List of ancient tribes in Thrace and Dacia

This is a list of ancient tribes in Thrace and Dacia (Ancient Greek: Θρᾴκη, Δακία) including possibly or partly Thracian or Dacian tribes, and non-Thracian or non-Dacian tribes that inhabited the lands known as Thrace and Dacia. A great number of Ancient Greek tribes lived in these regions as well, albeit in the Greek colonies.

1886 map of tribes in Dacia and Thrace, cities and regions .

1849 map of Roman regions, fortresses and tribes in Thrace and Dacia (about 150 AD)

Tribes

Thracian

Certain tribes and subdivisions of tribes were named differently by ancient writers but modern research points out that these were in fact the same tribe.^[1] The name Thracians itself seems to be a Greek exonym and we have no way of knowing what the Thracians called themselves.^[2] Also certain tribes mentioned by Homer are not indeed historical.

• Agrianes^[3]
• Apsynthii^[4]
• Astae,^[5][6] they appear in the 2nd century BC to 1st century BC
• Beni^[7]
• Bessi^[8]
• Bisaltae^[9]
• Bistones^[10]
• Bithyni or Bythini, migrated to Asia minor
• Brenae^[11]
• Crousi^[12]
• Cebrenii^[13]
• Coelaletae^[14]
• Dersaei^[10]
• Edones^[10]
• Dentheletae^[15]
• Derrones
• Digeri^[16]
• Dii^[17]
• Diobesi^[17]
• Dolonci^[18]
• Kainoi^[5]
• Kikones,^[10] mentioned by Homer in Odyssey
• Coreli^[5]
• Corpili^[11]
• Krestones^[12]
• Krobyzoi,^[19] perhaps Getae^[20]
• Maduateni^[5]
• Maedi^[21]
• MaedoBythini,^[22] Maedi that migrated to Asia minor
• Melanditae^[23]
• Melinophagi^[24]
• Nipsaei^[25]
• Odomanti^[26]
• Odrysae^[27]
• Paeti^[10]
• Pieres^[28]
• Sapaei,^[29] close to Abdera, ruled Thrace after the Odrysians
• Satri^[30] Satrae
• Sycaeboae^[13]
• Scyrmiadae^[25]
• Sintians^[31]
• Sithones^[32]
• Thyni,^[23] migrated to Asia minor
• Tilataei^[33]
• Tralles^[34][35]
• Tranipsae^[23]
• Trausi^[36]
• Treres^[37]
• Triballi^[38]

Geto-Dacian

Dacian tribes.

• Aedi^[39]
• Albocenses^[40]
• Anarti^[40]
• Apuli (Appuli),^[40] with the center at Apulon
• Biephi^[40]
• Biessoi were a Dacian tribe, among the enemies of the Romans in the Marcomannic Wars (166-180 AD), according to Julius Capitolinus"^[41]
• Buredeenses^[40]
• Buri, their capital was Buridava
• Carpi
• Caucoenses or Cauci^[40]
• Ciaginsi^[40]
• Clariae^[39]
• Coertoboci^[40] also Koistobokoi and Koistobokoi Montanoi^{[41][page needed]}
• Crobidae,^[20][40]
• Daci
• Getae^[42]
• Napae, Dacianized Scythian tribe, after whom the city of Napoca is possibly named^[43]
• Osi were a Dacian tribe ^[44] but it is also argued that it was Germanic^[45] or Celtic.^[46] It was among the enemies of the Romans in the Marcomannic Wars (166-180 AD), according to Julius Capitolinus"^[41]
• Piephigi^[40]
• Potulatenses^[40]
• Predasenses^[40]
• Rhadacenses^[40]
• Sabokoi were a Dacian tribe, among the enemies of the Romans in the Marcomannic Wars (166-180 AD), according to Julius Capitolinus"^[41]
• Saldenses^[40]
• Scaugdae^[39]
• Sense^[40]
• Suci

  

  Tribes in Thrace and neighboring regions

• Terici^[47]
• Teurisci^[40]
• Trixae^[40]
• Tyrageti^{[48][unreliable source?]}
• Troglodytae^[49]

