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Dacians
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For uses of Dacian, see Dacian.
See also: Dacia, Getae, and Thracians
Two of the eight marble statues of Dacian warriors surmounting the Arch of Con-
stantine in Rome.[1]
The Dacians (/ˈdeɪʃənz/; Latin: Daci; Greek: Δάκοι,[2] Δάοι,[2] Δάκαι[3])
were a Thracian[4][5][6] people who were the ancient inhabitants of the cul-
tural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains
and west of the Black Sea. This area includes mainly the present-day
countries of Romania and Moldova, as well as parts of Ukraine,[7] East-
ern Serbia, Northern Bulgaria, Slovakia,[8] Hungary and Southern Poland.
[7] The Dacians spoke the Dacian language, a sub-group of Thracian, but
were somewhat culturally influenced by the neighbouring Scythians and

by the Celtic invaders of the 4th century BC.[citation needed]
This article is part of a series on
Dacia
Geography
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va Moesia Scythia Minor
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• People Language Religion Construction

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kings Moesi Tribes Conflict with Rome
Roman Dacia
• Trajan's Dacian Wars Ulpia Traiana

Sarmizegetusa Porolissum Castra Dacia
Aureliana Free Dacians
Legacy
• Thraco-Roman Daco-Romanian Archae-
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• vte
Part of a series on
Indo-European topics
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External linksName and etymology[edit]

Name[edit]
Main article: Getae § Getae and Dacians
The Dacians were known as Geta (plural Getae) in Ancient Greek writ-
ings, and as Dacus (plural Daci) or Getae in Roman documents,[10] but
also as Dagae and Gaete as depicted on the late Roman map Tabula
Peutingeriana. It was Herodotus who first used the ethnonym Getae in
his Histories.[11] In Greek and Latin, in the writings of Julius Caesar, Stra-
bo, and Pliny the Elder, the people became known as 'the Dacians'.[12]
Getae and Dacians were interchangeable terms, or used with some con-
fusion by the Greeks.[13][14] Latin poets often used the name Getae.[15]
Vergil called them Getae four times, and Daci once, Lucian Getae three
times and Daci twice, Horace named them Getae twice and Daci five
times, while Juvenal one time Getae and two times Daci.[16][17][15] In AD
113, Hadrian used the poetic term Getae for the Dacians.[18] Modern his-
torians prefer to use the name Geto-Dacians.[12] Strabo describes the
Getae and Dacians as distinct but cognate tribes. This distinction refers
to the regions they occupied.[19] Strabo and Pliny the Elder also state that
Getae and Dacians spoke the same language.[19][20]
By contrast, the name of Dacians, whatever the origin of the name, was
used by the more western tribes who adjoined the Pannonians and
therefore first became known to the Romans.[21] According to Strabo's
Geographica, the original name of the Dacians was Δάοι "Daoi".[2][22] The
name Daoi (one of the ancient Geto-Dacian tribes) was certainly adopt-
ed by foreign observers to designate all the inhabitants of the countries
north of Danube that had not yet been conquered by Greece or Rome.[12]
[12]
The ethnographic name Daci is found under various forms within ancient
sources. Greeks used the forms Δάκοι "Dakoi" (Strabo, Dio Cassius,
and Dioscorides) and Δάοι "Daoi" (singular Daos).[23][2][24][a][25][22] The form
Δάοι "Daoi" was frequently used according to Stephan of Byzantium.[17]
Latins used the forms Davus, Dacus, and a derived form Dacisci (Vopis-
cus and inscriptions).[26][27][28][29][17]
There are similarities between the ethnonyms of the Dacians and those
of Dahae (Greek Δάσαι Δάοι, Δάαι, Δαι, Δάσαι Dáoi, Dáai, Dai, Dasai;
Latin Dahae, Daci), an Indo-European people located east of the Caspi-
an Sea, until the 1st millennium BC. Scholars have suggested that there
were links between the two peoples since ancient times.[30][31][32][17] The his-
torian David Gordon White has, moreover, stated that the "Dacians ...
appear to be related to the Dahae".[33] (Likewise White and other schol-
ars also believe that the names Dacii and Dahae may also have a
shared etymology – see the section following for further details.)
By the end of the first century AD, all the inhabitants of the lands which
now form Romania were known to the Romans as Daci, with the excep-
tion of some Celtic and Germanic tribes who infiltrated from the west,
and Sarmatian and related people from the east.[14]
Etymology[edit]
The name Daci, or "Dacians" is a collective ethnonym.[34] Dio Cassius re-
ported that the Dacians themselves used that name, and the Romans so
called them, while the Greeks called them Getae.[35][36][37] Opinions on the
origins of the name Daci are divided. Some scholars consider it to origi-
nate in the Indo-European *dha-k-, with the stem *dhe- "to put, to place",
while others think that the name Daci originates in *daca – "knife, dag-
ger" or in a word similar to daos, meaning "wolf" in the related language
of the Phrygians.[38]
One hypothesis is that the name Getae originates in the Indo-European
*guet- 'to utter, to talk'.[39][38] Another hypothesis is that "Getae" and "Daci"
are Iranian names of two Iranian-speaking Scythian groups that had
been assimilated into the larger Thracian-speaking population of the lat-
er "Dacia".[40][41] They might be related to Masagetae and Dahae people
who used to live in central Asia in 6th century BC.[citation needed]
Early history of etymological approaches[edit]
In the 1st century AD, Strabo suggested that its stem formed a name
previously borne by slaves: Greek Daos, Latin Davus (-k- is a known
suffix in Indo-European ethnic names).[42] In the 18th century, Grimm
proposed the Gothic dags or "day" that would give the meaning of "light,
brilliant". Yet dags belongs to the Sanskrit word-root dah-, and a der-
ivation from Dah to Δάσαι "Daci" is difficult.[17] In the 19th century,
Tomaschek (1883) proposed the form "Dak", meaning those who under-
stand and can speak, by considering "Dak" as a derivation of the root
da("k" being a suffix); cf. Sanskrit dasa, Bactrian daonha.[43] Tomaschek
also proposed the form "Davus", meaning "members of the clan/coun-
tryman" cf. Bactrian daqyu, danhu "canton".[43]
Modern theories[edit]
Since the 19th century, many scholars have proposed an etymological
link between the endonym of the Dacians and wolves.
• A possible connection with the Phrygians was proposed by Dimitar
Dechev (in a work not published until 1957).[citation needed] The Phrygian
language word daos meant "wolf" ,[citation needed] and Daos was also a
Phrygian deity.[44] In later times, Roman auxiliaries recruited from
the Dacian area were also known as Phrygi.[citation needed] Such a con-
nection was supported by material from Hesychius of Alexandria
(5th/6th century),[45][46] as well as the 20th century historian Mircea
Eliade.[44]
• The German linguist Paul Kretschmer linked daos to wolves via
the root dhau, meaning to press, to gather, or to strangle – i.e. it
was believed that wolves would often use a neck bite to kill their
prey.[33][47]
• Endonyms linked to wolves have been demonstrated or proposed
for other Indo-European tribes, including the Luvians, Lycians, Lu-
canians, Hyrcanians and, in particular, the Dahae (of the south-
east Caspian region),[48][49] who were known in Old Persian as
Daos.[44] Scholars such as David Gordon White have explicitly
linked the endonyms of the Dacians and the Dahae.[33]
• The Draco, a standard flown by the Dacians, also prominently fea-
tured a wolf head.
However, according to Romanian historian and archaeologist Alexandru
Vulpe, the Dacian etymology explained by daos ("wolf") has little plausi-
bility, as the transformation of daos into dakos is phonetically improbable
and the Draco standard was not unique to Dacians. He thus dismisses it
as folk etymology.[50]
Another etymology, linked to the Proto-Indo-European language roots
*dhe- meaning "to set, place" and dheua → dava ("settlement") and dhe-
k → daci is supported by Romanian historian Ioan I. Russu (1967).[51]
Mythological theories[edit]
Dacian Draco as from Trajan's Column

