This article analyzes the
ancient Dacian inhabitants of ancient Romania. Also included
is an a discussion of the modern controversial debate of whether
or not the Romanian ethnicity of today descend from the ancient
Dacians as illustrated by video debates on Youtube. It is
interesting to any reader because it shows how cultures use
nationalism and history to create (falsely or not) an identity
for their proud people. Read this
article for a well-researched Dacian historiography from
the highly romantic Daco-Romanian perspective.
Map courtesy CIA World Factbook
The history and culture
of the ancient Dacians, possible descendents of Romanians
The Romanian people today
have a very unique culture, heritage, history, language, and
identity. Despite being a geographic crossroads between a
plethora of historical migrations -- including Thracians,
Greeks, Romans, and Slavs -- the Romanians of today have retained
a highly independent culture. As a result, many of strong
national sentiment in this proud nation have abstractly looked
to their homeland's ancient history in order to trace themselves
to a completely unique people. By claiming inheritance from
the ancient Dacians of the Roman era, the Romanians have historically
propitiated longstanding Russian historical claims to Romania
at the same time as they lionize their independent cultural
and ethnic identity. As the anthropological and historical
details of the Dacians are unclear, most of the descriptions
of the Romanians' origin are pure theory.
The ancient Dacians were
a series of tribes occupying what are now Romania and northern
Bulgaria who settled thousands of years ago. If one theory
(popular among Bulgarian nationalists who claim descent from
the ancient Thracians) is true and the Dacians are related
to the ancient Thracians of Bulgaria, the Dacians settled
in Romania as early as 3,000BCE. The Thracians of Bulgaria,
to whom the Dacians may or may not be related, created a resplendent
culture of radiant jewelry and metallurgy that rivals the
achievements of modern jewelers (see my Thracian
masters of gold article). In Dacia/Romania however, comparatively
few intricate works of art and civilization have been unearthed.
It is uncertain whether or not the Dacians and Thracians are
related at all. Both, however, had incredibly unique cultures,
languages, and religions that have not been traced to any
other ancient ethnic orbit (Greek, Roman, Germanic, Celtic,
etc.). Loanwords of Dacian and Thracian origin have been theoretically
traced to the modern Albanian, Romanian, and Bulgarian languages.
The Dacian tribes and tribal
confederations coalesced into a unified monolithic state by
the early 1st century BCE, eventually centered around the
ancient capital of Sarmisegatusa. Dacian tribal kings like
Burebista and Decebalus forged a massive kingdom whose regional
influence was recorded by ancient Greek and Roman sources.
The religion, language, and culture of this people was not
related to any other (excluding a possible link to the Thracian
tribes southward in Bulgaria).
The Dacian tribes were a
great irritant to the expanding Roman Empire. Dacia was famously
rich with huge gold mines and other fabled resources that
inclined the Romans to conquer the region. Dacian king Decebalus
was depicted as being a despotic overlord adorned with gold
and jewels, some pillaged from Roman traders. The Romans,
having been obliterated by the German tribes, also sought
to re-establish their primacy by crippling the bordering territory
of "barbarians" and raiders that was Dacia. From
101-106CE, the Roman emperor Trajan annihilated the Dacian
state in a series of military skirmishes that expanded the
Roman Empire to its greatest extent. The Dacians (or the Romanians
perhaps) became subjects of the Roman Empire until the province
was conquered by the German Gepids after the 3rd century.
The famous monument Trajan's Column in Rome
depicts the triumphs of the Romans over the Dacians with great
brutal imagery. Romania then was settled by the Slavs after
the 5th century, with the first independent Romanian principalities
(Wallachia and Moldova) being cemented in the 13th century.
Trajan's Column in Rome depicting his crushing defeat and
annexation of the Dacian Kingdom in the Dacian Wars
The modern debate of an
Dacian origin of the Romanian people with nationalist websites
and Youtube videos
Romania was unified for the
first time upon its independence from the yoke of Ottoman
Muslim conquest in 1878. During World War II, when the Romanians
were actively supportive of the Third Reich and fervently
involved in a type of racial nationalism that considered Romanian
soil holy, the independent origins of the Romanian people
were increasingly extolled. The Romanians emphasized their
non-Slavic heritage (as they were trying to defeat the "Slavic"
Soviets). Even as a constituent of the post-war Warsaw Pact
of Soviet puppets, Communist Romania pursued a very independent
path under Gheorghiu-Dej and Ceausescu that still promoted
a type of ethnic Romanian nationalism. This consistent Romanian
consciousness has encouraged pride in the independent Dacian
heritage of the Romanian people. As a part of this ethno-genetic
awareness, the major automobile company of Romania, Dacia,
was founded in 1966.
Today, many Romanians proudly
defend their theorized links to this ancient tribal confederation
that often posed a formidable threat to even the mighty Roman
Empire. It is impossible to prove or disprove whether or not
the Romanians can legitimately claim this inheritance because
of the region's geographic location. Since the fall of the
Dacians, Romania had been thoroughly settled by Romans (hence
the Latin-based language of Romanian) and especially the Slavs.
Romanians intensely reject the idea that they are Slavs despite
this fact. Another theory is that the Romanians are a mixed
people. This is incredibly difficult to prove considering
that: 1) a small and languishing population like the Dacians
and Roman settlers would be unlikely to universally mix with
an invading population of Slavs from a very different culture
that did not speak the same language and killed many of their
relatives in the invasions; 2) the incoming Slavs would be
unlikely to mix with this very foreign culture as well, and
would likely elevate themselves to high station that would
eschew mixing with the Dacians whom were likely considered
of a lower social strata; 3) occasional rare occurrences of
mixing would not uniformly affect the genetic makeup of a
large incoming Slavic population such that 100% of the population
becomes half-Slavic, half-Roman/Dacian, and; 4) the presence
of mixed blood from the comparatively smaller Italic and Dacian
populations would have been bred out over the last 2,000 years
by the consistent presence of genes from the Slavic majority.
For these reasons, it is equally difficult to argue whether
the Romanians today descend from the Dacians, Thracians, Romans,
Slavs, or are a mixed composite. Undeniable Slavic traits
in Romanian culture can be explained away as a political or
religious import from Slavic Orthodox neighbors as well.
Nonetheless, many Romanians
still proudly extoll their ancient heritage of the Dacians.
Many arguments can be seen throughout the internet on articles,
blogs, and videos about "proof" of Romanian Dacians
origins. Below is a selection of Romanians arguing
about their Dacian blood on Youtube videos. View
the comments on Youtube to see how controversial these origins
can be.
________________________________________
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
James Mayfield is a historian
and the Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I have
a Cum Laude BA in History with a Minor in Germanic Studies
(language and history), am presently working for my Masters
in History, and plan to immediately progress to my PhD Doctorate.
I have a special academic interest in Europe's diverse ethnic
identities, languages, and cultures, and the political struggles
of native European and immigrant minority identities. See
my staff entry for more information.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
The respective owners of
the displayed Youtube videos, who do not reflect our opinions
See links and courtesy throughout
the article
"Barbarians!",
hosted by Terry Jones, property of the History Channel
Some of the images on this
page have been taken from various websites. I was unable to
trace their origin, as many are redistributed. If you find
that you are the owner, feel free to notify us.
CIA World Factbook
Copyright ongoing since 2008-,
European Heritage Library®. www.euroheritage.net.
All Rights Reserved. The European Heritage Library is a non-profit academic
organization owned by
Chairman James Mayfield.
No email addresses or personal information is redistributed. No articles
or content on this site may be redistributed without approval or a
full citation and credit to the EHL as the original source.
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