List of Dacian towns and fortresses

Last updated October 29, 2024

This is a list of ancient Dacian towns and fortresses from all the territories once inhabited by Dacians, Getae and Moesi. The large majority of them are located in the traditional territory of the Dacian Kingdom at the time of Burebista. This area includes the present-day countries of Romania and Moldova, as well as parts of mostly southern and eastern Ukraine, Slovakia,^[1] Poland and Hungary, as well as ancient Moesia (Eastern Serbia, Northern Bulgaria). However some isolated settlements are located in Dalmatia (modern Albania and Croatia) as is the case of Thermidava,^[2]^[3] or in Dardania as is Quemedava.^[3]

The Dacian towns are also called davae (singular dava) since many names were composed of an initial lexical element affixed to -dava, -daua, -deva, -deba, -daba, or -dova, which meant "city", "town" or "fortress"" in the Dacian language (<PIE *dhe-, "to set, place"^[4] or *dhewa, "settlement"^[5]). Generally, the name indicated a tribal center or an important settlement, usually fortified.

The known towns names have been are attested by Ptolemy (1st century AD) and other ancient writers, but many have not been identified in the field yet. Conversely, there are many recent discoveries of Dacian settlements and fortresses, but most of them have no assigned names yet.

Some of the Dacian settlements and the fortresses employed the traditional Murus Dacicus (Dacian Wall) construction technique.

Table

Name	Tribe	Founded	Attested by	Area (ha)	Discovery	Location	Country
Acidava ^[6] (Acidaua^[4]^[7])	?	?	Tabula Peutingeriana ^[7]^[8]	?	?	Enoșești ^[9]	Romania
Acmonia (Ancient Greek : Ἀκμωνία, romanized: Akmonia;^[10]^[11]Agnaviae;^[12]^[13]Agmonia^[14]^[13])	?	?	Ptolemy's Geographia ;^[10]^[11] Tabula Peutingeriana;^[12]^[13] Ravenna Cosmography ^[14]^[13]	?	?	between Marga and Zăvoi ^[15]	Romania
Aedava ^[16] (Ancient Greek : Ἀέδαβα^[17]^[4])	?	Unknown; Justinian (r. 527–565) restored the damaged portion of the town defenses^[17]	Procopius, De Aedificiis ^[17]^[4]	?	?	on the Danubian road between Augustae and Variana ^[17]^[4]	Bulgaria
Aiadava	?	?	?	?	?	Bela Palanka	Serbia
Aizis	?	?	?	?	?	Fârliug	Romania
Amutria	?	?	?	?	?	?	Romania
Apulon	?	?	?	?	?	Alba Iulia	Romania
Arcina	?	?	?	?	?	?	Romania
Arcobadara	?	?	?	?	?	?	Romania
(Mala Kopania)	?	?	?	?	?	Mala Kopania	Ukraine
(Zemplín)	?	?	?	?	?	Zemplín	Slovakia

Notes

↑ Husovská (1998) 13
↑ Five Roman emperors: Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Nerva, Trajan, A.D. 69-117 - by Bernard William Henderson - 1969, page 278,"At Thermidava he was warmly greeted by folk quite obviously Dacians"
1 2 Illyés 1988, p. 223.
1 2 3 4 5 Olteanu LTDM - Toponyms.
↑ Polomé 1982, p. 886.
↑ Grumeza 2009, p. 13.
1 2 Tabula Peutingeriana, Segmentum VII,5.
↑ Schütte 1917, p. 81.
↑ Bowman, Garnsey & Cameron 2005, p. 745.
1 2 Ptolemy & 140 AD, III 8,4.
1 2 Olteanu LTDM - Ptolemy's Dacia.
1 2 Tabula Peutingeriana, Segmentum VII,4.
1 2 3 4 Olteanu LTDM - IPA.
1 2 Ravenna Cosmography, IV 14,203.
↑ Rusu 1997, p. 191.
↑ Velkov 1977, p. 92.
1 2 3 4 Procopius & 550 AD, IV 2,6.

Related Research Articles

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Topalu is a commune located on the right bank of the Danube in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania.

Argidava was a Dacian fortress town close to the Danube, inhabited and governed by the Albocense. Located in today's Vărădia, Caraș-Severin County, Romania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acidava</span>

Acidava (Acidaua) was a Dacian and later Roman town and fort on the Olt river near the lower Danube. The settlement's remains are located in today's Enoşeşti, Olt County, Oltenia, Romania.

Dava was a Geto-Dacian name for a city, town or fortress. Generally, the name indicated a tribal center or an important settlement, usually fortified. Some of the Dacian settlements and the fortresses employed the Murus Dacicus traditional construction technique.

Marcodava was a Dacian town, north-west of Apulon.

Pelendava was a Dacian town.

Piroboridava was a Dacian town mentioned by Ptolemy, and archaeologically identified at Poiana, Galați, Romania. The second part name of the city Dacian dava shows significance of the tribal city.

Recidava was a Dacian town.

Rusidava was a Dacian town mentioned in Tabula Peutingeriana between Acidava and Pons Aluti, today's Drăgășani, Vâlcea County, Romania.

Sacidava was a Dacian town located between Cedonia and Apulon.

Scaidava was a Dacian town between Iatrus and Trimammium (Ablanovo) near the village of Batin, Bulgaria.

Sacidava was an ancient Getic settlement on the Danube, between Durostorum and Axiopolis, located near the modern village of Izvoarele, in Romania.

Tamasidava was a Dacian town mentioned by Ptolemy.