Mircea Eliade attempted, in his book From Zalmoxis to Genghis Khan, to
give a mythological foundation to an alleged special relation between
Dacians and the wolves:[52]
• Dacians might have called themselves "wolves" or "ones the same
with wolves",[53][52] suggesting religious significance.[54]
• Dacians draw their name from a god or a legendary ancestor who
appeared as a wolf.[54]
• Dacians had taken their name from a group of fugitive immigrants
arrived from other regions or from their own young outlaws, who
acted similarly to the wolves circling villages and living from loot-
ing. As was the case in other societies, those young members of
the community went through an initiation, perhaps up to a year,
during which they lived as a "wolf".[55][54] Comparatively, Hittite laws
referred to fugitive outlaws as "wolves".[56]
• The existence of a ritual that provides one with the ability to turn
into a wolf.[57] Such a transformation may be related either to lycan-
thropy itself, a widespread phenomenon, but attested especially in
the Balkans-Carpathian region,[56] or a ritual imitation of the behav-
ior and appearance of the wolf.[57] Such a ritual was presumably a
military initiation, potentially reserved to a secret brotherhood of
warriors (or Männerbünde).[57] To become formidable warriors they
would assimilate behavior of the wolf, wearing wolf skins during
the ritual.[54] Traces related to wolves as a cult or as totems were
found in this area since the Neolithic period, including the Vinča
culture artifacts: wolf statues and fairly rudimentary figurines rep-
resenting dancers with a wolf mask.[58][59] The items could indicate
warrior initiation rites, or ceremonies in which young people put on
their seasonal wolf masks.[59] The element of unity of beliefs about
werewolves and lycanthropy exists in the magical-religious experi-
ence of mystical solidarity with the wolf by whatever means used
to obtain it. But all have one original myth, a primary event.[60][61]
Origins and ethnogenesis[edit]
See also: Prehistoric Balkans § Iron Age
Evidence of proto-Thracians or proto-Dacians in the prehistoric period
depends on the remains of material culture. It is generally proposed that
a proto-Dacian or proto-Thracian people developed from a mixture of in-
digenous peoples and Indo-Europeans from the time of Proto-Indo-Eu-
ropean expansion in the Early Bronze Age (3,300–3,000 BC)[62] when the
latter, around 1500 BC, conquered the indigenous peoples.[63] The in-
digenous people were Danubian farmers, and the invading people of the
BC 3rd millennium were Kurgan warrior-herders from the Ukrainian and
Russian steppes.[64]
Indo-Europeanization was complete by the beginning of the Bronze Age.
The people of that time are best described as proto-Thracians, which
later developed in the Iron Age into Danubian-Carpathian Geto-Dacians
as well as Thracians of the eastern Balkan Peninsula.[65]
Between BC 15th–12th century, the Dacian-Getae culture was influ-
enced by the Bronze Age Tumulus-Urnfield warriors who were on their
way through the Balkans to Anatolia.[66] When the La Tène Celts arrived
in BC 4th century, the Dacians were under the influence of the Scythi-
ans.[66]
Alexander the Great attacked the Getae in BC 335 on the lower Danube,
but by BC 300 they had formed a state founded on a military democracy,
and began a period of conquest.[66] More Celts arrived during the BC 3rd
century, and in BC 1st century the people of Boii tried to conquer some
of the Dacian territory on the eastern side of the Teiss river. The Dacians
drove the Boii south across the Danube and out of their territory, at
which point the Boii abandoned any further plans for invasion.[66]
Identity and distribution[edit]
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North of the Danube, Dacians occupied[when?] a larger territory than

