Dacia
Alternate meanings: see Dacia (disambiguation)Dacia, in ancient geography the land of the
Daci, named by the ancient Greeks
Getae, was a large district of
Southeastern Europe, bounded on the north by the
Carpathians, on the south by the
Danube, on the west by the Tisa, on the east by the Tyras or
Nistru, now in eastern
Moldova. It thus corresponds in the main to modern
Romania and
Moldova, as well as parts of
Hungary,
Bulgaria and
Ukraine. The capital of Dacia was
Sarmizegetusa. The inhabitants of this district are generally considered as belonging to the
Thracian stock.
The Dacians were known as
Geton (plural
Getae) in
Greek writings, and as
Dacus (plural
Daci) and Getae in
Roman documents; also as Dagae and Gaete— see the late Roman map
Tabula Peutingeriana.
Strabo tells that the original name of the Dacians was "daoi", which could be explained with a possible
Phrygian cognate "daos", meaning "wolf". This assumption is enforced by the fact that the Dacian standard, the
Dacian Draco had a wolf head.
|
Dacian Kingdom, during the rule of Burebista, 82 BC. |
Towards the west Dacia may originally have extended as far as the Danube where it runs from north to south at
Waitzen (Vacz).
Julius Caesar in his
De Bello Gallico (book 6) speaks of the
Hercynian forest extending along the
Danube to the teritory of the Dacians.
Ptolemy puts the eastern boundary of Dacia Trajana as far back as the Hierasus (
Siret river, in modern
Romania).
The extent and location of the later geographical entity
Dacia varied in its four distinct historical periods (see
History, below);
* The Dacia of King
Burebista- 82-44 BC, stretching from the
Southern Bug river in what is today
Ukraine to the
Danube in what is today
Slovakia, and from the
Balkan mountains in what is today
Bulgaria to
Transcarpathia in what is today Ukraine
*The
Roman province Dacia Trajana, established as a consequence of the Dacian Wars during
101-
106, comprising the regions known today as
Banat,
Oltenia and
Transylvania.
*The later
Roman province Dacia Aureliana, reorganised inside former
Moesia Superior after the abandonment of former Dacia to the
Goths and
Carpi in
271.
Based on archaeological findings, the origins of the Dacian culture are believed to be in
Moldavia, being identified as an evolution of the
Iron Age Basarabi culture.
The Dacians had attained a considerable degree of civilization by the time they first became known to the Romans.
Main article: Dacian mythology
|
Dacian Sanctuary at Sarmisegetuza Regia. |
According to
Herodotus History (book 4) account of the story of
Zalmoxis (or Zamolxis), the Getae (speaking the same language as the Dacians -
Strabo) believed in the immortality of the soul, and regarded death as merely a change of country. Their chief priest held a prominent position as the representative of the supreme deity,
Zalmoxis. The chief priest was also the king's chief adviser. The
Goth Jordanes in his
Getica (
The origin and deeds of the Goths), gives account of Dicineus (
Deceneus), the highest priest of Buruista (
Burebista).
Besides Zalmoxis, the Dacians believed in other deities such as
Gebeleizis.
|
Buridava Residential Pallace Reconstruction. |
Dacians were divided into two classes: the aristocracy (
tarabostes) and the common people (
comati).
The aristocracy alone had the right to cover their heads and wore a felt hat (hence
pileati, their Latin name).
The second class, who comprised the rank and file of the army, the
peasants and artisans, might have been called
capillati (in Latin). Their appearance and clothing can be seen on
Trajan's Column.
Dacians had developed the
Murus dacicus, characteristic to their complexes of fortified cities, like their capital Sarmizegetusa in today
Hunedoara (
Romania). The degree of their urban development can be seen on
Trajan's Column and in the account of how Sarmizegetusa was defeated by the Romans. The Romans identified and destroyed the water
pipelines of the Dacian capital, only thus being able to end the long siege of Sarmizegetusa.
