Dacians

For other uses of Dacians, see Dacia (disambiguation).

Dacian kingdom during the reign of Burebista, 82 BC

The Dacians (Lat. Daci, Gr. Dákai) were the ancient inhabitants of Dacia (corresponding to modern Romania) and parts of Moesia in southeastern Europe. They spoke the Dacian language, which has not been placed with certainty, but has links to 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).

Population of Dacians

Their population was around 2,000,000 inhabitants, as they were estimated by conteporaneous sources to muster close to 200,000 men as total mobilisation of the army. In any population the number of fighting men usually equals about 1/10 of the total population.

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