Description
The Getae were a confederation of 'barbarian' tribes who settled near the Danube River in what are now parts of present-day Romania and Bulgaria. Whether they were ethnically Dacian or Thracian remains uncertain, as both the Greeks and the Romans drew opposite conclusions on the matter. The Greeks were the first to encounter them, as early as the 7th century BC, stating that the Getae were 'the noblest as well as the most just of all the Thracian tribes'. However, the Romans later concluded they were a people of Dacian origin. Whatever their etymology, the Getae were a formidable battlefield opponent for any civilised or tribal force. They were also first class raiders, famed for their hit-and-run guerrilla tactics and oft employed for that purpose by the regional powers of the time. Eventually, despite their military skills and undoubted bravery, the Getae fell foul of the greatest warrior of the age; at the end of the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great suppressed them at the beginning his legendary Persian expedition. However, after the collapse of Macedon's empire and a period of consolidation, Getae influence and control was again widespread throughout the Balkans and as far as the Black Sea coast, reaching its fullest extent during the 3rd century BC. The Getae remained influential until their defeat by the Roman general Crassus the Younger almost 200 years later, at which point their territory was absorbed into Rome's growing empire.
