A skilled Getic ruler named Dromichaetes fends off Greek invasions during the chaotic period following the collapse of Alexander the Great’s empire.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to A history of Romania.

Season 1, Episode 3: A wintry land

We left the story in the early 4^th century BCE in the Odrysian kingdom.

As you know, the Odrysians had been but one tribe among many in Thrace, but when the Persian empire retreated from Europe, they conquered their neighbours and took control of the former Persian province of Skudra. Then, when Athens lost to Sparta and withdrew its forces from the Black Sea, the Odrysians subjugated the Greek cities on the coast and brought them under their control as well. This process of conquest and consolidation lasted a century, and by the end of it, the Odrysians had forged the first native kingdom of Thrace. This powerful state fed itself on the tribute of goods, coins, and warriors from the tribes of the interior like the Getae, and on that of the wealthy Greek cities on the coast.

In 384 BCE, Cotys I became king of the Odrysians, and he would shepherd his realm at the height of its power. Cotys had ambitions to expand his territory, and the most attractive option was to go south towards the riches of the Hellenic world.

In 367 BCE, he gathered his warriors and marched towards the Hellespont, the narrow strait that separates Europe from Asia in modern-day Turkey. This strait was controlled by Athens and was crucial to the city, since the grain it imported from the Black Sea had to pass through there.

Athens sent considerable forces to halt the Odrysians and protect their interests. Years of battles followed and, by 360 BCE, Cotys had nearly defeated the Athenian forces near the Hellespont – but this war would not be decided on the battlefield. That same year, Cotys was assassinated by two Greeks who were, incidentally, students of Plato, though the famous philosopher had nothing to do with the affair.

Following Cotys’ death, the pressure on the Athenian forces immediately lifted as three Odrysian contenders proclaimed themselves king, fracturing the Odrysian realm. The three pretenders to the throne clashed, but none was decisively stronger than the others, so they decided to divide the kingdom between themselves. No doubt, each contender planned to build up his strength and restart the fight to unite Thrace under his control once he was strong enough. These men were so focused on their civil war that they didn’t see the outside threat that would doom them all.

The kingdom of Macedon was located in northern Greece, just southwest of the former united Odrysian realm. Macedon was led by Philip II, an intelligent, capable, and energetic leader who had spent the first decade of his reign reforming his army and fighting several neighbouring Greek states to expand his lands. But Philip wanted a lot more. Aiming to expand eastwards into Anatolia, he marched his army along the northern coast of the Aegean Sea and conquered the cities there up to the Hellespont.

Seeing the disarray of the Odrysians, Philip turned north in 342 BCE and invaded Thrace. The Odrysians fought fiercely, but Philip was able to exploit the divisions between them and, within two years, he defeated all their forces.

Until now, the Getae in northern Thrace had been under the rule of the Odrysians, but as the power of their overlord dissipated, they were left free – and vulnerable to the approaching Macedonians. Several Getic tribes united under a single ruler and debated how best to deal with this new threat. Instead of fighting the mighty Macedonian army, the Getic ruler married his own daughter to Philip, and became his vassal. The Getic tribes in northern Thrace thus had to pay tribute to their new overlord, but secured their safety and autonomy in their own lands.

And so, either directly or indirectly, the kingdom of Macedon now controlled the entirety of Thrace, from the Aegean Sea to the Danube River, and from the mountains in the west to the Greek cities on the Black Sea coast. Philip II died a few years after these conquests in 336 BCE, and his kingdom was inherited by his even more ambitious son, Alexander, who we know as the Great.

Alexander’s great task was to dismember the Persian empire, but before going on his expedition to Asia, he had to secure his realm. As news of Philip’s death spread, several Macedonian vassals revolted, and Alexander mustered his army to quickly deal with them.

In 335 BCE, Alexander marched through Thrace and won several battles against rebellious subjects in the area. His expedition took him all the way to the Danube. Though Getic tribes south of the river had surrendered to his father, those beyond it had never submitted and regularly raided Macedonian land.

