Skip to main content

Primary sourceBook555

Getica

Jordanes · 555

A Latin history of the Goths written by Jordanes in Constantinople, ending with praise of Justinian and his general Belisarius for defeating the Ostrogoths.

Preserves the only detailed ancient description of Attila's appearance and the main ancient account of his death and funeral.

Ask Attila the Hun about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Solid black book cover with a white Library of Congress catalog label near the bottom, bearing the text LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, a barcode, the number 00020502083, and a red dot.
Subjects: Attila, d. 453. [from old catalog]; Goths. [from old catalog]; Germanic peoples

About this source

What it is

Getica, or De origine actibusque Getarum, is a Latin work by Jordanes, written around 551, likely in Constantinople. It claims to summarize a longer, now-lost history of the Goths by Cassiodorus, tracing their origins and history up to their defeat by the Byzantine general Belisarius.

Why it matters

The work ends by celebrating Justinian's and Belisarius's victory over the Ostrogoths, showing how the Gothic War was framed as a triumph for the empire. It is one of the only surviving extended accounts of Gothic history, though scholars debate how much is fact and how much is legend.

Look closer

  • Why might a history written in Constantinople during the war end with praise for the Byzantine victors?
  • What parts of the story seem more like legend, and which seem more historically reliable?
  • What does it mean that the original source Jordanes claimed to summarize no longer survives?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Attila the Hun on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Attila the Hun sources

Meet the AI Attila the Hun →
Fresco in an arched vault showing a scene of armed warriors on horseback and on foot in a battle, with a flying figure in orange and red robes above, and a pale-robed procession of clergy with a horse on the left. Decorative gilded stucco frames the arch.Painting

Primary source

The Meeting of Leo the Great and Attila

Raphael · 1513-1514

Title page of the 1729 Venice edition of the Chronicon Paschale, in Greek and Latin text, printed by Bartholomaei Javarina. Below the text is an engraved view of a walled city with spires, with two figures in period dress and armor in the foreground.Book

Secondary source

Chronicon Paschale

Anonymous · 630

Medieval manuscript folio in Middle High German with a large decorated red, blue and green initial letter on the left, red heading text at top, and a round green seal with the inscription 'Joseph von Laszberg Ritter' at right. Yellowed parchment with black ink text in columns.Book

Secondary source

Nibelungenlied

c. 1200

A manuscript page with illuminated initials containing two painted kings, one holding a sword and one holding a banner with red and white stripes, above columns of Latin text in black ink and red rubrics. A small framed miniature at lower right shows a king being crowned by two bishops.Book

Secondary source

Chronicon Pictum

Márk Kálti · after 1358, no later than 1370

Hand-colored woodcut from a chronicle showing mounted armored knights in a battle on green hills, with lances and banners. Below is a line of Latin text describing the fallen king Theodoric and the fighting.Painting

Secondary source

Chronica Hungarorum - The Battle of King Attila at the Catalaunian Plains

Johannes de Thurocz · 1488

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Attila the Hun now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions