Getae and Dacians? Are they the same? Or is this unknowable?

[Rumo]

Salut Dragos

Well, maybe i didnt express myself very precise (i know, my english isnt very good). I didnt mean that all the peoples on the Black Sea coast of province Schytia Minor (later included in Moesia) speak only dacian, even if they was sarmatians, greeks or romans. Ofcourse they speak their languages as the primary language, but since Ovid learn dacian (even suposedly write some poetry in this language, and i read about at least 3 theories about why "classicists doesnt find those words, but is not the place to discuss them i think), my conclusion is that this was the lingua franca in the area, meaning that when peoples of diferent ethnicity want to understand eachother, used the dacian language, dacians (getians) being the dominant peoples, especialy as number. Ofcourse, this was at few years after romans included the province in the empire, later the latin becomed prevalent, no doubt. But i see this situation to be similar later, in dacian part of Santana/Cherneakhov culture (based too on the fact that material culture was predominantly dacian as well). But since we dont have too many info from that period, is more supossitions, agree.

Salut R?zvan,

I think you made your point quite clear, because this is what I also said I don't agree with. The evidence of Dacian (and other native dialects north of Haemus) is scarce. We don't even know for sure the area in which Dacian was spoken, let alone that it was a lingua franca. Do you know any instance of Bastarne speaking to Sarmatians using Dacian? I don't.

Also I'm not sure the Dacians (or the Getae) were that numerous. I know what Herodotus wrote of Thracians, but that's no accurate census :wink: