The people of the far north, later called Vikings, were first noticed by the Romans around the year 100 BC. This is when the Cimbri and the Teutons moved into southern Gaul. The Romans believed these war-like tribes came from Jutland. But the Romans suspected they were only a part of a greater threat located further north. The Roman historians Jordanes described the destructive Ostrogoths and Visigoths as having come from Gotland. The northern menace survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire. 