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108-515: Archaeological research prove that Celts dominated Transylvania between the middle of the 5th century and the end of the 3rd century BC. The Bastarnae —a warlike Germanic tribe—settled in the regions to the east of the Carpathian Mountains around 200 BC. Confrontations between the natives and the Roman Empire began in the late 1st century BC. Among the former,

216-479: A Celtic language . The Bastarnae moved from Silesia into what is now central and northern Moldavia . Pompeius Trogus along with Justin also record the rise in Dacian authority prior to 168 BC under the leadership of King Rubobostes . Around 150 BC, La Tène material disappears from the area. This is concurrent with ancient writings, which mention the rise of Dacian authority. This ended Celtic domination and it

324-579: A Thracian / Dacian influence on works of Celtic craftsmanship, or even imports from these regions. Such influence may be seen in the great silver ring from Trichtingen , near Stuttgart. Silver is not the prime medium of high-status craftsmanship in the Celtic world but is characteristic of Thracian / Dacian metal-working. Moreover, the Ciumeşti Helmet and numerous later artifacts made partly or wholly of silver ( fibulae or belt plates), clearly demonstrate

432-508: A democracy in the second half of the 5th century BC. According to MacKendrick, the fragment "KA…" in an inscription listing the Greek towns paying tribute to Athens refers to Callatis, proving that the town became a member of the Delian League . For defensive purposes, both Histria and Callatis were surrounded by walls: the former in the 4th and 2nd centuries BC, the latter in

540-675: A distinctive hybrid Celtic-Dacian culture emerged on the Hungarian plain and in the Slovakian regions. Most of the Celts were absorbed into the Geto-Dacian population and contributed to Dacian cultural development. These Celtic tribes, who were skilled in iron exploitation and processing, also introduced the potter's wheel to the area, thereby contributing to acceleration of the development of Dacia. By this time, prosperous Celtic communities had spread over

648-612: A large body of infantry and cavalry" in 179 BC to support King Philip V of Macedonia in his wars in the Balkan Peninsula. Strabo, Pliny the Elder and Tacitus list them among the Germanic peoples , but the latter also writes that they intermarried with the nomad Sarmatians. Rustoiu identifies the Bastarnae as the bearers of the "Poieneşti–Lukašovka culture" of the regions to the east of

756-407: A massive migration of Iranian Scythians moving east to west during the first half of the first millennium BC. They were followed by a second equally large wave of Celts migrating west to east. Celts arrived in northwestern Transylvania in around 400–350 BC as part of their great migration eastwards. When Celtic warriors first penetrated these territories, the group seem to have merged with

864-428: A millennium. They maintained the ancient denominations for their tribes, magistrates, and public bodies, and remained faithful to cults taken from the motherland. The three colonies developed into important centers of trade in olive oil, wine, fine pottery and jewelry. A level of houses and temples destroyed proves that an unidentified enemy—according to the scholar Paul MacKendrick , Scythians —took and sacked Histria in

972-528: A new Roman province named Dacia in 106. The Romans also occupied Muntenia and the southern parts of Moldavia , which were annexed to the province of Moesia, but they withdrew from these territories in 119. Under Emperor Trajan a procurator—a former consul—ruled the province. He commanded two legions, the Legio XIII Gemina and the Legio IV Flavia Felix . The Roman territories to the north of

1080-617: A new legion—the Legio V Macedonica —was transferred to Dacia. Thereafter the two legions stationed in the three provinces—now named Dacia Apulensis , Dacia Malvensis , and Dacia Porolissensis —were under the command of a former consul, the Propraetor of the Three Dacias. Eutropius writes that Emperor Trajan transferred "vast numbers of people from all over the Roman world to inhabit the countryside and

1188-586: A number of fortifications erected. This forts were built by Greek craftsmen who introduced the use of chiseled stone. Strabo writes that Burebista "had as his coadjutor Deceneus , a wizard", who assisted him to stabilize his rule among the Dacians. Deceneus reformed the cult of Zalmoxis. He persuaded the Dacians "to cut down their vines and to live without wine", according to Strabo. The 6th-century historian, Jordanes , who preserved information originally recorded by Dio Chrysostom , writes that Deceneus "chose from among"

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1296-495: A number of people to varying degrees. Some of the more prominent contributors to the study of this culture include C. Gooss, K. Benkő, B. Orbán, G. Téglas, K. Herepey, S. Fenichel, Julius Teutsch, Cezar Bolliac, V. Christescu, Teohari Antonescu, and Cristian Popa . The Coţofeni culture area can be seen from two perspectives, as a fluctuation zone, or in its maximum area of extent. This covers present day Maramureş , some areas in Sătmar,

1404-496: A shield with an ornate handle and shield-boss as well as a sword in an ornamented scabbard with traces of a "dragon-pair" motif. This motif is one of the genuinely pan-European themes of early La Tène art and is found embellishing the upper end of scabbard front-plates from southeast Britain to Transylvania. From at least the 3rd century BC, the undoubted interaction between the La Tène Celtic and Dacian worlds can be considered

1512-528: Is an evident synchronicity between: Coţofeni I - Cernavoda III - Baden A - Spherical Amphorae; Coţofeni II - Baden B-C Kostolac ; Coţofeni III - Kostolac-Vučedol A-B . During the evolution of the Coţofeni culture, there were clearly relationships with other neighbouring cultures. The influence between the Coţofeni and their neighbours the Baden , Kostolac, Vučedol , Globular Amphora culture as well as

