They launched a major invasion of Gaul and northern Italy in 268, when the Romans were forced to denude much of their German frontier of troops in response to a massive invasion of the Goths from the east.

In the mid-6th century, the Byzantine historian Agathias of Myrina records, in the context of the wars of the Goths and Franks against Byzantium, that the Alemanni fighting among the troops of Frankish king Theudebald were like the Franks in all respects except religion, since

Alaric's first appearance was as the leader of a mixed band of Goths and allied peoples who invaded Thrace in 391, who were stopped by the half-Vandal Roman General Stilicho.

Nonetheless, the written sources do not mention damages wrought by fire, save the Gardens of Sallust, which were situated close to the gate by which the Goths had made their entrance ; nor is there any reason to attribute any extensive destruction of the buildings of the city to Alaric and his followers.

Alaric was forced by his magnates to meet Clovis in the Battle of Vouillé ( Summer 507 ) near Poitiers ; there the Goths were defeated and Alaric slain, according to Gregory of Tours, by Clovis himself.

After a few centuries, following an incident where the Goths ' women successfully fended off a raid by a neighboring tribe, while the menfolk were off campaigning against Pharaoh Vesosis, the women formed their own army under Marpesia and crossed the Don, invading Asia.

With the end of western Roman power, the islands, to the extent that they were governed at all, were part of territories of Goths, Vandals, Saracens, before the Normans fortified Favignana in 1081.

Zosimus consistently refers to the migrants as " Scythians " ( unlike Ammianus, who refers to them as " Goths "), specifically stating at one point that, in addition, " Goths, Taifali and other tribes " were involved.

Whether these were consisted only of Goths is rather unlikely so the name " Scythians " by which the Greek sources called them ( a geographical definition ) seems more appropriate.

Similar editions had appeared for Aeschylus and Sophoclesthe only plays of theirs that survive today: " The rise of Goths and Tartars throughout the Roman world from the gutter to the throne, the destruction of libraries by choleric and fanatical popes and emperors, were unfavourable to the progress but not entirely fatal to the preservation of literary studies.

Under the influence of Constantius, Honorius issued the Edict of 418, which was designed to enable the Empire to retain a hold on the lands which were to be surrendered to the Goths.

After the Huns in the 4th century invaded the territories of the Gothic King Ermanaric, which at its peak stretched between the Danube and the Volga river, and from the Black to the Baltic Sea, thousands of Goths fled into the Balkans, defeating the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople and sacking Rome in 410, while thousands of Germans were crossing the Rhine.

The Goths (; ; ; ; ) were an East Germanic tribe whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe.

By the fourth century, the Goths conquered Dacia, and were divided into at least two distinct groups separated by the Dniester River, the Thervingi, led by the Balti dynasty, and the Greuthungi, led by the Amali dynasty.

While many Goths were subdued and joined the ranks of the Huns, a group of Goths led by Fritigern fled across the Danube and revolted against the Roman Empire, winning a decisive victory at the Battle of Adrianople.

Meanwhile, the Goths were converted from paganism to Arian Christianity by the Gothic missionary Wulfila, who devised the Gothic alphabet to translate the Bible.

After their able leader Totila was killed at the Battle of Taginae, effective Ostrogothic resistance ended, and the remaining Goths were assimilated by the Lombards, another Germanic tribe, who invaded Italy and founded a Kingdom in the northern parts of the country in 567 AD.

In the first attested incursion in Thrace the Goths were mentioned as Boranoi by Zosimus, and then as Boradoi by Gregory Thaumaturgus.

At the time, there were at least two groups of Goths: the Thervingi and the Greuthungi.

Goths were subsequently heavily recruited into the Roman Army to fight in the Roman-Persian Wars, notably participating at the Battle of Misiche in 242.

Large numbers on both sides were killed but, at the critical point, the Romans tricked the Goths into an ambush by pretended flight.

Some 50, 000 Goths were allegedly killed or taken captive and their base at Thessalonika destroyed.

However, the invasion of barbarian tribes from the north meant an end to this prosperity in the middle of the 3rd century, with the Goths briefly capturing Anchialos around 270.

* 490 – Battle of Adda: The Goths under Theodoric the Great and his ally Alaric II defeat the forces of Odoacer on the Adda River, near Milan.

Gallus, who became emperor upon Decius ' death, negotiated a treaty with the Goths under duress, which allowed them to keep their booty and return to their homes on the other side of the Danube.

Centered around their capital at the Dnieper, the Goths ruled a vast area which at its peak under the Kings Ermanaric and Athanaric stretched from the Danube to the Volga river, and from the Black to the Baltic Sea.

According to Jordanes ’ Getica, written in the mid-6th century, the earliest migrating Goths sailed from Scandza ( Scandinavia ) under King Berig in three ships and named the place at which they landed after themselves.

According to Jordanes's Getica, the Goths entered Oium, part of Scythia, under their 5th king, Filimer, where they subdued the Spali ( Sarmatians ), conquered the Kingdom of the Bosporus and captured several cities on the Euxinean coast, including Olbia and Tyras.

In 270, after the death of Claudius, Goths under the leadership of Cannabaudes again launch an invasion on the Roman Empire, but were defeated by Aurelian, who however surrendered Dacia beyond the Danube.

However, Louis marched the entire army of his kingdom, including Gascons with their duke Sancho I of Gascony, Provençals under Leibulf, and Goths under Bera, over the Pyrenees and besieged it for two years, wintering there from 800 to 801, when it capitulated.

Initially, the Byzantines were successful, but under the leadership of Totila, the Goths reconquered most of the lost territory until Totila's death at the Battle of Taginae.

* 456 – The Visigoths under king Theodoric II, acting on orders of the Roman emperor Avitus, invade Spain with an army of Burgundians, Franks and Goths, led by the kings Chilperic I and Gondioc.

The geographical position of Dacia Felix ( another name for the Roman province of Dacia ) made it difficult to defend against the barbarians, and during 240 AD-256 AD, under the attacks of the Carpi and the Goths, Dacia was lost.

These Goths, more specifically the Thervingi, were at the time under the leadership of Athanaric and had apparently remained peaceful since their defeat under Constantine in 332.

The name Visigothi is an invention of Cassiodorus, who combined Visi and Gothi under the misapprehension that it meant " west Goths ".

* October 5 – The Visigoths under king Theodoric II, acting on orders of Avitus, invade Spain with an army of Burgundians, Franks and Goths, led by their kings Chilperic I and Gondioc.

* Crisis of the Third Century: The Roman Empire is under pressure by the Alemanni, Franks, Goths, Quadi and Sassanids ( Persia ).

The Goths, meanwhile, lived under their own laws and customs.

The Ostrogothic conquest under Theodoric the Great began in 488 ; although the Goths were Germanic, Theodoric supported Roman culture and government instead.

* Battle of Thessalonica: The Goths under Fritigern defeat a Roman army in Macedonia.

* The Goths under king Cniva invade Moesia.

The Goths placed Hasta under siege until March when General Stilicho, bringing reinforcements from the Rhine, fought and defeated them at the Battle of Pollentia.

The city was seized again by the Goths under Totila, but was restored to the Eastern Empire by Narses in 568. Then it fell under the control of the Lombards.