Getae The Getae or Gets ( , singular ; ; ) are names given to several Thracian tribes inhabiting the regions to either side of the Lower Danube , in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania . Both the singular form Get and Getae may be derived from a Greek exonym : the area was the hinterland of Greek colonies on the Black Sea coast , bringing the Getae into contact with the Ancient Greeks from an early date . Getae and Dacians . Ancient sources . Strabo , one of the first ancient sources to mention Getae and Dacians , stated in his " Geographica " ( ca . 7 BC - 20 AD ) that the Dacians lived in the western parts of Dacia , " towards Germania and the sources of the Danube " , and the Getae in the eastern parts , towards the Black Sea , both south and north of the Danube . The ancient geographer also wrote that the Dacians and Getae spoke the same language , after stating the same about Getae and Thracians . Pliny the Elder , in his " Naturalis Historia " ( Natural History ) , ca . 77 - 79 AD , provides a similar view : " . . . though various races have occupied the adjacent shores ; at one spot the " Getae " , by the Romans called " Daci " . . . " . Appian , who began writing his " Roman History " under Antoninus Pius , Roman Emperor from 138 to 161 , noted : “ [ B ] ut going beyond these rivers in places they rule some of the Celts over the Rhine and the Getae over the Danube , whom they call Dacians ” . Justin , the 3rd century AD Latin historian , wrote in his " Epitome of Pompeius Trogus " that Dacians are spoken of as descendents of the Getae : " " Daci quoque suboles Getarum sunt " " ( The Dacians as well are a scion of the Getae ) . In his " Roman History " ( ca . 200 AD ) , Cassius Dio adds : " I call the people Dacians , the name used by the natives themselves as well as by the Romans , though I am not ignorant that some Greek writers refer to them as " Getae " , whether that is the right term or not . . . " . He also shows the Dacians to live on both sides of the Lower Danube ; the ones south of the river ( today ' s northern Bulgaria ) , in Moesia , and are called Moesians , while the ones north of the river are called Dacians . He argues that the Dacians are " Getae or Thracians of Dacian race " : In ancient times , it is true , Moesians and Getae occupied all the land between Haemus and the Ister ; but as time went on some of them changed their names , and since then there have been included under the name of Moesia all the tribes living above Dalmatia , Macedonia , and Thrace , and separated from Pannonia by the Savus , a tributary of the Ister . Two of the many tribes found among them are those formerly called the Triballi , and the Dardani , who still retain their old name . Modern interpretations . There is a dispute among scholars about the relations between the Getae and Dacians , and this dispute also covers the interpretation of ancient sources . Some historians such as Ronald Arthur Crossland state that even Ancient Greeks viewed the two designations " interchangeable or with some confusion " . Thus , it is generally considered that the two groups were related to a certain degree , while the exact relation is a matter of controversy . Same people . Strabo , as well as other ancient sources , led some modern historians to consider that , if the Thracian ethnic group should be divided , one of this divisions should be the " " Daco - Getae " " . The linguist Ivan Duridanov also identified a " Dacian linguistic area " in Dacia , Scythia Minor , Lower Moesia and Upper Moesia . Romanian scholars generally went further with the identification , historian Constantin C . Giurescu claiming the two were identical . The archaeologist Mircea Babeş spoke of a " veritable ethno - cultural unity " between the Getae and the Dacians . According to Glanville Price , the account of the Greek geographer Strabo shows that the Getae and the Dacians were one and the same people . Others who support the identity between Getae and Dacians with ancient sources include freelance writer James Minahan and Catherine B Avery , who claim the people whom the Greek called " Getae " were called " Daci " by the Romans . The same view is expressed by some British historians such as Sandler Berkowitz David and Philip Matyszak . The Bulgarian historian and thracologist Alexander Fol considers that the Getae became known as " Dacians " in Greek and Latin in the writings of Caesar , Strabo and Pliny the Elder , as Roman observers adopted the name of the Dacian tribe to refer to all the unconquered inhabitants north of the Danube . Also , Edward Bunbury