Alexander ordered his soldiers to make boats out of their leather tents and cross the river to meet the Getae in battle. Though outnumbered, Alexander’s army routed the Getic warriors, who retreated and abandoned their nearby town.

But Alexander didn’t mean to take land beyond the Danube; he just wanted to neutralize the Getic tribes on his northern border. Having succeeded, he returned to his kingdom and headed for Asia on his campaign from which he would never return.

Alexander left a general named Zopyrion behind to rule Thrace. Wanting to distinguish himself, Zopyrion crossed the Danube in 331 BCE and attacked the Scythians who lived near the mouth of the river, but he couldn’t subdue them and was forced to withdraw.

Seeing the Macedonian army defeated and in retreat, the Getae south of the Danube saw a chance to gain their independence. As the Macedonian army marched back, they attacked and destroyed it, and Zopyrion was killed in the fighting.

Yet the Getae didn’t push farther south; they just wanted to be left to live as they wanted without having to pay tribute to anyone. So though the Macedonian kingdom still had a strong grip on the coast and major settlements of Thrace, the Getic tribes on its northern reaches near the Danube River were free to live under their own laws and leadership.

Alexander died unexpectedly in Babylon in 323 BCE, and his subordinates immediately started fighting each other for control of the empire he had amassed. One of Alexander’s generals, Lysimachus, established himself in Thrace.

All over the region, the Odrysians, Getae, Scythians, and even the Greek cities along the coast all fought against Lysimachus’ forces, hoping to completely drive them from Thrace. Seventeen years of fighting and chaos followed, but the forces of these various factions weren’t able to defeat Lysimachus’ army, which had superior discipline and tactics. The Greek general defeated each rebel army in turn, secured his position in the region, and declared himself king of Thrace in 306 BCE.

But like other powers before him, Lysimachus didn’t have full control of the wild interior of Thrace; the Getae roamed both sides of the Danube and partway into his territory. After nearly two decades of fighting, they had united under a single ruler named Dromichaites, and this combined Getic force posed a serious threat to Lysimachus’ kingdom.

So, in 300 BCE, full of confidence at his unbeatable army, Lysimachus took his son with him on a campaign to find and defeat Dromichaites. The Greek king led his forces across the Danube, occupied a vast swath of land north of the river, and forced the Getae to battle. But the Getic forces were larger, and Dromichaites was a skilled commander. Though we have few details of the battle, we know that Lysimachus’ army was defeated, his son was taken prisoner, and he himself barely escaped back across the river.

Dromichaites was more than a capable military leader; he was also a skilled diplomat. He realized that after one side claimed victory, the other would seek to take its revenge, and this cycle of fighting would continue indefinitely if a permanent solution wasn’t found. He also knew that war is a dangerous gamble, and though he had defeated Lysimachus in battle once, he couldn’t be sure of doing it again. So, in an attempt to create a lasting peace, Dromichaites sent Lysimachus’ son back to him in exchange for the lands which he had conquered north of the Danube – and as a show of goodwill and a desire for friendly relations once the war ended.

Lysimachus saw this olive branch as a sign of weakness. With his son now safely by his side, he prepared a second expedition and crossed the Danube again in 292 BCE. Dromichaites knew he couldn’t risk another open battle, so he resorted to cunning.

The Getic leader sent one of his generals to Lysimachus as a deserter. This general earned Lysimachus’ trust and guided his army through territory that had few sources of food and water. After days of marching through this inhospitable land, Lysimachus’ soldiers were hungry, thirsty, tired, and in no state to fight – and that’s when Dromichaites led his army to meet them. With his superior numbers, the Getic leader encircled the invading army. Lysimachus saw that he had no chance at victory; he surrendered without a fight and was captured alongside his son.

The Getic commanders wanted to kill Lysimachus right then, but Dromichaites refused. He argued that, if they killed him, another king would simply take his place – maybe one even stronger than him – and the conflict would continue. If they kept him alive, however, the Getae would gain his friendship and have a chance at lasting peace.         

