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{{Short description|Early Germanic people}}
[[File:Roman Empire 125.png|thumb|upright 1.2|Map of the [[Roman empire]] and contemporary indigenous [[Europe]] in AD 125, showing a proposed location of Heruli on the [[Denmark|Danish]] islands.]]
The '''Heruli''' (also '''Eluri''', '''Eruli''', '''Herules''', '''Herulians''') were one of the smaller [[Germanic peoples]] of [[Late Antiquity]], known from records in the third to sixth centuries AD.
The best recorded group of Heruli established a kingdom north of the Middle [[Danube]], probably including the stretch where [[Vienna]] exists today. This kingdom was a neighbour to several other small and short-lived kingdoms in the late 5th century AD and early 6th century, including those of the [[Sciri]], [[Rugii]], Danubian Suebi, and [[Gepids]]. After the conquest of this Heruli kingdom by the [[Lombards]] in 508, splinter groups moved to [[Sweden]], [[Ostrogoth]]ic Italy, and present-day [[Serbia]], which was under [[Eastern Roman empire|Eastern Roman]] control.
The Danubian Heruli are believed to have originally moved from [[Ukraine]] during the late 3rd or early 4th century, where they are generally equated to the "Elouri", who were reported to have lived near the [[Sea of Azov]]. In 267-270 these Elouri took part together with Goths and others in two massive raids into Roman provinces in the [[Balkans]] and [[Aegean Sea]], attacking not only by land, but notably also by sea. The equation of these "ELuRi" with the "ERuLi" was made by several Byzantine authors, and is still widely accepted. However, some scholars such as Ellegård consider this equation uncertain, and have proposed that the Heruli homeland may have actually been elsewhere. For example, because a group of 6th century Heruli moved from the Danube to Scandinavia, some scholars believe that the Heruli had their earliest origins in [[Scandinavia]]. There are also proposals that there were Heruli kingdoms in several parts of Europe, already in the 3rd and 4th century, perhaps with common origins in the north. One proposal, based upon indirect evidence, is that there was a "Western Heruli" settlement based near the [[Lower Rhine]]. One reason for this is that in 286 AD, only a few years after the eastern raids, the Heruli were listed as one of the peoples who were defeated in [[Gaul]] trying to cross the Rhine.
Like their sometime allies the Goths, soon after first being noted in contemporary records as Eastern European raiders, Heruli also began entering the Roman empire and serving in its military, where they developed a particularly notable reputation already in the 4th century, at first mainly in the [[Western Roman Empire]]. A new Heruli unit was stationed in northern Italy. On the other hand, Heruli living near the Roman frontiers were also among the many groups which caused disruption to the empire in this period. The Heruli probably already settled north of the Danube in the 4th century. In 409 AD Heruli were among the "ferocious" nations, mostly from the Danubian area, that [[Jerome|Saint Jerome]] described as occupying all of Roman [[Gaul]]. An important influence upon the movements of such peoples in this period was that the [[Huns]] were moving west. Eventually [[Attila]]'s empire was based in the Danubian region. The Danubian Heruli kingdom known from later records probably already existed in some form within his empire, as did the kingdoms of the [[Ostrogoths]], Sciri, and [[Gepids]].
After the death of Attila in 453, the Danubian Heruli fought in the [[Battle of Nedao]] in 454, although it is not certain which side they took among his various former allies. They also participated in successive conquests of Italy by [[Odoacer]] (476), [[Theoderic the Great]] (493), [[Narses]] (554), and probably also the [[Lombards]] (starting in 568). Under Roman command the Heruli played important military roles in Balkan, African, and Italian conflicts. With their last known kingdom in the Balkans eventually dominated by Rome however, and smaller groups integrated into larger political entities such as the Gepids and Lombards, the Heruli disappear from history around the time of the conquest of Italy by the Lombards. In this period the Middle Danube was coming under the control of the [[Pannonian Avars]].
==Classification==
When first mentioned by [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] authors in the 3rd century AD, the "Elouri" were referred to as "[[Scythians]]", as were the [[Goths]] and other allied tribes.{{sfn|Angelov|2018|p=678}} The use of this term for Heruli and Goths probably began as early as [[Dexippus]], most of whose work is now lost.{{sfn|Zahariade|2010}} The use of this term does not give us any clear linguistic classification.{{sfn|Reynolds|Lopez|1946|p=43 n22|ps=: "the term, of course, had no classificatory significance".}}
In [[late antiquity]], the Gepids, Vandals, Rugii, Sciri, the non-Germanic [[Alans]], and not only the Goths themselves, were all classified by Roman ethnographers as "Gothic" (or "[[Getae|Getic]]") peoples, and modern historians generally consider the Heruli to be one of these.<ref>See for example {{harvtxt|Wolfram|2005|p=77}} and {{harvtxt|Steinacher|2017|p=28}}.</ref> While historians such as [[Walter Goffart]] have pointed out that the Herules are never included in the lists of "Gothic peoples" of [[Procopius]], Mihail Zahariade has pointed out that [[Zonaras]] (12.24.20) stated that the Heruli were of Gothic stock, and he suggests this might be why Latin authors did not distinguish the early Heruli from the Goths as carefully as Greek authors did.<ref>{{harvtxt|Goffart|2006|pp=205–206, 335}} and {{harvtxt|Zahariade|2010|p=167}}</ref>
None of these eastern peoples were considered "[[Germanic peoples|Germanic]]" by Roman ethnographers at the time.{{sfn|Wolfram|2005|p=259}} However, in modern scholarship the Heruli, like other peoples presumed to have spoken a [[Germanic languages|Germanic language]], are usually classified as a Germanic people.<ref name="Wolfram_Definition">{{harvnb|Wolfram|1990|p=592}}. "Heruli, Germanic tr."</ref><ref name="Heather_Chernyakhov"/><ref name="Heather_Germanic">{{harvnb|Heather|2012|p=678}}. "Heruli, a Germanic people...</ref><ref name="Angelov_Germanic">{{harvnb|Angelov|2018|p=715}}. "Heruli. Germanic tribe with possible origins in Scandinavia...</ref> On account of having likely spoken an [[East Germanic language]], such as [[Gothic language|Gothic]], the Heruli are often more specifically classified as an East Germanic people.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2003|p=13}}. "Goths and other East Germanic tribes attracted to this region (including ''Heruli'', Burgundians, Vandals and Gepids)."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Neumann|1999|p=468}}. "[D]ieses ostgerm. Ethnos..."</ref>
===Name===
In English, the plural "Heruli" can also be spelled as Heruls, Herules, or Herulians. The name can be written without "h" in Greek (Ἔρουλοι, 'Erouloi'), Latin (''Eruli''), and English. Whether or not the h-sound was an organic sound is uncertain.{{sfn|Prostko-Prostyński|2021|p=19}}
In the earliest mentions of them in 4th century records, they were called Eluri ('Ερουλοι), with the "L" and "R" reversed compared to later records. This has led to doubts about whether these first "Erouli" from the Sea of Azov were the same people as the later Eruli from the Danube.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=322}} [[Dexippus]] whose writings about these early "Eluri" only survive in fragments, gave their name a Greek etymology, claiming that that they were named after the swamps (ἕλη, ''hélē'') of their Azov homeland.