Ptolemaic Dacia,[clarification needed] stretching between Bohemia in the west and
the Dnieper cataracts in the east, and up to the Pripyat, Vistula, and
Oder rivers in the north and northwest.[67][better source needed] In BC 53, Julius
Caesar stated that the Dacian territory[clarification needed] was on the eastern
border of the Hercynian forest.[66] According to Strabo's Geographica,
written around AD 20,[68] the Getes (Geto-Dacians) bordered the Suevi
who lived in the Hercynian Forest, which is somewhere in the vicinity of
the river Duria, the present-day Vah (Waag).[69] Dacians lived on both
sides of the Danube.[70] [71] According to Strabo, Moesians also lived on
both sides of the Danube.[37] According to Agrippa,[72] Dacia was limited
by the Baltic Ocean in the North and by the Vistula in the West.[73] The
names of the people and settlements confirm Dacia's borders as de-
scribed by Agrippa.[72][74] Dacian people also lived south of the Danube.[72]
Linguistic affiliation[edit]
Main article: Dacian language
See also: Davae and List of Dacian towns
The Dacians and Getae were always considered as Thracians by the
ancients (Dio Cassius, Trogus Pompeius, Appian, Strabo and Pliny the
Elder), and were both said to speak the same Thracian language.[75][76]
The linguistic affiliation of Dacian is uncertain, since the ancient Indo-Eu-
ropean language in question became extinct (?) and left very limited
traces (?), usually in the form of place names, plant names and personal
names. Thraco-Dacian (or Thracian and Daco-Mysian)[which?] seems to be-
long to the eastern (satem) group of Indo-European languages.[why?][77]
There are two contradictory theories: some scholars (such as
Tomaschek 1883; Russu 1967; Solta 1980; Crossland 1982; Vraciu
1980) consider Dacian to be a Thracian language or a dialect thereof.
This view is supported by R. G. Solta, who says that Thracian and Da-
cian are very closely related languages.[78][79] Other scholars (such as
Georgiev 1965, Duridanov 1976) consider that Thracian and Dacian are
two different and specific Indo-European languages which cannot be re-
duced to a common language (?).[80] Linguists such as Polomé and
Katičić expressed reservations[clarification needed] about both theories.[81]
The Dacians are generally considered[by whom?] to have been Thracian
speakers, representing a cultural continuity[specify] from earlier Iron Age
communities loosely termed[by whom?] Getic.[82] Since in one interpretation,
Dacian is a variety of Thracian, for the reasons of convenience, the
generic term ‘Daco-Thracian" is used, with "Dacian" reserved for the
language or dialect that was spoken north of Danube, in present-day
Romania and eastern Hungary, and "Thracian" for the variety spoken
south of the Danube. [83] There is no doubt that the Thracian language
was related to the Dacian language which was spoken in what is today
Romania, before some of that area was occupied by the Romans.[84]
Also, both Thracian and Dacian have one of the main satem characteris-
tic changes of Indo-European language, *k and *g to *s and *z.[85] With
regard to the term "Getic" (Getae), even though attempts have been
made to distinguish between Dacian and Getic, there seems no com-
pelling reason to disregard the view of the Greek geographer Strabo that
the Daci and the Getae, Thracian tribes dwelling north of the Danube
(the Daci in the west of the area and the Getae further east), were one
and the same people and spoke the same language.[83]
Another variety that has sometimes been recognized[by whom?] is that of
Moesian (or Mysian) for the language of an intermediate area immedi-
ately to the south of Danube in Serbia, Bulgaria and Romanian Dobruja:
this and the dialects north of the Danube have been grouped together as
Daco-Moesian.[83] The language of the indigenous population has left
hardly any trace in the anthroponymy of Moesia, but the toponymy indi-
cates that the Moesii on the south bank of the Danube, north of the
Haemus Mountains, and the Triballi in the valley of the Morava, shared a
number of characteristic linguistic features[specify] with the Dacii south of
the Carpathians and the Getae in the Wallachian plain, which sets them
apart from the Thracians though their languages are undoubtedly relat-
ed.[86]
Dacian culture is mostly followed through Roman sources. Ample evi-
dence suggests that they were a regional power in and around the city of
Sarmizegetusa. Sarmizegetusa was their political and spiritual capital.
The ruined city lies high in the mountains of central Romania.[87]
Vladimir Georgiev disputes that Dacian and Thracian were closely relat-
ed for various reasons, most notably that Dacian and Moesian town
names commonly end with the suffix -DAVA, while towns in Thrace
proper (i.e. South of the Balkan mountains) generally end in -PARA (see
Dacian language). According to Georgiev, the language spoken by the
ethnic Dacians should be classified as "Daco-Moesian" and regarded as
distinct from Thracian. Georgiev also claimed that names from approxi-
mately Roman Dacia and Moesia show different and generally less ex-
tensive changes in Indo-European consonants and vowels than those
found in Thrace itself. However, the evidence seems to indicate diver-
gence of a Thraco-Dacian language into northern and southern groups
of dialects, not so different as to qualify as separate languages.[88]
Polomé considers that such lexical differentiation ( -dava vs. para)
would, however, be hardly enough evidence to separate Daco-Moesian
from Thracian.[81]
Tribes[edit]
Main article: List of Dacian tribes
Roman era Balkans
An extensive account of the native tribes in Dacia can be found in the
ninth tabula of Europe of Ptolemy's Geography.[89] The Geography was
probably written in the period AD 140–150, but the sources were often
earlier; for example, Roman Britain is shown before the building of
Hadrian's Wall in the AD 120s.[90] Ptolemy's Geography also contains a
physical map probably designed before the Roman conquest, and con-
taining no detailed nomenclature.[91] There are references to the Tabula
Peutingeriana, but it appears that the Dacian map of the Tabula was
completed after the final triumph of Roman nationality.[92] Ptolemy's list
includes no fewer than twelve tribes with Geto-Dacian names.[93][94]
The fifteen tribes of Dacia as named by Ptolemy, starting from the north-
ernmost ones, are as follows. First, the Anartes, the Teurisci and the Co-
ertoboci/Costoboci. To the south of them are the Buredeense (Buri/
Burs), the Cotense/Cotini and then the Albocense, the Potulatense and
the Sense, while the southernmost were the Saldense, the Ciaginsi and
the Piephigi. To the south of them were Predasense/Predavenses, the
Rhadacense/Rhatacenses, the Caucoense (Cauci) and Biephi.[89] Twelve
out of these fifteen tribes listed by Ptolemy are ethnic Dacians,[94] and
three are Celt Anarti, Teurisci, and Cotense.[94] There are also previous
brief mentions of other Getae or Dacian tribes on the left and right banks
of the Danube, or even in Transylvania, to be added to the list of Ptole-
my. Among these other tribes are the Trixae, Crobidae and Appuli.[89]
Some peoples inhabiting the region generally described in Roman times
as "Dacia" were not ethnic Dacians.[95] The true Dacians were a people
of Thracian descent. German elements (Daco-Germans), Celtic ele-
ments (Daco-Celtic) and Iranian elements (Daco-Sarmatian) occupied
territories in the north-west and north-east of Dacia.[96][97][95] This region
covered roughly the same area as modern Romania plus Bessarabia
(Republic of Moldova) and eastern Galicia (south-west Ukraine), al-
though Ptolemy places Moldavia and Bessarabia in Sarmatia Europaea,
rather than Dacia.[98] After the Dacian Wars (AD 101-6), the Romans oc-
cupied only about half of the wider Dacian region. The Roman province
of Dacia covered just western Wallachia as far as the Limes Transalu-
tanus (East of the river Aluta, or Olt) and Transylvania, as bordered by
the Carpathians.[99]
The impact of the Roman conquest on these people is uncertain. One
hypothesis was that they were effectively eliminated. An important clue
to the character of Dacian casualties is offered by the ancient sources
Eutropius and Crito. Both speak about men when they describe the
losses suffered by the Dacians in the wars. This suggests that both refer
to losses due to fighting, not due to a process of extermination of the
whole population.[100] A strong component of the Dacian army, including
the Celtic Bastarnae and the Germans, had withdrawn rather than sub-
mit to Trajan.[101] Some scenes on Trajan's Column represent acts of
obedience of the Dacian population, and others show the refugee Da-
cians returning to their own places.[102] Dacians trying to buy amnesty are
depicted on Trajan's Column (one offers to Trajan a tray of three gold in-
gots).[103] Alternatively, a substantial number may have survived in the
province, although were probably outnumbered by the Romanised immi-
grants.[104] Cultural life in Dacia became very mixed and decidedly cos-
mopolitan because of the colonial communities. The Dacians retained
their names and their own ways in the midst of the newcomers, and the
region continued to exhibit Dacian characteristics.[105] The Dacians who
survived the war are attested as revolting against the Roman domination
in Dacia at least twice, in the period of time right after the Dacian Wars,
and in a more determined manner in 117 AD.[106] In 158 AD, they revolted
again, and were put down by M. Statius Priscus.[107] Some Dacians were
apparently expelled from the occupied zone at the end of each of the
two Dacian Wars, or otherwise emigrated. It is uncertain where these
refugees settled. Some of these people might have mingled with the ex-
isting ethnic Dacian tribes beyond the Carpathians (the Costoboci and
Carpi).
After Trajan's conquest of Dacia there was recurring trouble involving
Dacian groups excluded from the Roman province, as finally defined by
Hadrian. By the early third century the "Free Dacians", as they were ear-
lier known, were a significantly troublesome group, then identified as the
Carpi, requiring imperial intervention on more than one occasion.[108] In
214 Caracalla dealt with their attacks. Later, Philip the Arab came in per-
son to deal with them; he assumed the triumphal title Carpicus Maximus
and inaugurated a new era for the province of Dacia (July 20, 246). Later
both Decius and Gallienus assumed the titles Dacicus Maximus. In 272,
Aurelian assumed the same title as Philip.[108]
In about 140 AD, Ptolemy lists the names of several tribes residing on
the fringes of the Roman Dacia (west, east and north of the Carpathian
range), and the ethnic picture seems to be a mixed one. North of the
Carpathians are recorded the Anarti, Teurisci and Costoboci.[109] The
Anarti (or Anartes) and the Teurisci were originally probably Celtic peo-
ples or mixed Dacian-Celtic.[97] The Anarti, together with the Celtic Cotini,
are described by Tacitus as vassals of the powerful Quadi Germanic
people.[110] The Teurisci were probably a group of Celtic Taurisci from the
eastern Alps. However, archaeology has revealed that the Celtic tribes
had originally spread from west to east as far as Transylvania, before
being absorbed by the Dacians in the 1st century BC.[111][112]
Costoboci[edit]
Main article: Costoboci
The main view is that the Costoboci were ethnically Dacian.[113] Others
considered them a Slavic or Sarmatian tribe.[114][115] There was also a
Celtic influence, so that some consider them a mixed Celtic and Thra-
cian group that appear, after Trajan's conquest, as a Dacian group within
the Celtic superstratum.[116] The Costoboci inhabited the southern slopes
of the Carpathians.[117] Ptolemy named the Coestoboci (Costoboci in
Roman sources) twice, showing them divided by the Dniester and the
Peucinian (Carpathian) Mountains. This suggests that they lived on both
sides of the Carpathians, but it is also possible that two accounts about
the same people were combined.[117] There was also a group, the Trans-
montani, that some modern scholars identify as Dacian Transmontani
Costoboci of the extreme north.[118][119] The name Transmontani was from
the Dacians' Latin,[120] literally "people over the mountains". Mullenhoff
identified these with the Transiugitani, another Dacian tribe north of the
Carpathian mountains.[121]
Based on the account of Dio Cassius, Heather (2010) considers that
Hasding Vandals, around 171 AD, attempted to take control of lands
which previously belonged to the free Dacian group called the Costobo-
ci.[122] Hrushevskyi (1997) mentions that the earlier widespread view that
these Carpathian tribes were Slavic has no basis. This would be contra-
dicted by the Coestobocan names themselves that are known from the
inscriptions, written by a Coestobocan and therefore presumably accu-
rately. These names sound quite unlike anything Slavic.[114] Scholars
such as Tomaschek (1883), Shutte (1917) and Russu (1969) consider
these Costobocian names to be Thraco-Dacian.[123][124][125] This inscription
also indicates the Dacian background of the wife of the Costobocian king
"Ziais Tiati filia Daca".[126] This indication of the socio-familial line of de-
scent seen also in other inscriptions (i.e. Diurpaneus qui Euprepes
Sterissae f(ilius) Dacus) is a custom attested since the historical period
(beginning in the 5th century BC) when Thracians were under Greek in-
fluence.[127] It may not have originated with the Thracians, as it could be
just a fashion borrowed from Greeks for specifying ancestry and for dis-
tinguishing homonymous individuals within the tribe.[128] Shutte (1917),
Parvan, and Florescu (1982) pointed also to the Dacian characteristic
place names ending in '–dava' given by Ptolemy in the Costoboci's coun-
try.[129][130]
Carpi[edit]
Main article: Carpi (people)
The Carpi were a sizeable group of tribes, who lived beyond the north-
eastern boundary of Roman Dacia. The majority view among modern
scholars is that the Carpi were a North Thracian tribe and a subgroup of
the Dacians.[131] However, some historians classify them as Slavs.[132] Ac-
cording to Heather (2010), the Carpi were Dacians from the eastern
foothills of the Carpathian range – modern Moldavia and Wallachia –
who had not been brought under direct Roman rule at the time of Tra-
jan's conquest of Transylvania Dacia. After they generated a new degree
of political unity among themselves in the course of the third century,
these Dacian groups came to be known collectively as the Carpi.[133]
Dacian cast in Pushkin Museum, after original in Lateran Museum. Early second
century AD.
The ancient sources about the Carpi, before 104 AD, located them on a
territory situated between the western side of Eastern European Galicia
and the mouth of the Danube.[134] The name of the tribe is homonymous
with the Carpathian mountains.[118] Carpi and Carpathian are Dacian
words derived from the root (s)ker- "cut" cf. Albanian Karp "stone" and
Sanskrit kar- "cut".[135][136] A quote from the 6th-century Byzantine chroni-
cler Zosimus referring to the Καρποδάκαι (Latin: Carpo-Dacae or "Car-
po-Dacians"), who attacked the Romans in the late 4th century, is seen
as evidence of their Dacian ethnicity. In fact, Carpi/Carpodaces is the
term used for Dacians outside of Dacia proper.[137] However, that the
Carpi were Dacians is shown not so much by the form Καρποδάκαι
(Latin: Carpo-Dacae) of Zosimus as by their characteristic place-names
in –dava, given by Ptolemy in their country.[138] The origin and ethnic affil-
iations of the Carpi have been debated over the years; in modern times
they are closely associated with the Carpathian Mountains, and a good
case has been made for attributing to the Carpi a distinct material cul-
ture, "a developed form of the Geto-Dacian La Tene culture", often
known as the Poienesti culture, which is characteristic of this area.[139]
Physical characteristics[edit]
Roman monument commemorating the Battle of Adamclisi clearly shows two gi-
ant Dacian warriors wielding a two-handed falx
Dacians are represented in the statues surmounting the Arch of Con-
stantine and on Trajan's Column.[1] The artist of the Column took some
care to depict, in his opinion, a variety of Dacian people—from high-
ranking men, women, and children to the near-savage. Although the
artist looked to models in Hellenistic art for some body types and com-
positions, he does not represent the Dacians as generic barbarians.[140]
Classical authors applied a generalized stereotype when describing the
"barbarians"—Celts, Scythians, Thracians—inhabiting the regions to the
north of the Greek world.[141] In accordance with this stereotype, all these
peoples are described, in sharp contrast to the "civilized" Greeks, as be-
ing much taller, their skin lighter and with straight light-coloured hair and
blue eyes.[141] For instance, Aristotle wrote that "the Scythians on the
Black Sea and the Thracians are straight-haired, for both they them-
selves and the environing air are moist";[142] according to Clement of
Alexandria, Xenophanes described the Thracians as "ruddy and tawny".
[141][143] On Trajan's column, Dacian soldiers' hair is depicted longer than
the hair of Roman soldiers and they had trimmed beards.[144]

Body-painting was customary among the Dacians.[specify] It is probable that
the tattooing originally had a religious significance.[145] They practiced
symbolic-ritual tattooing or body painting for both men and women, with
hereditary symbols transmitted up to the fourth generation.[146]
History[edit]
Early history[edit]
Getae on the World Map according to Herodotus

