Ostrogoths originated from a Germanic people called the Goth. The 6th century historian, Jordanes, says that the Goths emerged from the southern Scandinavian regions, were distinguished from other peoples for using short swords, round shields and for being extremely faithful to their superiors.
In the beginning, the Goths maintained a unity, but over time they ended up dividing into two parts. One of them was named as the Visigoths, who were the Goths from the West and the other was the Ostrogoths, who were from the East.
The incident that ended up separating the Visigoths from the Ostrogoths was the Hun invasions in the vicinity of the Black Sea, on the borders of the Roman Empire. Before that, the two peoples were ruled by King Hermenerico. However, with the Hun invasions, Hermenerico ended up committing su/cide and was succeeded by two kings: Vitimiro and Fritigerno. The first led the ranks of the Ostrogoths and the second ruled the Visigoths.
The height of the Ostrogoth people occurred in the 3rd century, when they formed a great empire in the northern Black Sea region. From the 5th century, the Ostrogoth kingdom began to decline after a series of conflicts with the Huns and the Byzantine Empire. With the wars and several deaths, the ostrogoths lost their cohesion and ended up being eliminated.