The argument worked, and the Getae brought Lysimachus and his son to one of their fortified settlements. There, Dromichaites organized a feast where both sides dined together. Lysimachus and his retinue had a table set with a royal carpet, and were served exquisite dishes on silver plates, and wine in gold cups. For his own men, Dromichaites set the table with straw, served them vegetables and meat on wooden plates, and wine in horn goblets.

Dromichaites then turned to Lysimachus and asked him which feast seemed most fitting for a king. When Lysimachus inevitably answered his own, Dromichaites asked him: “Why then, forsaking such ways, a splendid manner of life, and a more glorious kingdom as well, did you desire to come among men who are barbarous and lead a bestial existence, and to a wintry land deficient in cultivated grains and fruit? Why did you force a way against nature to bring an army into such a place as this, where no foreign force can survive in the open?”

Lysimachus got the point: He had been defeated twice, and would be defeated again if he didn’t relent; instead of dying here, he should go and enjoy the fruits of his own kingdom. Negotiations followed, and Lysimachus pledged to return all the land he had captured beyond the Danube and to be a friend of the Getae from now on. With the deal struck, Dromichaites placed a diadem on Lysimachus’ head and let him return home.

Now, did this banquet scene actually happen as described by our sources? Probably not. But the broad outlines of it are probably true. Dromichaites made Lysimachus understand that the land of the Getae was not worth conquering – and that, even if he tried, he would be defeated. And he said this in a deferential manner that allowed the Greek king to keep his pride and pretend he hadn’t just been schooled by a barbarian.

But Lysimachus had betrayed Dromichaites’ goodwill once before when he had returned his son. What was to stop him from attacking again? To prevent that scenario, Dromichaites married Lysimachus’ daughter, forging a link between their dynasties – and gaining a hostage in case Lysimachus thought of revenge.

With impressive diplomatic acumen, Dromichaites avoided another bloody battle, ended a decade of war, and ensured lasting peace between the Greek kingdom and his own people.

So far, we’ve been able to follow events in some detail since the time of Darius in 513 BCE. But for the next two centuries, our written sources are much scarcer when it comes to the region around the Danube River, so we have to rely on archeological evidence and anecdotal texts. Nevertheless, we’re still able to piece together the general trajectory of the region until we get to the common era.

During the 3^rd and 2^nd centuries BCE, the Getic tribes along the Danube lived freely, sometimes uniting in larger tribal confederacies, and sometimes fracturing into smaller units. Some of these Getic tribes became so powerful that they were able to exert their influence over the Greek cities on the coast. For instance, the Greek city of Istria which we introduced last episode became a vassal of Rhemaxos. This Getic leader stationed a detachment of warriors in the city to defend it, and in return asked the Greeks to periodically pay him tribute in the form of gold. But this was not an amicable relationship; if Rhemaxos could defend Istria, he could also destroy it; the tribute was as much a guarantee of protection from outside threats as from the Getae.

As the Greek world fractured and receded following the collapse of Alexander’s empire, the Greek cities along the Black Sea coast had fewer links to their trading partners in the Mediterranean and needed to strike deals with the powers surrounding them. Like Istria, they too had to pay the neighbouring tribes not to attack them. Large tribute payments and reduced trade pushed the Greek cities into debt, plunging them into a downward spiral that made them less able to raise funds for public projects or for their own defense; a decree from around this time from the Greek city of Tomis celebrates those who signed up to protect the city: the number was less than 40 men.

With fewer public funds, the institutions of these cities were increasingly unable to fulfill the needs of their citizens, who instead turned to a small number of wealthy individuals. The rich became ambassadors and handled external politics; they became magistrates and influenced internal matters; and they became commanders and took charge of military affairs. These wealthy individuals often held offices for life and thereafter passed them on to their children, creating a new, hereditary ruling aristocracy based on money. This dynamic persisted in the Greek cities for the next three centuries until the beginning of the common era.