In the absence of historical records written by the Dacians (and Thra-
cians) themselves, analysis of their origins depends largely on the re-
mains of material culture. On the whole, the Bronze Age witnessed the
evolution of the ethnic groups which emerged during the Eneolithic peri-
od, and eventually the syncretism of both autochthonous and Indo-Eu-
ropean elements from the steppes and the Pontic regions.[147] Various
groups of Thracians had not separated out by 1200 BC, [147] but there are
strong similarities between the ceramic types found at Troy and the ce-
ramic types from the Carpathian area.[147] About the year 1000 BC, the
Carpatho-Danubian countries were inhabited by a northern branch of the
Thracians.[148] At the time of the arrival of the Scythians (c. 700 BC), the
Carpatho-Danubian Thracians were developing rapidly towards the Iron
Age civilization of the West. Moreover, the whole of the fourth period of
the Carpathian Bronze Age had already been profoundly influenced by
the first Iron Age as it developed in Italy and the Alpine lands. The
Scythians, arriving with their own type of Iron Age civilization, put a stop
to these relations with the West.[149] From roughly 500 BC (the second
Iron Age), the Dacians developed a distinct civilization, which was capa-
ble of supporting large centralised kingdoms by 1st BC and 1st AD.[150]
Since the very first detailed account by Herodotus, Getae are acknowl-
edged as belonging to the Thracians.[11] Still, they are distinguished from
the other Thracians by particularities of religion and custom.[141] The first
written mention of the name "Dacians" is in Roman sources, but classi-
cal authors are unanimous in considering them a branch of the Getae, a
Thracian people known from Greek writings. Strabo specified that the
Daci are the Getae who lived in the area towards the Pannonian plain
(Transylvania), while the Getae proper gravitated towards the Black Sea
coast (Scythia Minor).
Relations with Thracians[edit]
See also: Dromichaetes
Since the writings of Herodotus in the 5th century BC,[11] Getae/Dacians
are acknowledged as belonging to the Thracian sphere of influence. De-
spite this, they are distinguished from other Thracians by particularities
of religion and custom.[141] Geto-Dacians and Thracians were kin people
but they were not the same.[151] The differences from the southern Thra-
cians or from the neighboring Scythians were probably faint, as several
ancient authors make confusions of identification with both groups.[141]
In the 19th century, Tomaschek considered a close affinity between the
Besso-Thracians and Getae-Dacians, an original kinship of both people
with Iranian peoples.[152] They are Aryan tribes, several centuries before
Scolotes of the Pont and Sauromatae left the Aryan homeland and set-
tled in the Carpathian chain, in the Haemus (Balkan) and Rhodope
mountains.[152] The Besso-Thracians and Getae-Dacians separated very
early from Aryans, since their language still maintains roots that are
missing from Iranian and it shows non-Iranian phonetic characteristics
(i.e. replacing the Iranian "l" with "r").[152] He considered that the Geto-
Dacians and Besso-Thracians would represent a new layer of people
that extended in the autochthonous fund, probably Illyrian or Armenian-
Phrygian.[152]
Relations with Celts[edit]
See also: Celts in Transylvania, Gallic invasion of the Balkans, Boii, Tau-
risci, Scordisci, Anartes, Burebista, List of Celtic cities in Thrace and Da-
cia, and Púchov culture
Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples:

core Hallstatt territory, by the 6th century BC
maximal Celtic expansion, by 275 BC
Geto-Dacians inhabited both sides of the Tisa River before the rise of
the Celtic Boii, and again after the latter were defeated by the Dacians
under king Burebista.[153] During the second half of the 4th century BC,
Celtic cultural influence appears in the archaeological records of the
middle Danube, Alpine region, and north-western Balkans, where it was
part of the Middle La Tène material culture. This material appears in
north-western and central Dacia, and is reflected especially in burials.[150]
The Dacians absorbed the Celtic influence from the northwest in the ear-
ly third century BC.[154] Archaeological investigation of this period has
highlighted several Celtic warrior graves with military equipment. It sug-
gests the forceful penetration of a military Celtic elite within the region of
Dacia, now known as Transylvania, that is bounded on the east by the
Carpathian range.[150] The archaeological sites of the third and second
centuries BC in Transylvania revealed a pattern of co-existence and fu-
sion between the bearers of La Tène culture and indigenous Dacians.
These were domestic dwellings with a mixture of Celtic and Dacian pot-
tery, and several graves in the Celtic style containing vessels of Dacian
type.[150] There are some seventy Celtic sites in Transylvania, mostly
cemeteries, but most if not all of them indicate that the native population
imitated Celtic art forms that took their fancy, but remained obstinately
and fundamentally Dacian in their culture.[154]
Replica of the raven-totem helmet from Satu Mare County
The Celtic Helmet from Satu Mare, Romania (northern Dacia), an Iron
Age raven totem helmet, dated around the 4th century BC. A similar
helmet is depicted on the Thraco-Celtic Gundestrup cauldron, being
worn by one of the mounted warriors (detail tagged here). See also an
illustration of Brennos wearing a similar helmet. Around 150 BC, La
Tène material disappears from the area. This coincides with the ancient
writings which mention the rise of Dacian authority. It ended the Celtic
domination, and it is possible that Celts were driven out of Dacia. Alter-
natively, some scholars have proposed that the Transylvanian Celts re-
mained, but merged into the local culture and thus ceased to be distinc-
tive.[150][154]
Archaeological discoveries in the settlements and fortifications of the
Dacians in the period of their kingdoms (1st century BC and 1st century
AD) included imported Celtic vessels, and others made by Dacian pot-
ters imitating Celtic prototypes, showing that relations between the Da-
cians and the Celts from the regions north and west of Dacia continued.
[155] In present-day Slovakia, archaeology has revealed evidence for
mixed Celtic-Dacian populations in the Nitra and Hron river basins.[156]

After the Dacians subdued the Celtic tribes, the remaining Cotini stayed
in the mountains of Central Slovakia, where they took up mining and
metalworking. Together with the original domestic population, they cre-
ated the Puchov culture that spread into central and northern Slovakia,
including Spis, and penetrated northeastern Moravia and southern
Poland. Along the Bodrog River in Zemplin they created Celtic-Dacian
settlements which were known for the production of painted ceramics.[156]
Relations with Greeks[edit]
See also: Decree of Dionysopolis, List of Greek cities in Thrace and Da-
cia, and Lysimachus
Greek and Roman chroniclers record the defeat and capture of the
Macedonian general 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.
Relations with Persians[edit]
Herodotus says: "before Darius reached the Danube, the first people he
subdued were the Getae, who believed that they never die".[11] It is pos-
sible that the Persian expedition and the subsequent occupation may
have altered the way in which the Getae expressed the immortality be-
lief. The influence of thirty years of Achaemenid presence may be de-
tected in the emergence of an explicit iconography of the "Royal Hunt"
that influenced Dacian and Thracian metalworkers, and of the practice of
hawking by their upper class.[157]
Relations with Scythians[edit]
See also: Agathyrsi, Scythia Minor, Alans, Roxolani, and Iazyges
Agathyrsi Transylvania[edit]
The Scythians' arrival in the Carpathian mountains is dated to 700 BC.
[158] The Agathyrsi of Transylvania had been mentioned by Herodotus
(fifth century BC),[159] who regarded them as not a Scythian people, but
closely related to them. In other respects their customs were close to
those of the Thracians.[160] The Agathyrsi were completely denationalized
at the time of Herodotus and absorbed by the native Thracians.[161][162]
The opinion that the Agathyrsi were almost certainly Thracians results
also from the writings preserved by Stephen of Byzantium, who explains
that the Greeks called the Trausi the Agathyrsi, and we know that the
Trausi lived in the Rhodope Mountains. Certain details from their way of
life, such as tattooing, also suggest that the Agathyrsi were Thracians.
Their place was later taken by the Dacians.[163] That the Dacians were of
Thracian stock is not in doubt, and it is safe to assume that this new
name also encompassed the Agathyrsi, and perhaps other neighboring
Thracian people as well, as a result of some political upheaval.[163]
Relations with Germanic tribes[edit]
See also: Suebi, Bastarnae, Goths, Marcomannic Wars, and
Chernyakhov culture
Map showing the Dacian-speaking Carpi place in invading Roman Dacia in AD

