Jordanes and His Getica in Rodrigo Jimenez de Rada’s De Rebus Hispaniae

Affiliation:
Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
Ural Federal University
Institute of History and Archaeology of the Ural Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow

Journal name

Vestnik drevnei istorii

Edition

Volume 83 Issue 4

Pages

850-867

Abstract

The Archbishop of Toledo, Rodrigo Jimenez de Rada (early 13th century), in his work De rebus Hispaniae used Jordanes’ Getica, but de Rada’s direct source had been probably a copy of Getica very different from those that form the basis of the modern reconstruction of the text (“de Rada’s Jordanes”). First, de Rada, the only one of all the sources, refers to Jordanes as ‘the secretary (cancellarius) of the Holy Palace’ which corresponds with the hypothesis of Jordanes being the bishop of Crotone who was with Pope Vigilius in Constantinople in the 540–550s, and of identifying Pope Vigilius as the recipient of Jordane’s first work, the Romana. The article argues in favor of this hypothesis and reconstructs the circumstances that led to writing the Romana and the Getica. Secondly, de Rada’s information, going back to Jordan, contains dates for the events described in the Getica (where there are no dates), which are shifted by about twenty years compared to the real ones. In addition, some names taken by de Rada from Jordanes are rendered as if they had been transliterated from Greek. Finally, the content of “de Rada’s Jordanes” was apparently different from Mommsen’s reconstructed text of the Getica. All these circumstances are interpreted as evidence of the existence of a special protograph of “de Rada’s Jordanes”, different from the one which formed the basis of Mommsen’s reconstruction. This possibility is confirmed by Jordanes’ own reference to the existence of two copies of the Getica sent to Castalius and to Vigilius, which were not necessarily identical. It is possible that the “de Rada’s Jordanes” may still be found in Spanish archives.

Keywords

early medieval sources, Goths, Jordanes, Getica, Textkritik, Rodrigo Jimenez de Rada

Received

28.10.2023

Publication date

28.12.2023

Number of characters

47322

Cite

GOST	Napolskikh V. Jordanes and His Getica in Rodrigo Jimenez de Rada’s De Rebus Hispaniae // Vestnik drevnei istorii – 2023. – V. 83. – Issue 4 C. 850-867 [Electronic resource]. URL: http://ras.jes.su/vdi/s032103910029257-5-1-en (circulation date: 10.05.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S032103910029257-5
MLA	Napolskikh, Vladimir "Jordanes and His Getica in Rodrigo Jimenez de Rada’s De Rebus Hispaniae." Vestnik drevnei istorii 83.4 (2023):850-867. DOI: 10.31857/S032103910029257-5
APA	Napolskikh V. (2023). Jordanes and His Getica in Rodrigo Jimenez de Rada’s De Rebus Hispaniae. Vestnik drevnei istorii 83(4), pp.850-867 DOI: 10.31857/S032103910029257-5

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