44 BC, the Dacian king was murdered by a criminal hand, in the same way as
Caesar, the Roman emperor, was killed. Following this event, the Geto-Dacian state
disintegrated, and, for the autochthonous population, a troubled period followed,
which allowed the Romans, who have reached the Danube through the conquest of
Thrace and Moesia, to penetrate into Scythia Minor, up to the mouths of the
Danube. Now, Micra Scythia became Scythia Minor, a name which was mostly
used in official documents, as the natives preserved the one given by their ancestors,
and which we are going to reconstruct here. Likewise, Pontus Euxeinos became
Mare Nostrum and Pontus Sinister. The metaphorical name given by the Greeks
disappeared, while the ancient name, Aks ˇeina survived, adapted and calqued by the
autochthonous population, who eventually Romanized.
Starting with 15th AD, under Emperor Tiberius, the Romans began the pacification of Scythia Minor (P^ arvan 1923/2000: 55–62). V. P^ arvan writes that Emperor
Claudius also had an important contribution to this, and that “in the times of the
Flavian emperors, Dobrudja was full of Romans” (63–78).
Now that the Getae had been appeased, the Romans turned to the Dacians, on the
left of the Danube, in order to put an end to their frequent and harassing incursions
into Moesia. In the year 86th AD, Emperor Domitian, divided Moesia into Moesia
Superior and Moesia Inferior, the latter including Ripa Traciae, which stretched
along the Danube, and Scythia Minor.
8
The first confrontation, north of the Danube, concluded in the year 89 with heavy
losses for the army of Domitian. A peace agreement was negotiated, and Dacia
became a client state of the empire. Emperor Trajan (98–117 AD) decided to
transform Dacia into a Roman province. The two military campaigns of 101–103,
and 105–106 AD, respectively led to the conquest of Dacia was conquered; its king,
Decebalus committed suicide to avoid being captured by the victors. A rapid
colonization followed, with populations brought from all the Romanized provinces,
and the territory was joined to Scythia Minor. All these created favorable conditions
for the formation of the Romanian people and of the Romanian language, one of the
ten Romance languages, of which today only nine are still being spoken, after the
disappearance of the Dalmatic language.
9
For the problem we are interested in, and we would like to draw attention to a
piece of information provided by the historian Cassius Dio, LXVIII, 12.2,
10
8 Lat. ripa has passed into Romanian: r^ apa ˘ „fallen cliff”, yet its other meaning, i.e., „plains along
an important flowing water”, has come down to us by means of the word vale: Valea Duna ˘rii,
Valea Oltului, Valea Prahovei. We underline The autochthonous population’ preoccupation of
naming their places after the rivers that crossed their territory should be highlighted. Paerticular
attention was given to the Danube, the sacred river: Ripa Traciae, “the Land to the Istros”,
Podunavia, perhaps Ba ˘ra ˘gan, whose consonants brg(n) may hide the idea of “river bank”,
“water”.
9 For the colonization of Dacia and Scythia Minor see V. P^ arvan (1923/2000: 123–134; V. P^ arvan
(1972, passim); Al. Arbore (1928/2003: 177 ff).
10 All the information in Radu Vulpe (Vulpe and Barnea 1968, I: 93–124); with different commentaries, V. P^ arvan (1926: 120–122; C. Daicoviciu (1960, I: 308).
2 Dobrudja, in the Mesopotamia of the West
31
Caesar, the Roman emperor, was killed. Following this event, the Geto-Dacian state
disintegrated, and, for the autochthonous population, a troubled period followed,
which allowed the Romans, who have reached the Danube through the conquest of
Thrace and Moesia, to penetrate into Scythia Minor, up to the mouths of the
Danube. Now, Micra Scythia became Scythia Minor, a name which was mostly
used in official documents, as the natives preserved the one given by their ancestors,
and which we are going to reconstruct here. Likewise, Pontus Euxeinos became
Mare Nostrum and Pontus Sinister. The metaphorical name given by the Greeks
disappeared, while the ancient name, Aks ˇeina survived, adapted and calqued by the
autochthonous population, who eventually Romanized.
Starting with 15th AD, under Emperor Tiberius, the Romans began the pacification of Scythia Minor (P^ arvan 1923/2000: 55–62). V. P^ arvan writes that Emperor
Claudius also had an important contribution to this, and that “in the times of the
Flavian emperors, Dobrudja was full of Romans” (63–78).
Now that the Getae had been appeased, the Romans turned to the Dacians, on the
left of the Danube, in order to put an end to their frequent and harassing incursions
into Moesia. In the year 86th AD, Emperor Domitian, divided Moesia into Moesia
Superior and Moesia Inferior, the latter including Ripa Traciae, which stretched
along the Danube, and Scythia Minor.
8
The first confrontation, north of the Danube, concluded in the year 89 with heavy
losses for the army of Domitian. A peace agreement was negotiated, and Dacia
became a client state of the empire. Emperor Trajan (98–117 AD) decided to
transform Dacia into a Roman province. The two military campaigns of 101–103,
and 105–106 AD, respectively led to the conquest of Dacia was conquered; its king,
Decebalus committed suicide to avoid being captured by the victors. A rapid
colonization followed, with populations brought from all the Romanized provinces,
and the territory was joined to Scythia Minor. All these created favorable conditions
for the formation of the Romanian people and of the Romanian language, one of the
ten Romance languages, of which today only nine are still being spoken, after the
disappearance of the Dalmatic language.
9
For the problem we are interested in, and we would like to draw attention to a
piece of information provided by the historian Cassius Dio, LXVIII, 12.2,
10
8 Lat. ripa has passed into Romanian: r^ apa ˘ „fallen cliff”, yet its other meaning, i.e., „plains along
an important flowing water”, has come down to us by means of the word vale: Valea Duna ˘rii,
Valea Oltului, Valea Prahovei. We underline The autochthonous population’ preoccupation of
naming their places after the rivers that crossed their territory should be highlighted. Paerticular
attention was given to the Danube, the sacred river: Ripa Traciae, “the Land to the Istros”,
Podunavia, perhaps Ba ˘ra ˘gan, whose consonants brg(n) may hide the idea of “river bank”,
“water”.
9 For the colonization of Dacia and Scythia Minor see V. P^ arvan (1923/2000: 123–134; V. P^ arvan
(1972, passim); Al. Arbore (1928/2003: 177 ff).
10 All the information in Radu Vulpe (Vulpe and Barnea 1968, I: 93–124); with different commentaries, V. P^ arvan (1926: 120–122; C. Daicoviciu (1960, I: 308).
2 Dobrudja, in the Mesopotamia of the West
31