1620-473: Is known of the languages spoken by the locals in this period. Historians—for instance, Vlad Georgescu and Mihai Rotea—say that the spread of Indo-European languages began in the period between 2500 and 2000 BC. Fortified settlements and the great number of weapons—arrowheads, spears and knife blades—unearthed in them show that the stability featuring the Stone Age cultures of " Old Europe " came to an end in

1728-651: Is plausible that Histria and Tomis concluded a similar treaty with the Romans around the same time, because the empire needed their ports for naval bases in the Black Sea. The three towns made an anti-Roman alliance with the Bastarnae , the Getae and other "barbarian" tribes in 61 BC. They inflicted a decisive defeat on the Roman armies which were under the command of Gaius Antonius Hybrida , Proconsul of Macedonia. King Burebista of

1836-585: Is possible that the Celts were forced out of Dacia. Conversely, modern scholars have posited that the Transylvanian Celtic-speakers remained but merged with the local culture and thereafter ceased to be distinctive. The boundary between the Celts and Dacians near the River Tisa is depicted in 2nd century BC pottery found at Pecica in Arad County , a prosperous trading center at the confluence of

1944-409: Is the helmet found in a warrior chieftain's grave at Ciumeşti (now Satu Mare County , Romania). The Ciumeşti helmet is half-round with a neck protector and was hammered out of a single bronze plate with the cheek pieces bolted on afterwards. A bronze spike protrudes through the top of the helmet to which is fixed a cylinder on which a bird perches. The legs and the underpart of the head are cast while

2052-558: The Historia Augusta . The Costoboci were a free Dacian group mentioned in the 1st and 2nd centuries in Roman sources. Their territory—"the land of the Costoboci", according to Cassius Dio—were located northwest of Dacia province. According to the archaeologist Gheorghe Bichir, the Costoboci were the bearers of the " Lipiţa culture ", but this identification has not been universally accepted by scholars. A Roman inscription recorded

2160-630: The Baden-Coţofeni culture , and generally associated with the Usatove culture , was an Early Bronze Age archaeological culture that existed between 3500 and 2500 BC in the mid- Danube area of south-eastern Central Europe . The first report of a Coţofeni find was made by Fr. Schuster in 1865 from the Râpa Roşie site in Sebeş (present-day Alba County , Romania ). Since then, this culture has been studied by

2268-634: The Balkan Peninsula and settled on the Pannonian Plain and in Transylvania. Helmets with reinforced crests are typically eastern Celtic and can be traced as they spread from the western margins of Taurisci territory at Mihovo , to be subsequently used by the Scordisci at Batina and throughout Transylvania (Apahida, Ciumeşti). A wheeled cauldron or Kesselwagen , used as a crematory urn during

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2376-558: The Banat and Oltenia regions of modern Romania but excluded the rest of Dacia. The presence of Celts here is mainly illustrated by the composition of both the legions and cohorts. Legio XIII Gemina came from the Celtic zone of Vindabona and contained some Celtic elements. Troops from Roman Celtic and Germanic provinces were the most numerous of the auxiliary troops. (See also List of Roman auxiliary regiments ) The several cohorts and alae Gallorum attested in diplomas and inscriptions reveal

2484-877: The Boii and the Taurisci , who dwelled in the Middle Danube region, around 60 BC, subdued the Scordisci and made plundering raids against Thracia, Illyricum and Macedonia in the subsequent years. In the middle of the 1st century BC, his empire was bordered by the Middle Danube, the Northern Carpathians , the Black Sea and the Balkan Mountains . Its center was located in the Orăştie Mountains where Burebista had

2592-630: The Dacians —who were closely connected to the Getae—rose to eminence under King Burebista ( c.  80–44 BC). He unified the tribes dwelling between the Middle Danube , the Northern Carpathians , the Dniester and the Balkan Mountains into a powerful, but ephemeral empire. It disintegrated into at least four parts after his death. Large territories to the north of the Lower Danube—the lands between

2700-568: The Goths emerged in the Pontic steppes in the first half of the 3rd century. According to their own tradition recorded by Jordanes , their migration from present-day Poland to the northern coasts of the Black Sea was a gradual process. Their first raid against the Roman Empire occurred in 238. They laid siege to Histria and forced the Romans to grant them an annual subsidy. Jordanes narrates that "some of

2808-468: The Maramureș Depression for instance, where excavations have uncovered Dacian fortifications from the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. As regards Celtic influence on local Daco-Getic culture, Vasile Pârvan has stated that the latter is wholly indebted to Celtic traditions and that the "La Tene-ization" of these northern Tracians was a cultural phenomenon primarily due to the Celtic population who settled

2916-671: The Taifali and Astringi , and also three thousands of the Carpi" joined the Goths during their invasion of Dacia and Moesia in 250, suggesting that the Goths had by that time become the predominant power among the tribes dwelling in the vicinity of the Roman Empire's Lower Danube frontier. The natives dwelling to the east of the Carpathians were collectively known as Carpi from the 3rd century. Written sources, inscriptions and literary works, evidence that

