eats of the
Dacians--Arrival of the Romans before Sarmizegethusa and its
destruction by the Dacians--Suicide of Decebalus and his
chiefs--Dacia a Roman province--Approximate boundaries--Carra's
opinion of the colonists--Hadrian destroys Trajan's
bridge--Duration and decline of the Roman power in Dacia--The Goths
and Vandals defeat the Emperor Decius--They are beaten by Marcus
Aurelius Claudius (called Gothicus)--Permanent withdrawal from
Dacia by Aurelian--Conflicting opinions of historians regarding the
evacuation--Gibbon's views probably correct--Character of the
colonists who remained in Dacia.

I.

Although the earliest authentic records of Roumania or, more correctly
speaking, of Dacia, the Roman province which embraced Roumania,
Transylvania, and some adjoining territories of to-day, do not reach
further back than about the century immediately preceding the Christian
era, a good deal of information is to be gathered from the writings of
Herodotus, Dion Cassius, and other early historians regarding the
_Getae_, the race from whom the Dacians sprang. The Getae were in all
probability a branch of the Thracians, who were amongst the earliest
immigrants from the East; and for some time before they appeared in
Dacia, which was situated on the northern side of the Danube (or Ister,
as it was called by the Romans), they had settled between the south bank
of that river and the Balkans (Mount Haemus of the Romans). About the
fourth century B.C., however, the Getae had crossed the river,
either driven north by an inimical neighbouring tribe, the Triballi, or
in consequence of the growth of the nation itself. When they were first
encountered by the Greeks, they occupied the eastern part of Dacia,
reaching probably to one portion of the Black Sea; and some account of
them is given by Ovid, who was exiled to their vicinity, but little is
known of them until they came in contact with the Roman armies. The Getae
have little direct interest for us, but as we find associated with them
the names of Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great, and Lysimachus, a
few words concerning their connection with those heroes may not be out
of place, and will at least serve to fix a period in the history of the
people. Whilst they were still seated on the southern side of the
Danube, they are said to have been the allies of Philip in his
expedition against the Scythians, and in his contest with