believed the name of Getae , by which they were originally known to the Greeks on the Euxine , was always retained by the latter in common usage : while that of Dacians , whatever be its origin , was that by which the more western tribes , adjoining the Pannonians , first became known to the Romans . Some scholars consider the Getae and Dacians to be the same people at different stages of their history and discuss their culture as " Geto - Dacian " . Same language , distinct people . Historian and archaeologist Alexandru Vulpe found a remarkable uniformity of the Geto - Dacian culture , however he is one of the few Romanian archaeologists to make a clear distinction between the Getae and Dacians , arguing against the traditional position of the Romanian historiography that considered the two people the same . Nevertheless , he chose to use the term " Geto - Dacians " as a conventional concept for the Thracian tribes inhabiting the future territory of Romania , not necessarily meaning an " absolute ethnic , linguistic or historical unity " . Ronald Arthur Crossland suggested the two designations may refer to two groups of a " linguistically homogeneous people " that had come to historical prominence at two distinct periods of time . He also compared the probable linguistic situation with the relation between modern Norwegian and Danish languages . Paul Lachlan MacKendrick considered the two as " branches " of the same tribe , speaking two dialects of a common language . The Romanian historian of ideas and historiographer Lucian Boia stated : " At a certain point , the phrase Geto - Dacian was coined in the Romanian historiography to suggest a unity of Getae and Dacians " . Lucian Boia took a sceptical position , arguing the ancient writers distinguished among the two people , treating them as two distinct groups of the Thracian ethnos . Boia contended that it would be naive to assume Strabo knew the Thracian dialects so well , alleging that Strabo had " no competence in the field of Thracian dialects " . The latter claim is contested , some studies attesting Strabo ' s reliability and sources . There is no reason to disregard Strabo ' s view that the Daci and the Getae spoke the same language . Boia also stressed that some Romanian authors cited Strabo indiscriminately . A similar position was adopted by Romanian historian and archaeologist G . A . Niculescu , who also criticized the Romanian historiography and the archaeological interpretation , particularly on the " Geto - Dacian " culture . In his opinion , Alexandru Vulpe saw ancient people as modern nations , leading the latter to interpret the common language as a sign of a common people , despite Strabo making a distinction between the two . Other views . Several scholars like Tadeusz Sulimirski , Weer Rajendra Rishi , and Chandra Chakraberty have identified the Asian Jats directly with Getae and Massagetae . History . 7th century BC . From the 7th century BC onwards , the Getae came into economic and cultural contact with the Greeks , who were establishing colonies on the western side of Pontus Euxinus , nowadays the Black Sea . The Getae are mentioned for the first time together in Herodotus in his narrative of the Scythian campaign of Darius I in 513 BC . According to Herodotus , the Getae differed from other Thracian tribes in their religion , centered around the god ( " daimon " ) Zalmoxis whom some of the Getae called Gebeleizis . Between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC , the Getae were mostly under the rule of the flourishing Odrysian kingdom . During this time , the Getae provided military services and became famous for their cavalry . After the disintegration of the Odrysian kingdom , smaller Getic principalities began to consolidate themselves . Persian expedition . Before setting out on his Persian expedition , Alexander the Great defeated the Getae and razed one of their settlements . In 313 BC , the Getae formed an alliance with Callatis , Odessos , and other western Pontic Greek colonies against Lysimachus , who held a fortress at Tirizis ( modern Kaliakra ) . The Getae flourished especially in the first half of the 3rd century BC . By about 200 BC , the authority of the Getic prince , Zalmodegicus , stretched as far as Histria , as a contemporary inscription shows . Other strong princes included Zoltes and Rhemaxos ( about 180 BC ) . Also , several Getic rulers minted their own coins . The ancient authors Strabo and Cassius Dio say that Getae practiced ruler cult , and this is confirmed by archaeological remains . Conflict with Rome . In 72 - 71 BC , Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus became the first Roman commander to march against the Getae . This was done to strike at the western Pontic allies of Mithridates VI , but he had limited success . A decade later , a coalition of Scythians , Getae , Bastarnae and Greek colonists defeated C . Antonius Hybrida at Histria . This victory over the Romans allowed Burebista , the leader of this coalition , to dominate the region for a short period ( 60 - 50 BC ) . In the mid - first BCE Burebista organized a kingdom consisting of descendants of those whom the Greeks had called " Getae " , as well as Dacians , or " Daci " , the name applied to people of the region by the Romans . Augustus aimed at subjugating the entire Balkan peninsula , and used an incursion of the Bastarnae across the Danube as a pretext to devastate the Getae and Thracians . He put Marcus Licinius Crassus in charge of the plan . In 29 BC , Crassus defeated the Bastarnae with the help of the Getic prince Rholes . Crassus promised him help for his support against the Getic ruler Dapyx . After Crassus had reached as far the Danube Delta , Rholes was appointed king and returned to Rome . In 16 BC , the Sarmatae invaded the Getic territory and were driven back by Roman troops . The Getae were placed under the control of the Roman vassal king in Thrace , Rhoemetalces I . In 6 AD , the province of Moesia was founded , incorporating the Getae south of the Danube River . The Getae north of the Danube continued tribal autonomy outside the Roman Empire . Culture . According to Herodotus , the Getae were " the noblest as well as the most just of all the Thracian tribes . " When the Persians , led by Darius the Great , campaigned against the Scythia ns , the Thracian tribes in the Balkans surrendered to Darius on his way to Scythia , and only the Getae offered resistance . One episode from the history of the Getae is attested by several ancient writers . When Lysimachus tried to subdue the Getae he was defeated by them . The Getae king , Dromichaetes , took him prisoner but he treated him well and convinced Lysimachus there is more to gain as an ally than as an enemy of the Getae and released him . According to Diodorus , Dromichaetes entertained Lysimachus at his palace at Helis , where food was served on gold and silver plates . The discovery of the celebrated tomb at Sveshtari ( 1982 ) suggests that Helis was located perhaps in its vicinity , where remains of a large antique city are found along with dozens of other Thracian mound tombs . As stated earlier , the principal god of the Getae was Zalmoxis whom they sometimes called Gebeleizis . Pliny the Elder in his " Naturalis Historia " mentions a tribe called the Tyragetae , apparently a Daco - Thracian tribe who dwelt by the river Tyras ( the Dniester ) . Their tribal name appears to be a combination of " Tyras " and " Getae " ; cf . the names Thyssagetae and Massagetae . The Roman poet Ovid , during his long exile in Tomis , is asserted to have written poetry ( now lost ) in the Getic language . In his " Epistulae ex Ponto " , written from the northern coast of the Black Sea , he asserts that two major , distinct languages were spoken by the sundry tribes of Scythia , which he referred to as Getic , and Sarmatian . Physical appearance . Jerome ( Letter CVII to Laeta . II ) described the Getae as red and yellow - haired . Getae and Goths . The Goths , a Germanic people , with their " urheimat " in Götaland ( Scandinavia ) are usually equated with the Getae by Roman authors during the middle of the mid - to - late 1st millennium . At the close of the 4th century AD , Claudian , court poet to the emperor Honorius and the patrician Stilicho , uses the ethnonym " Getae " to refer to the Visigoths . During 5th and 6th centuries , several historians and ethnographers ( Marcellinus Comes , Orosius , John Lydus , Isidore of Seville , Procopius of Caesarea ) used the same ethnonym " Getae " to name populations invading the Eastern Roman Empire ( Goths , Gepids , Kutrigurs , Slavs ) . For instance , in the third book of the Procopius details : " There were many Gothic nations in earlier times , just as also at the present , but the greatest and most important of all are the Goths , Vandals , Visigoths , and Gepaedes . In ancient times , however , they were named Sauromatae and Melanchlaeni ; and there were some too who called these nations Getic . " The Getae were also assumed to be the ancestors of the Goths by Jordanes in his " Getica " written at the middle of the 6th century . Jordanes assumed the earlier testimony of Orosius .