According to modern scholars the etymology of the name is uncertain but it is thought to be Germanic. More speculatively, it is possibly related to the English word ''[[earl]]'' (see [[erilaz]]) implying that it was an honorific military title.{{sfn|Neumann|1999|p=468}} (This etymology is associated with the speculation that the Heruli were not a normal tribal group but a brotherhood of mobile warriors, though there is no consensus for this old proposal, which is based only on the name etymology and the reputation of Heruli as soldiers.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|pp=359-360}})
There have been proposals which connected this etymology with Germanic words found in [[runes|runic]] inscriptions in Scandinavia signifying a pronunciation ''erilaR'', and there have also been proposals that the word is connected to Germanic words for werewolves and beings with magic powers. None of these proposals can be verified.{{sfn|Prostko-Prostyński|2021|p=20}}
===Language===
The Heruli are believed to have spoken a [[Germanic languages|Germanic language]].<ref name="Heather_Germanic-speaking">{{harvnb|Heather|2007|p=469}}. "Heruli – Germanic-speaking group originally from north central Europe, some of whom migrated to regions north of the Black Sea in company with Goths and others in the 3rd century."</ref> Personal names are one of the only direct sources of evidence for this.{{sfn|Taylor|1999|pp=468-469}} Some attested Heruli names are almost certainly [[Germanic name|Germanic]],<ref name="Maenchen-Helfen_837">{{harvnb|Maenchen-Helfen|1947|pp=837–838}}. "[[:de:Moritz Schönfeld|Schönfeld]]... offers Germanic etymologies not only for Faras and Alvith but also for Fanotheus, Filimuth, Hariso, Sindval, Svartva, Uligangus, and Visandus. Other Germanic names of the Heruli, not listed in Schönfeld, are Sindila, Batemodus, and Cunthia. Like the Heruli the Rugi were... most certainly a Germanic tribe... The Heruli and Rugians were Germans. So were the Scirians as proved by the names of their leaders."</ref>{{sfn|Goffart|2006|pp=335}} and similar to [[Gothic language|Gothic]] names, but a large number are not easily attributed to any specific language family.<ref>{{harvnb|Taylor|1999|pp=468-469}}: "Aufschluß über die Sprache der H. geben nur die Namen, von denen die lat. und griech. Qu. eindeutig berichten, daß sie von H.n geführt wurden. Diejenigen, die problemlos etymologisierbar sind, lassen sich im Hinblick auf diagnostische Dialektmerkmale nicht von got. Namen derselben Zeit unterscheiden. Dies kann jedoch auf einer sekundären Gotisierung in S-Europa sowie auf lat. und griech. Schreibgewohnheiten beruhen und braucht eine skand. Herkunft nicht auszuschließen."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Reynolds|Lopez|1946|p=42}}: "It may be granted that the Heruls apparently were Germanic despite the fact that most of the personal names of their leaders baffle German philologist"; " We find among the Heruls an Ochus, which appears Iranian; an Aordus which appears to be based on the name of the Sarmatian Aorsi; and even a Verus, which is quite Roman. Names which "sound" perhaps Dacian were Andonnoballus, Datius, Faras, Alvith, for which neither Forstemann nor Schoenfeld offers a Germanic etymology or can offer one only on the supposition that Greek sources misspelled the name. Only Halaricus, Rodvulf, and Fulcaris yield results to Germanic etymology".</ref>
Given their association with the Goths, the Heruli may have spoken an [[East Germanic languages|East Germanic language]], related to the [[Gothic language]].<ref name="MR_5">{{harvnb|Murdoch|Read|2004|p=5}}. "The Germani may be split into groups in a variety of ways. Tacitus speaks of Ingaevones, Herminones and Istaevones, which philologists have tried to associate with tribal and linguistic subdivisions. Other distinctions, based on the supposed geographical origins of various tribal groups, divided them into Nordgermanen (who would develop into the various Scandinavian peoples) and Oder-Weichsel-Germanen (those originating around the Oder and the Vistula, and including Goths and a number of tribes with un-or only scantily recorded languages, such as the Burgundians, Herulians, Rugians, Vandals and Gepids). The languages of these two broad groups are usually referred to as North and East Germanic, and are linked more closely with each other than with the third, West Germanic group, made up of Elbgermanen (Lombards, Bavarians and Alemanni or Alemans — again the spelling varies), Nordseegermanen (Angles, Frisians, Saxons) and Weser- Rhein-Germanen (Saxons and Franks)."</ref><ref name="MR_149">{{harvnb|Murdoch|Read|2004|p=149}}. "Gothic is associated with other so-called East Germanic languages spoken by tribes such as the Burgundians, the Vandals and the Gepids (classical historians group them with the Goths), the Herulians, and the Rugians."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Kaliff|Munkhammar|2011|p=12}}. "East Germanic languages (those of the Burgundians, Gepids, Heruli, Rugians, Sciri and Vandals)."</ref> Alternatively however, given their proposed connections to Scandinavia, it has also been proposed that they spoke a [[North Germanic]] language.{{sfn|Taylor|1999|p=469}}
==History==
===Possible Scandinavian origins===
[[File:Scandza.PNG|thumb|right|Map of [[Scandza]] based upon one interpretation of [[Jordanes]], with the [[Småland|Herulian homeland]] located in the south of Sweden or on the Danish isles.]]
Although contemporary records locate the Heruli first near the Sea of Azov, and later on the Middle Danube, their ultimate origins are traditionally sought in [[Scandinavia]].<ref name="Angelov_Germanic"/><ref name="Green_131">{{harvnb|Green|2000|p=131}}. "[T]he Heruli who in the course of their migrations sent a party back to Scandinavia for a king from amongst the members of their royal family who had remained behind."</ref>{{sfn|Speidel|2004|p=44}}{{sfn|Ellegård|1987}} The Heruli are thus commonly believed to have migrated from the [[Baltic Sea]] to the [[Black Sea]] before the 3rd century AD. In line with this, their Black Sea neighbours the Goths, and their Danubian neighbours [[Rugii]], are both believed to have had their origins on the southern Baltic shore, and there are proposals that their ultimate origins were in Scandinavia. The idea that they came from regions near the Baltic is consistent with the fact that many of these peoples, such as the Goths, spoke [[Germanic languages]], and these originated near the Baltic.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=116}}
The source of the idea that such peoples specifically came from Scandinavia is the 6th century historian [[Jordanes]], who was based in Constantinople. He believed that the Goths and Gepids both came from Scandinavia many centuries before his time, which he described as "like a workshop or even better the womb of nations" (''quasi officina gentium aut certe velut vagina nationum''). [[Origin stories of the Goths|This narrative]] was extremely influential for later writers. Jordanes also made specific remarks concerning the Heruli, but these have been more difficult to interpret. He said that the Heruli had been driven out of their own settlements in Scandinavia by the [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danes]] (''Herulos propriis sedibus expulerunt'').{{sfn|Jordanes|1908|p=III (23)}} This is interpreted by various scholars in at least two different ways.{{sfn|Prostko-Prostyński|2021|p=24}}
*The expulsion happened centuries before Jordanes, and the Heruli origins are ultimately in present-day Denmark or southern Sweden.{{sfn|Goffart|2006|pp=205-209}}{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|pp=148-152}}
*This expulsion from Scandinavia was not long before Jordanes, and at least some of the expelled Heruli were themselves recent immigrants to Scandinavia, from the Danube. (Historians also note that Jordanes also mentions Rugii in the same passage about Scandinavia. The Rugii on the Danube, old neighbours of the Heruli, had also been recently lost their kingdom there to the Lombards.) This possibility still leaves debate open about whether the ultimate origins of the Heruli were in Scandinavia.{{sfn|Prostko-Prostyński|2021|pp=27,186}}
The evidence for this second possibility is that [[Procopius]], a contemporary of Jordanes, recounted a migration by sixth-century Heruli noblemen to Scandinavia ("[[Thule]]") from the Middle Danube, where their kingdom had been destroyed by the Lombards.<ref name="Procopius_VI_XVI"/> Apparently aligning with the story of Jordanes, when other expatriates from the Danubian kingdom established themselves to the south, in the Balkans and needed a king, they sent embassy to the Scandinavian Heruli and returned with one.<ref name="Procopius_VI_XVI">{{harvnb|Procopius|1914|p=}}, [[:Wikisource:History of the Wars/Book VI#XV|Book VI, XV]]</ref>
While a migration to Scandinavia can itself be seen as evidence of an old and continuous connection between the Heruli and Scandinavia, some scholars are sceptical of this interpretation, noting that Procopius specifically says that the Heruli who moved to Scandinavia left the "home of their ancestors".{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|pp=148-152}}{{sfn|Goffart|2006|pp=205-209}} In contrast, in 2021 Prostko-Prostyński argued that there is "no doubt" about Scandinavian origins. Even though Procopius does not explicitly mention it, "it is hard to assume they ventured so far north without a reason of such nature".{{sfn|Prostko-Prostyński|2021|pp=27,186}} In his review of Prostko-Prostyński, Roland Steinacher asserts that this is debatable.{{sfn|Steinacher|2022}}
Ellegård, one of the scholars who argued that the expulsion involved immigrants whose real homeland was on the Danube, wrote that "the only thing we can say with reasonable certainty is that a small group of Eruli lived there [in Scandinavia] for some 38-40 years in the first half of the 6th century AD".
