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As king, he ruled a vast empire in the Ukraine. The exact limits of his territory are obscure, but it seems to have sretched south of the Pripet Marshes between the Don and Dniester rivers.
He is mentioned in two Roman sources - Ammianus, and in Getica by the 6th-century historian Jordanes.
In the first, Ermanaric is 'a most warlike king' who eventually commits suicide, facing the aggression of the huns, who invaded his territories in the 370s. His kingdom was destroyed and his people became subject to the Huns for about 75 years.
According to Jordanes, the king put to death a woman named Sunilda by tying her to two wild horses and driving them apart, because her husband had treacherously deserted him. Thereupon her two brothers, Sarus and Ammius, severely wounded Ermanaric. Variations of this legend had a profound effect on medieval Germanic literature, including that of England and Scandinavia. Jordanes claims that he succesfully ruled the Goths until his death at the the age of 110.