Bozh Bozh ( 376 / 380 ) was the first Slavic ruler known in history ; he was the king of the Antes ( " rex Antorum " ) , an early Slavic people that lived in parts of present day Ukraine and Russia . In the preceding years , the Ostrogoths under Ermanaric had conquered a large number of tribes in Central Europe ( see Oium ) , including the Antes . Some years after the Ostrogothic defeat by the invading Huns , a king named Vinitharius , Ermanaric ' s great - nephew , marched against the Antes of Bozh and defeated them . Vinitharius condemned Bozh and his sons , and seventy of his nobles , to crucifixion in order to terrorize the Antes . These conflicts constitute the only pre - 6th century contacts between Germanics and Slavs documented in written sources . History . Background . Byzantine historian Jordanes wrote in his " De origine actibusque Getarum " ( written in 550 or 551 ) that King Ermanaric ( 370s ) of the Greuthungi ( a Gothic tribe , most likely the same as the later Ostrogoths ) , member of the Amali dynasty , managed to subdue a large number of tribes in Europe ( Cassiodorus called him " " ruler of all nations of Scythia and Germania " " ) , and he is said to have lastly subjugated the " Wends " ( Slavs ) . Jordanes noted that the Gothic tribes regularly made raids into Slavic territory . Jordanes mentioned three tribes of the same origin , that constituted the Slavs : Wends ( West Slavs ) , Antes ( East Slavs ) and Sklaveni ( South Slavs ) , and stated that the Antes were the bravest and strongest among these . The Antes received a strong ruling power and military organization over time from the Gothic influence . Procopius maintained that the Antes " are not ruled by one man , but they have lived from old under a democracy " . They inhabited the area between the Dniester and Dnieper , most likely in the region extending from the Vistula to the Danube mouth and eastwards to the Don . The tribal union of the Antes probably included some neighbouring West Slavic tribes . The Antes seem to have attempted to form their own state in the frontiers of – or even within – the Gothic state , judging by Jordanes ' naming Bozh as " king " . Story of Bozh . The Huns , accompanied by the Alani whom they had just conquered , invaded Ermanaric ' s territories . Ermanaric , who feared devastation , took his own life . In the years following Ermanaric ' s death , there was a war between the section of the Ostrogoths who remained under Hun rule , and the Antes . Jordanes recounts that Ermanaric ' s great - nephew , Vinitharius , who disliked being under Hun rule , withdrew his forces and marched against the Antes and defeated them , in order to show his courage . This took place in the last quarter of the 4th century ( after 376 , possibly in 380 , or around 400 ) . Bozh had organized an alliance to defend the Antes , and managed to defeat Vinitharius in their first encounters , however , Vinitharius fought valiantly and managed to capture and crucify Bozh , together with his sons and 70 of his chiefs ( " primates " ) . Vinitharius left their bodies hanging in order to induce fear to those who had surrendered . Aftermath . Afterwards , the Alans ( according to contemporary Marcellinus , though Jordanes said it was Huns ) rushed to rescue their kin , with a decisive battle fought against the Ostrogoths at the river Erak ( or Erac , now called Tiligul / Tylihul ) , in which the Ostrogoths were defeated and pushed west . The Ostrogoths eventually reached the lower Danube shores . Legacy . These conflicts constitute the only pre - 6th century contacts between Germanics and Slavs documented in written sources . Florin Curta , an expert in Medieval Eastern Europe , argues that this section of Jordanes account , regarding Bozh and Vinitharius , possibly originated in the oral Gothic tradition , given the narrative pattern of the story . Jordanes uses the spelling " Anti " instead of " Antes " , suggesting a Greek source . Some historians have tried to identify him with Bus mentioned from the " Tale of Igor ' s Campaign " , in which boyars tell Sviatoslav I of Kiev of " Gothic maidens [ . . . ] singing about the time of Bus " , but Hrushevsky has deemed this as not very credible .