250-1, under the Gothic leader Kniva
The Goths, a confederation of east German peoples, arrived in the
southern Ukraine no later than 230.[164] During the next decade, a large
section of them moved down the Black Sea coast and occupied much of
the territory north of the lower Danube.[164] The Goths' advance towards
the area north of the Black Sea involved competing with the indigenous
population of Dacian-speaking Carpi, as well as indigenous Iranian-
speaking Sarmatians and Roman garrison forces.[165] The Carpi, often
called "Free Dacians", continued to dominate the anti-Roman coalition
made up of themselves, Taifali, Astringi, Vandals, Peucini, and Goths un-
til 248, when the Goths assumed the hegemony of the loose coalition.[166]
The first lands taken over by the Thervingi Goths were in Moldavia, and
only during the fourth century did they move in strength down into the
Danubian plain.[167] The Carpi found themselves squeezed between the
advancing Goths and the Roman province of Dacia.[164] In 275 AD, Aure-
lian surrendered the Dacian territory[clarification needed] to the Carpi and the
Goths.[168] Over time, Gothic power in the region grew, at the Carpi's ex-
pense. The Germanic-speaking Goths replaced native Dacian-speakers
as the dominant force around the Carpathian mountains.[169] Large num-
bers of Carpi, but not all of them, were admitted into the Roman empire
in the twenty-five years or so after 290 AD.[170] Despite this evacuation of
the Carpi around 300 AD, considerable groups of the natives (non-Ro-
manized Dacians, Sarmatians and others) remained in place under
Gothic domination.[171]
In 330 the Gothic Thervingi contemplated moving to the Middle Danube
region,[citation needed] and from 370 relocated with their fellow Gothic
Greuthungi to new homes in the Roman Empire.[170] The Ostrogoths were
still more isolated, but even the Visigoths preferred to live among their
own kind. As a result, the Goths settled in pockets. Finally, although
Roman towns continued on a reduced level, there is no question as to
their survival.[167]
In 336 AD, Constantine took the title Dacicus Maximus ("The great victo-
ry over Dacians"), implying at least partial reconquest of Trajan Dacia.[172]
In an inscription of 337, Constantine was commemorated officially as
Germanicus Maximus, Sarmaticus, Gothicus Maximus, and Dacicus
Maximus, meaning he had defeated the Germans, Sarmatians, Goths,
and Dacians.[173]
Dacian kingdoms[edit]
Main article: Dacia
Further information: Burebista and Decebalus
Dacian kingdom during the reign of Burebista, 82 BC
Dacian polities arose as confederacies that included the Getae, the
Daci, the Buri, and the Carpi[dubious – discuss] (cf. Bichir 1976, Shchukin 1989),
[153] united only periodically by the leadership of Dacian kings such as Bu-
rebista and Decebal. This union was both military-political and ideologi-
cal-religious[153] on ethnic basis. The following are some of the attested
Dacian kingdoms:
The kingdom of Cothelas, one of the Getae, covered an area near the
Black Sea, between northern Thrace and the Danube, today Bulgaria, in
the 4th century BC.[174] The kingdom of Rubobostes controlled a region in
Transylvania in the 2nd century BC.[175] Gaius Scribonius Curio (procon-
sul 75–73 BC) campaigned successfully against the Dardani and the
Moesi, becoming the first Roman general to reach the river Danube with
his army.[176] His successor, Marcus Licinius Lucullus, brother of the fa-
mous Lucius Lucullus, campaigned against the Thracian Bessi tribe and
the Moesi, ravaging the whole of Moesia, the region between the
Haemus (Balkan) mountain range and the Danube. In 72 BC, his troops
occupied the Greek coastal cities of Scythia Minor (the modern Dobro-
gea region in Romania and Bulgaria), which had sided with Rome's Hel-
lenistic arch-enemy, king Mithridates VI of Pontus, in the Third Mithridatic
War.[177] Greek geographer Strabo claimed that the Dacians and Getae
had been able to muster a combined army of 200,000 men during Stra-
bo's era, the time of Roman emperor Augustus.[178]
The kingdom of Burebista[edit]
The Dacian kingdom reached its maximum extent under king Burebista
(ruled 82 – 44 BC). The capital of the kingdom was possibly the city of
Argedava, also called Sargedava in some historical writings, situated
close to the river Danube. The kingdom of Burebista extended south of
the Danube, in what is today Bulgaria, and the Greeks believed their
king was the greatest of all Thracians.[179][better source needed] During his reign,
Burebista transferred the Geto-Dacians' capital from Argedava to
Sarmizegetusa.[180][181] For at least one and a half centuries,
Sarmizegethusa was the Dacian capital, reaching its peak under king
Decebalus. Burebista annexed the Greek cities on the Pontus.(55–48
BC).[182] Augustus wanted to avenge the defeat of Gaius Antonius Hybri-
da at Histria (Sinoe) 32 years before, and to recover the lost standards.
These were held in a powerful fortress called Genucla (Isaccea, near
modern Tulcea, in the Danube delta region of Romania), controlled by
Zyraxes, the local Getan petty king.[183] The man selected for the task
was Marcus Licinius Crassus, grandson of Crassus the triumvir, and an
experienced general at 33 years of age, who was appointed proconsul of
Macedonia in 29 BC.[184]
The kingdom of Decebalus 87 – 106[edit]
By the year AD 100, more than 400,000 square kilometers were domi-
nated by the Dacians, who numbered two million.[b] Decebalus was the
last king of the Dacians, and despite his fierce resistance against the
Romans was defeated, and committed suicide rather than being
marched through Rome in a triumph as a captured enemy leader.
Conflict with Rome[edit]
Main articles: Domitian's Dacian War and Trajan's Dacian Wars
Burebista's Dacian state was powerful enough to threaten Rome, and
Caesar contemplated campaigning against the Dacians.[185] Despite this,
the formidable Dacian power under Burebista lasted only until his death
in 44 BC. The subsequent division of Dacia continued for about a centu-
ry until the reign of Scorilo. This was a period of only occasional attacks
on the Roman Empire's border, with some local significance.[186]
The unifying actions of the last Dacian king Decebalus (ruled 87–106
AD) were seen as dangerous by Rome. Despite the fact that the Dacian
army could now gather only some 40,000 soldiers,[186] Decebalus' raids
south of the Danube proved unstoppable and costly. In the Romans'
eyes, the situation at the border with Dacia was out of control, and Em-
peror Domitian (ruled 81 to 96 AD) tried desperately to deal with the
danger through military action. But the outcome of Rome's disastrous
campaigns into Dacia in AD 86 and AD 88 pushed Domitian to settle the
situation through diplomacy.[186]
Emperor Trajan (ruled 97–117 AD) opted for a different approach and
decided to conquer the Dacian kingdom, partly in order to seize its vast
gold mines wealth. The effort required two major wars (the Dacian
Wars), one in 101–102 AD and the other in 105–106 AD. Only fragmen-
tary details survive of the Dacian war: a single sentence of Trajan's own
Dacica; little more of the Getica written by his doctor, T. Statilius Crito;
nothing whatsoever of the poem proposed by Caninius Rufus (if it was
ever written), Dio Chrysostom's Getica or Appian's Dacica. Nonetheless,
a reasonable account can be pieced together.[187]
In the first war, Trajan invaded Dacia by crossing the river Danube with a
boat-bridge and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Dacians at the Second
Battle of Tapae in 101 AD. The Dacian king Decebalus was forced to sue
for peace. Trajan and Decebalus then concluded a peace treaty which
was highly favourable to the Romans. The peace agreement required
the Dacians to cede some territory to the Romans and to demolish their
fortifications. Decebalus' foreign policy was also restricted, as he was
prohibited from entering into alliances with other tribes.
However, both Trajan and Decebalus considered this only a temporary
truce, and readied themselves for renewed war. Trajan had Greek engi-
neer Apollodorus of Damascus construct a stone bridge over the
Danube river, while Decebalus secretly plotted alliances against the
Romans(citation needed). In 105, Trajan crossed the Danube river and besieged
Decebalus' capital, Sarmizegetusa, but the siege failed because of De-
cebalus' allied tribes. However, Trajan was an optimist. He returned with
a newly constituted army and took Sarmizegetusa by treachery. Dece-
balus fled into the mountains, but was cornered by pursuing Roman
cavalry. Decebalus committed suicide rather than being captured by the
Romans and be paraded as a slave, then be killed. The Roman captain
took his head and right hand to Trajan, who had them displayed in the
Forums. Trajan's Column in Rome was constructed to celebrate the
conquest of Dacia.
Death of Decebalus (Trajan's Column, Scene CXLV)
The Roman people hailed Trajan's triumph in Dacia with the longest and
most expensive celebration in their history, financed by a part of the gold
taken from the Dacians.[188] For his triumph, Trajan gave a 123-day festi-
val (ludi) of celebration, in which approximately 11,000 animals were
slaughtered and 11,000 gladiators fought in combats. This surpassed
Emperor Titus's celebration in AD 70, when a 100-day festival included
3,000 gladiators and 5,000 to 9,000 wild animals.[189][190]
Roman rule[edit]
Main article: Roman Dacia
See also: Danubian provinces
Only about half part of Dacia then became a Roman province,[191] with a
newly built capital at Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, 40 km away from the
site of Old Sarmisegetuza Regia, which was razed to the ground. The
name of the Dacians' homeland, Dacia, became the name of a Roman
province, and the name Dacians was used to designate the people in
the region.[192] Roman Dacia, also Dacia Traiana or Dacia Felix, was a
province of the Roman Empire from 106 to 271 or 275 AD.[193][194][195] Its
territory consisted of eastern and southeastern Transylvania, and the re-
gions of Banat and Oltenia (located in modern Romania).[193] Dacia was
organised from the beginning as an imperial province, and remained so
throughout the Roman occupation.[196] It was one of the empire's Latin
provinces; official epigraphs attest that the language of administration
was Latin.[197] Historian estimates of the population of Roman Dacia
range from 650,000 to 1,200,000.[198]
Roman Dacia, Moesia Inferior, Moesia Superior and other Roman provinces
Dacians that remained outside the Roman Empire after the Dacian wars
of AD 101–106 had been named Dakoi prosoroi (Latin Daci limitanei),
"neighbouring Dacians".[23] Modern historians use the generic name
"Free Dacians" or Independent Dacians.[199][200][123] The tribes Daci Magni
(Great Dacians), Costoboci (generally considered a Dacian subtribe),
and Carpi remained outside the Roman empire, in what the Romans
called Dacia Libera (Free Dacia).[192] By the early third century the "Free
Dacians" were a significantly troublesome group, by now identified as
the Carpi.[199] Bichir argues that the Carpi were the most powerful of the
Dacian tribes who had become the principal enemy of the Romans in the
region.[201] In 214 AD, Caracalla campaigned against the Free Dacians.
[202] There were also campaigns against the Dacians recorded in 236 AD.
[203]
Roman Dacia was evacuated by the Romans under emperor Aurelian