Zargidava was a Dacian town mentioned by Ptolemy.

Keiladeva was a Dacian town mentioned in toponomastic inscriptions.

Acmonia was a Dacian town mentioned by Ptolemy. near the present town of Zavoi. The Roman fort of Acmonia was nearby.

Zeugma was a Dacian town mentioned by Ptolemy.

Arcobara was a Dacian town mentioned by Ptolemy.

References

Ancient

Anonymous. Tabula Peutingeriana (in Latin).
Anonymous (c. 600s). Ravenna Cosmography (in Latin). Ravenna.
Procopius (c. 550). De Aedificiis [The Buildings of Justinian] (in Ancient Greek).
Ptolemy, Claudius (c. 140). Geographia [Geography] (in Ancient Greek). Sumptibus et typis Caroli Tauchnitii.

Modern

Bowman, Alan Keir; Garnsey, Peter; Cameron, Averil (2005). The Cambridge Ancient History. The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 12: The Crisis of Empire, A.D. 193–337. London: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521301992.
Grumeza, Ion (2009). Dacia: Land of Transylvania, Cornerstone of Ancient Eastern Europe. Hamilton Books. ISBN 0761844651. The shores of the Danube were well monitored from the Dacian fortresses Acidava, Buricodava, Dausadava (the shrine of the wolves), Diacum, Drobeta (Turnu Severin), Nentivava (Oltenita), Suvidava (Corabia), Tsirista, Tierna/Dierna (Orsova) and what is today Zimnicea. Downstream were also other fortresses: Axiopolis (Cernadova), Barbosi, Buteridava, Capidava(Topalu), Carsium(Harsova), Durostorum(Silistra), Sacidava/Sagadava (Dunareni) along with still others...
Illyés, Elemér (1988). Ethnic continuity in the Carpatho-Danubian area. East European Monographs. East European Monographs. ISBN 978-0880331463.
Olteanu, Sorin. "Linguae Thraco-Daco-Moesorum - Itinerarium Pictum Annotatum". Linguae Thraco-Daco-Moesorum (in Romanian and English). Retrieved 21 October 2011.
Olteanu, Sorin. "Linguae Thraco-Daco-Moesorum - Ptolemy's Dacia". Linguae Thraco-Daco-Moesorum (in Romanian and English). Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
Olteanu, Sorin. "Linguae Thraco-Daco-Moesorum - Toponyms". Linguae Thraco-Daco-Moesorum (in Romanian and English). Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
Polomé, Edgar Charles (1982). "20e". In Boardman, John (ed.). The Cambridge Ancient History. 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. London: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-22496-3.
Rusu, Mircea (1997). "3". Istoria României. Transilvania (PDF) (in Romanian). Vol. 1. Cluj-Napoca: Editura "George Barițiu". Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-09.
Schütte, Gudmund (1917). Ptolemy's maps of northern Europe: a reconstruction of the prototypes. Copenhagen: H. Hagerup.
Velkov, Velizar Iv (1977). The Cities in Thrace and Dacia in Late Antiquity: (Studies and Materials). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Adolf M. Hakkert. ISBN 9789025607234.

External links

Dacian towns and fortress - Google Maps
Dacian towns and fortress - Google Earth
Dacian Davae in Enciclopedia Dacica (in Romanian)
Dacian materials and construction techniques in Enciclopedia Dacica (in Romanian)
Sorin Olteanu's Project: Linguae Thraco-Daco-Moesorum - Toponyms Section ((in Romanian), partially (in English))
Lists of Dacian fortresses, towns and citadels

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[1] Husovská (1998) 13

[2] Five Roman emperors: Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Nerva, Trajan, A.D. 69-117 - by Bernard William Henderson - 1969, page 278,"At Thermidava he was warmly greeted by folk quite obviously Dacians"

[FOOTNOTEIllyés1988223-3] 1 2 Illyés 1988, p. 223.

[FOOTNOTEOlteanu_LTDM_-_Toponyms-4] 1 2 3 4 5 Olteanu LTDM - Toponyms.

[FOOTNOTEPolomé1982886-5] Polomé 1982, p. 886.

[FOOTNOTEGrumeza200913-6] Grumeza 2009, p. 13.

[FOOTNOTETabula_PeutingerianaSegmentum_VII,5-7] 1 2 Tabula Peutingeriana, Segmentum VII,5.

[FOOTNOTESchütte191781-8] Schütte 1917, p. 81.

[FOOTNOTEBowmanGarnseyCameron2005745-9] Bowman, Garnsey & Cameron 2005, p. 745.

[FOOTNOTEPtolemy140_ADIII_8,4-10] 1 2 Ptolemy & 140 AD, III 8,4.

[FOOTNOTEOlteanu_LTDM_-_Ptolemy's_Dacia-11] 1 2 Olteanu LTDM - Ptolemy's Dacia.

[FOOTNOTETabula_PeutingerianaSegmentum_VII,4-12] 1 2 Tabula Peutingeriana, Segmentum VII,4.

[FOOTNOTEOlteanu_LTDM_-_IPA-13] 1 2 3 4 Olteanu LTDM - IPA.

[FOOTNOTERavenna_CosmographyIV_14,203-14] 1 2 Ravenna Cosmography, IV 14,203.

[FOOTNOTERusu1997191-15] Rusu 1997, p. 191.

[FOOTNOTEVelkov197792-16] Velkov 1977, p. 92.

[FOOTNOTEProcopius550_ADIV_2,6-17] 1 2 3 4 Procopius & 550 AD, IV 2,6.

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