Two main outbreaks of persecution of Christians by the 4th-century Gothic authorities are recorded, in 347/8 under Aoric (according to Auxentius of Durostorum) and between 367 and 378 under Aoric's son, the iudex (kindins) Athanaric. The persecution of Christians under Athanaric shows that Christians were still a minority among the Tervingi in the 370s, but that they had become numerous enough to be considered a threat to Gothic culture. It is remarkable that Athanaric did not persecute Christians in general, but specifically converted Goths, while Christian foreigners were left alone. Athanaric's motive was thus the protection of the Gothic nation and its gods and not the persecution of Christianity as such.