3024-867: The Tisa , the Northern Carpathians, the Dniester and the Lower Danube—were again unified for less than two decades by King Decebalus of the Dacians (87–106 AD). Modern Dobruja —the territory between the Lower Danube and the Black Sea—was the first historical region of Romania to have been incorporated in the Roman Empire. The region was attached to the Roman province of Moesia between 46 and 79 AD. The Romans also occupied Banat , Oltenia and Transylvania after

3132-412: The " Cucuteni-Trypillian culture " of Muntenia , northeastern Moldavia and southern Transylvania. "Cucuteni-Trypillian" settlements, which often covered an area reaching 6 hectares (15 acres), flourished until around 2000 BC. Production of copper tools and artifacts—pins, hooks, and pendants—and the use of gold can also be demonstrated from the last centuries of the Stone Age. Practically nothing

3240-542: The 110s BC, which provoked counter-attacks by the Romans. For instance, Frontinus writes of Marcus Minucius Rufus's victory over "the Scordiscans and Dacians" in 109 BC, and Florus says that Gaius Scribonius Curio , Proconsul of Macedonia "reached Dacia, but shrank from its gloomy forests" in 74 BC. The native tribes of the wider region of the Lower Danube were for the first time united under King Burebista who ruled from around 80 or 70 BC. He defeated

3348-620: The 2nd century BC. Strabo writes, in his Geographica , that their language "is the same as that of the Getae". He adds that the distinction between the Getae and the Dacians is based on their location: the Getae are "those who incline towards the Pontus and the east," and the Dacians are "those who incline in the opposite direction towards Germany and the sources of the Ister ". Archaeological finds—cremation graves yielding horse bits, curved daggers or sica , swords and other weapons—evidence

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3456-480: The 2nd century. Hoes , coulters and other tools made of antler were unearthed at nine " Schela Cladovei " settlements along the Lower Danube , suggesting that cultivation of plants began in the lands now forming Romania between around 9500 and 7500 BC. Animal husbandry appeared 1500 or 2000 years later with the arrival of a new population—the bearers of the " Gura Baciului-Cârcea/Precriş culture "—from

3564-419: The 4th century BC. King Lysimachus of Thrace forced Histria to accept his suzerainty in the 310s BC, and Celts sacked the town in 279 BC. Histria and Callatis attempted to take the port of Tomis, but they were defeated around 262 BC. The natives of the Lower Danube region came to the attention of classical authors after the establishment of Greek colonies along the Black Sea shore. In

3672-589: The Agathyrsi, stating that they "sang their laws, so as not to forget them", thereafter no written source makes mention of them. Their cemeteries ceased to be used around 350 BC. Whether the Agathyrsi were assimilated by other tribes, or abandoned their lands, cannot be decided. In the period between 450 and 200 BC, the vast territory between the Atlantic Ocean and the Eastern Carpathians experienced

3780-620: The Anarti. Scordiscan Celts dwelling southeast of the Iron Gates of the Danube may be considered a part of the Transylvanian Celtic culture. A group of Britogauls also moved into the area. Celts penetrated first into western Dacia, then as far as north-west and central Transylvania. A large number of archaeological finds indicate a sizeable Celtic population settling for a long period among

3888-452: The Bastarnae. The year when the lands between the Lower Danube and the Black Sea, including the three Greek colonies of Callatis, Histria and Tomis, were annexed by the Roman Empire is uncertain. According to the historians Kurt W. Treptow and Marcel Popa, this happened in 46 AD. In contrast, Coriolan Horaţiu Opreanu writes that the territory was only integrated in the province of Moesia in the reign of Emperor Vespasianus (69–79). When Moesia

3996-597: The Carpathian Mountains, but this identification is not universally accepted. For instance, "Poieneşti–Lukašovka" settlements were inhabited by a sedentary population, but the historian Malcolm Todd says that the mobility of the Bastarnic warriors suggests that they were mustered by a nomad or semi-nomad people. Besides ceramics featuring the culture, "Poieneşti–Lukašovka" sites yielded pottery with analogies in Dacian and Celtic sites. Callatis, Histria and Tomis accepted

4104-570: The Carpi and other neighboring tribes from the 230s. Literary sources—for instance, Eutropius—even recorded that "Dacia, which had been added beyond the Danube by Trajan, was lost" in the reign of Gallienus (260-268). From around 259, no inscriptions prove the presence of the two legions at their headquarters in Apulum and Potaissa . The Romans officially abandoned the province under Emperor Aurelius (270-275) who "led away both soldiers and provincials, giving up hope that it could be retained", according to

4212-526: The Carpi were a powerful enemy of the Roman Empire up until the 250s. For instance, Petrus Patricius recorded that they stated that they were "stronger than the Goths" when the Romans agreed to pay an annual tribute to the latter. Celts in Transylvania The appearance of Celts in Transylvania can be traced to the later La Tène period (c. 4th century BC). Excavation of the great La Tène necropolis at Apahida , Cluj County , by S. Kovacs at

4320-476: The Celtic cemeteries excavated, the most important are those in Ciumești and Pișcolt ( Satu Mare County ) and Fântânele ( Bistrița-Năsăud County ). These contain over 150 graves compared to the average of 50–70. Necropoleis have also been found at Sanislău ( Satu Mare County ), Curtuișeni ( Bihor County ), Galații Bistriței ( Bistrița-Năsăud County ), and Brașov ( Brașov County ). In Transylvania,