Daco-Thracian

• Artakioi^{[50][failed verification]}
• Moesi^[51]

Greek

• See Greek colonies in Thrace

Phrygian

• Mygdones^[52]
• Phrygians^[53]

Celtic and Germanic

• Anartoi, Celts assimilated by Dacians^[54]
• Bastarnae^[55][56] Celts or Germanics and according to Livy "the bravest nation on earth"
• Boii^[57]
• Carpi
• Costoboci
• Eravisci^[57]
• Gauls of Tylis^[58]
• Peukini
• Scordisci^[59]
• Serdi^[60][61]
• Teuriscii, Celts assimilated by Dacians^[54]
• Cotense,^[40] a Celtic tribe

Thracian/Scythian

• Agathyrsi^[62][63][64]

See also

• List of ancient Geto-Dacian, Moesian, Thracian and Paeonian tribes
• List of Illyrian peoples and tribes
• List of ancient tribes in Illyria
• List of ancient cities in Thrace and Dacia
• List of ancient cities in Illyria
• List of rulers of Dacia
• List of rulers of Thrace
• List of rulers of Illyria

References

1. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 601
2. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 597: "We have no way of knowing what the Thracians called themselves and if indeed they had a common name...Thus the name of Thracians and that of their country were given by the Greeks to a group of tribes occupying the territory..."
3. Part 1: The Prehistory of the Balkans, the Middle East and the Aegean World, Tenth to Eighth Centuries BC. The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 3. Cambridge University Press. 28 March 2008. ISBN 9781139054287.
4. Herodotus, The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley), 9.119.1, "CXIX. As Oeobazus was making his escape into Thrace, the Apsinthians of that country caught and sacrificed him in their customary manner to Plistorus the god of their land; as for his companions, they did away with them by other means. Artayctes and his company had begun their flight later, and were overtaken a little way beyond the Goat's Rivers, where after they had defended themselves a long time, some of them were killed and the rest taken alive. The Greeks bound them and carried them to Sestus, and together with them Artayctes and his son also in bonds."
5. The Thracians 700 BC-AD 46 (Men-at-Arms) by Christopher Webber and Angus McBride, ISBN 1-84176-329-2, 2001, page 11: "After the battle, 10,000 Thracians drawn from the Astii, Caeni, Maduateni and Coreli occupied each side of a narrow forested pass ..."
6. The Cambridge ancient history Volume 3, page 604, by John Boardman - 1991, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, "The Astae appeared only from the late Hellenistic era, second-first century B.C."
7. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 606: "In the middle Hebrus valley and to the east of the Odrysae and the Coleates minores are the Benni..."
8. The Thracians 700 BC-AD 46 (Men-at-Arms) by Christopher Webber and Angus McBride, ISBN 1-84176-329-2, 2001, page 13: "... of the Emperor Augustus) who returned the favour, defeating the Bessi when they attacked Macedonia. This tribe must have impressed the Romans, as they took to calling all Thracians 'Bessi'; they wrote it down as the tribe of origin ..."
9. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen and Thomas Heine Nielsen, 2005, ISBN 0-19-814099-1, page 854, "... Various tribes have occupied this part of Thrace: Bisaltians (lower Strymon valley), Odomantes (the plain to the north of the Strymon) ..."
10. The Histories (Penguin Classics) by Herodotus, John M. Marincola, and Aubrey de Selincourt, ISBN 0-14-044908-6, 2003, page 452: "... I10 The Thracian tribes lying along his route were the Paeti, Cicones, Bistones, Sapaei, Dersaei, Edoni, and Satrae..."
11. Strabo, Geography, book 7, chapter fragments: ... and a fourth to Pelagonia. Along the Hebrus dwell the Corpili, the Brenæ still higher up, above them, and lastly
12. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 601-602