Our story so far has focused on the Getae along the Danube River, but we must now turn our gaze northwards to welcome a people which will play a huge role in our narrative: the Dacians. Though I’ve mentioned them a few times in passing, I’ve never properly introduced them.

The Dacians were a tribe related to the Getae. The two peoples spoke a similar dialect and so could understand each other; they also had similar cultures, with a few key differences. Whereas the Getae were settled on the plains surrounding the Danube and focused on farming, the Dacians lived north of the river in and around the Carpathian Mountains. They built their settlements on hills and constructed artificial terrasses to farm, but a large part of their economy was also based on livestock. The Dacians were excellent shepherds who knew how to graze their animals in the hilly terrain of their homeland, which ensured they had ample food even in regions where agriculture was harder to practice.

For two hundred years following Lysimachus’ failed invasion north of the Danube, the Getae and Dacians were left largely to themselves. The Greek states of the Mediterranean that arose after Alexander’s death had other priorities, and the next great empire – the one to outshine them all – was still figuring itself out on the Italian peninsula.

And so, during the 3^rd and 2^nd centuries BCE, the Getae and Dacians developed their societies in relative peace. By this period, iron tools had become commonplace. Better ploughs, sickles, and scythes meant more food was being grown, which created a population boom and led the Getae and Dacians to establish numerous new settlements, the biggest of which were called dava.

These large population centres had workshops, marketplaces, religious sanctuaries, moats and palisades, garrisons of warriors, and were often led by a tribal chief. In these settlements, we find imported Hellenic, Roman, and Celtic goods, which speaks to the increased trade in the region, both between the Getae and Dacians as well as with the outside world. Though they never achieved the urbanization needed to be called cities, dava settlements were thriving towns that exerted powerful economic, religious, and military influence.

For the first time, the Getae and Dacians began minting coins to facilitate commerce. Previously, they had traded with coins left over from the reigns of Philip II and Alexander the Great. Now, the Getae and Dacians used those Macedonian coins as a model, copied them, and minted exact replicas using their own silver. This meant that they no longer had to rely on a limited supply of money; they were able to create new coins using silver from their own mines and trade them for goods, which brought unprecedented prosperity to their societies.

We have to remember that, at this point in history, there’s no such thing as a national currency like we have today; people traded with whatever currency worked best. In this case, it was the old Macedonian coins that were still accepted in the Mediterranean regions with which the Getae and Dacians traded. The fact that the tribes of the region could mint their own coins shows that their societies had become more complex and capable of more intricate social organization.

Before we end today, we have to talk about another people that had a large impact on Dacian society during this period, and that’s the Celts. We don’t have a lot of detailed information about them since they didn’t leave behind written sources, but the little we do know will be important to our story.

In the 4^th century BCE, Celtic tribes had migrated from western Europe into the Transylvanian Plateau, which is the region of plains and valleys inside the arc of the Carpathian Mountains.

After years of fighting, the Celts conquered the Dacian tribes living on the plateau. Some of the natives fled into the mountains where they could live free of Celtic rule, but most stayed on the land which had housed them for generations, and now learned to live among their conquerors.

Both peoples would influence each other. The Celts, for instance, introduced the potter’s wheel to the area, which allowed for the creation of more refined pottery. In turn, they adopted some Dacian art styles for their pottery as well as the Dacian practice of incinerating their dead.

The Celts would maintain their dominance of the Transylvanian Plateau throughout the 3^rd and 2^nd centuries BCE. But as that last century wore on, the Dacian tribes living in and around the Carpathian Mountains began to consolidate into bigger groups. By the beginning of the 1^st century BCE, there were four large tribal confederacies in the region, and they would soon begin to assert themselves.

In two weeks, a Dacian chief will bind the fates of Getae, Dacians, Celts, and Greeks to forge the most powerful barbarian kingdom of his time and insert himself in the conflict between Pompey and Caesar.