author of the persecution of 369–372 in which Sabbas died. He drove it as a political purge: Christianity among the Goths was the religion of the Roman enemy, so he had an idol carried round the villages and everyone required to sacrifice before it. He was also the man Ulfilas’ congregation fled from into Roman Moesia. His name appears as Athanaric and Athanaricus.
Named once, in the Passion of St Sabbas the Goth — a letter written within months of the events of April 372; no other ancient source names him.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When did Athanaric live?
Athanaric is dated iudex of the Goths c. AD 365–381 in the archive, which places Athanaric in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Athanaric?
Athanaric is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from The church of Gothia. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Athanaric from?
The archive associates Athanaric with Gothia (beyond the Danube).
Who were Athanaric’s contemporaries?
The archive links Athanaric to 3 other figures, including Sabbas the Goth, Atharidus and Ulfilas (Wulfila). Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
The Passion of St Sabbas the Goth — written within months of the martyrdom and sent to Cappadocia with the relics
c. AD 372[The persecution under the iudex is the setting of the Passion: the villagers are required to eat of the sacrifices, and those who refuse are hunted out.]The church of Gothia · Passio S. Sabae Gothi · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 311 · Galerius’ edict of Serdica, AD 311
- AD 313 · The Edict of Milan, AD 313
- AD 314 · The Council of Arles, AD 314
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
- AD 378 · Queen Mavia’s revolt, AD 378
- AD 380 · The Edict of Thessalonica, AD 380
- AD 381 · The Council of Constantinople, AD 381
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Athanaric.
- 1Gothiaprovince only