List of ancient cities in Thrace and Dacia explained

This is a list of ancient cities, towns, villages, and fortresses in and around Thrace and Dacia. A number of these settlements were Thracian and Dacian, but some were Celtic, Greek, Roman, Paeonian, or Persian.

A number of cities in Thrace and Dacia were built on or close to the sites of preexisting Dacian or Thracian settlements. Some settlements in this list may have a double entry, such as the Paeonian Astibo and Latin Astibus. It is believed that Thracians did not build true cities even if they were named as such; the largest Thracian settlements were large villages.[1] The only known attempt to build a polis by the Thracians was Seuthopolis.,[2] [3] although Strabo considered the Thracian cities with "bria" ending polises. Some of the Dacian settlements and fortresses employed the traditional Murus Dacicus construction technique.

Note: Throughout these lists, an asterisk [*] indicates that the toponym is reconstructed.

Thracian and Dacian

Many city names were composed of an initial lexical element affixed to -dava, -daua, -deva, -deba, -daba, or -dova, which meant "city" or "town" Endings on more southern regions are exclusively -bria ("town, city"), -disza, -diza, -dizos ("fortress, walled settlement"), -para, -paron, -pera, -phara ("town, village"). Strabo translated -bria as polis, but that may not be accurate.[4] Thracian -disza, -diza, and -dizos are derived from Proto-Indo-European *dheigh-, "to knead clay", hence to "make bricks", "build walls", "wall", "walls", and so on. These Thracian lexical items show a satemization of PIE *gh-. Cognates include Ancient Greek teichos ("wall, fort, fortified town", as in the town of Didymoteicho) and Avestan da?za ("wall").

It is suggested that the "dava" endings are from the Dacian language, while the rest from the Thracian language. However "dava" towns can be found as south as Sandanski and Plovdiv. Some "dava" toponyms contain the same linguistic features as "diza" toponyms, e.g. Pirodiza and Pirodava. The first written mention of the name "Dacians" is in Roman sources. Strabo specified that the Daci are the Getae, identified as a Thracian tribe. The Dacians, Getae and their kings were always considered as Thracians by the ancients (Dio Cassius, Trogus Pompeius, Appian, Strabo, Herodotus and Pliny the Elder) and were said to speak the same language. The Dacian language is considered a variety of the Thracian language.[5] Such lexical differentiation -dava vs. para, would be hardly enough evidence to separate Dacian from Thracian, thus they are classified as dialects.[6] It is also possible that '-dava' and '-bria' mean two different things in the same language, rather than meaning the same thing in two different languages. Thus bria could have been used for urbanized settlements, similar in scale and design to those of the "civilised" peoples like Greeks and Romans, whereas '-dava' could mean a settlement which is rural, being situated in the steppe-like part of the Thracian lands.

Unknown names

Aghireșu

Ardan

Ardeu

Arpașu de Sus

Augustin

Băile Tușnad

Băleni-Români

Bănița

Bâzdâna

Beidaud

Bocșa

Boroșneu Mic

Boșorod

Botfei

Breaza

Bretea Mureșană

Bucium

Căpâlna

Cernat

Cetățeni

Cioclovina

Clopotiva

"Costești-Blidaru"

"Costești-Cetățuie"

Cotnari

Coțofenii din Dos

Covasna

Cozia

Crăsanii de Jos

Crivești

Crizbav

Cuciulata

"Cucuiș - Dealul Golu"

"Cucuiș - Vârful Berianului"

Cugir

Cârlomănești

Dalboșeț

Densuș

Divici

Drajna de Sus

Dumitrița

Eliseni

Feldioara

"Fețele Albe"

Grădiștea de Munte

Iedera de Jos

Feleac

Jigodin

Liubcova

Mala Kopania

Marca

Mataraua

Merești

Moinești

Monariu

Monor

Moșna

Ocolișu Mic

Odorheiu Secuiesc

Olteni

Orăștie Mountains

Petrila

Petroșani

"Piatra Roșie"

Pietroasa Mică

Pinticu

Pisculești

Poiana cu Cetate

Polovragi

Ponor

Popești (Călărași)

Porumbenii Mari

Praid

Racoș

Racu

Radovanu - Gorgana I

Radovanu - Jidovescu

Roadeș

Rovinari

Rușor

Sacalasău

Satu Mare (Harghita)

Satu Nou

Sânzieni

Seimeni

Socol

Sprâncenata

Stâncești

Stoina

Șeica Mică

Tășad

Telița

Teliu

Tilișca

Timișu de Jos

Turia

Unip

Uroi

Valea Seacă

Viișoara Moșneni

Zemplín

Zetea

Thraco-Illyrian

Thrace and Macedonia

See also: Second Greek colonisation, Greeks in pre-Roman Crimea and Pontic Greeks.