More controversially, Ellegård proposed that the evidence makes it most likely that the Heruli were "a loose group of Germanic warriors which came into being in the late 3rd century in the region north of the Danube limes that extends roughly from Passau to Vienna".{{sfn|Ellegård|1987}} This proposal has not been widely accepted.
===On the Pontic-Caspian steppe===
In 267/268 and 269/270 Graeco-Roman writers described two major campaigns by the "Eluri" into the Balkans and Aegean, which were among the last and biggest such seaborne raids from the northern Black Sea coast starting in the 250s.{{sfn|Prostko-Prostyński|2021|pp=32-34}} They are normally equated to the later Danubian Heruli.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=124}} Although doubts have been raised about this link,{{sfn|Ellegård|1987}} the ''[[Augustan History]]'' written in the late 4th century, [[Jordanes]] in the 6th century, and [[George Syncellus]] around 800 all equated them with the Heruli known in later times.{{sfn|Schwarcz|2020|p=394}}
During these raids, Goths, Eluri, and other "Scythian" peoples took control of [[Black Sea]] Greek cities, and gained a fleet that they used to launch raids starting in the [[Black Sea]] itself, and going as far as Greece and [[Asia Minor]]. Although some historians in the past doubted whether there were really two invasions so close together, these invasions began in the reign of [[Gallienus]] (260-268 AD), and continued until at least 269 during the reign of [[Claudius Gothicus|Marcus Aurelius Claudius]], who subsequently took up the title "Gothicus" due to his victory.{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|pp=55-66}}{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|pp=322-327}}{{sfn|Schwarcz|2020|p=393}}
In 267, a Heruli fleet departed from the Sea of Azov, past the Danube delta, and into the straits of the [[Bosphorus]]. They took control of [[Byzantion]]{{efn|the area of modern [[Istanbul]]}} and [[Üsküdar|Chrysopolis]] before retreating to the Black Sea. Emerging to raid [[Cyzicus]], they subsequently entered the Aegean Sea, where they troubled [[Lemnos]], [[Skyros]] and [[Imbros]], before landing in the [[Peloponnese]]. There they plundered not only [[Sparta]], the closest city to their landing site, but also [[Corinth]], [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], and the sanctuary of Zeus at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]]. Still within 267 they reached [[Athens]], where local militias had to defend the city. It seems to have been the Heruli specifically who [[Sack of Athens (267 AD)|sacked Athens]] despite the construction of a new wall, during [[Valerian (emperor)|Valerian]]’s reign only a generation earlier. This was the occasion for a famous defense made by [[Dexippus]], whose writings were a source for later historians.{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|pp=58-60}}
Further north, in 268, Gallienus defeated Heruli at the [[Nestos (river)|river Nestos]] using a new mobile cavalry, but as part of the surrender a Herulian chief named Naulobatus became the first barbarian known from written records to receive [[imperial insignia]] from the Romans, gaining the rank of a [[Roman consul]]. It is highly likely that these defeated Heruli were then made part of the Roman military.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=324}}{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|p=62}}
Recent researchers such as Steinacher now have increased confidence that there was a distinct second campaign which began in 269, and ended in 270.<ref>Also see {{harvtxt|Zahariade|2010}}.</ref> Later Roman writers reported that thousands of ships left from the mouth of the [[Dnieper]], manned by a large force of various different "Scythian" peoples, including [[Peucini|Peuci]], [[Greutungi]], [[Ostrogoths|Austrogothi]], [[Tervingi]], [[Vesi]], [[Gepids]], "[[Celts]]", and Heruli. These forces divided into two parts in the [[Hellespont]]. One force attacked [[Thessaloniki]], and against this group the Romans, led by Claudius now, had a major victory at the [[Battle of Naissus]] ([[Niš]], [[Serbia]]) in 269. This was apparently a distinct battle from that at the Nessos. A Herulian chieftain named Andonnoballus is said to have switched to the Roman side, and this was once again a case where Heruli appear to have joined the Roman military. The second group sailed south and raided [[Rhodes]], [[Crete]], and [[Cyprus]] and many Goths and Heruli managed to return safely to harbor in the [[Crimea]]. Lesser attacks continued until 276.{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|pp=63-65}}{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|pp=326-327}}
The Heruli are believed to have formed part of the [[Chernyakhov culture]],{{sfn|Green|2000|p=1}} which, although dominated by the Goths and other Germanic peoples,<ref name="Heather_Chernyakhov">{{harvnb|Heather|1994|p=87}}. "[S]ome of the territory covered by the Sîntana de Mureş–Černjachov culture may have been controlled not by Goths but by related Germanic peoples, such as the Heruli."</ref> also included [[Bastarnae]], [[Dacians]] and [[Carpi (people)|Carpi]].{{sfn|Green|2000|p=137}} The Heruli are thus archaeologically indistinguishable from the Goths.{{sfn|Green|2000|p=1}}{{sfn|Heather|1994|p=87}}
Jordanes reports that these Heruli of the Azov area in the late 4th century AD were conquered by [[Ermanaric]], king of the Greuthungi Goths.{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|pp=77-80}}{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|pp=331–333}}{{sfn|Jordanes|1908|p=XXIII (116)}} Ermanaric's realm may also have included [[Baltic Finns|Finns]], [[Slavs]], [[Alans]] and [[Sarmatians]].{{sfn|Green|2000|p=137}} Before being conquered by Ermanaric, Jordanes says that the Heruli were led by a king named Alaric.{{sfn|Jordanes|1908|p=XXIII (116)}} [[Herwig Wolfram]] has suggested that the future [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] king [[Alaric I]] may have been named after this Herulian king.{{sfn|Heather|1994|p=33}}
===The "western" Heruli of the 4th century===
{{Also|Heruli (military unit)}}
[[File:Heruli seniores shield pattern.svg|right|thumb|The shield pattern of the ''[[Heruli seniores]]'', a [[Late Roman military]] unit composed of Heruli.]]
