Why were the visigoths and ostrogoths so important?

Answer 1

a germanic tribe that promised to be loyal to Rome because they feared the Huns The story is complicated, but simply as possible, the Visigoths appealed to the Eastern Roman Empire for shelter from the Huns, but they were so badly used by their Roman hosts that they revolted under the king Alaric who defeated them at the Battle of Adrianople and killed the Eastern Roman Emperor. Alaric and the Visigoths moved west and sacked the city of Rome; the first people to do so since the Gauls in the early years of the Roman Republic. The Visigoths then carved out a sizeable kingdom for themselves in Spain and part of Gaul. About forty years later, the Roman general Aetius formed a partnership with his childhood friend, the Hun king Attila, and the Visigoths were badly pummeled again. Later, Attila invaded the Western Roman Empire which brought about the proudest moment for the Visigoths. To defend against his old friend Attila, Aetius was forced to ally himself with an old enemy, King Theodoric of the Visigoths. They met at Chalons in Gaul, and it was the greatest and bloodiest battle of ancient times. Theodoric was killed early in the battle, but Visigoth cavalry stopped Attila. Chalons is regarded as one of the most decisive battles in world history, and the significance of the Visigoths cannot be understated. They were the most powerful of the Germans in the West, and the other Germans refused to fight for Rome without them. Also, the new king Thorisimund withdrew the Visigoth Army after the battle, and Attila escaped because the Roman Army was too battered to finish him. Had it been a two-day battle with Visigoth participation, the Huns certainly would have been destroyed. The Visigoth Kingdom survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire until the Middle Ages, when they were destroyed by Arabs and Berbers who invaded from North Africa.

Answer 2

The Goths are important for many reasons, including political, cultural, and military history. They are also frequently studied as a model of ethnogenesis. The Visigoths are particularly notable for having sacked Rome in 410, and the Ostrogoths for deposing the last Western Roman Emperor in 476.