The 'Dacians' (
Lat. ''Daci'',
Gr. ''Dákai'') were the ancient inhabitants of
Dacia (roughly corresponding to modern
Romania and
Moldova) and parts of
Moesia (mostly in northern
Bulgaria) in southeastern
Europe. They spoke the
Dacian language, closely related with
Thracian and
Albanian. The first mention of them is in
Roman sources, but classical authors are unanimous in considering the Dacians a branch of the
Getae, a
Thracian people known from
Greek writings.
Strabo specified that the Daci are the Getae who lived in the area towards the
Pannonian plain (
Transylvania), while the Getae proper gravitated towards the Black Sea coast (
Scythia Minor).
The Roman Emperor
Trajan invaded Dacia mostly to benefit from its vast gold mines.
Trajan's Column was constructed to celebrate the invasion of Dacia.
The Dacian kingdom reached its maximum expansion during King
Burebista. The capital of the kingdom was the city
Argedava (also called
Sargedava in some historical writings) situated close to river
Danube.
Population
Their population was around 2,000,000 inhabitants, as they were estimated by contemporaneous sources to muster close to 200,000 men as total mobilization of the army.
[1] In any population the number of fighting men usually equals about 1/10 of the total population.
Notes
1. Strabo, ''Geographia''