As with their neighbours the Goths, Heruli were already seen in western Europe before the empire of Attila, both as raiders and as soldiers working under Roman authority. They first appear at the time of their first ambitious campaigns in the east. In 286 [[Claudius Mamertinus]] reported the victory of [[Maximian]] over a group of Heruli and Chaibones (known only from this one report{{efn|The Chaibones may have been [[Aviones]], according to Neumann, ''Namenstudien zum Altgermanischen'', p. 316.}}) attacking Gaul. Further reports of the Heruli in the west continue in the 4th century and based on this there is a proposal that there was a distinct Western kingdom of Heruli living near the Lower Rhine, who were not descended from the Heruli who lived in the Black Sea.{{sfn|Goffart|2006|p=206}}{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=328}}
Already before the time of Attila the Romans established a Herulian auxiliary unit in the Western Roman Empire, and it has been argued that this implies that they were already settled somewhere within the empire. The ''Heruli seniores'' were stationed in northern Italy. This ''numerus Erulorum'' was a lightly-equipped unit often associated with the [[Batavi (Germanic tribe)|Batavi]]an ''Batavi seniores''. If there was ever a regiment called ''Heruli iuniores'', then it is possible it was based in the Eastern Roman empire and it may have been one of the units which ceased to exist after the [[Battle of Adrianople]] in 378.{{sfn|Liccardo|2024|p=291}}
*In about 314, the Heruli (like the Sciri and Rugii) were already listed in the ''[[Laterculus Veronensis]]'' as one of the barbarian peoples living within the Roman empire. Ellegård argues that this and other 4th century sources indicate that several of Attila's future allies in the Middle Danube were already established in the 4th century. He proposes that the Heruli were already based somewhere between Passau and Vienna.{{sfn|Ellegård|1987|p=22}} Liccardo has however criticized Ellegård's interpretation of the evidence, noting that they are placed (together with the Rugii) between the northern British Barbarians and the tribes of the Lower Rhine.{{sfn|Liccardo|2024|p=297}}
*In 360, [[Constantius II]] ordered the future emperor [[Julian the Apostate]], who then had command of forces in Gaul, to send some of his best units including the Heruli, Batavi, and others, for fighting against the Parthians in the Middle East.The records about this imply that the Heruli were a unit who had left their homes east of the Rhine, which Ellegård thinks is consistent with a base near Passau, while Liccardo emphasizes that it implies that they now lived west of the Rhine.{{sfn|Liccardo|2024|pp=292-293}}{{sfn|Ellegård|1987|p=20}}
*In 366 the Batavian and Heruli units fought against the [[Alamanni]] near the Rhine, under the leadership of [[Charietto]], who died in the battle, and then against [[Picts]] and [[Scoti]] in Britain. They were subsequently sent to fight [[Parthia]]ns in the east.{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|p=67}}{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|pp=326-328}}
*In 405 or 406, a large number of barbarian groups [[Crossing of the Rhine|crossed the Rhine]], entering Roman Gaul, and the Heruli appear in the list of peoples given by the historian [[Jerome]]. However, this list is sometimes thought to have drawn on historical lists for literary effect. Furthermore the list included many of the Middle Danubian peoples from the East, including Roman provincials from Pannonia, and was already in the period where the Huns were causing major movements of such peoples.
*In 435 the Heruli are mentioned by Sidonius Apollinaris (Letter 7, lines 23-240) among the troops which [[Flavius Aëtius|Aëtius]], who had spent time in exile with the Danubian Huns, used to defend [[Gallia Belgica]], a Roman province, from [[Burgundians]]. (At least some of his troops such as the [[Sarmatians]] apparently came from Eastern Europe.){{sfn|Steinacher|2017|p=93}}
Ellegård argues that the association with the Batavi in this period should be seen not as a connection to the Lower Rhine, the original home of the Batavi unit centuries earlier, but to their quarters in this period which were at [[Passau]] (''Castra Batava'') on the Danube, not far from where the Heruli would later have their kingdom.{{sfn|Ellegård|1987|p=21}} Liccardo argues that even though "units were moved around and over time tended to lose any ethnic or geographical homogeneity" they could still give hints about the origins of ethnic groups.{{sfn|Liccardo|2024|p=292}}
At least two much later mentions of Heruli in southwestern Europe, after the Heruli were established on the Middle Danube, and in parts of Italy, can be connected to the Visigoths who had been granted a kingdom by the Romans in what is now southwestern France, but have also been taken to imply the existence of Heruli based on the North Sea coast, for example near the Lower Rhine. Firstly, two sea raids were made by Heruli around coastal Spain in the 450s, as reported by [[Hydatius]]. Secondly, shortly after 475 Sidonius Apollinaris reported the presence of Heruli at the Visigothic court of [[Euric]] in Bordeaux.{{sfn|Goffart|2006|p=206}}<ref>[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/sidonius_letters_08book8.htm Letters 8.9]</ref> They are listed in a poetic way together with other barbarians, from places as distant as [[Parthia]], who Sidonius found looking for protection and patronage.
{|
!style="width: 50%;" |Latin
!style="width: 50%;" |English
|-
|''hic glaucis Herulus genis vagatur,''
|Here wanders the Herulian with his blue-grey cheeks,
|-
|''  imos '''Oceani''' colens recessus algoso prope concolor profundo.''
|who dwells in the uttermost retreats of '''Ocean''' and is almost of one colour with its algae-filled depths.