(ruled 271–5 AD). Aurelian made this decision on account of counter-
pressures on the Empire there caused by the Carpi, Visigoths, Sarma-
tians, and Vandals; the lines of defense needed to be shortened, and
Dacia was deemed not defensible given the demands on available re-
sources. Roman power in Thracia rested mainly with the legions sta-
tioned in Moesia. The rural nature of Thracia's populations, and the dis-
tance from Roman authority, encouraged the presence of local troops to
support Moesia's legions. Over the next few centuries, the province was
periodically and increasingly attacked by migrating Germanic tribes. The
reign of Justinian saw the construction of over 100 legionary fortresses
to supplement the defense. Thracians in Moesia and Dacia were Ro-
manized, while those within the Byzantine empire were their Hellenized
descendants that had mingled with the Greeks.
After the Aurelian Retreat[edit]
See also: Free Dacians, Carpi (people), Costoboci, and Origin of the
Romanians
Dacian on the Constantine Arch
Roman Dacia was never a uniformly or fully Romanized area. Post-Au-
relianic Dacia fell into three divisions: the area along the river, usually
under some type of Roman administration even if in a highly localized
form; the zone beyond this area, from which Roman military personnel
had withdrawn, leaving a sizable population behind that was generally
Romanized; and finally what is now the northern parts of Moldavia,
Crisana, and Maramures, which were never occupied by the Romans.
These last areas were always peripheral to the Roman province, not mil-
itarily occupied but nonetheless influenced by Rome as part of the Ro-
man economic sphere. Here lived the free, unoccupied Carpi, often
called "Free Dacians".[167]
The Aurelian retreat was a purely military decision to withdraw the Ro-
man troops to defend the Danube. The inhabitants of the old province of
Dacia displayed no awareness of impending dissolution. There were no
sudden flights or dismantling of property.[168] It is not possible to discern
how many civilians followed the army out of Dacia; it is clear that there
was no mass emigration, since there is evidence of continuity of settle-
ment in Dacian villages and farms; the evacuation may not at first have
been intended to be a permanent measure.[168] The Romans left the prov-
ince, but they didn't consider that they lost it.[168] Dobrogea was not
abandoned at all, but continued as part of the Roman Empire for over
350 years.[204] As late as AD 300, the tetrarchic emperors had resettled
tens of thousands of Dacian Carpi inside the empire, dispersing them in
communities the length of the Danube, from Austria to the Black Sea.[205]
Society[edit]
Dacian tarabostes (nobleman) – (Hermitage Museum)
Comati on Trajan's Column, Rome
Dacians were divided into two classes: the aristocracy (tarabostes) and
the common people (comati). Only the aristocracy had the right to cover
their heads, and wore a felt hat. The common people, 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.
Occupations[edit]
Dacian tools: compasses, chisels, knives, etc.

The chief occupations of the Dacians were agriculture, apiculture, viticul-
ture, livestock, ceramics and metalworking. They also worked the gold
and silver mines of Transylvania. At Pecica, Arad, a Dacian workshop
was discovered, along with equipment for minting coins and evidence of
bronze, silver, and iron-working that suggests a broad spectrum of
smithing.[206] Evidence for the mass production of iron is found on many
Dacian sites, indicating guild-like specialization.[206] Dacian ceramic man-
ufacturing traditions continue from the pre-Roman to the Roman period,
both in provincial and unoccupied Dacia, and well into the fourth and
even early fifth centuries.[207] They engaged in considerable external
trade, as is shown by the number of foreign coins found in the country
(see also Decebalus Treasure). On the northernmost frontier of "free
Dacia", coin circulation steadily grew in the first and second centuries,
with a decline in the third and a rise again in the fourth century; the same
pattern as observed for the Banat region to the southwest. What is re-
markable is the extent and increase in coin circulation after Roman with-
drawal from Dacia, and as far north as Transcarpathia.[208]
Currency[edit]
Geto-Dacian Koson, mid 1st century BC

The first coins produced by the Geto-Dacians were imitations of silver
coins of the Macedonian kings Philip II and Alexander the Great. Early in
the 1st century BC, the Dacians replaced these with silver denarii of the
Roman Republic, both official coins of Rome exported to Dacia, as well
as locally made imitations of them. The Roman province Dacia is repre-
sented on the Roman sestertius coin as a woman seated on a rock,
holding an aquila, a small child on her knee. The aquila holds ears of
grain, and another small child is seated before her holding grapes.
Construction[edit]
See also: Dacian Fortresses of the Orăştie Mountains and Murus daci-
cus
Dacians had developed the murus dacicus (double-skinned ashlar-ma-
sonry with rubble fill and tie beams) characteristic to their complexes of
fortified cities, like their capital Sarmisegetuza Regia in what is today
Hunedoara County, Romania.[206] This type of wall has been discovered
not only in the Dacian citadel of the Orastie mountains, but also in those
at Covasna, Breaza near Făgăraș, Tilișca near Sibiu, Căpâlna in the Se-
beș valley, Bănița not far from Petroșani, and Piatra Craivii to the north
of Alba Iulia.[209] The degree of their urban development was displayed on
Trajan's Column and in the account of how Sarmizegetusa Regia was
defeated by the Romans. The Romans were given by treachery the loca-
tions of aqueducts and pipelines of the Dacian capital, only after destroy-
ing the water supply being able to end the long siege of Sarmisegetuza.
Material culture[edit]
See also: Thracology, Dacology, and Romanian archaeology
See also: the categories Dacian archaeology, Museums of Dacia, and
Dacian art.
According to archaeological findings, the cradle of the Dacian culture is
considered to be north of the Danube towards the Carpathian moun-
tains, in the historical Romanian province of Muntenia. It is identified as
an evolution of the Iron Age Basarabi culture. The earlier Iron Age
Basarabi evidence in the northern lower Danube area connects to the
iron-using Ferigile-Birsesti group. This is an archaeological manifestation
of the historical Getae who, along with the Agathyrsae, are one of a
number of tribal formations recorded by Herodotus.[159][210] In archaeology,
"free Dacians" are attested by the Puchov culture (in which there are
Celtic elements) and Lipiţa culture to the east of the Carpathians.[211] The
Lipiţa culture has a Dacian/North Thracian origin.[212] [213] This North Thra-
cian population was dominated by strong Celtic influences, or had simply
absorbed Celtic ethnic components.[214] Lipiţa culture has been linked to
the Dacian tribe of Costoboci.[215][216]
Specific Dacian material culture includes: wheel-turned pottery that is
generally plain but with distinctive elite wares, massive silver dress fibu-
lae, precious metal plate, ashlar masonry, fortifications, upland sanctuar-
ies with horseshoe-shaped precincts, and decorated clay heart altars at
settlement sites. Among many discovered artifacts, the Dacian bracelets
stand out, depicting their cultural and aesthetic sense.[206] There are diffi-
culties correlating funerary monuments chronologically with Dacian set-
tlements; a small number of burials are known, along with cremation
pits, and isolated rich burials as at Cugir.[206] Dacian burial ritual contin-
ued under Roman occupation and into the post-Roman period.[217]
Language[edit]
Main article: Dacian language
See also: Davae, Thracian language, and Languages of the Roman
Empire
The Dacians are generally considered to have been Thracian speakers,
representing a cultural continuity from earlier Iron Age communities.[82]
Some historians and linguists consider Dacian language to be a dialect
of or the same language as Thracian.[141][218] The vocalism and consonan-
tism differentiate the Dacian and Thracian languages.[219] Others consider
that Dacian and Illyrian form regional varieties (dialects) of a common
language. (Thracians inhabited modern southern Bulgaria and northern
Greece. Illyrians lived in modern Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-
Herzegovina and Croatia.)
The ancient languages of these people became extinct, and their cultural
influence highly reduced, after the repeated invasions of the Balkans by
Celts, Huns, Goths, and Sarmatians, accompanied by persistent hell-
enization, romanisation and later slavicisation. Therefore, in the study of
the toponomy of Dacia, one must take account of the fact that some
place-names were taken by the Slavs from as yet unromanised Dacians.
[220] A number of Dacian words are preserved in ancient sources, amount-
ing to about 1150 anthroponyms and 900 toponyms, and in Discorides

some of the rich plant lore of the Dacians is preserved along with the
names of 42 medicinal plants.[13]
Symbols[edit]
The Dacians knew about writing.[221][222][223] Permanent contacts with the
Graeco-Roman world had brought the use of the Greek and later the
Latin alphabet.[224] It is also certainly not the case that writing with Greek
and Latin letters and knowledge of Greek and Latin were known in all
the settlements scattered throughout Dacia, but there is no doubt about
the existence of such knowledge in some circles of Dacian society.[225]
However, the most revealing discoveries concerning the use of the writ-
ing by the Dacians occurred in the citadels on the Sebes mountains.[224]
Some groups of letters from stone blocks at Sarmisegetuza might ex-
press personal names; these can not now be read because the wall is
ruined, and because it is impossible to restore the original order of the
blocks in the wall.[226]
Religion[edit]
Main article: Dacian mythology
Detail of the main fresco of the Aleksandrovo kurgan. The figure is identified with
Zalmoxis.[227][228]
Dacian religion was considered by the classic sources as a key source
of authority, suggesting to some that Dacia was a predominantly theo-
cratic state led by priest-kings. However, the layout of the Dacian capital
Sarmizegethusa indicates the possibility of co-rulership, with a separate
high king and high priest.[153] Ancient sources recorded the names of
several Dacian high priests (Deceneus, Comosicus and Vezina) and var-
ious orders of priests: "god-worshipers", "smoke-walkers" and
"founders".[153] Both Hellenistic and Oriental influences are discernible in
the religious background, alongside chthonic and solar motifs.[153]
According to Herodotus' account of the story of Zalmoxis or Zamolxis,[11]
the Getae (speaking the same language as the Dacians and the Thra-
cians, according to 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,
who is called also Gebeleizis by some among them.[11][229] Strabo wrote
about the high priest of King Burebista Deceneus: "a man who not only
had wandered through Egypt, but also had thoroughly learned certain
prognostics through which he would pretend to tell the divine will; and
within a short time he was set up as god (as I said when relating the sto-
ry of Zamolxis)."[230]
Votive stele representing Bendis wearing a Dacian cap (British Museum)

