Unit 3.

Centralized Dacia in the system of interstate relations and its place within the Daco-
Roman relations

Unit contens:
1. The process of creating the Dacian kingdoms, the internal relations (between them) and the external
relations (with the neighboring formations);
2. The great Greek maritime colonization (7th-6th centuries BC) and the impact of this process on the
relations with the Geto-Dacians;
3. The premises of state unification and the establishment of the centralized Dacia; daco-roman
interstate relations;

Key terms: Dacian kingdoms, genesis and state entities, Greek maritime colonization and its impact,
interstate relations within the Greek civilization.

1. The process of creating the Dacian kingdoms, the internal relations between them and
the external relations with the neighboring formations

The Dacians were a Thracian people who were the ancient inhabitants of the cultural 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, Eastern Serbia,
Northern Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary and Southern Poland. 
Dacians spoke the Dacian language. And there were divided into two classes: aristocracy, a
proletariat. The former consisted of the nobility and the priesthood, and the latter comprised the rank and
file of the army, the peasantry, and artisans. Among the proletariat, chief occupations were agriculture
and cattle breeding. Dacians also worked rich mines of silver, iron, and gold in Transylvania. Dacia
carried on significant outside trade, as evidenced by the number of foreign coins found there.
Dacian polities arose as confederacies that included the Getae, the Daci, the Buri, and the Carpi ,
united only periodically by the leadership of Dacian kings such as Burebista and Decebal. This was both
military-political and ideological-religious union, created on ethnic basis. Next we bring some details
about these Dacian kingdoms:
The kingdom of Burebista. 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, situated
close to the river Danube. The kingdom of Burebista extended in the south of the Danube (Bulgaria
today). During his reign, Burebista transferred the Geto-Dacians' capital from Argedava to
Sarmizegetusa. 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).
The kingdom of Decebalus 87 – 106. By the year AD 100, more than 400,000 square kilometers
were dominated by the Dacians, who numbered two million. Decebalus was the last king of the Dacians,
and despite his fierce resistance against the Romans, he was defeated, and committed suicide rather than
being marched through Rome in a triumph as a captured enemy leader.
Conflict with Rome. Burebista's Dacian state was powerful enough to threaten Rome, and Caesar
contemplated campaigning against the Dacians. 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
century until the reign of Scorilo. This was a period of only occasional attacks on the Roman Empire's
border, with some local significance.
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, 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 Emperor 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.
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.
The First Roman–Dacian War took place from 101 to 102 AD. The Kingdom of Dacia, under
King Decebalus, had become a threat to the Roman Empire, and defeated several of Rome's armies
during Domitian's reign (81-96). The Emperor Trajan was set on ridding this threat to Rome's power and
in 101 set out determined to defeat Dacia. After a year of heavy fighting, King  Decebalus came to terms
and accepted an unfavorable peace. When he broke these terms in 105, the Second Dacian War began.
After gaining support from the Roman Senate, by 101, Trajan was ready to advance on Dacia. The