|}
Particularly striking in this passage is the implication that the Heruli homeland is on the "Ocean". More generally the connection of these Heruli with the sea, so far to the west, is sometimes taken as evidence that these Heruli were not from the Danube or Black Sea. Steinacher on the other hand argues that the poetic references of Sidonius linking the Heruli to the sea, might be "nothing more than a bookish reference to 3rd-century accounts of Herules" who attacked form the Black Sea.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=329}} Recent scholars such as Steinacher and Halsall have furthermore pointed out that this evidence of Heruli in Visigothic territory is consistent with the conflicts within the Roman empire during this period, and therefore do not prove that these Heruli were not from the Black Sea or Danube. Halsall, for example, writes that it "must at least be a possibility" that the Herulian raids in Spain during this period "constituted part of a Romano-Visigothic offensive against the [[Kingdom of the Suebi|Sueves]]". These [[Suebi]], themselves from central Europe, had recently established a kingdom on the northern coast of Spain, and the Visigoths coordinated with Rome against them.{{sfn|Halsall|2007|p=260}} On the other hand, scholars such as Liccardo emphasize that Sidonius lists the Herulians with Saxons, Franks and Burgundians as if they were subjects or supplicants from Gaul.{{sfn|Liccardo|2024|p=294}}
Finally the 6th century correspondence of Theoderic the Great preserved in ''Variae'' of [[Cassiodorus]] does not give any information about the location of the homeland of the Heruli kingdom. This leaves open the possibility that the recipient of the letter was the Middle Danubian kingdom of the Heruli. Proponents of a distinct Western Herulian kingdom near the Rhine note that the letter was also sent to the kings of the [[Thuringians]] and [[Warini]] quite far to the north of the Danube, and more directly threatened by the Franks who are discussed in the letter, while opponents emphasize that Theoderic was clearly concerned with a large part of central Europe, and that the Franks did in reality quickly make inroads towards the Middle Danubian region which threatens Italy.<ref>See for example {{harvtxt|Liccardo|2024|p=294}}, {{harvtxt|Steinacher|2017|pp=73,140}}, and {{harvtxt|Steinacher|2010|pp=328-330,348}}.</ref>
===Kingdom on the Middle Danube===
[[File:Huns450.png|thumb|upright=1|Approximate territory under Hunnic control in 450 AD]]
As already mentioned, the ''Laterculus Veronensis'' shows that Heruli and Rugii were already present somewhere in western Europe in about 314. Similar listings from later in the 4th century, the ''Cosmographia'' of [[Julius Honorius]], and probably also the ''Liber Generationis'', both listed the Heruli near the [[Marcomanni]] and [[Quadi]] who are known from many records to have lived until the 4th century in the region north of the Danube, where the Herule kingdom would later be found.{{sfn|Ellegård|1987|p=22}}{{sfn|Liccardo|2024|pp=296-298}}
In the late 4th century, large groups of Eastern European peoples including most notably the Goths and Alans, crossed the Lower Danube into the Roman empire, while others entered the Middle Danubian region, between the [[Carpathians]] and the Roman empire. The Huns and their allies also moved east and began established themselves near the Danube around 400. The Roman military was weakened and increased reliant upon barbarian forces. They were also internally divided with a rebel emperor in Gaul, [[Constantine III (Western Roman emperor)|Constantine III]], and open conflict between the Western and Eastern empires in the Balkans. In 405/6, large numbers of "ferocious" peoples including the Heruli, Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alans, Gepids, Saxons, Burgundians, and Alemanni, together with provincial inhabitants of Roman [[Pannonia]], are reported by Saint Jerome to have [[Crossing of the Rhine|crossed the Rhine]] and occupied all parts of Roman [[Gaul]]. Several of these such as the Vandals, Alans, Saxons and Burgundians are known to have permanently settled in different parts of Roman Gaul and Iberia. Also in 405/6, the Gothic king [[Radagaisus]] invaded Italy itself from Pannonia, occupying Roman forces there.{{sfn|Goffart|2006|loc=Ch.5}}
By 450 AD, the Heruli and the other peoples still in the Middle Danube area, including Gepids, Rugi, [[Sciri]] and many Goths, Alans and Sarmatians, were firmly part of the Hunnic empire of [[Attila]].{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=208}} Although they were not specifically listed by Sidonius or Jordanes, Heruli are believed to have been among the peoples who fought at the [[Battle of the Catalaunian Plains]] between the Romans and Attila, possibly on both sides.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=334}}{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|p=93}} As indirect evidence, centuries later [[Pauls Diaconus]] listed the subject peoples who Attila could call upon in addition to the better known Goths and Gepids: "Marcomanni, Suebi, Quadi, and alongside them the Herules, Thuringi and Rugii".{{sfn|Prostko-Prostyński|2021|pp=63-64}}
After the death of Attila in 453, his sons lost power over the various peoples of his empire after the [[Battle of Nedao]] in 454. Heruli who were possibly on the winning side with the [[Gepids]], were subsequently among the several peoples now able to consolidate a kingdom on the Danube. It lay north of modern [[Vienna]] and [[Bratislava]], near the [[Morava (river)|Morava]] river, and possibly extending as far east as the [[Little Carpathians]]. They ruled over a mixed population including Suevi, Huns and Alans.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=340}} Compared to other Middle Danubian kingdoms in this period, Peter Heather has described this Heruli kingdom as "middle-sized", similar to the [[Rugii|Rugian]] one, but "clearly not as militarily powerful, say, as the Gothic, Lombard, or Gepid confederations which generated much longer-lived political entities, and into which elements of the Rugi and Heruli were eventually absorbed".{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=242}}
From this region the life story of [[Severinus of Noricum]] reports that the Heruli attacked Ioviaco near [[Passau]] in 480.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=340}} The Heruli are listed by Jordanes as having fought at the Battle of Nedao, but we do not know if they took the Gepid or Ostrogothic side. However, they benefited from the subsequent downfall of Odoacer's people the Sciri, and were able established control on the Roman (south) side of the Danube, north of [[Lake Balaton]] in modern Hungary when they were apparently able to take over the kingdoms of the Suevi and Sciri, who had been under pressure from the Ostrogoths, who continued to press their old allies from the south.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=341}}
[[Odoacer]], the commander of the Imperial ''[[foederati]]'' troops who deposed the last [[Western Roman Empire|Western Roman]] Emperor [[Romulus Augustus]] in 476 AD came to be seen as king over several of the Danubian peoples including the Heruli, and the Heruli were strongly associated with his Italian kingdom. The Heruli on the Danube also took control of the Rugian territories, as they had become competitors to Odoacer and been defeated by him in 488. However Heruli suffered badly in Italy, as loyalists of Odoacer, when he was defeated by the Ostrogoth [[Theoderic]].
By 500 the Herulian kingdom on the Danube, apparently by now under a king named [[Rodulf (petty king)#King of the Heruls|Rodulph]], had made peace with Theoderic and become his allies.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=338-345}} [[Paul the Deacon]] also mentions Heruli living in Italy under Ostrogothic rule.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=347}} Peter Heather estimates that the Herulian kingdom could muster an army of 5,000-10,000 men.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=251}}
[[File:Southeastern Europe in 520, showing the Byzantine Empire under Justin I and the Ostrogothic kingdom.png|thumb|Polities in southeastern Europe c.500 AD before the Lombard destruction of the Herulian kingdom]]
Theoderic's efforts to build a system of alliances in Western Europe were made difficult both by counter diplomacy, for example between [[Merovingians|Merovingian]] [[Franks]] and the [[Byzantine empire]], and also the arrival of a new Germanic people into the Danubian region, the [[Lombards]] who were initially under Herule hegemony. The Herulian king Rodulph lost his kingdom to the Lombards at some point between 494 and 508.{{sfn|Sarantis|2010|p=366}}
===Later history===
After the Middle Danubian Herulian kingdom was destroyed by the [[Lombards]] in or before 508, Herulian fortunes waned. According to [[Procopius]], in 512 a group including royalty went north and settled in [[Thule]], which for Procopius meant Scandinavia.{{sfn|Goffart|2006|pp=205-209}} Procopius noted that these Heruli first traversed the lands of the [[Slavs]], then empty lands, and then the lands of the [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danes]], until finally settling down nearby the [[Geats]].{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=430}}<ref name="Procopius_VI_XVI"/> Peter Heather considers this account to be "entirely plausible" although he notes that others have labelled it a "fairy story", and given that it only appears in one source it is possible to deny its validity.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=242}}
Another Heruli group were assigned civil and military offices by [[Theoderic the Great]] in [[Pavia]] in north Italy.{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|p=144}}
What happened to the main part of the Danubian Heruli has been difficult to reconstruct from Procopius, but according to Steinacher they first moved downstream on the Danube to an area where the Rugii had sought refuge in 488. Here they suffered famine. They sought refuge among the Gepids, but wanting to avoid being mistreated by them crossed the Danube came under East Roman authority.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=350}}{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|pp=144-145}}
[[Anastasius I (emperor)|Anastasius Caesar]] allowed them to resettle depopulated "lands and cities" in the empire in 512. Modern scholars debate whether they were moved then to [[Singidunum]] (modern [[Belgrade]]), or first to [[Bassianae]], and to Singidunum some decades later, by Justinian.{{sfn|Sarantis|2010|p=369}} This area had been re-acquired by the empire from the Goths, who now ruled Italy from Ravenna.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|pp=350-351}} Justinian integrated them into the empire as a buffer between the Romans and the more independent Lombards and Gepids to the north. Under his encouragement, the Herule king Grepes converted to Orthodox Christianity in 528 together with some nobles and twelve relatives.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|pp=351-352}} Procopius who felt that this made them somewhat gentler, also showed in his account of the wars against the African Vandals, that some of them were [[Arianism|Arian]] Christians.{{sfn|Sarantis|2010|p=372}}
The Heruli were often mentioned during the times of [[Justinian]], who used them in his extensive military campaigns in many countries including Italy, Syria, and North Africa. [[Pharas the Herulian|Pharas]] was a notable Herulian commander during this period. Several thousand Heruli served in the personal guard of [[Belisarius]] throughout the campaigns, and [[Narses]] also recruited from them. They were a participant in the [[Byzantine-Sasanian wars]].