The Goth Jordanes in his Getica (The origin and deeds of the Goths),
also gives an account of Deceneus the highest priest, and considered
Dacians a nation related to the Goths. Besides Zalmoxis, the Dacians
believed in other deities, such as Gebeleizis, the god of storm and light-
ning, possibly related to the Thracian god Zibelthiurdos.[231] He was rep-
resented as a handsome man, sometimes with a beard. Later Gebeleizis
was equated with Zalmoxis as the same god. According to Herodotus,
Gebeleizis (*Zebeleizis/Gebeleizis who is only mentioned by Herodotus)
is just another name of Zalmoxis.[232][11][233][234]
Another important deity was Bendis, goddess of the moon and the hunt.
[235] By a decree of the oracle of Dodona, which required the Athenians to
grant land for a shrine or temple, her cult was introduced into Attica by
immigrant Thracian residents,[c] and, though Thracian and Athenian pro-
cessions remained separate, both cult and festival became so popular
that in Plato's time (c. 429–13 BC) its festivities were naturalised as an
official ceremony of the Athenian city-state, called the Bendideia.[d]
Known Dacian theonyms include Zalmoxis, Gebeleïzis and Darzalas.[236]
[e] Gebeleizis is probably cognate to the Thracian god Zibelthiurdos (also
Zbelsurdos, Zibelthurdos), wielder of lightning and thunderbolts. Derze-

las (also Darzalas) was a chthonic god of health and human vitality. The
pagan religion survived longer in Dacia than in other parts of the empire;
Christianity made little headway until the fifth century.[168]
Pottery[edit]
Fragment of a vase collected by Mihail Dimitriu at the site of Poiana, Galaţi (Piro-
boridava), Romania illustrating the use of Greek and Latin letters by a Dacian
potter (source: Dacia journal, 1933)
Fragments of pottery with different "inscriptions" with Latin and Greek
letters incised before and after firing have been discovered in the settle-
ment at Ocnita – Valcea.[237] An inscription carries the word Basileus
(Βασιλεύς in Greek, meaning "king") and seems to have been written
before the vessel was hardened by fire.[238] Other inscriptions contain the
name of the king, believed to be Thiemarcus,[238] and Latin groups of let-
ters (BVR, REB).[239] BVR indicates the name of the tribe or union of
tribes, the Buridavensi Dacians who lived at Buridava and who were
mentioned by Ptolemy in the second century AD under the name of
Buridavensioi.[240]
Clothing and science[edit]
The typical dress of Dacians, both men and women, can be seen on Tra-
jan's column.[145]
Dio Chrysostom described the Dacians as natural philosophers.[241]
A 19th century depiction of Dacian women
Warfare[edit]
Main article: Dacian warfare
The history of Dacian warfare spans from c. 10th century BC up to the
2nd century AD in the region typically referred to by Ancient Greek and
Latin historians as Dacia. It concerns the armed conflicts of the Dacian
tribes and their kingdoms in the Balkans. Apart from conflicts between
Dacians and neighboring nations and tribes, numerous wars were
recorded among Dacian tribes as well.
Weapons[edit]
See also: Falx and Sica
The weapon most associated with the Dacian forces that fought against
Trajan's army during his invasions of Dacia was the falx, a single-edged
scythe-like weapon. The falx was able to inflict horrible wounds on op-
ponents, easily disabling or killing the heavily armored Roman legionar-
ies that they faced. This weapon, more so than any other single factor,
forced the Roman army to adopt previously unused or modified equip-
ment to suit the conditions on the Dacian battlefield.[242]
Notable individuals[edit]
See also: List of Dacian kings, Burebista, and Decebalus
This is a list of several important Dacian individuals or those of partly
Dacian origin.
• Zalmoxis, a semi-legendary social and religious reformer, eventu-
ally deified by the Getae and Dacians and regarded as the only
true god.
• Zoltes
• Burebista was a king of Dacia, 70–44 BC, who united under his
rule Thracians in a large territory, from today's Moravia in the
West, to the Southern Bug river (Ukraine) in the East, and from the
Northern Carpathian Mountains to Southern Dionysopolis. The
Greeks considered him the first and greatest king of Thrace.[179]
[better source needed]
• Decebalus, a king of Dacia who was ultimately defeated by the

forces of Trajan.
• Diegis was a Dacian chief, general and brother of Decebalus, and
his representative at the peace negotiations held with Domitian (89
CE)
Trivia[edit]
"The ducks come from the trucks" – Romanian language pun about a
mistranslation (duck and truck sound like dac and trac, the ethnonyms
for Dacian and Thracian).[243]
In Romanian nationalism[edit]
Main article: Origin of the Romanians
Modern Romanian statue of the Dacian King Burebista (located in Călărași).
Study of the Dacians, their culture, society and religion is not purely a
subject of ancient history, but has present day implications in the context
of Romanian nationalism. Positions taken on the vexed question of the
Origin of the Romanians and to what degree are present-day Romani-
ans descended from the Dacians might have contemporary political im-
plications. For example, The government of Nicolae Ceaușescu claimed
an uninterrupted continuity of a Dacian-Romanian state, from King Bu-
rebista to Ceaușescu himself.[244] The Ceaușescu government conspicu-
ously commemorated the supposed 2,050th anniversary of the founding
of the "unified and centralized" country that was to become Romania, on
which occasion the historical film "Burebista" was produced.
See also[edit]
• Moesi
• Thracians
• Illyrians
• Scythians
• Sarmatians
• Cimmerians
• Dacia
◦ List of rulers of Thrace and Dacia
◦ List of cities in Thrace and Dacia
◦ Dacian language
▪ List of Dacian names
• Thrace
◦ Thracology
◦ Odrysian kingdom
◦ Thracian language
◦ Thracian mythology
◦ Thraco-Dacian
◦ Thraco-Cimmerian
◦ Thraco-Illyrian
◦ Thraex
Notes[edit]
• ^ Dioscorides's book (known in English by its Latin title De Materia Medica
'Regarding Medical Materials') has all the Dacian names of the plants pre-
ceded by Δάκοι Dakoi i.e. Δάκοι Dakoi προποδιλα Latin Daci propodila
"Dacians propodila"
• ^ De Imperatoribus Romanis Retrieved 2007-11-08. "In the year 88, the
Romans resumed the offensive. The Roman troops were now led by the
general Tettius Iulianus. The battle took place again at Tapae but this time
the Romans defeated the Dacians. For fear of falling into a trap, Iulianus
abandoned his plans of conquering Sarmizegetuza and, at the same time,
Decebalus asked for peace. At first, Domitian refused this request, but af-
ter he was defeated in a war in Pannonia against the Marcomanni (a Ger-
manic tribe), the emperor was obliged to accept the peace."
• ^ Extensive discussion of whether the date is 429 or 413 BC was reviewed
and newly analyzed in Christopher Planeaux, "The Date of Bendis' Entry
into Attica" The Classical Journal 96.2 (December 2000:165–192).
Planeaux offers a reconstruction of the inscription mentioning the first in-
troduction, p
• ^ Fifth-century fragmentary inscriptions that record formal descrees re-
garding formal aspects of the Bendis cult, are reproduced in Planeaux
2000:170f
• ^ Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898),
(Zalmoxis) or Zamolxis (Zamolxis). Said to have been so called from the
bear's skin (zalmos) in which he was clothed as soon as he was born. He
was, according to the story current among the Greeks on the Hellespont, a
Getan, who had been a slave to Pythagoras in Samos, but was manumit-
ted, and acquired not only great wealth, but large stores of knowledge from
Pythagoras, and from the Egyptians, whom he visited in the course of his
travels. He returned among the Getae, introducing the civilization and the
religious ideas which he had gained, especially regarding the immortality of
the soul. Herodotus, however, suspects that he was an indigenous Getan
divinity (Herod.iv. 95)
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a b c d Tomaschek 1883, pp. 400–401.

a b c d e f Taylor 2001, p. 215.

a b c MacKendrick 2000, p. 50.
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a bSkvarna, Cicaj & Letz 2000, p. 14.
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a b c d e Southern 2001, p. 325.
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178.^ Strabo & 20 AD, VII 3,13.
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180.^ MacKendrick 2000, p. 48.

181.^ Goodman & Sherwood 2002, p. 227.
182.^ Crişan 1978, p. 118.
183.^ Dio LI.26.5
184.^ Dio LI.23.2
185.^ Taylor 1994, p. 404.
a b c Oltean 2007, pp. 53–54.
187.^ Bennett 1997, p. 97.

