Ancient history

Dacia | historical region, Europe

Dacia was an ancient area Central Europe, that of the Carpathians and much of the historical region Transylvania (modern north-central and west Romania ) covers .

The Dacian Race used to have territories south of the Danube and north of the mountains, and these lands as The Roman province eventually included larger areas both to the north and to the east. The Dacians were from The Thracian tribe and among the Thracian successor peoples in the region were most similar Getae . (Indeed, the similarities between the groups prompted the Greek historian to Herodotus to refer to both as Getae, while the Romans referred to all of these populations as Dacians.) They first appeared in the 4th century BC. Century v . Chr . On the Athenian slave market on . They then traded with the Greeks (mainly importing wine) and used Greek coins. They spoke a Thracian dialect , but were culturally distinct from the neighboring Scythian influences - of which they have the cult of Scythian deity Zalmoxis and belief in immortality - and from Celtic 4th Century Invaders v .

The Dacians were members of an alliance formed in 112, 109 and 75 v . Chr . Roman troops insert . At the time of this contact, Dacian society had divided into two distinct classes - one Aristocracy and a proletariat. The former consisted of the nobility and the priesthood, and the latter consisted of the base of the army, the peasantry, and the artisans. Under the proletariat, the main occupations were agriculture and animal husbandry. Dacians also worked in Transylvania in rich silver, iron and gold mines. Dacia engaged in significant foreign trade, as evidenced by the number of foreign coins found there.

About 60-50 v. King Burebista unified and expanded the kingdom and established it as a major regional power. He overpowered the Greek cities on the North Shore des Black Sea and extended its borders west beyond the Tisza , north of modern Slovakia and south of the Danube to the area beyond Belgrade . Burebista shines Pompey 49 v. Chr. help offered , and 44 plante Caesar a major expedition against the Dacian kingdom. However, Caesar was assassinated that year, and soon afterwards Burebista was also assassinated. His kingdom split into at least four parts, but the Dacians harassed Rome continues An invasion in 11 or 10 v . Ch. is particularly devastating. Augustan generals gradually pushed them back from the left bank of the Danube and settled 80,000 men in the Roman province Moesia on the right bank. Until Fall '69 ce , as the Dacians Moesia vulnerable, after the legions left to fight against Vitellius were no other issues registered . After capturing a number of forts, they were Vespasians General Gaius Licinius Mucianus repulsed and then on his way to Italy.

The origins of the more serious wars among the emperors Domitian and Trajan are difficult to spot, but a Roman provocation cannot be ruled out. The Dacians reunited under Decebalus raided Moesia 85 ce and killed the provincial governor Oppius Sabinus. Domitian restored order the following year, but his commander, Cornelius Fuscus, was killed with much of his army in a failed invasion. In 88 Rome won a victory at Tapae near the Iron Gate Passes , but due to difficulties with tribes further west, Domitian gave Dacia a favorable peace. Roman suzerainty was recognized, but the Dacians received a subsidy and the loan of engineers.

In 101 Trajan reopened the struggle and dictated a peace in 102, under which the Dacian capital Sarmizegethusa (probably near modern Sarmizegetusa , Romania) received a Roman garrison. In 105 the war was renewed, and in 106 the whole country was subjugated, with large parts of its population being exterminated or driven north. Trajan acquired enormous booty, his campaigns became with a massive Victory Column in Rome celebrated , and Dacia's mines, perhaps a motive for the conquest, were promptly exploited. Roads were built and Sarmizegethusa and Tsierna (modern Orșova) became colonies. The The new Roman province was initially subordinate to a consular legate with at least two legions, but under Hadrian was shared it. Dacia Superior consisted of Transylvania, under a Praetorian Legates and supported by a single legion in Apulum ( Alba Iulia ) Dacia Inferior - in the later Wallachia - was replaced by a Prosecutor rules . In 159 Antoninus Pius divided the territory into three provinces, the Tres Daciae (Dacia Porolissensis, Dacia Apulensis and Dacia Malvensis), all of which a governor of consular rank. Marcus Aurelius made them a single military area around 168.

The boundaries of Roman territory were probably never clearly defined, but the Romans benefited both militarily and materially from the occupation. The need for troops south of the Danube most likely led to Aurelian the province left at 270.