Dacian kingdom during the reign of Burebista, 82 BC

The Dacians (Lat. Daci, Gr. Dákai) were the ancient inhabitants of Dacia (located in the area in and around the Carpathian mountains and east of there to the Black Sea), present day Romania and parts of Moesia (mostly in northern Bulgaria) in southeastern Europe. Dacia, in ancient geography was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Hellenes ( Greeks) " Getae " Burebista, is widely considered to be the greatest king of Dacia. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Medieval Greek (Μεσαιωνική Ελληνική is a linguistic term that describes the fourth period in the history of the Greek language. Dacia, in ancient geography was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Hellenes ( Greeks) " Getae " Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania Moesia (Μοισία Moisía; Мизия Miziya; Moesia Мезија Mezija) was an ancient region and Roman province situated in the The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian They spoke the Dacian language, closely related with Thracian. The Dacian language was spoken by the ancient inhabitants of Dacia. The Thracian language was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times by the Thracians in South-Eastern Europe

History

The first mention of the Dacians is in Roman sources, but classical authors are unanimous in considering them a branch of the Getae, a Thracian people known from Greek writings. Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC The Getae ( Greek: Γέται singular Γέτης was the name given by the Greeks to several Thracian tribes that occupied the regions south of the "Thracians" also refers to modern inhabitants of Thrace, regardless of ethnicity The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca 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). Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. The Pannonian Plain is a large Plain in Central Europe that remained when the Pliocene Pannonian Sea dried out Transylvania (Ardeal or ro ''Transilvania'' Erdély, see also other denominations) is a Central European region located in the eastern half of the Carpathian Scythia Minor, "Lesser Scythia" (Μικρά Σκυθία Mikrá Skythia) was in ancient times the region surrounded by the Danube at the north and

The Roman Emperor Trajan invaded Dacia mostly to benefit from its vast gold mines. Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan ( September 18 53 &ndash August 9 117) was a Roman Emperor who The Dacian Wars ( 101 - 102, 105 - 106) were two brief wars between the Roman Empire and Dacia during Emperor Trajan "Gold mine" redirects here See Goldmine for other uses of the term Trajan's Column was constructed to celebrate the invasion of Dacia. Trajan's Column is a Monument in Rome raised in honour of the Roman emperor Trajan and constructed by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus

Dacian wars depicted on Trajan's column

The Dacian kingdom reached its maximum expansion during King Burebista. Trajan's Column is a Monument in Rome raised in honour of the Roman emperor Trajan and constructed by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus Burebista, is widely considered to be the greatest king of Dacia. The capital of the kingdom was the city Argedava (also called Sargedava in some historical writings) situated close to river Danube. Argedava (or Sargedava) was the capital of Burebista 's Dacian kingdom Argedava (or Sargedava) was the capital of Burebista 's Dacian kingdom The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj

Greek geographer Strabo claimed that the Dacians and Getae once had been able to muster a combined army of 200,000 men, but that their entire population had dropped to 40,000 by Strabo's own era. Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. ^[1]

Name

The Dacians (tribe) were known as Geton (plural Getae) in Greek writings, and as Dacus (plural Daci) and also Getae in Roman documents; also as Dagae and Gaete—see the late Roman map Tabula Peutingeriana. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial The Tabula Peutingeriana ( Peutinger table) is an Itinerarium showing the Cursus publicus, the road network in the Roman Empire. Strabo tells that the original name of the Dacians was "daoi", which could be explained with a possible Phrygian cognate "daos", meaning "wolf". Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. The Phrygian language was the Indo-European language of the Phrygians a people from Thrace who later migrated to Asia Minor. This assumption may be supported by the fact that one of the Dacian standards, the Dacian Draco, had a wolf head. The Dacian Draco was the standard of the ancient Dacian military Phrygii was another cognate used within the region, and in later times, some Roman auxiliaries recruited from the area were referred to as Phrygi. Auxiliaries (from Latin: auxilia = "supports" formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate (30 BC&ndash284 AD Their capital was not Argedava near the Danube, but Sarmizegetusa, in the Sureanu mountains, in the Romanian Western Carpathians.

References

1. ^ Strabo, Geographia Book 7, chapter 13. The Geographia or Geography is Ptolemy 's main work besides the Almagest.