13. Polyaenus: Stratagems - BOOK 7, The generals of the Cebrenii and Sycaeboae, two Thracian tribes, were chosen from among the priests of Hera. Cosingas, according to the tradition of the country, was elected to be their priest and general; but the army took some objection to him, and refused to obey him. To suppress the rebelliousness that had taken hold of the troops, Cosingas built a number of long ladders, and fastened them one to another. He then put out a report, that he had decided to climb up to heaven, in order to inform Hera of the disobedience of the Thracians. The Thracians, who are notoriously stupid and ridiculous, were terrified by the idea of their general's intended journey, and the resulting wrath of heaven. They implored him not to carry out his plan, and they promised with an oath to obey all of his future commands.
14. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 606: "The other branch of this tribe, the Coelaletae maiores, lived in the region of the High Tonzos between Stara ..."
15. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 600
16. Plin. Nat. 4.18, "Thrace now follows, divided into fifty strategies1, and to be reckoned among the most powerful nations of Europe. Among its peoples whom we ought not to omit to name are the Denseletæ and the Medi, dwelling upon the right bank of the Strymon, and joining up to the Bisaltæ above2 mentioned; on the left there are the Digerri and a number of tribes of the Bessi"
17. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 607: "The existence of a tribe called Diobessi (Plin.Loc.Cit.) links together ethnically the Bessi and the Dii..."
18. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 607: "Of these interminable struggles which never ceased to plague Thrace the best known were those between the Apsynthii and the Dolonci..."
19. The Histories (Penguin Classics) by Herodotus, John M. Marincola, and Aubery de Selincourt, ISBN 0-14-044908-6, 2003, page 256: "The tribe of Thracians called Crobyzi"
20. John Boardman in his History wrote “However, a text of the Hellanicus associates the Crobyzi as well the Terizi (From the Tirizian promontory) with the Getae, who “immortalize” (Hdt IV94) that is “render immortal” by ritual. The Crobizi were a subgroup of the Getae tribes. Already known to Hecataeus they are grouped by Herodotus with Thracians” The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 598
21. The Spartacus War by Barry Strauss, ISBN 1-4165-3205-6, 2009, page 31: "... ancient text might have referred not to nomads but to Maedi (singular, Maedus). The Maedi were a Thracian tribe..."
22. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 601: "Earlier certain tribes of the Maedi emigrated to Asia minor where they were known by the name of the MaedoBythini..."
23. Anabasis by H. G. Dakyns, 2006, ISBN 1-4250-0949-2, page 321: "... his sway extended over the Melanditae, the Thynians, and the Tranipsae. Then the affairs of the Odrysians took ..."
24. A Lexicon to Xenophon's Anabasis: Adapted to All the Common Editions, for the Use Both of Beginners by Alpheus Crosby, Xenophon, ISBN 1-110-27521-8, 2009, page 83, " Melinophagi, a Thracian people near Sahnydessus on the Euzine, perhaps Srabo's Agra, ..."
25. The Histories (Penguin Classics) by Herodotus, John M. Marincola, and Aubery de Selincourt, ISBN 0-14-044908-6, 2003, page 271, "The Thracians of... those who live beyond Apollonia and Mesembria, known as the Scyrmiadae and Nipsaeans, surrendered without fighting; but the Getae..."
26. Thrace in the Graeco-Roman world, p. 112 but others claim that together with the Agrianes and Odomanti, at least the latter of which were with certainty Thracian, not Paeonian.
27. Pausanias, Description of Greece Messenia, 4.33.1, "...but settled among the Odrysae when pregnant, for Philammon refused to take her into his house. Thamyris is called an Odrysian and Thracian on these grounds..."
28. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen and Thomas Heine Nielsen, 2005, ISBN 0-19-814099-1, page 803: "... a [...] decree from Gonnoi. Originally populated by Thracian Pieres, Leibethra and this part of Pieria were conquered by the ..."
29. Pausanias's Description Of Greece V4: Commentary On Books VI-VIII by James G. Frazer, 2006, page 132: "... led an army against ... Abrupolis, king of the Sapaeans etc. The Sapaeans were a Thracian tribe in the neighbourhood of Abdera..."
30. Euripides: Hecuba (Euripides) by M. Tierney, 2003, ISBN 0-906515-17-3, Back Matter: "... tells of an oracle of Dionysus among tlae Satrae, a Thracian tribe. The Greeks also regarded him as a god of ..."