Grepes and most of his family had apparently died by the early 540s, possibly in the [[Plague of Justinian]] (541-542).{{sfn|Goffart|2006|p=209}}{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|p=147}} [[Procopius]] related that in the 540s the Heruli who had been settled in the Roman Balkans killed their own king Ochus and, not wanting the one assigned by the emperor, Suartuas, they made contact with the Heruli who had gone to Thule decades earlier, seeking a new king. Their first choice fell sick and died when they had come to the country of the Dani, and a second choice was made. The new king Datius arrived with his brother Aordus and 200 young men.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=225}}{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|pp=354-355}} The Heruli who were sent against Suartuas defected with him and were supported by the empire. The supporters of Datius, two thirds of the Heruli, submitted to the Gepids.{{sfn|Goffart|2006|p=209}} This period of rebellion against Rome lasted approximately 545–548, the period immediately before conflict between their larger neighbours the Gepids and Lombards broke out, but this rebellion was repressed by Justinian.{{sfn|Sarantis|2010|pp=393-397}}
In 549, when the Gepids fought the Romans, and Heruli fought on both sides.{{sfn|Sarantis|2010|p=394}} In any case after one generation in the Belgrade area, the Herulian federate polity in the Balkans disappears from the surviving historical records, apparently replaced by the incoming [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]].{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|pp=354-355}}
Peter Heather has written that:
{{blockquote|by c.540 being a Herule had ceased to be the main determinant of individual behaviour; the Heruli had ceased to operate together on the basis of that shared heritage, and different Heruli were adopting different strategies for survival in the new political conditions which even caused them to fight on opposing sides. After c.540, we still find small groups called Heruli fighting for the East Romans in Italy, and it is noticeable that the Roman commanders were careful to appoint for them leaders of their own race. Thus some sense of identity probably remained. That said, we are clearly dealing with a few fragments of the original group, and, in the prevailing circumstances, Herule identity had no future.{{sfn|Heather|1998|p=109}}}}
Sarantis however shows that the Belgrade-region Heruli continued to be recruited, and to play a role in local conflicts involving the Gepids and Lombards, into the 550s. Suartas, a Herule general for the Romans, led Herule forces against the Gepids in 552 for example.{{sfn|Sarantis|2010|p=385}} However it appears that by this period the semi-independent Heruli near Belgrade became Roman provincials.{{sfn|Sarantis|2010|p=402}}
In 566, Sinduald, a Herule military leader under Narses, was declared a king of Heruli in [[Trentino]] in northern Italy, but he was executed by Narses. Sinduald was said to be a descendant of the Herules who had already entered Italy under Odoacer.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=355}}{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|p=159}}
[[Paul the Deacon]] writes that many Heruli joined the Lombard king [[Alboin]] in their eventual conquest of Italy from the empire in the late 6th century AD.{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=240}}
Along with the Rugii and Sciri, the Heruli may have contributed to the formation of the [[Bavarii]].{{sfn|Green|2000|p=321}}
==Culture==
===Political culture===
While there is very little detailed information available, historical sources name six kings of the Danubian Herules, from the first half of the 6th century. Unlike their neighbours the Goths and Gepids, they appear to have had a limited role, and some of the military leaders who fought under the Romans are better known. Based mainly on the remarks of Procopius it appears they did not necessarily make all decisions, but they were expected to play a partly symbolic role in leading their people in battle, and representing them in dealings with other peoples and empires. Procopius suggests that the Herulian kings were often challenged and could be deposed if they failed to meet the expectations of their people.{{sfn|Banfi|2022}}
===Religion===
The early religion of the Heruli is vividly described by Procopius in his ''[[:wikisource:History of the Wars|History of the Wars]]''. He describes them as a [[polytheism|polytheistic]] society known to practice [[human sacrifice]].{{sfn|Davidson|1990|p=54}}<ref name="Procopius_VI_XIV">{{harvnb|Procopius|1914|p=}}, [[:Wikisource:History of the Wars/Book VI#XIV|Book VI, XIV]]</ref> The Heruli appear to have been worshippers of [[Odin]], and might have been responsible for the spread of such worship to [[Northern Europe]].{{sfn|Davidson|1990|p=148}}
By the time of Justinian, Procopius reports that many Heruli were [[Arian]] Christians. In any case, Justinian appears to have pursued a policy of converting them to orthodox [[Chalcedonian Christianity]].{{sfn|Sarantis|2010|p=372}}
===Society===
Procopius writes that the Heruli practiced a form of [[senicide]], having a non-relative kill the sick and elderly and burning the remains on a wooden [[pyre]].{{sfn|Davidson|1990|p=54}}<ref name="Procopius_VI_XIV"/> Procopius also states that, following the death of their husbands, Herulian women were expected to commit suicide by hanging.{{sfn|Davidson|1990|p=67}}<ref name="Procopius_VI_XIV"/>
{{blockquote|They are still, however, faithless toward them ''[the Romans]'', and since they are given to avarice, they are eager to do violence to their neighbours, feeling no shame at such conduct. And they mate in an unholy manner, especially men with asses, and they are the basest of all men and utterly abandoned rascals.<ref name="Procopius_VI_XIV"/>}}
The translated ''"especially men with asses"'' is from the original Greek text (provided next to Dewing's translation) ''"ἂλλας τε καί ἀνδρῶν καί ὄνων"''<ref name="Procopius_VI_XIV"/> where ''ὄνων'' is genitive plural of ''[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%BD%84%CE%BD%CE%BF%CF%82#Ancient_Greek ὄνος]'', meaning ''donkeys''.