4428-491: The Celts of Dacia first began minting coins in the mid-3rd to the mid-2nd century BC, after which, native mints lasted until the early decades of the 1st century BC. The Dacian priestly class may have influenced the druids of the Celts with the important Christian author Hippolytus of Rome (170–236 AD), claiming that the druids adopted the teachings of Pythagoras through the intermediacy of Zalmoxis . Roman Dacia's pantheon includes Celtic divinities brought to

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4536-467: The Celts shifted from inhumation to cremation, either through natural progression or because of Dacian influence. Almost without exception, the necropoleis so far studied are bi-ritual, although cremation appears to be more prevalent than inhumation. The Celts in Dacia certainly cremated their dead from the second La Tène period onwards but Celtic inhumations appear no older than pit-grave cremations in any of

4644-460: The Dacians "those that were at that time of noblest birth and superior wisdom and taught them theology, bidding them worship certain divinities and holy places". These pilleates or tarabostes formed the ruling stratum of the Dacian society; the commoners were called capillati or comati . Strabo writes that Burebista "was deposed" during an uprising. The year of Burebista's fall cannot exactly be determined, but most historians write that he

4752-447: The Dacians and the Celts continued in the period 1st century BC-1st century AD. During Burebista's time, the Dacians became closer to the remaining Celtic populations than they had been when the Celts ruled Transylvania. Evidence from the earlier period shows Celtic burials and settlements with only occasional Dacian elements, while Dacian settlements with Celtic finds are infrequent. This situation reversed after Burebista's conquest when

4860-459: The Dacians subjugated the three Greek colonies in about 50 BC. An inscription from the same time refers to the "second founding" of Histria, implying that it had been nearly destroyed during the previous wars. Callatis, Histria and Tomis regained their freedom after the death of Burebista in 44 BC. However, their independence became nominal and they accepted Roman protectorate after the expedition of 27 BC by Marcus Licinius Crassus in

4968-539: The Lower Danube were divided into three provinces—Upper Dacia, Lower Dacia, and Dacia Porolissensis—in the reign of Emperor Hadrian . He also withdrew the Legion IV Flavia Felix from the province. Upper Dacia, where the only Roman legion stationed in the next century, was administered by former praetors ; the two other provinces were ruled by governors from the ordo equester . During the Marcomannic Wars,

5076-527: The Northern Carpathians, the Dniester and the Lower Danube, according to Gábor Vékony. Cassius Dio narrates that the Bastarnae "crossed the Ister and subdued the part of Moesia opposite them" in 29 or 28 BC. Marcus Licinius Crassus in short routed them. In the first decades of the next century, the Sarmatians who arrived from the Pontic steppes became the dominant power of the regions up to that time inhabited by

5184-448: The Romans also gave "large sums of money" to him "as well as artisans of every trade pertaining to both peace and war", according to Cassius Dio. Taking advantage of his treaty with the Romans, Decebalus improved the defenses of his kingdom. He also expanded his rule over the neighboring territories in the next decade. After these conquests, Decebalus's multiethnic empire was bordered by the Tisa,

5292-537: The Scythians in about 513 BC . According to Herodotus, the Getae, "the most courageous and upright Thracian tribe, offered stiff resistance", but the Persians defeated and enslaved them. He also described the Getae's belief in the immortality of the soul and their practice of human sacrifices in order to send messages to their principal god, Zalmoxis . The "Ferigile-Bârseşti" group of cremation tumuli appeared in

5400-514: The Scythians" paid tribute to the neighboring Odrysian kings in the 5th century BC, according to Thucydides . He adds that the Getae, who were mounted archers, supported King Sitalkes of the Odyssians against Athens in 429 BC. In 335 BC, according to Arrian , Alexander the Great launched a one-day raid across the Lower Danube against the Getae who could not prevent him from crossing

5508-443: The Transylvania area increase in number from the middle of the 2nd century BC. During the first half of the 2nd century BC, Pompeius Trogus writes in his Historiae Philippicae of a Dacian king, Oroles , who fought against Celtic incursions. Oroles is recorded as resisting the intrusion of the Bastarnae , a people now generally considered to be of Germanic origin but who were in fact Celto-Germanic and, according to Livy , spoke

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5616-625: The area according to two testimonies, one of them calling him Iupiter Cernenus , a name found nowhere else in the Empire. However, Cernunnos also has funereal attributions, not only as a protector of tombs but also as a psychopompos god. References to Apollo Grannus and Sirona , divinities widespread in Gallia and on the Upper Danube as protectors of health are also recorded in Roman Dacia. Two out of

5724-431: The area may be related to their invasion of the Balkans around 335 BC, when a massive colonization of the Tisa plain and the Transylvanian Plateau occurred following the death of Lysimachus . However, the eastward movement of the Celts into Transylvania used a different route from the one taken by the hordes that attacked the Balkans. Celts did not occupy all intra-Carpathian areas of Transylvania, stopping short of

5832-509: The area. Archaeological sites of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC reveal a pattern of co-existence and fusion between the bearers of La Tène culture and the indigenous Dacians. Domestic dwellings exhibit a mixture of Celtic and Dacian pottery while several Celtic graves contain Dacian type vessels. At Celtic sites in Dacia, finds show that the native population imitated Celtic art forms that they admired, but remained firmly and fundamentally Dacian in their culture. Dacian archaeological finds in

