As to the material employed in the erection of Goth- ic edifices, stone was generally used. In Itah' espe- cially, the finest marbles were often employed. "With marble of two colors very pleasant variations of sur- face effects were produced, many of which were incon- sistent with tlie extensive use of buttresses and flying buttresses that were so generally introduced in the Gothic edifices north of the Alps. Brick was also employed with excellent success in the erection of Gothic edifices, l)Oth ecclesiastical, civil, and domes- tie ; this was especially the case in North Germany. Fine contrasts of surfiice color also were produced in Kovth Italy by the alternation of brick and colored marble.
But few Gothic churches have been completed, and in fewer yet has the original design been carried out. At least one, and sometimes both spires are generally lacking. This incompleteness or defect in design is
often copied in modern Gothic churchcr, frequently prorlueing verj' absurd efiects.
^^'ith all its beauty and even grandeur, Gothic ar- chitecture has some features that make its adoption in modern, and especially in Protestant church edifices, a most dangerous experiment. The pillars are apt to obstruct the view and sound. The clerestory is so high that it often detracts from the harmony of the in- terior, while its ornamentation is also lost to tlie view ; high pointed ceiling is apt to produce an echo ; and the churches are very diihcult to heat. But the great error in modern Gothic edifices is the indiscriminate copying of unfinished churches, built in the age of de- cadence of Gothic architecture. See Kugler, Gcschickte cler Baiihmst ; Liibkc, Gesckichte cler- Bcn/lunst ; Fergu- son, Sh/les of Architecture ; HugL'ins, Co«»-«g and Cur- rent of Architecture ; Pugin, Gothic Ornaments ; Viol- Ict-lc-Duc, Dictionnriire de V Architecture Frar.^aise ; Street, Gothic Architecture in Sj ain. G. F. C.
Gothic Version of tiii: IhnLi;. The Kceso- Gotlis were a German tribe which settled on the bor- ders of the Greek empire, and their language is essen- tially a (jcrman dialect. Tlicir version of the Bible was made by Ulphilas, in the fourth century, after Greek MSS.in the N. T., and after the Septuagint in the Old. The author is generally regarded as an Ari- an ; but his peculiar doctrinal sentiments do not seem to have influenced his translation. Of the O.-T. por- tion, nothing but a fragment of Nehemiah has been printed, although parts of other books have been dis- covered. A great part of the New has been published at different times in fragments. The four gospels ex-
GOTHOLIAS
949
GOTHS
ist in the vcn- celebrated MS. called the Codex Artjen- teus, now presorvod in the library of the university at Upsal, and minutely described by Dr. E. D. Clarke and Zahn. See Akgenteus Cooex. This MS., however, has considerable chasms. The gospels have been sev- eral tiniss printed from it, but not vcr^' correctly. The ed. of Uppstrom is the most exact and beautiful (1854). Bosworth has latel}' published the Gothic and Anglo- Saxon Gospels together (Loud. 18G5). . Knittel discov- ered fragments of Paul's Epistle to the Romans in a codex rescriptus belonging to the Wolfonbiittel liljrar}', which he published in 17G-2, 4to, and which were re- published bv Zalm in the complete edition of the Gos- pels issued in 1808, 4to. In 1817, Angelo Mai discov- ered important parts of the Gothic version among five codices rescn'pti in the Ambrosian library at Jlilan. They contain, for the most part, the Pauline Epistles, ■with the exception of that to the Hebrews, and two fragments of JIatthew. Various portions were printed I)}' Mai, in conjunction with Castillionregus, in 1819. In 1829 the latter pulilishcd the fragments of Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians. In 1834 fragments of the Epistle to the Romans, the First to the Corin- thians, and that to the Ephesians ; and in 1835, the fragments to the Pauline Epistles to the Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, and the First to the Thessalo- nians. In 1839 the same scholar published the frag- ments of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, to Timothj'', Titus, and Philemon. These were all com- bined in the edition by Gabolentz and Loebs, 2 vols. 1836, 1847. — Kitto, s. v. See Veusion's of the Bidle.
Gotho'lias (Foj-oX/nr), father of Josias, which latter was one of the "sons of Elam" who retui-ned from Babylon with Esdras (1 Esd. viii, 33) ; the same as Athaliah (q. v.) of the Ileb. text (Ezra viii, 7).
Gotho'niel (ro9oj'(/y\, i. e. Othniel), father of Cha- bris, who was one of the governors (apYojTit) of the city of Bethulia (Judith vi, 15).
Goths, THE, appeared in the countries of the Low- er Danube, the former seat of the Getse, in the 3d cen- tury A. 1). Yet from this we are not to infer that the former drove awaj"^ and replaced the latter, but, on the contrary, the}- are to be considered as one and the same people, as has been shown l)y J. Grimm (fjesch. d. deulsch. Sprache, 2 vols. 2d ed. Leipz. 1853). This consideration sheds an important light on a period in tha religious history of the Goths whicli had before been involved in deep obscurity, and gives us an in- sight into their deeply-rooted predisposition to embrace Christianity. The mighty confederacy of the Getoe, founded liy Boerebistes, was dissolved even before the emperor Augustus took up arms against them. Some of the dispersed tribes entered the Roman empire in the provinces of the Lower Danube about the tirst«cen- tury A.D., and from them sprung a new nation, com- posed of these different triljes again united, which, un- der the nam2 of Gotlis, appeared during the reign of Caracalla, in the beginning of the Sd centurv A.D. Their unity emboldened them to attack the Roman empire ; and in the reign of Alex. Severus we alreadv find them receiving tribute to preserve the peace, and the issue of the struggle with Decius led to new inva- sions. Commodian, the Christian apologist of the times, regarded them as instruments of divine justice, and precursors of the anti-Christ : according to his statement, the seventh persecution of the Christians ended on their approach. Three of their armies again invaded the Roman empire during tlie reign of Valeri- an and Gallienus, and, among the monuments of an- tiquitj', destroyed the splendid tcm|ile of Diana at Ephesus. Finally, after a fierce conflict, Constantine the Great concluded with them a peace, which lasted so long as his family reigned. Some Christians, car- ried away as prisoners by the Goths during the in- vasion above spoken of, became the instruments of their conversion. Sozomen says (ii, G) : " The priests