Thrace, from Strymon to Nestos

Thrace, from Nestos to Hebros

Inland Thrace

Thracian Chersonesos

Propontic Thrace

West Pontic coast

Other

Persian

Roman

Celtic

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond,, 1992, page 612: "Thrace possessed only fortified areas and cities such as Cabassus would have been no more than large villages. In general the population lived in villages and hamlets..."
  2. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 888, "It was meant to be a polis but this was no reason to think that it was anything other than a native settlement."
  3. The Thracians 700 BC-AD 46 by Christopher Webber,, 2001, page 1, "...the city of Seuthopolis seems to be the only significant town in Thrace not built by Greeks..."
  4. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond,, 1992, page 612: "According to Strabo (vii.6.1cf.st.Byz.446.15) the Thracian -bria word meant polis but it is an inaccurate translation."
  5. Peregrine, Peter N.; Ember, Melvin (2001). Encyclopedia of Prehistory. 4 : Europe. Springer. .
  6. Polomé, Edgar Charles (1982). "20e". In Boardman, John. Balkan Languages (Illyrian, Thracian and Daco-Moesian). The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 3, Part 1: The Prehistory of the Balkans; and the Middle East and the Aegean world, tenth to eighth centuries B.C. (2nd ed.). London: Cambridge University Press. .
    • Procopii Caesariensis opera omnia. Edited by J. Haury; revised by G. Wirth. 3 vols. Leipzig: Teubner, 1976-64. Greek text.
  8. TSR9, Proc. 123. 26
  9. A History of the Byzantine State and Society by Warren Treadgold, 1997, page 419: "...Internal Reforms, 780-842 419 army, refounding Thracian Beroea under the name of Irenopolis, and reaching Philippopolis..."
  10. "The Cambridge Ancient History 1992, page 612"
  11. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 856, "A thracian settlement"
  12. History of Rome, VII, Books 26-27 (Loeb Classical Library No. 367) by Livy and Frank Gardner Moore, 1943, page 96: "... waste the country and to besiege the city of Iamphorynna, the capital and citadel of Maedica..."
  13. http://www.novinite.com/articles/168495/Kabile%3A+When+One+Is+Curious, kabileti tribe
  14. The History of Rome, Volume 4 by Theodor Mommsen, 2009, page 53: "... defeated the Bessi in their mountains, took their capital Uscudama (Adrianople), and compelled them to submit to the Roman supremacy."
  15. Book: A Companion to Ancient Thrace. 9781444351040. Valeva. Julia. Nankov. Emil. Graninger. Denver. 15 June 2015.
  16. Ethnic continuity in the Carpatho-Danubian area by Elemér Illyés, 1988,, page 223
  17. Web site: Heart of Bulgaria's Southeast . 31 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160808095917/http://europost.bg/article?id=10445 . 8 August 2016 . dead .
  18. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 465: "Megara was principal or sole founder of...Kalchedo...Selymbria...Byzantion...Astakos...Herakleia pontike and possible Olbia..."
  19. A New Classical Dictionary of Greek And Roman Biography, Mythology And Geography V2, 2006,, page 196, "Subzupara (now in Zarvi), a town in Thrace on the road from Phillipopolis to Hadrianopolis..."
  20. Web site: Меч Мидас . Мигдония - это... Что такое Мигдония? . Dictionary_of_ancient.academic.ru . 2022-04-12.
  21. Web site: МИГДОНИЯ - В. Д. Гладкий. Древний мир. Энциклопедический словарь в 2-х томах - История.
  22. Web site: Беломорие . 31 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150618171832/http://belomorie.eu/demi.php?order=dem&id=97 . 18 June 2015 . dead.
  23. Book: Lepper . F. A. . Trajan's Column: A New Edition of the Cichorius Plates . 1988 . Alan Sutton . 138 . 9780862994679 . Stuart Jones noted the Dacian - sounding place - name ' Thermidava ' on the Lissus Naissus road : but see Miller col . 557, for the evidence on this. The place was most probably called ' Theranda ' and there is no evidence for any settlement there of pro-Roman Dacians now, nor is it very likely. (..) Most scholars, however, have supposed, as did Cichorius, that we are now north of the Danube, somewhere in the Banat area where the local inhabitants are frightened that they may lose their recently acquired 'liberty'..
  24. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 1: The Prehistory of the Balkans, the Middle East and the Aegean World, Tenth to Eighth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, N. G. L. Hammond, and E. Sollberger,1982, page 876: "... proper and the southern Danube borderland, e.g. in Bessapara, Keipenapa, Tranupara; of -dita 'fortified town', found only in Thracia proper; ..."
  25. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 856
  26. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 855: "The Thasians... they founded Krenides and Daton"
  27. Hatzfeld, Jean. History of Ancient Greece (trans. by Andre Aymard, 1968, W.W. Norton & Co., New York), pp. 34–35.
  28. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 782, "The Thasians are said to have colonised the Hedonian city of Myrkinos, Galepsos and Oisyme..."
  29. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 857