Greek and Roman chroniclers record the defeat and capture of
Lysimachus in the 3rd century BC by the Getae (
Dacians) ruled by
Dromihete, their military strategy, and the release of Lysimachus following a debate in the assembly of the Getae.
The cities of the Dacians were known as
-dava,
-deva,
-δαυα ("-dawa" or "-dava",
Anc. Gk.),
-δεβα ("-deva",
Byz. Gk.) or
-δαβα ("-dava",
Byz. Gk.), etc. . A list of Dacian davas
1 :
1. In
Dacia:
Acidava,
Argedava,
Burridava,
Dokidava,
Carsidava,
Clepidava,
Cumidava,
Marcodava,
Netindava,
Patridava,
Pelendava,
*Perburidava,
Petrodaua,
Piroboridaua,
Rhamidaua,
Rusidava,
Sacidava,
Sangidava,
Setidava,
Singidava, ,
Tamasidava,
Utidava,
Zargidava,
Ziridava,
Sucidava – 26 names altogether.
2. In
Lower Moesia (the present Northern
Bulgaria) and Scythia minor (
Dobrudja):
Aedeba,
*Buteridava,
*Giridava,
Dausadava,
Kapidaua,
Murideba,
Sacidava,
Scaidava (
Skedeba),
Sagadava,
Sukidaua (
Sucidava) – 10 names in total.
3. In
Upper Moesia (the districts of Nish, Sofia, and partly Kjustendil):
Aiadaba,
Bregedaba,
Danedebai,
Desudaba,
Itadeba,
Kuimedaba,
Zisnudeba – 7 names in total.
Gil-doba, a village in
Thracia, of unknown location.
Thermi-daua, a town in
Dalmatia. Probably a Grecized form of
*Germidava.
Pulpu-deva, (Phillipopolis) today
Plovdiv in
Bulgaria.
|
Dacian gold coins of Koson type, 1st century BC. |
The chief occupations of Dacians were
agriculture,
apiculture,
viticulture,
livestock,
ceramics and
metal working. The Roman Province Dacia is represented on Roman
Sestertius (coin) as a woman seated on a rock, holding aquila, a small child on her knee holding ears of grain, and a small child seated before her holding grapes.
They also worked the gold and silver mines of
Transylvania. They carried on a considerable outside trade, as is shown by the number of foreign coins found in the country.
See also: Decebalus TreasureCommercial relations were fluorishing for centuries, first with the Greeks, then with Romans, as we can find even today an impressive collection of gold curency used in various periods of the dacian history.
Main article: Dacian language
Dacians spoke an
Indo-European language, but its characteristics are still disputed, due to insufficient archaeological evidence. Some Greek sources quote some place names, words and even a list of about fifty plants written in Greek and Roman sources (see
List of Dacian plant names), but this is still not enough to classify it, although many scholars assume it was part of the
Satem branch.
Traces of it are believed to be found in the modern
Romanian language. There's also a theory that the
Albanian language evolved from a Dacian dialect.
|
Classical Dacia and environs, from Alexander G. Findlay's Classical Atlas to Illustrate Ancient Geography, New York, 1849. |
At the beginning of the
2nd century BC, under the rule of
Rubobostes, a Dacian king in nowadays
Transylvania, the Dacians' power in the
Carpathian basin increased by defeating the
Celts who previously held the power in the region.
A kingdom of Dacia was in existence at least as early as the first half of the
2nd century BC under king,
Oroles. Conflicts with the
Bastarnae and the Romans (
112 BC-
109 BC,
74 BC), against whom they had assisted the
Scordisci and
Dardani, greatly weakened the resources of the Dacians.
Under
Burebista (Boerebista), a contemporary of
Julius Caesar, who thoroughly reorganized the army and raised the moral standard of the people, the limits of the kingdom were extended to their maximum. The Bastarnae and
Boii were conquered, and even the Greek towns of
Olbia and
Apollonia on the
Black Sea (Pontus Euxinus) recognised
Burebista's authority.