5940-408: The area. The Celts exercised politico-military rule over Transylvania between the 4th and 2nd century BC and brought with them a more advanced iron-working technology. They were also responsible for the spread of the potter's wheel into a much wider area than the one they occupied. Large areas of ancient Dacia, which were populated early in the First Iron Age by Thracian people, were affected by

6048-409: The bearers of the " Szentes-Vekerzug culture ". This archaeological culture, which is featured by bridles and bits made of iron, flourished in the plains along the river Tisa from around 600 to the second half of the 4th century BC. The Syginnae's ethnic affiliation remained uncertain, but they were neither Thracians nor Scythians, according to the historian Timothy Taylor. Their territory

6156-413: The bird of prey hovering over the Ciumeşti helmet had a profound supernatural significance since in the world of the La Tène Celts based on the ample documentary evidence endorsing the special ritual associations of birds. Note that the Gundestrup cauldron, now in Copenhagen , also depicts a bird crest on helmets. Wilcox and McBride mentioned that their illustration of the iron Gallic warrior's helmet of

6264-424: The cemeteries. It is impossible to say whether the Celts turned away from the practice of cremation as the Scythians had. Although less frequent, inhumation still occurred as a constant practice even during the final stage of Celtic inhabitation of this territory. Celtic settlements had a rural character with such sites found in Mediaș , Morești , ( Mureș County ) and Ciumești . Expansion of Celtic groups in

6372-414: The cities", because "Dacia had, in fact, been depopulated" during the Second Dacian War. Indeed, inscriptions prove that the colonists came from many parts of the Roman Empire, but especially from Pannonia and Noricum . Although evidence of the presence of the natives after the establishment of the province is scarce, archeological sites at Boarta , Cernat , and other places in southern Transylvania prove

6480-581: The coast of the Baltic Sea and weapons produced in Mycenaean Greece show the importance of trading with these distant regions of Europe. From around 1100 BC, a homogenization of pottery decorations and the development of new archaeological cultures can be detected. These new cultures spread over large territories; for instance, the " Basarabi culture " flourished in the wider region of the Lower Danube. The sporadic use of iron also began around 1100 BC, but it only became widespread about 350 years later. Ionian colonists from Miletus founded Histria ,

6588-509: The cohabitation of groups preserving different traditions in the same settlements. About 10% of the graves yielded weapons, proving the existence of a class of warriors. For instance, at Ciumeşti a helmet decorated with a raven from the early 3rd century BC was found. "La Tène" cemeteries disappeared from Transylvania around 175 BC. The Bastarnae settled in the region between the rivers Siret and Dniester around 200 BC. According to Livy , their army crossed "the Danube with

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6696-414: The crown of the road, every one of them carrying bow and quiver and poisoned arrows, yellow with viper 's gall: harsh voices, fierce faces, warriors incarnate, hair and beards shaggy, untrimmed, hands not slow to draw – and drive home – the sheath knife that each barbarian wears strapped at his side. The earliest records of the Dacians are connected to their conflicts with the Roman Empire in

6804-408: The design has features of Celtic belief and iconography, it appears to have been made by Thracian smiths in Dacia or Thrace, in the lower Danube region, according to their own traditions. The cauldron may have been commissioned by a member of Celtic community. Mythological symbols feature on the earliest Celtic coins, which were struck in what is now modern Transylvania, Romania. This would result in

6912-428: The development of a military elite in the territories to the north of the Lower Danube in the 3rd-1st centuries BC. Tumuli with similar grave goods appeared in the same region and expanded towards southwest Transylvania and southern Moldavia from around 100 BC. The military character of the new elite is proven by the frequent raids against the neighboring territories, primarily in Thrace and Macedonia, from

7020-404: The domestic population of early Dacians and assimilated many Hallstatt cultural traditions. The second half of the 4th century BC saw the Middle La Tène Celtic culture emerge in north-western and central Dacia, a development reflected especially in burials of the period. Celtic artifacts dating to this time have been discovered at Turdaș , Hațeg and Mediaș in modern-day Romania. By 1976,

7128-408: The early 5th century BC, Hecataeus of Miletus 's Europe referred to two local tribes, the Crobydae and the Trixae . Sophocles wrote of a local ruler named Charnabon in his Triptolemos . Herodotus was the first writer who thoroughly described the tribes dwelling to the north of the Lower Danube. He wrote of the Getae in connection with King Darius I of Persia 's campaign against

7236-413: The fall of Decebalus and the disintegration of his kingdom in 106. The three regions together formed the new province of Dacia . The new province was surrounded by " barbarian " tribes, including the Costoboci , the Iazyges and the Roxolani . New Germanic tribes—the Buri and the Vandals —arrived and settled in the vicinity of Dacia province in the course of the Marcomannic Wars in the second half of

7344-467: The first Celtic groups settled in Crişana and Transylvania after around 335 BC. "La Tène" settlements were consisted of semi-sunken huts, each with a nearby storage pit. Large "La Tène" cemeteries were unearthed, for instance, at Ciumeşti , Orosfaia , and Pişcolt . Their inhabitants practiced both inhumation and cremation burials, and in the latter case the ashes were placed into a pit or an urn. Their unearthed artifacts, mainly pottery, also point at

7452-409: The first Greek town on the Black Sea coast of present-day Romania. According to Eusebius of Caesarea 's Chronicle , this happened in 657 BC. Archaeological finds—mainly pottery—suggest that the first Greek colonists settled in Histria between the 650s and 620s BC. The second colony, Tomis was also founded by settlers from Miletus who arrived in the 7th or 6th century BC. However,

7560-440: The foothills of the Southern Carpathians in this period. These graves yielded artifacts—pottery, weapons and jewelry—which reveals the influence of Scythian, Illyrian and Thracian art on the locals. Greek amphorae found in the native settlements unearthed at Zimnicea and other places prove that the locals were involved in the trading of wine between the Greek colonies and the regions over the Carpathian Mountains . For instance,

7668-424: The heavy taxation and the irksome duty of accommodating the Roman soldiers. The walls of Callatis and Tomis were reinforced after the Costoboci had marched through the region in 170. After the end of the Marcomannic War , Emperor Marcus Aurelius had 12,000 free Dacians settled in the province. The peaceful relationship between the Roman Empire and Decebalus's realm came to an end after Emperor Trajan ascended

7776-514: The interaction between Thracian and Dacian schools of ornamental metalwork with the Celtic La Tène tradition. Numerous studies of the artwork of the Gundestrup cauldron , provide comparative analyses of Celtic and Thracian traditions. Images on the cauldron have many features that are common to the Celtic and Thracian corpus of art while exotic animal motifs suggest an oriental influence. Although

7884-576: The lands between the Lower Danube and the Black Sea. The Roman poet, Ovid spent his last years in exile in Tomis between 9 and 17 AD. His poems evidence that barbarian attack was a constant menace for the townsfolk in this period. Would you care to learn the nature of the local inhabitants, find out amid what customs I survive? They're a mixed stock, Greek and native, but the natives – still barely civilized – prevail. Great hordes of tribal nomads – Sarmatians, Getae – come riding in and out here, hog

7992-738: The lands between the Lower Danube and the Haemus in 292 BC. The subsequent history of Dromichaetes and his realm are unknown. According to the historian Vlad Georgescu , Dromichaetes's kingdom disintegrated into smaller polities. Inscriptions from Histria prove that in the 3rd century BC the Greeks paid tribute to local chieftains, including the Getic Zalmodegicus and Rhemaxos , in exchange for their protection against raids by other neighboring "barbarians". The Syginnae, who had "small, short-faced, long-haired horses", according to Herodotus, were

8100-499: The large number of Gauls who were recruited by Romans, some of whom were moved to Transylvania (i.e. Cohors II Gallorum Dacica equitata in Dacia Superior later organized as Dacia Porolissensis). Some units were recruited from single Gallic or Germanic tribes (i.e. Germanic Batavi formed Cohors III Batavorum "3rd Cohort of Batavi"). The following are military units with some Celtic-speaking elements stationed in this region: In

8208-428: The late 6th century BC. Initially, the constitution of Histria was an oligarchy , but, as Aristotle recorded, "it ended in the rule of the populace". MacKendrick writes that this change from the rule of aristocratic families to democracy occurred around 450 BC. Thereafter an assembly and council administered Histria; their members were elected by the free male citizens of the town. Callatis also became

8316-524: The later Celtic Bronze Age ritual assemblage, was found at Orăştie , Romania. This one is notionally drawn by teams of water-birds. A coin type from Ciumesti shows a warrior wearing a wild boar crest on his helmet The Dacian war trumpet, as shown on the Roman Emperor Trajan's Column at Rome 116 AD, is a Celtic-style carnyx . High-relief ornamental designs known as the "Plastic Style" are found on warriors' equipment from Pişcolt , comprising

8424-618: The middle La Tène period had been reconstructed on the basis of the Ciumesti helmet. Four other helmets of bronze or iron have also been found in the intra-Carpathian area at Silivas ( Alba County ), Apahida ( Cluj County ), Ocna Mureş ( Sibiu County ) and Valea Haţegului ( Hunedoara County ). All these helmets are of the Waldalgesheim Style developed by the La Tène and date from the period when semi-victorious Celtic armies returned from

8532-555: The minting of later Celtic coins elsewhere that are considered miniature works of art. Evidence of the Hallstatt culture in Dacia, as well as the political and economic rule of the Celts, suggests that it was the Celts, not the Dacians, who minted these silver coins based on the Macedonian Tetradrachmae of Philip II (r. 382–336 BC). According to Zirra , this theory is supported by numismatist, C. Pedra, who argues that

8640-783: The mountainous and hilly areas of Crişana , Transylvania , Banat , Oltenia , Muntenia (not including the North-East), and across the Danube in present-day eastern Serbia and northwestern Bulgaria . Bronze Age in Romania Unfortunately, most of the Coţofeni culture chronology is based on just three samples collected at three different Coţofeni sites. Based on these radiocarbon dates, this culture can be placed between roughly 3500 and 2500 BC. Cultural synchronisms have been established based on mutual trade relations (visible as imported items) as well as stratigraphic observations. There

8748-607: The name of a rex Coisstobocensis ("king of the Costoboci") Pieporus, suggesting that he was an ally of the empire. During the Marcomannic War, the Costoboci plundered the Roman provinces in the Eastern Balkans as far as Eleusis in 170. The governor or Dacia, Sextus Cornelius Clemens persuaded the Germanic Hasdingi to invade and occupy their land around 171. This was the last record of the Costoboci who disappeared from

