latin "ac"

How I see in my dictionary the latin ac= at-que and this one
is a conjonction
I see several meanings for this conjunction but none like "
the same as". Can it be that this conjonction has too the
sense of " the same as"?
So if I have a latin text as :
there have been " gothi ac gepidae"
From this example, do I have to understand "there have been
goths the same as gepidae"? It is possible to make a such
confusion with the conjunction "ac"?
Or I have to see it as usual ,"there have been goths AND
gepidae"?
best regards