On Guthalus sive Visculus

One of the interesting aspects of the geographic description of Northern Europe by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History is in the following passages in Book IV:

“Some writers state that these regions, as far as the river Vistula, are inhabited by the Sarmati, the Venedi, the Sciri, and the Hirri…  The more famous rivers that flow into the ocean are the Guttalus, the Vistillus or Vistula, the Albis, the Visurgis, the Amisius, the Rhine, and the Mosa. In the interior is the long extent of the Hercynian range, which in grandeur is inferior to none.” 

quidam haec habitari ad Vistlam usque fluvium a Sarmatis, Venedis, Sciris, Hirris tradunt… amnes clari in oceanum defluunt Guthalus, Visculus sive Vistla, Albis, Visurgis, Amisis, Rhenus, Mosa. introrsus vero nullo inferius nobilitate Hercynium iugum praetenditur.

At first glance nothing is out of place.

However, what is strange, if you look again, is that the river Guttalus comes first in the list of rivers.  Why is that strange?  Well, because the river had been identified with the River Oder.  “So what?” you say.  Well, the question is why should it be the Oder?

There are three reasons for this.  The first two are a reflection of the above text of Pliny’s:

1) The only major river in the area otherwise – supposedly – not on this list would be the Oder; and

2) we know what every other river on the list is.

Hence, the river Guttalus must be the Oder.

So what is strange about this being the Oder?  Well, if you look at the list again, you will note that the list generally runs East to West – except for the Oder/Guttalus which, apparently, comes ahead of the Vistula.   So that the list goes: Oder > E (Vistula) > W two “spaces” (Elbe) > W (Weser) > W (Ems) > W (Rhine) > W (Meuse/Maas).

The third reason comes from another author of antiquity, Gaius Julius Solinus (about third century) who wrote in his Polyhistor (chapter 21) that:

“The interior of [Germania] is cut through by the Elbe, the Guttalus, the Vistula, major rivers that flow into the Ocean.”

De internis ejus partibus, Albis, Guthalus, Vistula, amnes latissimi praecipitant in Oceanum.

polihistoriz

So Solinus would have gotten this right in his West to East list.  However, it appears that Solinus’ work was rooted in Pomponius Mela’s Geography and in the above Natural History of Pliny.  The former did not write about the river Guttalus and the latter’s description is much more detailed as can be seen above.

For this reason some folks have tried to find another location for the River Guttalus and specifically a location East of the Vistula.  For example, one such candidate has been the Pregel/Prieglius and others have also been suggested.  If the Vistula, however, is understood to have been the border of Germania with Sarmatia then this approach would put the Guttalus rather deep into Sarmatia.  On the other hand, you could look at this as just expanding Germania – and Germania always likes to expand.

Nevertheless, the majority approach has been to assume that Pliny was just careless here and that the Guttalus really is the Oder.

Thoughts

Obviously, other possibilities exist.  In particular, we observe that those who have previously been eager to locate the Goths at the mouth of the Vistula seem now to have forgotten that urge and insist on the Oder being Guttalus.  And yet, at the mouth of the Vistula we have today the city of Gdansk (as well the city of Gdynia).  Now, the names of these are Slavic but the root is highly suggestive.  Highly suggestive of the Goths.  (This would not necessarily mean that the Goths ruled the area but it could mean that Gothic trading emporia (like the earlier/later Truso) were located there or, simply, that the Goths came into port there to trade).

So was Guttalus just another name for the Vistula?  If so, then we would have a solution to our puzzle and Pliny’s carelessness (or ignorance, take your pick) would have been been shown to be nonexistent, a modern world’s misunderstanding of the great man’s writing.

The price for this solution, however, is that the nomenclature surrounding the river Vistula is getting busy indeed.  Pliny already has “Visculus sive Vistla” and now too Guttalus.  All for the same river.  A worthy river, we admit, but, nevertheless, three names as opposed to only one for the mighty Rhine seems a bit much.

There is another possibility.  It is possible, of course, to show that:

  • Guttalus is its own river separate from the “Visculus sive Vistla”; and that
  • one need not look for the Guttalus in former East Prussia or further Northeast; and that
  • Pliny really did go East to West for all his listed rivers.

But the admittance of such a possibility requires a kind of a paradigm shift.

We would have to admit the possibility that today’s Vistula was once called Guttalus and that today’s Oder was yesterday’s Vistula.  Of course, this would shift the eastern boundary of the Roman concept of Germania and the western boundary of the Roman concept of Sarmatia westwards.  It would also put the Goths deep in Sarmatia – though, of course, they eventually ended up even deeper on the Black Sea.  For more on this see here.

Copyright ©2015 jassa.org All Rights Reserved

August 1, 2015

2 thoughts on “On Guthalus sive Visculus

  1. Pingback: Were There Vandals in Poland? – Part II | In Nomine Jassa

  2. Pingback: The Veneti of Solinus & Martianus Capella | In Nomine Jassa

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *