Page "Visigoths" Paragraph 9

The nomenclature of Greuthungi / Tervingi fell out of use shortly after 400.

In general, the terminology of a divided Gothic people disappeared gradually after they entered the Roman Empire.

The last indication that the Goths whose king reigned at Toulouse considered themselves Vesi is found in a panegyric on Avitus by Sidonius Apollinaris dated 1 January 456.

The term " Visigoth ", however, was an invention of the 6th century.

Most recent scholars ( notably Peter Heather ) argue that Visigothic group identity emerged only within the Roman Empire.

Roger Collins believes the Visigoths were a creation of the Gothic War of 376 – 382 and began as a collection of foederati ( Wolfram's " federate armies ") under Alaric I in the eastern Balkans, composed of largely Tervingi with Greuthungian and other barbarian contingents.

They were thus multiethnic and cannot lay claim to an exclusively Tervingian heritage.

Collins points out that no contemporaries directly link the Tervingi and Vesi.