|
duci
Forum Admin
173 Posts |
 Posted - 03/11/2008 : 02:42:36
|
"In the land of Scythia to the westward dwells, first of 33
all, the race of the Gepidae, surrounded by great and
famous rivers. For the Tisia flows through it on the
north and northwest, and on the southwest is the great
Danube. On the east it is cut by the Flutausis, a swiftly
eddying stream that sweeps whirling into the Ister's
waters. Within these rivers lies Dacia, encircled by the 34
lofty Alps as by a crown." Jordannes:V
(The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, by
Jordanes, Translated by Charles C. Mierow
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14809 : V)
The name of the river should be Flautausis (i.e. in modern
Romanian 'plutashi', eng. raftsmen; Flauta = to float.. raft).
Indeed, this river which today starts in the mountains as Bistritza
and later as Siret down to the Danube was used by raftsmen until 1969 to convey timber down to Danube and therefore may be taken
as "Plutashi">>Plauta(u)si(s), the border of Gepidia with Caucoensi.
According to a decent map derived from Ptolemy
(http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/macedonia_1849.jpg) the
name of this river is "Cogaeonus", i.e. a name related to the Getic
sacred mountain Kogaion.
The term "koga" is used locally today as an insult for the
strangers, foreigners (not in dictionaries); the official name is
Neamtz(usually denoting a german; the word is actually formed
starting from the root "neam"=stock), as an euphemism for foreigner,
since today there is a small ucrainean community there; perhaps in
antiquity Starbon(7:3:5) was told about the "Kogaionon" the border.
|
Prof.Dr. D. Ciurchea
|
|
Reading Jordannes:Flautasis/Plutasi=Bistrita
