Zagadkowy król Boerebislas panował w czasach cesarza Augusta (82-79 p.n.e.) w Dacji, rozciągającej się wówczas wzdłuż Wisły, aż po wybrzeże Morza Czarnego. Władca ten stworzył wielkie imperium. Część badaczy wysuwa tezę że być może chodzi o władcę zwanego Buruista, Buruisla lub Burebista [2]. Według Jordanesa, opierającego się na wcześniejszych autorach, bliskim współpracownikiem Burebisty miał być kapłan o imieniu Deceneus (Dicineus)^[1]. Prowadził szereg zwycięskich wojen z sąsiadującymi plemionami, stopniowo rozszerzając zasięg swojej władzy. Pokonał w długiej wojnie federację plemion celtyckich z Panonii (m.in. Bojów, niszcząc ich główny ośrodek w rejonie Bratysławy). Pokonał Bastarnów sięgając po ziemie między Karpatami a Dniestrem, łącznie z długim pasem wybrzeża czarnomorskiego pomiędzy deltą Dunaju i ujściem Dniestru, opanowując tamtejsze greckie miasta.

Władca kazał wówczas zniszczyć wszystkie uprawy winorośli. Władcę przekonał do tego wpływowy Diceneus/ Deceneus, pełniący urząd porównywalny z władzą współczesnego premiera, a zarazem pełniący obowiązki teologa. Filozof, astronom i doradca władcy panującego ok. 70 p.n.e. - 44 p.n.e., wg Jordanesa był pierwszym prawodawcą Gotów (Getica X 67-73). Wpływowy dostojnik i doradca nauczał filozofii, etyki, fizyki, teologii.

"Chapter XI describes the arrival of a certain Diceneus among the Goths and the science of theology which he taught them. His arrival is in the reign of Boroista. There was a king of Dacia named Boerebislas a contemporary of Augustus, who is possibly intended here. The description of the priests, who are called 'the Hatted Men' (Pileati) because they sacrificed covered with a kind of mitre, while the rest of the people are called Capillati, on account of the long hair in which they glory, has more of the ring of truth about it than the pseudo-classical legends of the chapters immediately preceding."

(wg Italy and her Invaders by Thomas Hodgkin, wyd.  Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1880)

U Jordanesa:

(67) Then when Buruista was king of the Goths, Dicineus came to Gothia at the time when Sulla ruled the Romans. Buruista received Dicineus and gave him almost royal power. It was by his advice the Goths ravaged the lands of the Germans, which the Franks now possess. (68) Then came Caesar, the first of all the Romans to assume imperial power and to subdue almost the whole world, who conquered all kingdoms and even seized islands lying beyond our world, reposing in the bosom of Ocean. He made tributary to the Romans those that knew not the Roman name even by hearsay, and yet was unable to prevail against the Goths, despite his frequent attempts.

Soon Gaius Tiberius reigned as third emperor of the Romans, and yet the Goths continued in their kingdom unharmed. (69) Their safety, their advantage, their one hope lay in this, that whatever their counsellor Dicineus advised should by all means be done; and they judged it expedient that they should labor for its accomplishment. And when he saw that their minds were obedient to him in all things and that they had natural ability, he taught them almost the whole of philosophy, for he was a skilled master of this subject.

Thus by teaching them ethics he restrained their barbarous customs; by imparting a knowledge of physics he made them live naturally under laws of their own, which they possess in written form to this day and call belagines. He taught them logic and made them skilled in reasoning beyond all other races; he showed them practical knowledge and so persuaded them to abound in good works. By demonstrating theoretical knowledge he urged them to contemplate the twelve signs and the courses of the planets passing through them, and the whole of astronomy.

He told them how the disc of the moon gains increase or suffers loss, and showed them how much the fiery globe of the sun exceeds in size our earthly planet. He explained the names of the three hundred and forty-six stars and told through what signs in the arching vault of the heavens they glide swiftly from their rising to their setting. (70)

Think, I pray you, what pleasure it was for these brave men, when for a little space they had leisure from warfare, to be instructed in the teachings of philosophy! You might have seen one scanning the position of the heavens and another investigating the nature of plants and bushes. Here stood one who studied the waxing and waning of the moon, while still another regarded the labors of the sun and observed how those bodies which were hastening to go toward the east are whirled around and borne back to the west by the rotation of the heavens. When they had learned the reason, they were at rest. (71)

These and various other matters Dicineus taught the Goths in his wisdom and gained marvellous repute among them, so that he ruled not only the common men but their kings. He chose from among them those that were at that time of noblest birth and superior wisdom and taught them theology, bidding them worship certain divinities and holy places. He gave the name of Pilleati to the priests he ordained, I suppose because they offered sacrifice having their heads covered with tiaras, which we otherwise call pillei. (72) But he bade them call the rest of their race Capillati. This name the Goths accepted and prized highly, and they retain it to this day in their songs.

(73) After the death of Dicineus, they held Comosicus in almost equal honor, because he was not inferior in knowledge. By reason of his wisdom he was accounted their priest and king, and he judged the people with the greatest uprightness.

wg http://people.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/Courses/texts/jordgeti.html#X

opr. Adam Fularz

[1] "The Gothic history of Jordanes in English version"