Dacia

Dacia (dā`shə), ancient name of the European region corresponding roughly to modern Romania (including Transylvania). It was inhabited before the Christian era by a people who were called Getae by the Greeks and were called Daci by the Romans. They were a people of advanced material culture, with a tribal organization. Augustus claimed them as tributary allies but the Daci paid little heed, and Domitian, after inconclusive campaigns against them, was forced (A.D. 90) to pay them tribute to keep them quiet. Trajan invaded Dacia in A.D. 102 and again in 105. He established a large number of colonies, and Dacia became a Roman province. The Goths invaded (250–70) the region, and Aurelian was obliged to concede Dacia. It was the Roman colonists in Dacia who formed the Latin-speaking nucleus that established the Romance tongue Romanian, which is still spoken in that region.

Bibliography

See P. MacKendrick, The Dacian Stones Speak (1975).

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Dacia

Ancient country, central Europe. Roughly equivalent to modern Romania, the area's earliest known inhabitants were Getae and Dacian people of Thracian stock. Known for its rich silver, iron, and gold mines, the region was made a Roman province in AD 107 after two centuries of hostilities. It was abandoned to the Goths in 270 and ultimately divided into the principalities of Walachia and Moldavia.

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Dacia

an ancient region bounded by the Carpathians, the Tisza, and the Danube, roughly corresponding to modern Romania. United under kings from about 60 bc, it later contained the Roman province of the same name (about 105 to 270 ad)