  30. Readings in Greek History: Sources and Interpretations by D. Brendan Nagle and Stanley M. Burstein, 2006, page 232: A GREEK TRADING POST IN THRACE"... Maronea, Apollonia, and Thasos living in the trading post of Pistiros."
  31. The Histories, by Herodotus, Carolyn Dewald, and Robin Waterfield, 2008, page 442: "... bed of the Lisus, Xerxes passed the Greek towns of Maronea, Dicaea, and Abdera. His route also took him past a..."
  32. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 870: "Colonists from Mytilene and Kyme founded Ainos"
  33. The Histories by Herodotus, Carolyn Dewald, and Robin Waterfield, 2008, page 442: "... bed of the Lisus, Xerxes passed the Greek towns of Maronea, Dicaea, and Abdera. His route also took him past a ..."
  34. Back Matter: "... sites identified solely by coins' location site Thessaly, Atrax, Kieron, Larissa, Thrace, Ainos, Bizye, Byzantium, Deultum, Maroneia, Mesembra, Pantalia..."
  35. Hammond Concise Atlas of World History by Geoffrey Barraclough, 2001, Index, "Mesembria/Greek Colony"
  36. The Histories, by Herodotus, John M. Marincola, and Aubery de Selincourt, 2003, page 451: "... most westerly of which is Mesembria; the next place is Stryme, a town belonging to the Thasians. ..."
  37. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 892
  38. Women and slaves in Greco-Roman culture: differential equations, by Sandra Rae Joshel, Sheila Murnaghan, 1998, page 214: "Philip II founded cities at Beroe, Kabyle, and Philippopolis in 342/1, and Aegean-style urban life began to penetrate Thrace."
  39. Late Roman villas in the Danube-Balkan region, by Lynda Mulvin, 2002, page 19: "Other roads went through Beroe (founded by Philip II of Macedon)"
  40. Philip of Macedon, by Louïza D. Loukopoulou, 1980, page 98: "Upriver in the valley between the Rhodope and Haimos Philip founded Beroe (Stara Zagora) and Philippolis (Plovdiv)."
  41. From Mycenae to Constantinople: Major Cities of the Greek and Roman World, by Richa Tomlinson, 1992, page 8: "...this means, a Macedonian city established in a non-Macedonian area (Philippopolis in Thrace, for example) becomes a means of establishing a..."
  42. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 895: "The emporion of Pistiros was an inland trading station originally founded by merchants coming from the polis of Pistiros a dependency of Thasos situated piston the Thracian coast"
  43. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 903: "Aigos potamoi is called a deserted polichne by Strabo and a polis by Steph.Byz."
  44. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 636: "In the archaic period Athens colonised Sigeion, Elaious, Chersonesus, Paktye, Sestus, Kardia..."
  45. The Penguin Historical atlas of Ancient Greece by Robert Morkot, page 48
  46. Web site: Texas edu Colonies and Metropoleis . 27 August 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120125221629/http://www.utexas.edu/courses/greeksahoy!/colonies_and_metropoleis.jpg . 25 January 2012 . dead.
  47. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 910: "Sestos was colonised by Lesbians"
  48. Ancient Greek Colonies in the Black Sea 2, Dēmētrios V. Grammenos,, 2007, page 1182
  49. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 914: "Bisanthe was a colony founded by the Samians"
  50. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 918
  51. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 913
  52. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 919: "Heraion Teichos was a colony of Samos"
  53. a town near Perinthus, Xerxes' commissariat there: Hdt. 7.25
  54. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 912: "The European coast of Propontis was settled by Megarians and Samians.By 480 four colonies are recorded; viz from the east to the west, Megarian Byzantion and Selymbria and Samian Perinthos and Bisanthe along with two smaller and presumably dependant settlements, Tyrodiza and Heraion."
  55. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, Index
  56. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation, by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 934: "Kallatis was colonized by Herakleia"
  57. A Companion to Archaic Greece, by Kurt A. Raaflaub and Hans van Wees, 2009, page 337: "... On the western shore, Odessos was founded by the Milesians, and the expansion of existing Greek cities in the western ..."
  58. Katičic', Radoslav. Ancient Languages of the Balkans, Part One. Paris: Mouton, 1976: 147
  59. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 6: The Fourth Century BC, by D. M. Lewis, page 469: "Philip's new foundation at Heracle Sintica"
  60. The Greek Wars: The Failure of Persia, by George Cawkwell, 2006, page 58: "... 'The lands beyond the sea' Persian city, Boryza' on the Black Sea coast (FGH t Fí66) but that ..."
  61. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 891, "Note that the only one which is explicitly called a polis by Hekataios is Boryza (fr.166) and here we learn that it is a polis inhabited by Persians i.e not by Greeks or Thracians."

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