Tanausis

Tanausiswas a legendary king of theGoths,according toJordanes'sGetica(5.47). The 19th-century scholarAlfred von Gutschmidassigned his reign to 1323 BC – 1290 BC.

According to theGetica,he was the Gothic king who halted the advance of theEgyptianarmies of the Egyptian kingSesostris(whom Jordanes callsVesosis). At a battle on the banks of the riverPhasis,Tanausis routed the Egyptian king who had already conquered theEthiopiansand theScythians.

TheGeticastates that Tanausis then pursued the Egyptians all the way back to the banks of theNile,where the mighty river and the fortifications dissuaded him from slaying Sesotris "in his own land". The territory Tanausis had conquered in Asia was then bestowed upon his close friendSornus,king of theMedes.Some of Tanausis' followers remained in the conquered lands, and Jordanes citesPompeius Trogusas saying these were the origin of theParthians,stating that in theScythianlanguage "Parthi" means "deserter" (5.48).

Following his death, Jordanes writes that the Goths worshipped Tanausis as a god.

The story also appears in the earlier history ofJustin,who also based his work on Pompeius Trogus. However, the opponents are described as Sesosis of Egypt and Tanaus, king of Scythia. Jordanes considered the Goths to be Scyths, and often did not distinguish them. Comparisons have also been made to a statement byIsidore of Sevilleto the effect that the riverTanais(now the Don) had been named for one "Tanus", an ancestral king of Scythia.