Indeed the Dacians appeared so formidable that Caesar contemplated an expedition against them; something his death prevented. About the same time, Burebista was murdered, and the kingdom was divided into four (or five) parts under separate rulers. One of these was
Cotiso, whose daughter
Augustus is said to have desired to marry and to whom Augustus betrothed his own five-year-old daughter Julia. He is well known from the line in
Horace (
Occidit Daci Cotisonis agmen, Odes, III. 8. 18).
The Dacians are often mentioned under Augustus, according to whom they were compelled to recognize Roman supremacy. However they were by no means subdued, and in later times seized every opportunity of crossing the frozen Danube during the winter and ravaging the Roman cities in the province of
Moesia.
|
Roman roads along the Danube. |
See main article: Dacian Wars.
From
85 to
89 AD, the Dacians were engaged in two wars with the Romans, under Duras or Diurpaneus, and the great
Decebalus.
In 87, the Roman troops under Cornelius Fuscus were defeated, and Cornelius Fuscus was killed by the Dacians under the authority of their ruler, Diurpaneus. After this victory,
Diurpaneus took the name of
Decebalus. The next year, 88 AD, new Roman troops under
Tettius Iullianus, gained a signal advantage, but were obliged to make peace owing to the defeat of
Domitian by the
Marcomanni, so the Dacians were really left independent. More than this, Decebalus received the statute of "king client to Rome", receiving from Rome military instructors, craftsmen and even money.
To put an end to this disgraceful arrangement, or perhaps to restore the finances of the Roman Empire by capturing the famous Treasure of Decebalus,
Trajan resolved to conquer Dacia, thus gaining control over the Dacian goldmines of Transylvania. The result of his first campaign (
101-
102) was the siege of the Dacian capital Sarmizegethusa and the occupation of a part of the country. The second campaign (
105-
106) ended with the suicide of Decebalus, and the conquest of the territory that was to form the
Roman province Dacia Traiana. The history of the war is given by
Dio Cassius, but the best commentary upon it is the famous
Column of Trajan in
Rome.
The Romans conquered only a portion of Dacia. Most of the Romanian historians and linguists believe that many of the Dacians became Romanised.
See also: Origin of RomaniansAfter Aurelian's withdrawal the last hope to revive Dacia was
Regalianus. About his origin, the
Tyranni Triginta says he was a Dacian, a kinsman of Decebalus.
*
List of Dacian kings*
List of Dacian chiefs*
List of Dacian cities*
List of Dacian tribes**
Getae**
Carpians*
Dacian Draco*
Trajan's Column*
Dacian language*
Falx (weapon)
*
X-O Manowar - a
1990s era
comic book, whose main character, Aric the
Visigoth, is from Dacia
*Hoddinott, Ralph F.,
The Thracians, 1981.
*
www.dacia.co.ro - THE Dacia site (formerly dacia.ro, until the car guys took it
*
related to Dacians*
Bibliotheca Dacica (in Romanian; says they intend to add English)
*
gk.ro/sarmizegetusa - Encyclopedia Daciae - Largest database with content about Dacians. Mainly in Romanian but it has an English Section too (see the menu)
*
www.sarmizegetusa.net--Page of group Sarmizegetusa
*
The Dacians - People of Ancient Times*
Ptolemy's Geography, book III, chapter 5*
UNRV Dacia article*
Dacia.org mainly in Romanian. Included
Maps of Old Europe (
PDF)
*
Dacii.ro*
Dacia Webring*
sights.seindal.dk - Dacians as they appear on the Arch of Constantine
*
www.fectio.org.uk - Draco Late Roman military standard
*
www.fh-augsburg.de - late roman map
Tabula Peutingeriana*
www.stoa.org/trajan - Dacian Wars on
Trajan's Column*
Journey to the Land of the Cloud Rovers - photographic slide show of Sarmizegetusa. Requires
Macromedia Shockwave.
*
Dacia on coins.
*
the glorification of the bird and the snake by Dacians and ancestors of Dacians