8856-512: The natives at Priscu Crăşani used amphorae produced in the Aegean islands of Thasos , Rhodes and Cos . They lived in wattle-and-daub huts. Silver artifacts (including a helmet and a cup) from the princely tomb unearthed at Agighiol , and the gold helmet found at Coțofănești evidence the wealth accumulated by native chieftains through their connections with the Greek colonies in the 4th century BC. The "Getae beyond Haemus " who "border on

8964-521: The natives. The archaeological evidence shows that these Eastern Celts were absorbed into the Geto-Dacian population. A geographic reference by Ptolemy from the 2nd century AD indicates that the Anarti were settled on the northwestern edge of Dacia with the Teurisci bordering them on the east, and further east there were the Costoboci . One of the best known and most often reproduced pieces of Celtic art

9072-506: The northwest of Dacia province in the last decades of the 2nd century. Their spread point at the arrival of the Hasdingi, who settled in these regions after their conquest of "the land of the Costoboci". "Przeworsk" pottery, weapons and other artifacts were also found at Roman forts in Dacia, suggesting a close contact between the German tribesmen and the Romans. A new enemy of the Roman Empire,

9180-499: The number of Celtic sites found in Transylvania had reached about 150, indicating a significant La Tène population surpassed only by the Dacians. These sites are mostly cemeteries. Archaeological investigations have highlighted several warrior graves with military equipment, suggesting that an elite Celtic military force penetrated the region. Celtic vestiges are found concentrated in the Transylvanian plateau and plain, as well as

9288-413: The province by both military and civilian elements. The most important Celtic cult attested in the new province is that of the horse-goddess Epona . Specific epithets in her honor as Augusta , Regina and Sancta are found on inscriptions from Alba Iulia , on the site of ancient settlement Apulon (Latin Apulum ). The stag-horned Cernunnos , one of the "great gods" of the Celts, was also known in

9396-460: The reign of Decebalus who ruled from 87 AD. In the first year of his reign, he defeated a Roman army sent against Dacia in retaliation of a plundering raid in the Roman province of Moesia . Although the Romans defeated Decebalus in the Battle of Tapae in 88, he concluded a favorable peace treaty with the Roman Empire. It not only acknowledged Decebalus's status as rex amicus or client king , but

9504-408: The remainder is hammered. The eyes are yellow ivory with a red enamel pupil, fastened in with bitumen. Overall the bird is 13 inches (330 mm) in length and has a wingspan of 9 inches (230 mm). The wings originally articulated at the body so that they would have flapped up and down as the wearer moved. The bird, whether raven, eagle or falcon, is a known Celtic totem. The representation of

9612-413: The river. In connection with the raid, Arrian refers to "a deep cornfield" of the Getae and makes mention of their "poorly fortified" city. After Alexander the Great's death, Lysimachus of Thrace ruled the northern regions of the Balkan Peninsula . He waged wars against King Dromichaetes of the Getae, but could not defeat him. The latter even captured Lysimachus and forced him to withdraw his troops from

9720-460: The rivers Mureș and Târnava yielded artifacts, both metal work and pottery, with analogies in sites attributed to the Scythians in the Pontic steppes . However, the identification of the Agathyrsi as a Scythian tribe is controversial, because the making of their artifacts, especially their swords, found in Transylvania differs from the technique applied in the Pontic steppes. The Agathyrsi's "way of life"

9828-506: The same period. Coexistence of a great number of transitory cultures, including the " Coțofeni " and " Glina cultures" characterized the first centuries of the Bronze Age . Metallurgy developed in the following period; deposits containing thousands of bronze tools, weapons and jewels from between around 2000 and 1500 BC were unearthed at many places, including Uioara de Sus and Șpălnaca in Transylvania. Finds of amber delivered from

9936-483: The sixty known Dacian plant names are considered of Celtic origin, e.g. propeditla ' cinquefoil ' (cf. Gaulish pempedula , Cornish pympdelenn , Breton pempdelienn ), and dyn ' nettle '. Celtic nomenclature carries the same onomastic weight as that of the Celto-Germanic cults in the religion of Roman Dacia. Co%C8%9Bofeni culture The Coţofeni culture ( Serbian : Kocofeni ), also known as

10044-504: The sources. Gheorghe Bichir writes that many of them settled among the Carpi. The Marcomannic Wars, which lasted from 162 to 180, caused a series of population shifts along the eastern frontiers of the Roman Empire. The Buri were the first Germanic people who invaded Dacia. The governor of Dacia, Sabinianus defeated them in 180. Pottery and weapons featuring the " Przeworsk culture " appeared in Apa , Boineşti , Medieșu Aurit and other sites to

10152-461: The southern parts of the Balkan Peninsula . They lived in pit-houses and used chiseled stone tools . They decorated their fine pottery with geographical figures and produced clay figurines . The antrophomorphic figurines of the " Hamangia culture ", which flourished in the region between the Lower Danube and the Black Sea until around 4000 BC, are outstanding representatives of Neolithic art. In addition to figurines, colored pottery featured

10260-412: The sparseness of archaeological evidence from the first centuries of the history of Tomis implies that it was initially administered from Histria. The third Greek town, Callatis was founded by Dorian colonists from Heraclea Pontica in the second half of the 6th century BC. Inscriptions from Histria and Callatis prove that the townsfolk preserved their ancestral traditions for more than half

