Ulfilas (c. 311–383),[1] also spelled Ulphilas and Orphila, all Latinized forms of the unattested Gothic form *𐍅𐌿𐌻𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌰 Wulfila, literally "Little Wolf",[2] was a Goth of Cappadocian Greek descent who served as a bishop and missionary, participated in the Arian controversy, and is credited with the translation of the Bible into Gothic. He developed the Gothic alphabet – inventing a writing system based on the Greek alphabet – in order for the Bible to be translated into the Gothic language. Although the translation of the Bible into the Gothic language has traditionally been ascribed to Ulfilas, analysis of the text of the Gothic Bible indicates the involvement of a team of translators, possibly under his supervision.[3][4]
Ulfilas' parents were of non-Gothic descent. Ulfilas may have spoken some Greek in his own family circle, since they were of Greek origin; he is likely to have been able to draw on formal education in both Latin and Greek in creating Gothic as a literary language.[5] Philostorgius, to whom we are indebted for much important information about Ulfilas, was a Cappadocian. He knew that the ancestors of Ulfilas had also come from Cappadocia, a region with which the Gothic community had always maintained close ties. Ulfilas' parents were captured by plundering Goths in the village of Sadagolthina[6] in the city district of Parnassus (near modern-day Şereflikoçhisar) and were carried off to Transdanubia (the Gothic-held lands north of the Danube in and around modern Muntenia).[7] This supposedly took place in 264. Raised as a Goth, he later became proficient in both Greek and Latin.[5] Ulfilas converted many among the Goths and preached Arianism, which, when they reached the western Mediterranean, set them apart from their orthodox neighbours and subjects.
Ulfilas was ordained a bishop by Eusebius of Nicomedia (who baptized the Emperor Constantine) and returned to his people to work as a missionary. In 348, after seven years as missionary, Ulfilas was expelled from the Gothic region in order to escape religious persecution by a Gothic chief, probably Athanaric.[8] This incident can certainly have a political nuance, probably the Goth saw Ulfilas' activity as a form of Roman infiltration.[9] Ulfilas obtained permission from Constantius II to migrate with his flock of converts from Northern Danube to Moesia and settle near Nicopolis ad Istrum in modern northern Bulgaria. There, Ulfilas devised the Gothic alphabet[10][11][12] and presided over the translation of the Bible from Greek into the Gothic language, which was performed by a group of translators. Fragments of the Gothic Bible translation have survived, notably the Codex Argenteus held since 1648 in the University Library of Uppsala in Sweden. A parchment page of this Bible was found in 1971 in the Speyer Cathedral.[13]
There are five primary sources for the study of Ulfilas's life. Two are by Arian authors, three by imperial Church (Nicene Christianity) authors.[14]
There are significant differences between the stories presented by the two camps. The Arian sources depict Ulfilas as an Arian from childhood. He was then consecrated as a bishop around 340 and evangelized among the Goths for seven years during the 340s. He then moved to Moesia (within the Roman Empire) under the protection of the Arian Emperor Constantius II. He later attended several councils and engaged in continuing religious debate. His death is dated from 383.