Reiks
Reiks is a Gothic title for a tribal ruler, often translated as "king".
In the Gothic Bible, it translates to the Greek árchōn.
It is presumably translated as basiliskos in the Passio of Sabbas the Goth.
The Gothic Thervingi were divided into subdivisions of territory and people called , led by a reiks. In times of a common threat, one of the reiks would be selected as a kindins, or head of the Empire.
Herwig Wolfram suggested the position was different from the Roman definition of a rex, and is better described as that of a tribal chief.
A reiks had a lower order of optimates or megistanes beneath him, on whom he could call on for support.
It also figures prominently as second element in Gothic names, Latinized and often anglicized as -ric, e.g. in Theoderic.
The use of the suffix extended into the Merovingian dynasty, with kings given names such as Childeric, and it survives in modern German and Scandinavian names such as Ulrich, Erik, Dietrich, Heinrich, Richard, Friedrich.
