Gothic persecution of Christians
Gothic persecution of Christians in the third century
There is a record of Gothic persecution of Christians in the third century. According to Basil of Caesarea, some prisoners taken captive in a Gothic raid on Cappadocia around 260 preached the gospel to their captors and were martyred. One of their names was Eutychus. Bishop Dionysius of Caesarea sent messengers to the Goths to ransom captives and there was still a written record of these attempts in Basil's time.
History
Two main outbreaks of persecution of Christians by the 4th-century Gothic authorities are recorded, in 347/8 under Aoric (according to Auxentius of Durostorum) and between 367 and 378 under Aoric's son, the iudex (kindins) 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 (Eccl.
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