Dacia before Alexander

Dacia is a Roman name. When Emperor Trajan conquered the territory of what is now Romania in 106 AD, he called it the province of Dacia Felix. The new capital was Ulpia Traiana Sarmisegetusa, i.e.,  today’s Sarmizegetusa Regia.

The Dacians, however, were known to the Greeks as Getae, the very people Alexander chased across the Danube in 335 BC (see: Crossing the Danube River and The King is dead, long live the King). After the king’s death, Lysimachos, who became king of neighboring Thracia, waged repeated wars against the Getae without success. He was even captured by their king, who forced him to withdraw from the Lower Danube in 292 BC. 

Interestingly, Strabo states that although the language of the Dacians is the same as the Getae's, the name applies to their location. The Getae lived close to the Pontus Euxinus, the Black Sea, and the Dacians, closer to Germany and the sources of the Ister, the Danube River. They somehow managed to co-exist if they did not mingle with earlier settlers. 

In the second half of the 7th century BC, Ionian Greeks had already emigrated to the shores of the Black Sea to escape the expansion of the Persian Empire. The most prominent group of colonies came from Miletus, who, in 630 BC, founded their first town Histria at the mouth of the Danube (see: The many colonies of Miletus). The Greek colonists remained in Dacia until 46 AD. 

Before them, the nomadic Scythians driving their cattle ever further west from the steppes of Central Asia were in regular contact with the Getae/Dacians from c. 550 to 250 BC. The Scythians left us no writing, but the artifacts found in and around their occasional settlements testify of highly skilled artists. 

Three years ago, in 2020, the Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren, Belgium, organized a wonderful exhibition Dacia Felix taking us back in time. The selected objects came from various Romanian museums, particularly the National Museum of Romanian History in Bucharest, which most of us will not readily visit. It offered a unique opportunity to see these unique artifacts brought together. 

Particularly striking are the Getae’s parade helmets with eyes to ward off the evil spirits. One such helmet is made of gold and is decorated with mythological figures. It has been dated to 425-375 BC. Another example from 400-300 BC is made of gilded silver. Although these were ritual helmets, it is easy to imagine how piercing eyes would scare off the enemy if worn in close combat! A silver gilded greave with a tattooed face dated 340-330 BC is another example of Getaen art influenced by the Scythians and the Greeks. 

The smaller gold and silver artifacts also call for attention. There are appliques otherwise known from Scythian art used to decorate the horses’ bridles and harnesses. Some specimens even show Persian influences (400-300 BC). 

The Getaen men of power, such as high priests and kings, wore finely crafted bracelets. A solid gold spiral specimen with ram heads (500-400 BC) weighs no less than one kilogram! Another eye-catcher is a gold diadem with panthers and flowers (400-200 BC). 

To illustrate that the Getae were not limited to today’s Romania, there are two very similar goblets on display, one silver gilded from neighboring Bulgaria, 400-300 BC, and the other found in Romania made in silver and dated to 340-330 BC. 

The Celts, in turn, occupied the fertile lands of Dacia roughly from 320 until 175 BC, i.e., after one group of warriors had sacked Rome in 387 BC. These tribes never intended to settle but were constantly hunting for precious goods. Although the Celts shared the same language and religion, they roamed in separate bands along the northern borders of Thracia, Macedonia, and Italy. 

As expected, the Celts left us weapons, helmets, and decorations for horse harnesses, mainly from their grave sites. The most remarkable legacy is an iron helmet holding a falcon on top dated from 250-175 BC. The chief who wore it must have impressed his opponents with his stature, as the bird made him look much taller. Besides, the realistic falcon acted as a symbol of power.

Dacia sometimes stretched beyond Romania, including northern Bulgaria, southwestern Ukraine, and Hungary east of the Danube. The rich testimonies of Scythians, Getae, and Celts are left undocumented as these peoples did not have any writing. Their heritage is solely based on archaeological excavations, which yielded a wide array of artifacts, including precious jewelry and decorative items.

It should be noted that the battle depicted in Trajan’s Column in Rome reflects the emperor’s sacking of Ulpia Traiana Sarmisegetusa in 106 AD after the Dacians failed to respect the peace conditions of their surrender. Something worth remembering during our next visit to the eternal city!