Editing Goths (section)

===Movement towards the Black Sea===
{{Further|Oium}}
Beginning in the middle of the 2nd century, the Wielbark culture shifted southeast towards the [[Black Sea]].{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=103–07}} During this time the Wielbark culture is believed to have ejected and partially absorbed peoples of the Przeworsk culture.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=103–07}} This was part of a wider southward movement of eastern Germanic tribes, which was probably caused by massive population growth.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=103–07}} As a result, other tribes were pushed towards the [[Roman Empire]], contributing to the beginning of the [[Marcomannic Wars]].{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=103–07}} By 200 AD, Wielbark Goths were probably being recruited into the [[Roman army]].{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=106}}

According to Jordanes, the Goths entered [[Oium]], part of Scythia, under the king [[Filimer]], where they defeated the [[Spali]].{{sfn|Jordanes|1915|p=iv (28)}}{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|p=42}} This migration account partly corresponds with the archaeological evidence.<ref name="Heather_1998_25"/><ref name="James_Krmnicek_412">{{harvnb|James|Krmnicek|2020|p=412}}. "Except for a few examples where material, ritualized patterns (recognizable in burial rites, offerings, or ways of structuring settlements) and cultural change correspond almost perfectly with the written account{{snd}}e.g. concerning the migration of the Goths from the Southern Baltic shore to the Black Sea{{snd}}identification and localization of single Germanic tribes via patterns in archaeological material has mostly not been possible."</ref> The name ''Spali'' may mean "the giants" in [[Slavic languages|Slavic]], and the Spali were thus probably not [[Slavs]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1990|pp=42–43}} In the early 3rd century AD, western Scythia was inhabited by the agricultural [[Zarubintsy culture]] and the nomadic [[Sarmatians]].{{sfn|Kokowski|2007|p=222}} Prior to the Sarmatians, the area had been settled by the [[Bastarnae]], who are believed to have carried out a migration similar to the Goths in the 3rd century BC.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=109–20}} [[Peter Heather]] considers the Filimer story to be at least partially derived from Gothic oral tradition.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=123–24}}<ref>{{harvnb|Heather|1994|p=5}}. "[T]here is a Gothic origin to some of the Getica's material, which makes it unique among surviving sources. It specifically refers, for instance, to Gothic songs and tales recording Filimer's migration to the Black Sea"</ref> The fact that the expanding Goths appear to have preserved their Gothic language during their migration suggests that their movement involved a fairly large number of people.{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=130–31}}

By the mid-3rd century AD, the Wielbark culture had contributed to the formation of the [[Chernyakhov culture]] in Scythia.{{sfn|Heather|Matthews|1991|pp=50–51}}{{sfn|Kokowski|2011|p=75}} This strikingly uniform culture came to stretch from the [[Danube]] in the west to the [[Don (river)|Don]] in the east.{{sfn|Heather|1994|pp=87–96}} It is believed to have been dominated by the Goths and other Germanic groups such as the [[Heruli]].<ref name="Heather_117">{{harvnb|Heather|2010|p=117}}. "[I]t is now universally accepted that the system can be taken to reflect the world created by the Goths...</ref> It nevertheless also included [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]], [[Dacians|Dacian]], Roman and probably [[Slavs|Slavic]] elements as well.{{sfn|Heather|1994|pp=87–96}}