31. Greek colonisation: an account of Greek colonies and other settlements overseas, ISBN 90-04-15576-7, by Gocha R. Tsetskhladze - 2008, page 488, "The territory of the Thracian Sintians..."
32. The central Balkan tribes in pre-Roman times: Triballi, Autariatae, Dardanians, Scordisci and Moesians, ISBN 90-256-0793-4, page 69, by Fanula Papazoglu - 1978, "...were directed against the Thracian coast. The Greeks came into contact with the ... says that "...the outstanding Thracian tribes were the Sithones..."
33. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 600: "The Triballi were the western neighbours of the Treres and the Tilataei who occupied in general the region of Serdica..."
34. Psyche: the cult of souls and the belief in immortality among the Greeks -page 281 by Erwin Rohde, ISBN 0-415-22563-9, 2000, "It appears that a branch of the Thracian tribe of the Tralles..."
35. Plutarch\'s Lives Volume III by Plutarch, 2007, ISBN 1-4264-7592-6, page 183: "... have been connected with diem. Liddell and Scott speak of "Trallians" as "Thracian barbarians employed in Asia as mercenaries, torturers, and executioners."
36. Herodotus, "The Trausi in all else resemble the other Thracians, but have customs at births and deaths which I will now describe. When a child is born all its kindred sit round about it in a circle and weep for the woes it will have to undergo now that it is come into the world, making mention of every ill that falls to the lot of humankind; when, on the other hand, a man has died, they bury him with laughter and rejoicings, and say that now he is free from a host of sufferings, and enjoys the completest happiness." (Histories, 5.4)
37. History of Greece: Volume 3 by George Grote, ISBN 1-4021-7005-X, 2001, page 253: "... to speak of several invasions, in which the Trêres, a Thracian tribe, were concerned, and which are not clearly discriminated..."
38. The Spartacus War by Barry Strauss, ISBN 1-4165-3205-6, 2009, page 183: "... their women, who likely stood in the rear ranks. The Triballi, a tough Thracian people, ..."
39. The Cambridge ancient history Volume 3, page 598, by John Boardman, 1991, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, "Getic tribes were probably the Aedi, the Scaugdae and the Clariae ... They were known in antiquity as Getae..."
40. Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization by Ioana A Oltean, ISBN 0-415-41252-8, 2007, page 46
41. Gudmund, Schutte (1917). Ptolemy's maps of northern Europe, a reconstruction of the prototypes by Gudmund Schutte.
42. Getae, Britannica Online," an ancient people of Thracian origin, inhabiting the banks of the lower Danube region and nearby plains. First appearing in the 6th century bc, the Getae were subjected to Scythian influence and were known as expert mounted archers and devotees of the deity Zalmoxis. Although the daughter of their king became the wife of Philip II of Macedon in 342 BC, the Macedonians under Philip II’s son Alexander crossed the Danube and burned the Getic capital seven years later. Getic technology was influenced by that of the invading Celts in the 4th and 3rd centuries bc. Under Burebistas (fl. 1st century BC), the Getae and nearby Dacians formed a powerful but short-lived state. By the middle of the following century, when the Romans had gained control over the lower Danube region, thousands of Getae were displaced, and, not long thereafter, references to the Getae disappeared from history. Later writers wrongly gave the name Getae to the Goths. The Getae and Dacians were closely related; some historians even suggest that these were names applied to a single people by different observers or at different times. Their culture is sometimes called Geto-Dacian. "
43. Pârvan, Vasile; Florescu, Radu (1982). Getica. Editura Meridiane. pp. 82, 165.
44. E.g., Romanian History and Culture
45. E.g., Smith, s.v. Osi
46. Mountain, Harry (1998). Celtic Encyclopedia. Universal-Publishers. p. 162. ISBN 9781581128901.
47. The Cambridge ancient history. Volume 3, page 598, by John Boardman, 1991, ISBN 0-521-22717-8
