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What do fans of atmospheric [br]post-punk music

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have in common with ancient barbarians?

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Not much.

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So why are both known as goths?

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Is it a weird coincidence

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or a deeper connection stretching [br]across the centuries?

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The story begins in Ancient Rome.

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As the Roman Empire expanded,[br]it faced raids and invasions

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from the semi-nomadic populations [br]along its borders.

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Among the most powerful were[br]a Germanic people known as Goths

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who were composed of two tribal groups,

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the Visigoths

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and Ostrogoths.

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While some of the Germanic tribes[br]remained Rome's enemies,

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the Empire incorporated others[br]into the imperial army.

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As the Roman Empire split in two,

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these tribal armies played[br]larger roles in its defense

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and internal power struggles.

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In the 5th century, a mercenary revolt[br]lead by a soldier named Odoacer

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captured Rome [br]and deposed the Western Emperor.

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Odoacer and his Ostrogoth[br]successor Theoderic

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technically remained under the Eastern[br]Emperor's authority

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and maintained Roman traditions.

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But the Western Empire would never[br]be united again.

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Its dominions fragmented into kingdoms[br]ruled by Goths

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and other Germanic tribes

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who assimilated into local cultures,

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though many of their names[br]still mark the map.

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This was the end of the Classical Period

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and the beginning of what many call[br]the Dark Ages.

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Although Roman culture was never[br]fully lost,

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its influence declined[br]and new art styles arose

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focused on religious symbolism[br]and allegory

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rather than proportion and realism.

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This shift extended to architecture

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with the construction of the Abbey[br]of Saint Denis in France in 1137.

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Pointed arches, flying buttresses,[br]and large windows

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made the structure more skeletal[br]and ornate.

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That emphasized its open, [br]luminous interior

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rather than the sturdy walls[br]and columns of Classical buildings.

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Over the next few centuries,

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this became a model for Cathedrals[br]throughout Europe.

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But fashions change.

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With the Italian Renaissance's renewed[br]admiration for Ancient Greece and Rome,

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the more recent style began to seem[br]crude and inferior in comparison.

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Writing in his 1550 book, [br]"Lives of the Artists,"

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Giorgio Vasari was the first[br]to describe it as Gothic,

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a derogatory reference to the Barbarians

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thought to have destroyed [br]Classical civilization.

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The name stuck, and soon came[br]to describe the Medieval period overall,

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with its associations of darkness,[br]superstition, and simplicity.

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But time marched on,[br]as did what was considered fashionable.

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In the 1700s, a period called[br]the Enlightenment came about,

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which valued scientific reason [br]above all else.

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Reacting against that, Romantic authors[br]like Goethe and Byron

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sought idealized visions of a past[br]of natural landscapes

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and mysterious spiritual forces.

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Here, the word Gothic [br]was repurposed again

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to describe a literary genre that[br]emerged as a darker strain of Romanticism.

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The term was first applied [br]by Horace Walpole

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to his own 1764 novel, [br]"The Castle of Otranto"

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as a reference to the plot [br]and general atmosphere.

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Many of the novel's elements became[br]genre staples

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inspiring classics and the countless[br]movies they spawned.

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The gothic label belonged to literature[br]and film until the 1970s

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when a new musical scene emerged.

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Taking cues from artists like[br]The Doors and The Velvet Underground,

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British post-punk groups,

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like Joy Division,

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Bauhaus,

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and The Cure,

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combined gloomy lyrics [br]and punk dissonance

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with imagery inspired [br]by the Victorian era,

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classic horror,

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and androgynous glam fashion.

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By the early 1980s, similar bands[br]were consistently described

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as Gothic rock by the music press,

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and the stye's popularity brought it[br]out of dimly lit clubs

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to major labels and MTV.

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And today, despite occasional negative[br]media attention and stereotypes,

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Gothic music and fashion continue as[br]a strong underground phenomenon.

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They've also branched into sub-genres,

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such as cybergoth,

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gothabilly,

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gothic metal,

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and even steampunk.

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The history of the word gothic is embedded

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in thousands of years [br]worth of countercultural movements,

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from invading outsiders becoming kings

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to towering spires [br]replacing solid columns

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to artists finding beauty in darkness.

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Each step has seen a revolution of sorts

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and a tendency for civilization to reach into[br]its past to reshape its present.