188.^ Hooper 2002, p. 434.
189.^ Snooks 1997, p. 154.
190.^ Campbell 2002, p. 144.
191.^ Boia 2001, p. 47.
a bWaldman & Mason 2006, p. 205.
a b Klepper, Nicolae. Romania: An Illustrated History.[unreliable source?]
194.^ MacKendrick 2000.

195.^ Pop 2000.
196.^ Oltean 2007.
197.^ Köpeczi, Béla; Makkai, László; Mócsy, András; Szász, Zoltán; Barta,
Gábor. History of Transylvania – From the Beginnings to 1606.
198.^ Georgescu 1991.
a b Bowman, Cameron & Garnsey 2005, p. 224.
200.^ Schütte 1917, p. 143.

201.^ Siani-Davies P., Siani-Davies M. & Deletant 2006, p. 205.
202.^ Cowan 2003, p. 5.
203.^ Hazel 2002, p. 360.
204.^ MacKendrick 2000, p. 161.
205.^ Heather 2006, p. 159.
a b c d e Taylor 2001, pp. 214–215.
207.^ Ellis 1998, p. 229.

208.^ Ellis 1998, p. 232.
209.^ Applebaum 1976, p. 91.
210.^ Taylor 2001, p. 86.
211.^ Millar 1981, p. 279.
212.^ Shchukin, Kazanski & Sharov 2006, p. 20.
213.^ Kostrzewski 1949, p. 230.
214.^ Jażdżewski 1948, p. 76.
215.^ Shchukin 1989, p. 306.
216.^ Parvan & Florescu 1982, p. 547.
217.^ Ellis 1998, p. 233.
218.^ Tomaschek 1883, p. 401.
219.^ Pârvan 1926, p. 648.
220.^ Pares et al. 1939, p. 149.
221.^ Turnock 1988, p. 42.
222.^ Cunliffe 1994, p. 193.
223.^ Millar 1981, p. 275.
a b Applebaum 1976, p. 94.
225.^ Glodariu 1976, p. 101.

226.^ Applebaum 1976, p. 95.
227.^ Hans Wagner Die Thraker Eurasisches Magazin, 30 August 2004
228.^ Kalin Dimitrov Thracian tomb of Aleksandrovo, Cultural Heritage Activi-
ties and Institutes Network, 12 September 2008
229.^ Histories by Herodotus Book 4 translated by G. Rawlinson
230.^ Strabo & 20 AD, VII 3,11.
231.^ Tomaschek 1893.
232.^ Glodariu, Pop & Nagler 2005, p. 120.
233.^ Tomaschek 1883, p. 410.
234.^ Paliga 1994, p. 440.
235.^ BENDIS : Thracian goddess of the moon & hunting ; mythology ; pic-
tures
236.^ Hdt. 4.94,Their belief in their immortality is as follows: they believe that
they do not die, but that one who perishes goes to the deity Salmoxis, or
Gebeleïzis, as some of them call him.
237.^ Glodariu 1976, p. 128.
a b MacKenzie 1986, p. 67.
239.^ MacKenzie 1986, p. 26.

240.^ MacKenzie 1986, p. 66.
241.^ Sidebottom 2007, p. 5.
242.^ Schmitz 2005, p. 30.
243.^ Attributed to Ion Iliescu speaking about drugs, cf. http://www.gandul.info/
politica/the-ducks-come-from-the-trucks-pe-sulaina-cenal-cu-aviara-gripa-
de-ce-insista-conducatorii-sa-se-faca-de-ras-in-limbi-straine-cititi-aici-expli-
catia-lui-ion-iliescu-4438675
244.^ Boia, L., History and Myth in Romanian Consciousness, Central Eu-
ropean University Press, Budapest, 2001, p. 78; 125
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and
• Dacian Draco Kogaionon
civili-
sation
Towns and
fortresses
• Sarmizegetusa Argidava Buridava Cumidava Piroborida-
va Sucidava More towns... Davae Dacian Fortresses of
the Orăștie Mountains Murus Dacicus
Foreign
relations
• Greeks Celts Germanic tribes Romans
Warfare
• Falx Sica Thracian warfare
Wars
with Domitian
the • First Battle of Tapae
Ro- Trajan
man • ◦ ◦ First War Second Battle of Tapae
Em- Battle of Adamclisi Second War Battle of Sarmisegetusa
pire
• ◦ Dacia Traiana Moesia Scythia Minor Dacia Aure-
liana Diocese of Dacia Dacia Mediterranea Dacia Ripensis
Trajan Bridge Column Towns and cities Castra
Ro- Limes
man • Alutanus Moesiae Porolissensis Sarmatiae (Devil's
Dacia Dykes) Transalutanus Trajan's Wall Brazda lui Novac
Culture
• Daco-Roman Thraco-Roman Eastern Romance substra-
tum
Re-
• ◦ Archaeology sites in Romania Books Dacology
searc
Protochronism Thracology
h
Arti- • ◦ Coinage Art, jewellery, treasures, tools bracelets

facts Clothing
• Belagines Words of possible Dacian origin Dacian plant

Lan-
names Dacian names Dacian script Sinaia lead plates Daco-
guage
Thracian Thracian language Thraco-Illyrian
Deities
Reli- • Bendis Deceneus Derzelas Dionysus Gebeleizis Kotys
gion Pleistoros Sabazios Semele Seirenes Silenus Zalmoxis
Towns
• Sarmizegetusa Argidava Buridava Cumidava Piroboridava
and
Sucidava More towns... Davae Dacian Fortresses of the
fortres
Orăștie Mountains Murus Dacicus
ses
For-
eign
• Greeks Celts Germanic tribes Romans
rela-
tions
War-
• Falx Sica Thracian warfare
fare
De
• Bendis Deceneus Derzelas Dionysus Gebeleizis Kotys Pleistoros
itie
Sabazios Semele Seirenes Silenus Zalmoxis
s
Domit-
• First Battle of Tapae
ian
• ◦ ◦ First War Second Battle of Tapae Battle of

Trajan
Adamclisi Second War Battle of Sarmisegetusa
• ◦ Dacia Traiana Moesia Scythia Minor Dacia Aureliana Dio-

cese of Dacia Dacia Mediterranea Dacia Ripensis Trajan Bridge Column
Towns and cities Castra
• Alutanus Moesiae Porolissensis Sarmatiae (Devil's Dykes)

Limes
Transalutanus Trajan's Wall Brazda lui Novac
Cul-
• Daco-Roman Thraco-Roman Eastern Romance substratum
ture

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Dacians

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

were somewhat culturally influenced by the neighbouring Scythians and

• People Language Religion Construction

• Dromichaetes Burebista Decebalus Other

• Trajan's Dacian Wars Ulpia Traiana

Peoples and societies

Religion and mythology

External linksName and etymology[edit]

Dacian Draco as from Trajan's Column

This section may lend undue weight to certain ideas, inci-

This section's factual accuracy is disputed. Relevant discus-

North of the Danube, Dacians occupied[when?] a larger territory than

the hair of Roman soldiers and they had trimmed beards.[144]

Getae on the World Map according to Herodotus

Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples:

mixed Celtic-Dacian populations in the Nitra and Hron river basins.[156]

Map showing the Dacian-speaking Carpi place in invading Roman Dacia in AD

Roman Dacia was evacuated by the Romans under emperor Aurelian

Dacian tools: compasses, chisels, knives, etc.

Geto-Dacian Koson, mid 1st century BC

ing to about 1150 anthroponyms and 900 toponyms, and in Discorides

Votive stele representing Bendis wearing a Dacian cap (British Museum)

Zbelsurdos, Zibelthurdos), wielder of lightning and thunderbolts. Derze-

• Decebalus, a king of Dacia who was ultimately defeated by the

3. ^ Dionysius Periegetes, Graece et Latine, Volume 1, Libraria Weidannia,

8. ^ Husovská 1998, p. 187.

12. ^ Jump up to:

15. ^ Jump up to:

16. ^ Zumpt & Zumpt 1852, pp. 140 & 175.

18. ^ Everitt 2010, p. 151.

20. ^ Oltean 2007, p. 44.

23. ^ Jump up to:

24. ^ Parvan, Vulpe & Vulpe 2002, p. 158.

34. ^ Grumeza 2009.

39. ^ Vraciu 1980, p. 45.

44. ^ Jump up to:

45. ^ Eisler 1951, p. 136.

53. ^ Eisler 1951, p. 137.

55. ^ Jeanmaire 1975, p. 540.

57. ^ Jump up to:

58. ^ Zambotti 1954, p. 184, fig. 13-14, 16.

60. ^ Eliade 1995, p. 27.

67. ^ Pârvan 1926, p. 279.

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83. ^ Jump up to:

84. ^ Renfrew 1990, p. 71.

90. ^ Koch 2007, p. 1471.

95. ^ Jump up to:

96. ^ Wilcox 2000, p. 24.

98. ^ Ptolemy III.5 and 8

115.^ Waldman & Mason 2006, p. 184.

118.^ Jump up to:

119.^ Parvan & Florescu 1982, p. 135.

124.^ Shutte 1917, p. 143.

142.^ Aristotle (2001). "Hair (V.3.)". De Generatione Animalium (Translated by

146.^ Oltean 2007, p. 114.

148.^ Parvan 1928, p. 35.

151.^ Pârvan 1926, p. 661.

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160.^ Herodotus, Rawlinson G, Rawlinson H, Gardner (1859) 93

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165.^ Heather 2006, p. 85.

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