48. Romania: An Illustrated History by Nicolae Klepper, 2003, page 33: "... the Carps and the Roxolani), by Bastarns, and by Tyragetae (another Geto-Dacian tribe)..."
49. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 598: "The cultural level of some Getic tribes was so low that they lived in 'houses' dug into the earth (such underground villages are known among Phrygians and Armenians). The Greeks called them Troglodytae"
50. The Cambridge ancient history Volume 3, page 599, by John Boardman - 1991 "Pliny speaks of the Moesic tribes...but their names remain almost unknown; in the Roman period, the tribes of the Artakioi"
51. Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization by Ioana A Oltean, ISBN 0-415-41252-8, 2007, page 3: "... the Black Sea (where Dobrudja is today), and soon the Dacian Moesi took over the land between the Danube River and the ..."
52. The Oxford Classical Dictionary by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, 2003, page 1015: "... Priam relates that he went as an ally to a Phrygian army gathered under Mygdon and ... of the Thracian or Phrygian Mygdones."
53. The Armenians, Anne Elizabeth Redgate, Edition: illustrated, reprint Blackwell Publishing, 2000 ISBN 0-631-22037-2
54. Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization by Ioana A Oltean, ISBN 0-415-41252-8, 2007, page 47
55. How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower by Adrian Goldsworthy, ISBN 0-300-13719-2, 2009, page 105, "... who had moved to the Hungarian Plain. Another tribe, the Bastarnae, may or may not have been Germanic. ..."
56. The Thracians 700 BC-AD 46 (Men-at-Arms) by Christopher Webber and Angus McBride, ISBN 1-84176-329-2, 2001, page 12: "... never got near the main body of Roman infantry. The Bastarnae (either Celts or Germans, and `the bravest nation on earth' - Livy ..."
57. Dacia: Land of Transylvania, Cornerstone of Ancient Eastern Europe by Ion Grumeza, ISBN 0-7618-4465-1, 2009, page 51: "In a short time the Dacians imposed their conditions on the Anerati, Boii, Eravisci, Pannoni, Scordisci..."
58. Polybius, Rome and the Hellenistic World: Essays and Reflections by Frank W. Walbank, ISBN 0-521-81208-9, 2002, Page 116, "...is not Antigonus Doson but barbarians from the mainland (either l'hracians or Gauls from Tylis) [...], nor has that inscription anything to do with the Cavan expedition. On ..."
59. Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992, ISBN 0-631-19807-5, Page 140, "... Autariatae at the expense of the Triballi until, as Strabo remarks, they in their turn were overcome by the Celtic Scordisci in the early third century BC. ..."
60. The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC by John Boardman, I. E. S. Edwards, E. Sollberger, and N. G. L. Hammond, ISBN 0-521-22717-8, 1992, page 600: "In the place of the vanished Treres and Tilataei we find the Serdi for whom there is no evidence before the first century bc. It has for long being supposed on convincing linguistic and archeological grounds that this tribe was of Celtic origin"
61. Dio Cassius: Roman History, Volume IX, Books 71-80 (Loeb Classical Library No. 177) by Dio Cassius, Earnest Cary, and Herbert B. Foster, 1927, Index: "... Seras, philosopher, condemned to death [...] Serdi, Thracian tribe defeated by M. Crassus
62. The Thracians 700 BC-AD 46 The Thracians 700 BC-AD 46 by Christopher Webber and Angus Mcbride, 2001, ISBN 1-84176-329-2, page 16: "... back, which could be to accommodate a top-knot. Among the Agathyrsi (a Skythian tribe living near the Thracians, and practising some Thracian customs) the nobles also dyed their ..."
63. Scottish Myths by Robert Craig Maclagan, Kessinger Publishing, 2003, ISBN 9780766145238, page 60 "The Agathyrsi then were Thracians, the older branch, according to Greek tradition, of the Scythians..."
64. The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 2, The Median and Achaemenian Periods edited by William Bayne Fisher, Ilya Gershevitch, Ehsan Yar Shater, ISBN 978-0-521-20091-2, page 184 "According to most authorities, Agathyrsi were of Thracian stock, although their ruling class seems to have been of Scythian origin..."

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