Roman offensive was spearheaded by two legionary columns, marching right to the heart of Dacia,
burning towns and villages in the process. In 101, the Dacians led massive assaults on the  Roman legions.
In 102 Trajan moved his army down the Danube to Oescus. There the Roman armies converged for a
final assault and defeated the Dacian army at the Battle of Tapae. After the battle, plus some additional
conflicts, Trajan, worried by the upcoming cold winter, decided to make peace. The war, spanning
months, had concluded with a peace treaty with harsh terms for Decebalus.
The Second Roman–Dacian War was fought between 105 to 106 because the Dacian King, Decebalus,
had broken his peace terms with the Roman Emperor Trajan from the First Dacian War.
At the start of the war, Trajan built another bridge over the Danube to move his legions faster into Dacia.
Unlike the first war, the second war involved several skirmishes that proved costly to the Roman military,
who, facing large numbers of allied tribes, struggled to attain a decisive victory. An assault against the
capital Sarmisegetusa took place at the beginning of the summer of 106 with the participation of the
legions II Adiutrix and IV Flavia Felix and a detachment (vexillatio) from Legio VI Ferrata (see
also Battle of Sarmisegetusa). The Dacians repelled the first attack, but the Romans destroyed the water
pipes to the Dacian capital. The city was burned to the ground. Decebalus committed suicide rather than
face capture by the Romans. Nevertheless, the war went on. Due to the treason of a confidant of the
Dacian King, Bicilis, the Romans found Decebalus's treasure in the River Sargesia – a fortune estimated
at 165,500 kg of gold and 331,000 kg of silver. The last battle with the army of the Dacian king took
place at Porolissum.
In 113, Trajan built Trajan's Column near the Colosseum in Rome to commemorate his victory. Although
the Romans conquered the ancient Kingdom of Dacia, a large remainder of the land remained outside of
Roman Imperial authority. Additionally, the conquest changed the balance of power in the region and was
the catalyst for a renewed alliance of Germanic and Celtic tribes and kingdoms against the Roman
Empire. However, the material advantages of the Roman Imperial system wasn't lost on much of the
surviving aristocracy. Thus, most of the Romanian historians and linguists believe that many of the
Dacians became romanized (see also Origin of Romanians).
The Dacian wars were a huge triumph for Rome and its armies. Trajan announced 135 days of celebration
throughout the empire. Dacia's rich gold mines were used by the Romans, and it is estimated that Dacia
then contributed 700 million dinars a year to the Roman economy, providing important sources of
funding for other Roman campaigns. The two wars were important victories in Rome's expansionist
campaigns, gaining people's support and admiration for Trajan. Through the subsequent conquests of
Asia, Trajan achieved the greatest extent in the history of the Roman Empire. A large part of Dacia's male
population was killed in battle, enslaved or enlisted in Roman legions and sent to fight at a great distance
from Dacia, in part to discourage other rebellions. Less than half of Dacia was officially annexed and then
organized as a province of the empire (Roman Dacia).
The period after the Dacian wars was, through the use of the Dacian treasury and through the
takeover and expansion of gold mining in the Apuseni Carpathians, one of sustained economic growth
and relative peace in Rome. A major construction project was started, improving Rome's infrastructure
in general. Trajan truly became a civilian emperor, paving the way for further internal reinforcements
within the empire as a unitary and powerful state.

