List of ancient cities in Thrace and Dacia

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

A number of cities in Dacia and Thrace 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.

Daco-Thracian
Dacian towns and fortresses in Dacia during Burebista
Onomastic range of some towns with the dava ending
Onomastic range of some towns with the dava ending

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.

Map of Ancient Thrace made by Abraham Ortelius, at 1585

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

Greek and Macedon

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

Cities during the Roman period

Celtic

See also

Notes

  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 ,ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 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, ISBN 1-84176-329-2, 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, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 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. ISBN 978-0-306-46258-0.
  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. ISBN 978-0-521-22496-3.
  7. Grumeza 2009, p. 13.
  8. Velkov 1977, p. 92.
  9. Olteanu.
    • Procopii Caesariensis opera omnia. Edited by J. Haury; revised by G. Wirth. 3 vols. Leipzig: Teubner, 1976-64. Greek text.
  11. TSR9, Proc. 123. 26
  12. Schütte 1917, p. 96.
  13. Grumeza 2009, p. 12.
  14. Grumeza 2009, p. 88.
  15. 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..."
  16. "The Cambridge Ancient History 1992, page 612"
  17. Grumeza 2009, p. 14.
  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 856, "A thracian settlement"
  19. 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..."
  20. kabileti tribe
  21. 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."
  22. Valeva, Julia; Nankov, Emil; Graninger, Denver (15 June 2015). A Companion to Ancient Thrace. ISBN 9781444351040.
  23. Ethnic continuity in the Carpatho-Danubian area by Elemér Illyés, 1988, ISBN 0-88033-146-1, page 223
  24. "Heart of Bulgaria's Southeast". Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  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 465: "Megara was principal or sole founder of...Kalchedo...Selymbria...Byzantion...Astakos...Herakleia pontike and possible Olbia..."
  26. A New Classical Dictionary of Greek And Roman Biography, Mythology And Geography V2, 2006, ISBN 1-4286-4561-6, page 196, "Subzupara (now in Zarvi), a town in Thrace on the road from Phillipopolis to Hadrianopolis..."
  27. Меч Мидас. "Мигдония - это... Что такое Мигдония?". Dictionary_of_ancient.academic.ru. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  28. "МИГДОНИЯ - В. Д. Гладкий. Древний мир. Энциклопедический словарь в 2-х томах - История".
  29. "Беломорие". Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  30. Lepper, F. A. (1988). Trajan's Column: A New Edition of the Cichorius Plates. Alan Sutton. p. 138. ISBN 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'.
  31. 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; ..."
  32. Taylor & 2001 214.
  33. 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
  34. 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"
  35. Hatzfeld, Jean. History of Ancient Greece (trans. by Andre Aymard, 1968, W.W. Norton & Co., New York), pp. 34–35.
  36. 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..."
  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, Index
  38. 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
  39. 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."
  40. 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..."
  41. 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"
  42. 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 ..."
  43. Back Matter: "... sites identified solely by coins' location site Thessaly, Atrax, Kieron, Larissa, Thrace, Ainos, Bizye, Byzantium, Deultum, Maroneia, Mesembra, Pantalia..."
  44. Hammond Concise Atlas of World History by Geoffrey Barraclough, 2001, Index, "Mesembria/Greek Colony"
  45. 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. ..."
  46. 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
  47. 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."
  48. 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)"
  49. 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)."
  50. Velkov 1977, p. 128.
  51. 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..."
  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 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"
  53. 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."
  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 636: "In the archaic period Athens colonised Sigeion, Elaious, Chersonesus, Paktye, Sestus, Kardia..."
  55. The Penguin Historical atlas of Ancient Greece by Robert Morkot, page 48
  56. "Texas edu Colonies and Metropoleis". Archived from the original on 25 January 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  57. 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"
  58. Ancient Greek Colonies in the Black Sea 2, Dēmētrios V. Grammenos, ISBN 1-4073-0110-1, 2007, page 1182
  59. Velkov 1977, p. 124.
  60. 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"
  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 918
  62. 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
  63. 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"
  64. a town near Perinthus, Xerxes' commissariat there: Hdt. 7.25
  65. 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."
  66. Grumeza 2009, p. 132.
  67. 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"
  68. 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 ..."
  69. Katičic', Radoslav. Ancient Languages of the Balkans, Part One. Paris: Mouton, 1976: 147
  70. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 6: The Fourth Century BC, by D. M. Lewis, page 469: "Philip's new foundation at Heracle Sintica"
  71. 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 ..."
  72. 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."

References

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