It appears that Procopius disliked the Heruli and wanted to present them in as negative light as possible. His description of bestiality among the Heruli is almost certainly untrue.{{sfn|Bremmer|1992|pp=58-59}}
===Warfare===
The Heruli were famous for the quality of their infantry, who were recruited as mercenaries by all other peoples.{{sfn|Jordanes|1908|p=XXIII (117-118)}} They were known particularly for their speed, and were perhaps used for the stabbing cavalry.{{sfn|Speidel|2004|p=136}} Procopius described the Heruli in the [[Battle of Anglon]] against Persians, carrying no protective armor save a shield and thick jacket.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=353}}{{sfn|Davidson|1990|p=67}}<ref name="Procopius_II_XXV">{{harvnb|Procopius|1914|p=}}, [[:Wikisource:History of the Wars/Book II#XXV|Book II, XXV]]</ref> This form of warfare has been compared to that of the [[berserker]]s of the [[Viking Age]].{{sfn|Speidel|2004|pp=58-61}}
Herulian slaves are known to have accompanied the Herules into combat. Slaves were forbidden from donning a shield until having proven themselves brave on the battlefield. This practice might be a relic of ancient [[Indo-European culture|Indo-European]] tradition.{{sfn|Bremmer|1992|pp=58-59}} Steinacher has pointed out that, while this remark has reasonably been seen as evidence of an "initiation rite", initiation rites are so common that caution is required:
{{blockquote|It is of course far from clear exactly what Procopius had in mind when writing about Herul 'slaves'. But he surely provided plenty of evidence that any gens was open to newcomers. As in any other human community, both in the past and in the present, such newcomers had to prove themselves worthy before receiving full membership in that community. This must have been even truer for a community geared towards warfare.{{sfn|Steinacher|2010|p=360}}}}
===Material culture===
The [[tumuli]] of the Heruli on the Middle Danube in the early 6th century are very similar to contemporary tumuli built in southern Sweden.{{sfn|Christie|1995|p=29}} At this time, the Heruli appears to have had close trade relations with peoples living near the [[Baltic Sea]].{{sfn|Christie|1995|p=29}}
==Physical appearance==
In ''[[Getica]]'', Jordanes writes that the Heruli claimed to be the [[human height|tallest]] people of [[Scandza]]. Jordanes further writes that all the peoples of Scandza "surpassed the Germans in size and spirit".{{sfn|Jordanes|1908|p=III (23)}} [[Sidonius Apollinaris]] wrote that the Heruli had [[blue eyes|blue]]-[[grey eyes|grey]] eyes.{{sfn|Heather|2007|p=423}}
==The negative excursus of Procopius==
Scholars remark that the historian Procopius had a notable fascination with the Herules, which colors his descriptions of them. As Steinacher remarks, "Procopius's Herul excursus [...] is full of stereotypes and negative attitudes towards this primitive people and its archaic conventions".{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|p=349}} This means that caution is required when using his descriptions as evidence. In the words of [[Walter Goffart]]:
{{blockquote|Though appreciative of their military qualities, he goes out of his way to blacken their character - "they are the basest of all men and utterly abandoned rascals," "no men in the world are less bound by convention or more unstable." His low opinion may result from the "special relationship" the Herules appear to have had with Justinian's eunuch general, [[Narses]], who Procopius disliked.<ref>{{harvtxt|Goffart|2006|pp=206–207}}</ref>}}
Although Procopius praised the Herule named Pharas who brought about the surrender of the north African Vandal king [[Gelimer]], he noted that ''despite'' being born a Herule, he did not drink excessively and was not unreliable.{{sfn|Steinacher|2017|p=168}}
{{blockquote|Procopius was not mollified. The Herules were part of the panorama of an entire "West" that, owing to Justinian's neglect, had come into the possession of the barbarians by the late 540s. [...] The crowning irony, in the historian's view, was that, because some Herules served as Roman ''foederati'', they both plundered Roman subjects and collected pay from the Roman emperor.<ref>{{harvtxt|Goffart|2006|p=208}}</ref>}}
==Places sacked by the Heruli==
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order ♦♦♦--->
*[[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]]
*[[Athens]]
*[[Byzantium]]
*[[Corinth]]
*[[Üsküdar#Chrysopolis|Chrysopolis]]
*[[Heraclea Pontica]]
*[[Lemnos]]
*[[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]]
*[[Skyros]]
*[[Sparta]]
==See also==
* [[Järsberg Runestone]]
==Notes==
{{Notelist}}
==References==
{{Reflist|35em}}
==Sources==
===Ancient sources===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Jordanes |author-link=Jordanes |translator-last1=Mierow |translator-first1=Charles C. |translator-link1=Charles Christopher Mierow |year=1908 |title=The Origins and Deeds of the Goths |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:The_origin_and_deeds_of_the_Goths_in_English_version.djvu/25 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] }}. Also see Latin version: https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/iordanes1.html.
* {{cite book |last=Procopius |author-link=Procopius |translator-last1=Dewing |translator-first1=Henry Bronson |year=1914 |title=History of the Wars |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_the_Wars |publisher=[[Heinemann (publisher)|Heinemann]] }}
{{Refend}}
===Modern sources===
{{Refbegin|35em}}
* {{cite book |last1=Angelov |first1=Alexander |date=2018 |chapter=Heruli |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-2225 |editor1-last=Nicholson |editor1-first=Oliver |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A09WDwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=678 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001 |isbn=9780191744457 |access-date=January 25, 2020 }}
*{{citation|chapter=Kralji Herulov: vladarji ljudstva, ki ni »spisalo« zgodovine, in njihov regnum|first=Jaka |last=Banfi|year=2022 |editor1-last=Cedilnik|editor2-last= Lovenjak|title=Na obzorju novega: območje severnega Jadrana ter vzhodnoalpski in balkansko-podonavski prostor v obdobju pozne antike in zgodnjega srednjega veka: posvečeno Rajku Bratožu ob njegovi sedemdesetletnici|publisher= Založba Univerze v Ljubljani|doi=10.4312/9789612970161|url=https://www.academia.edu/120677874|hdl=10807/236554|isbn=978-961-297-016-1 |hdl-access=free}}
*{{cite book |last1=Christensen |first1=Arne Søby |author-link=Arne Søby Christensen |year=2002  |title=Cassiodorus, Jordanes and the History of the Goths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AcLDHOqOt4cC  |publisher=[[Museum Tusculanum Press]] |isbn=9788772897103 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Christie |first1=Neil |author-link1=Neil Christie |year=1995 |title=The Lombards |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xNuGQgAACAAJ |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |isbn=0631182381 }}
* {{cite book |last=Davidson |first=Hilda Ellis |author-link=Hilda Ellis Davidson |year=1990 |title=Gods and Myths of Northern Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mxuqQRczoFYC |publisher=[[Penguin UK]] |isbn=9780141941509 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Drout |first1=M. D. C. |last2=Goering |first2=N. |year=2020 |title=The Emendation ''Eorle'' (Heruli) in Beowulf, Line 6a: Setting the Poem in 'The Named Lands of the North' |journal=Modern Philology |volume=117 |issue=3 |pages=285–300 |doi=10.1086/707097|s2cid=214550424 }}
*{{cite journal|first=Alvar |last=Ellegård |title=Who were the Eruli?|journal=Scandia |year=1987| volume=53 |url=https://journals.lub.lu.se/scandia/article/view/939/724}}
* {{cite book |last1=Goffart |first1=Walter |author-link1=Walter Goffart |year=2006  |title=Barbarian Tides: The Migration Age and the Later Roman Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qr43XNyZh6AC  |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]]  |isbn=9780812239393 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Green |first1=D. H. |author-link1=Dennis Howard Green |year=2000 |title=[[Language and history in the early Germanic world]] |url= |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0521794234 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Green |first1=Dennis H. |author-link1=Dennis Howard Green |year=2003 |chapter=Linguistic Evidence For The Early Migrations Of The Goths |editor1-last=Heather |editor1-first=Peter |editor1-link=Peter Heather |title=The Visigoths from the Migration Period to the Seventh Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4MADmH2eaGIC |publisher=[[Boydell & Brewer Ltd]] |pages=11–40 |isbn=9781843830337 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Green |first1=D. H. |author-link1=Dennis Howard Green |year=2014 |chapter=The Boii, Bohemia, Bavaria |editor1-last=Fries-Knoblach |editor1-first=Janine  |editor2-last=Steuer |editor2-first=Heiko |editor2-link=Heiko Steuer |editor3-last=Hines |editor3-first=John |title=The Baiuvarii and Thuringi: An Ethnographic Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pTA3BAAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Boydell & Brewer Ltd]] |pages=11–22 |isbn=9781843839156 }}