2. The great Greek maritime colonization (7th-6th centuries BC) and the impact of this
process on the relations with the Geto-Dacians;
Greek colonization was an organised colonial expansion by the Archaic Greeks into the
Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea in the period of the 8th–6th centuries B.C (750 and 550 B.C)
This colonisation differed from the migrations of the Greek Dark Ages, as many colonies that were
founded in this period evolved into strong city-states and became independent of their metropolis.
The reasons for colonisation had to do with the demographic explosion of this period, the need for a
secure supply of raw materials, but also with the emerging politics of the period which drove sections of
the population into exile. The growth of population created a scarcity of farm land and a restriction of the
ability of smallholders to farm it, which was similar in every city-state.
In places with surplus population, this situation led to a demand for additional living space. The
location of each colonial establishment was dictated by the supply of unexploited resources.
The troubled political situation in many cities, along with the establishment of tyrannical
government, drove the political opposition into exile and into a search for new places of residence.
The founding of the colonies was consistently an organised enterprise. The launch was organized
by the metropolis, although in many cases they collaborated with other cities. The place to be colonised
was selected in advance with the goal of offering business advantages, but also security from raiders. In
order to create a feeling of security and confidence in relation to the new colony, the choice of place was
decided according to its usefulness. The mission always included a leader nominated by the colonists.
Places Colonized by the Ancient Greeks
Greek colonies were founded around the Mediterranean and Black Sea shores. Metropleis (mother
cities) founded colonies abroad to provide food and resources for their rising populations. In this way
Greek culture was spread to a fairly wide area.
The main areas of colonization were:
- Southern Italy and Sicily;
- Numerous colonies were established along with the shores of the Marmara Sea (where
colonization was particularly dense) and the southern and western shores of the Black Sea.
- The main colonizers were Megara, Miletus and Chalcis.
- The most important colony (and one of the earliest) was that of Byzantium (modern Istanbul,
founded in 660).
3. The premises of state unification and the establishment of the centralized Dacia;
daco-roman relations.
The Daco-Roman mixing theory, as an origin for the Romanian people, was formulated by the
earliest Romanian scholars, beginning with Dosoftei from Moldavia, in the 17th century, followed in the
early 1700s in Transylvania, by the historian Constantin Cantacuzino in his Istoria Țării Rumânești dintru
început (History of Wallachia from the beginning), and continued to amplify during the 19th and 20th
centuries.
Roman Dacia (Dacia Traiana, "Trajan Dacia", or Dacia Felix, "Fertile/Happy Dacia") was a
province of the Roman Empire from 106 to 271–275 AD. Its territory consisted of the regions of Oltenia,
Transylvania and Banat (today all in Romania, except the last one which is split between Romania,
Hungary and Serbia). During Roman rule, it was organized as an imperial province on the borders of the
empire. It is estimated that the population of Roman Dacia ranged from 650,000 to 1,200,000. It was
conquered by Trajan (98–117) after two campaigns that devastated the Dacian Kingdom of Decebalus.
However, the Romans did not occupy its entirety; Crișana, Maramureș, and most of Moldavia remained
under the Free Dacians.
After its integration into the empire, Roman Dacia would see a constant administrative division. In
119, it was divided into two departments: Dacia Superior ("Upper Dacia") and Dacia Inferior ("Lower
Dacia"; later named Dacia Malvensis). Between 124 and around 158, Dacia Superior was divided into
two provinces, Dacia Apulensis and Dacia Porolissensis. The three provinces would later be unified in
166 as a single one known as Tres Daciae ("Three Dacias") due to the ongoing Marcomannic Wars. The
area was the focus of a massive and organized Roman colonization. Therefore, new mines were opened
and ore extraction intensified, while agriculture, stock breeding, and commerce flourished in the province.
Roman Dacia was of great importance to the military personnel stationed throughout the Balkans and
became an urban province, with about ten known cities and all of them originating from old military
camps. Eight of these held the highest rank of colonia. Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa was the financial,
religious, and legislative center and where the imperial procurator (finance officer) had his seat, while
Apulum was Roman Dacia's military center.
Since the creation of the province, Roman Dacia suffered great political and military threats. The
Free Dacians, allied with the Sarmatians, made constant raids in the province. These were followed by the
Carpi (a Dacian tribe) and the newly arrived Germanic tribes (Goths, Taifali, Heruli, and Bastarnae),
which were allied with them. All this made the province difficult for the Roman emperors to maintain,
already being virtually lost during the reign of Gallienus (253–268). Aurelian (270–275) would formally
relinquish Roman Dacia in 271 or 275 AD. He evacuated his troops and civilian administration from
Dacia, and founded Dacia Aureliana with its capital at Serdica in Lower Moesia. The Romanized
population still left was abandoned, and its fate after the Roman withdrawal has become subject of
controversy. According to one theory, the Latin language spoken in Dacia, most of its lands being in
modern Romania, would gradually become the Romanian language, thus the Romanians being
descendants of the Daco-Romans (the Romanized population of Dacia). The opposing theory states that
this claim is false and that the origin of the Romanians actually lays on the Balkan Peninsula.

Tasks for self-assessment:

- to determine the main stages of formation the Gothic Peoples in the 1st millennium AC;
- to analyse the defining consequences of establishing the interstate relations of the centralized
Dacia with the neighbouring states and the Roman Empire;
- to demonstrate the viability of the foreign policy of the Burebista and Decebal kings, as well as of
the diplomat Acornion;
- to identify the causes of the intensification of the Daco-Roman relations.

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