ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is merely to underline the well-known fact that in reality there has never been anything like a uniform people or nation. In contrast, in 381, the year before the first treaty between the Visigoths on Roman soil and the Emperor Theodosius was concluded, the second ecumenical council of Constantinople solemnly condemned Arianism. Now it was the Roman land-owning upper class into which the newcomers had to be integrated while maintaining their ethnic identity. The Rugians confessed the Gothic faith, as we learn from the Vita Severini. With the Iuthungi we might come closer to the point. Be that as it may, the Iuthungi originally clearly distinguished themselves from the Alamanni but nevertheless became part of the Alamannic tribal confederation in the fourth century. It is true that even then the Iuthungi were the only Alemanni who brought with them an ancient name.