* {{cite book |last=Halsall |first=Guy |author-link=Guy Halsall |year=2007  |title=Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376–568 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbkLAQAAQBAJ  |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]  |isbn=9781107393325  }}
*{{citation|title=Strategies of Distinction: The Construction of the Ethnic Communities, 300-800 |editor1-first=Walter |editor1-last=Pohl |editor2-first= Helmut |editor2-last=Reimitz |last=Heather |first=Peter |year=1998 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OAZ1WNWSockC |chapter=Disappearing and reappearing tribes|publisher=BRILL |isbn=9004108467 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Heather |first1=Peter |author-link1=Peter Heather |year=1994 |title=Goths and Romans 332–489 |url=https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205357.001.0001/acprof-9780198205357 |publisher=Oxford Scholarship Online |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205357.001.0001 |isbn=9780198205357 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Heather |first1=Peter |author-link1=Peter Heather |year=2007  |title=The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MmXFrafifw0C |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780195325416 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Heather |first1=Peter |author-link1=Peter Heather |year=2010 |title=Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=suwVDAAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780199892266 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Heather |first1=Peter |author-link1=Peter Heather |date=2012  |chapter=Heruli |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-3071? |editor1-last=Hornblower |editor1-first=Simon |editor1-link=Simon Hornblower |editor2-last=Spawforth |editor2-first=Antony |editor3-last=Eidinow |editor3-first=Esther |editor3-link=Esther Eidinow |title=[[The Oxford Classical Dictionary]]  |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=715 |isbn=9780191735257 |access-date=January 26, 2020 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Kaliff |first1=Anders |author-link1=Anders Kaliff |last2=Munkhammar |first2=Lars |year=2011 |title=Wulfila 311-2011 |url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:668706/FULLTEXT01.pdf |publisher=[[:sv:Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis|Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis]] |isbn=9789155486648 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305084737/http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:668706/FULLTEXT01.pdf |archive-date=March 5, 2020 }}
*{{citation|title=Who in the world are the Heruli?|first=Salvatore |last=Liccardo| year=2024|journal= Early Medieval Europe|doi=10.1111/emed.12712|issue=  3|volume= 32|pages= 284–305|url=https://www.academia.edu/118109410|doi-access=free}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Maenchen-Helfen |first1=Otto |author-link1=Otto Maenchen-Helfen |date=July 1947 |title=Communications |journal=[[The American Historical Review]] |publisher=[[American Historical Association]] |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=836–841 |jstor=1842348 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Murdoch |first1=Brian |author-link1=Brian O. Murdoch |last2=Read |first2=Malcolm Kevin |year=2004 |title=[[Early Germanic Literature and Culture]] |url= |publisher=[[Boydell & Brewer]] |isbn=157113199X }}
* {{cite book |last1=Neumann |first1=Günter |author-link1=:de:Günter Neumann (Philologe) |year=1999 |chapter=Heruler: § 1. Philologisches |title=Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MKQzrSgCHRIC |volume=14 |publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]] |pages=468 |isbn=9783110164237 }}
*{{citation|first=Jan |last=Prostko-Prostyński| title= A History of the Herules|year= 2021 |publisher=Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu Poznań| isbn=978-83-232-3902-4}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Reynolds |first1=Robert L. |author-link1=Robert L. Reynolds |last2=Lopez |first2=Robert S. |author-link2=Robert Sabatino Lopez |date=October 1946 |title=Odoacer: German or Hun? |journal=[[The American Historical Review]] |publisher=[[American Historical Association]] |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=36–53 |doi=10.2307/1845067  |jstor=1845067 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Sarantis |first1=Alexander |year=2010 |chapter=The Justinianic Herules |editor-last=Curta |editor-first=Florin |editor-link=Florin Curta |title=Neglected Barbarians |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6wXHSgAACAAJ  |publisher=[[Brepols|ISD]]|isbn=9782503531250 }}
*{{citation|last=Schwarcz| first=Andreas| chapter= Gotische und herulische maritime Einfälle in das Imperium Romanum in der zweiten Hälfte des 3. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. |pages=389–401 |editor1-first= Fritz |editor1-last=Mitthof |editor2-first=Gunther |editor2-last=Martin |editor3-first=Jana |editor3-last=Grusková |title=Empire in Crisis: Gothic Invasions and Roman Historiography. Beiträge einer internationalen Tagung zu den Wiener Dexipp-Fragmenten (Dexippus Vindobonensis) in Wien, 3.–6. Mai 2017 |year= 2020 |url=https://services.e-book.fwf.ac.at/api/object/o:1440/diss/Content/get}}
* {{cite book |last=Speidel |first=Michael P. |author-link=Michael P. Speidel |year=2004 |title=Ancient Germanic Warriors: Warrior Styles from Trajan's Column to Icelandic Sagas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QhuVByLAy9oC |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=1134384203 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Steinacher |first1=Roland |author-link1=:de:Roland Steinacher |year=2010 |chapter=The Herules: Fragments of a History |editor-last=Curta |editor-first=Florin |editor-link=Florin Curta |title=Neglected Barbarians |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6wXHSgAACAAJ  |publisher=[[Brepols|ISD]]|isbn=9782503531250  }}
*{{citation|last=Steinacher|first=Roland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RIt4DwAAQBAJ|title=Rom und die Barbaren. Völker im Alpen- und Donauraum (300-600) |year=2017| publisher=Kohlhammer Verlag |isbn = 9783170251700}}
*{{citation|last=Steinacher |first= Roland |title=Jan Prostko-Prostyński, A History of the Herules. Poznań, UAM 2021| journal= Historische Zeitschrift| volume= 315| issue= 2|year= 2022|pages= 477–478 |doi=10.1515/hzhz-2022-1363}}
* {{cite journal |last=Taylor |first=Marvin Hunter |title=The Etymology of the Germanic Tribal Name Eruli |journal=General Linguistics |volume=30 |issue=2 |year=1990 |pages=108–125}}
* {{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Marvin Hunter |year=1999 |chapter=Heruler |title=Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MKQzrSgCHRIC |volume=14 |publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]] |pages=468–473 |isbn=9783110164237 }}
* {{cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Herwig |author-link=Herwig Wolfram |translator-last1=Dunlap |translator-first1=Thomas J. |year=1990 |title=History of the Goths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xsQxcJvaLjAC |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=0520069838 }}
* {{cite book |last=Wolfram |first=Herwig |author-link=Herwig Wolfram |year=2005 |title=The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_7EwDwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=9780520244900 }}
*{{citation|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/5079620|first=Mihail |last=Zahariade |year=2010|title= Antiquitas istro-pontica : Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire ancienneofferts à Alexandru Suceveanu |chapter=A Crux in Bellum Scythicum. The Invasion of 267: Gothi or Heruli?}}
{{Refend}}
==External links==
{{commonscatinline}}
*{{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Heruli |volume=8 |short=x}}
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Heruli |short=x}}
*[http://www.gedevasen.dk/heruls.html Troels Brandt: The Heruls in Scandinavia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226173058/http://www.gedevasen.dk/heruls.html |date=2019-02-26 }}
{{Barbarian kingdoms}}
{{Germanic peoples}}
[[Category:Heruli| ]]
[[Category:Early Germanic peoples]]
[[Category:History of the western steppe]]
[[Category:Barbarian kingdoms]]