Gothic persecution of Christians

Who is Gothic persecution of Christians?

Two main outbreaks of persecution of Christians by the 4th-century Gothic authorities are recorded, in 347/8 under Aoric and between 367 and 378 under Aoric's son, the iudex Athanaric. The persecution of Christians under Athanaric shows that Christians were still a minority among the Tervingi in the 370s, but that they had become numerous enough to be considered a threat to Gothic culture. It is remarkable that Athanaric did not persecute Christians in general, but specifically converted Goths, while Christian foreigners were left alone. Athanaric's motive was thus the protection of the Gothic nation and its gods and not the persecution of Christianity as such.

The Terving ruler Athanaric opposed the spread of Christianity among the Goths, fearing that the new faith would destroy Gothic culture. According to the historiographer Sozomenos, Athanaric appointed Winguric to eradicate the Christian faith from the Gothic lands. In Crimea, Winguric placed an idol in a chariot and paraded it before a tent used by Christians for their church service; those who worshipped the idol were spared, and the rest were burned alive in the tent. A total of 308 people died in the fire, of which only 21 are known by name. This happened in or close to the year 375. A few years later, during the reign of Valentinian and Theodosius, Gaatha, the widow of a peer of Winguric's, and her daughter Dulcilla gathered the remains of twenty-six martyrs and with he help of some priests and a layman named Thyellas transferred them to Cyzicus.