Dacia

Dacia was the name of the ancient kingdom of the Getae, having on the N. the Carpathians, which separated it from Sarmatia, on the S. the Danube, on the E. the Black Sea. and on the W. the Theiss. Once it included Transylvania, part of Hungary, Wallachia, Moldavia, and Bessarabia, but the Roman province of Dacia was more confined. Herodotus calls the inhabitants Thracians, and, according to Strabo, the Daci and Getae spoke the same tongue. Under the name of Davi the inhabitants were known in Rome as slaves, of which fact Terence gives us testimony. In 10 B.C., when attacked by the Romans, they made a brave defence, and in 101 A.D. Decebalus proved a formidable foe to the Emperor Trajan. Ovid, who was exiled thither, has given some idea of the climate. Roman colonies were planted there, and the Danube was bridged over, but Aurelian withdrew the colonies, making the Danube the boundary, and abandoning Dacia to the Goths, who in their turn had to yield to the Huns.