10368-468: The spread of the " La Tène culture ". It is without doubt that this culture emerged in a Celtic-speaking population, but it cannot be decided whether its spread was only the consequence of migrations or acculturation also contributed to it. In Transylvania, the arrival of the Celts is exclusively evidenced by archaeological finds, because no documents refer to this event. Isolated graves yielding "La Tène" metalwork—helmets, weapons and horse harness—prove that

10476-463: The survival of rural communities. The exploitation of natural resources—primarily mining of copper, gold, iron, lead, salt, and silver—had a preeminent role in the economy of Dacia province. Archaeological research also revealed the existence of workshops producing pottery, weapons, glass for the local market. Roads built for military purposes also contributed to the development of long-distance trade. Dacia became subject of frequent plundering raids by

10584-464: The suzerainty of King Mithridates VI of Pontus around 110 BC. His expansionist policy clashed with the interests of the Romans who had by that time started to advance in Southeastern Europe. The governor of the Roman province of Macedonia , Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus forced Callatis to sign a treaty of alliance with the Roman Empire in 72 or 71 BC. According to MacKendrick, it

10692-526: The throne in 98. He waged two wars against the Dacian king in the first decade of the 2nd century. After Trajan's First Dacian War , which lasted from 101 to 102, Decebalus was forced to approve of the stationement of Roman garrisons in Dacian territory, for instance at Drobeta , Romula and Tibiscum . During the Second Dacian War , the Romans annihilated the Dacian kingdom. Its core territories— Banat , Oltenia and Transylvania—were transformed into

10800-497: The turn of the 20th century revealed the first evidence of Celtic culture in Romania. The 3rd–2nd century BC site is remarkable for its cremation burials and chiefly wheel-made funeral vessels. A historical timeline of the Celts of Transylvania can be derived from archaeological finds at La Tène, but there are almost no ancient records that allow reconstruction of political events in

10908-599: The two peoples. A classic period of Geto-Dacian La Tène culture began in the 1st century BC centered around the city of Sarmizegetusa Regia in south-western Transylvania. Dacian king Burebista defeated the Celtic Boii and Taurisci tribes between 60–59 BC. However, some archaeological finds in Dacian settlements and fortifications feature imported Celtic vessels and others made by Dacian potters imitating Celtic prototypes. These discoveries in sites from regions north and west of Transylvania show that relations between

11016-614: The upper Someș basin, whereas the surrounding valleys of Hațeg , Hunedoara , Făgăraș , Bârsa , Sf. Gheorghe and Ciuc have neither necropoleis nor settlements but only tombs or isolated items. This indicates that Celts occupied the territory between Mureș and Someș , west of the Apuseni Mountains , and the plains and plateau in the intra-Carpathian space along with the valley in the upper basin of Someș . Nevertheless, these valleys, as well as those of Banat and Maramureș , have also yielded contemporary Dacian findings. Of

11124-550: The vicinity of 2nd century BC Transylvania, the Celtic Boii settled in the northern area of Dunántúl , in modern-day southern Slovakia and in the northern region of Hungary around the centre of modern-day Bratislava. Boii tribal union members the Taurisci and the Anarti lived in northern Dacia with the core of the Anarti tribe found in the area of the Upper Tisa. The Anartophracti from modern southeast Poland are considered part of

11232-493: The whole territory of modern Romania. By the 2nd century, Celtic military and civilian groups from Roman Empire provinces had moved into the area of Transylvania that also had become part of the Empire, as part of Roman Dacia, by 106 AD. They were probably Latin-speaking groups with Celtic substratum who also participated in the Roman military campaigns in Dacia . Roman Dacia consisted of eastern and southeastern Transylvania,

11340-557: Was actually "similar to that of the Thracians", as it was emphasized by Herodotus himself. Quivers decorated with metal crosses, mirrors and other featuring artifacts of the "Agathyrsian territory" appeared in the easternmost regions of the plains along the River Tisa around 500 BC, suggesting that the Agathyrsi expanded their rule over these territories in the subsequent century. Although Aristotle in his Problems still referred to

11448-413: Was assassinated in 44 BC. Strabo narrates that after Burebista's death his empire fall apart and four (later five) smaller polities developed in its ruins. The names of some of their kings were recorded by Roman writers. For instance, Dicomes , "the king of the Getae, promised to come and join" Mark Antony "with a great army", according to Plutarch . A new empire dominated by the Dacians emerged in

11556-427: Was divided into two parts in 86, the territory became part of Lower Moesia . The new province was administered by former consuls who commanded two Roman legions , the Legio V Macedonica and the Legio I Italica . The region flourished under Antoninus Pius who had the roads repaired. On the other hand, an inscription written in Greek from the village of Scraptopara evidences that the locals were complaining of

11664-688: Was surrounded by rural settlements, including the villages of the "Sanislău-Nir culture" in Crişana , which suggests that the Syginnae were immigrants who forced the local population to accept their rule. Herodotus writes that the Mureș River "rises in Agathyrsian territory", proving that this tribe of warriors dominated large territories in Transylvania in the late 5th century BC. Inhumation graves unearthed at Aiud , Blaj , Ciumbrud , and other sites along

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