The Heruli (spelled variously in Latin and Greek) are an East Germanic tribe who migrate from Scandinavia to the Black sea in the third century.

They are part of the series of raids and incursions carried out by Gothic groups in the Balkans and Greece from the 250s.In 267 they sack, along with the Goths, both Byzantium, Sparta and Athens.

They wae defeated by the Romans in 269 at near Naissus (modern Nis in present-day Serbia.

In the 4th century, they are subjugated by the Ostrogoths and later the Huns.

Breaking free from the Huns after the Battle of Nedao in 454, they establish their own kingdom and join Odoacer, the commander of the Imperial foederati troops who deposes the last Western Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus in 476 CE.

In 508, they are defeated by the Lombards and are reported to have migrated back to Scandinavia.

Their name is related to earl and is probably an honorific military title.The Heruli were famous for massive cultural barbarism to the once famous centers to early European civilization such as Sparta, Byzantium and Athens.

Important cultural and religious monuments destroyed by the Heruli include the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the Ancient Agora of Athens, Hadrian's Library, and the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens .