leader who was known as iudex regum ("judge of kings") by St Ambrose. Christian prisoners of war were the first missionaries among the Goths. Ulfilas, himself a descendant of a Cappadocian captive, was ordained bishop "of the Christians in the land of the Goths" in 341. Expelled from Gutthiuda during a persecution of Christians, Ulfilas settled in Moesia in 348. Gothic dominance collapsed when the Huns arrived and attacked the Thervingi in 376. Most of the Thervingi sought asylum in the Roman Empire, and were followed by large groups of Greuthungi and Taifali. All the same, significant groups of Goths stayed in the territories north of the Danube. For instance, Athanaric "retired with all his men to Caucalanda"probably to the valley of the river Olt from where they "drove out the Sarmatians". A hoard of Roman coins issued under Valentinian I and Valens suggests that the gates of the amphitheatre at Ulpia Traiana were blocked around the same time. The Pietroasele Treasure which was hidden around 450 also implies the presence of a Gothic tribal or religious leader in the lands between the Carpathians and the Lower Danube. It contains a torc bearing the inscription GUTANI O WI HAILAG, which is interpreted by Malcolm Todd as "God who protects the Goths, most holy and inviolate". Gepidia: land of the Gepids (c. 290–c. 630) The earliest reference to Gepidsan East Germanic tribe closely related to the Gothsis found in a formal speech of 291. The anonymous author wrote that the Thervingi joined "battle with the Vandals and Gepids" at that time. The center of an early Gepidia, on the plains northwest of the Meseş Mountains, appears to have been located around Şimleu Silvaniei, where early 5th-century precious objects of Roman provenance have been unearthed. The Huns imposed their authority over the Gepids by the 420s, but the latter remained united under the rule of their king named Ardaric. Although he was one of the favorites of Attila, king of the Huns, he initiated an uprising against the Huns when Attila died in 453. The Gepids regained their independence and "ruled as victors over the extent of all Dacia". Three sumptuous tombs found at Apahida evidence the wealth accumulated by Gepid royals through their connections with the Eastern Roman Empire. A golden ring with crosses found in one of the graves implies its owner's Christian faith. John of Biclar refers to an