The Romans colonized partially the territory of future Romania and the Roman army was stationed here until the 3th century AD. The first decade of communism brought not only massive arrests — the number of political prisoners is estimated up to 2 million — but also devastating economic measures like the nationalization of private property and the forced collectivization of agricultural land.

The fortified churches of Transylvania, the fortresses of Rasnov and Rupea, Neamt Fortress and Poenari Fortress are some of the best examples. According to the historians Kurt W. Treptow and Marcel Popa, this happened in 46 AD. [59] Isolated graves yielding "La Tène" metalwork—helmets, weapons and horse harness—prove that the first Celtic groups settled in Crişana and Transylvania after around 335 BC. [93] He persuaded the Dacians "to cut down their vines and to live without wine",[90] according to Strabo.

[80] Tumuli with similar grave goods appeared in the same region and expanded towards southwest Transylvania and southern Moldavia from around 100 BC. Octavian conquers Egypt. [138], During the Marcomannic War, the Costoboci plundered the Roman provinces in the Eastern Balkans as far as Eleusis in 170. [110] After Trajan's First Dacian War, which lasted from 101 to 102, Decebalus was forced to approve of the stationement of Roman garrisons in Dacian territory, for instance at Drobeta, Romula and Tibiscum.


Romania's historical provinces Wallachia and Moldova offered furious resistance to the invading Ottoman Turks. [100] He also expanded his rule over the neighboring territories in the next decade. [59][60], "La Tène" settlements were consisted of semi-sunken huts, each with a nearby storage pit. [117] Upper Dacia, where the only Roman legion stationed in the next century, was administered by former praetors; the two other provinces were ruled by governors from the ordo equester. [145] Their first raid against the Roman Empire occurred in 238.

[36][38] These graves yielded artifacts—pottery, weapons and jewelry—which reveals the influence of Scythian, Illyrian and Thracian art on the locals. [68] According to MacKendrick, it is plausible that Histria and Tomis concluded a similar treaty with the Romans around the same time, because the empire needed their ports for naval bases in the Black Sea. [38] Their territory was surrounded by rural settlements, including the villages of the "Sanislău-Nir culture" in Crişana, which suggests that the Syginnae were immigrants who forced the local population to accept their rule. [106] In contrast, Coriolan Horaţiu Opreanu writes that the territory was only integrated in the province of Moesia in the reign of Emperor Vespasianus (69–79). In the two decades that followed, the Romanian Kingdom implemented major social reforms promised during the First World War.

The Ottoman interference was even greater in the 18th century when only Greek princes were named to rule in Southern Romania and Moldavia, Transylvania being during this time part of the Habsburg Empire. The earliest records of the history of the regions which now form Romania were made after the establishment of three Greek towns—Histria, Tomis, and Callatis—on the Black Sea coast in the 7th and 6th centuries BC. [100][103] Taking advantage of his treaty with the Romans, Decebalus improved the defenses of his kingdom. Visit the Palace of the Parliament and the former residence of Ceausescu from Bucharest for a glimpse of communist history. Large "La Tène" cemeteries were unearthed, for instance, at Ciumeşti, Orosfaia, and Pişcolt. [70] King Burebista of the Dacians subjugated the three Greek colonies in about 50 BC. The Antiquity in Romania spans the period between the foundation of Greek colonies in present-day Dobruja and the withdrawal of the Romans from "Dacia Trajana" province. [1] Animal husbandry appeared 1500 or 2000 years later with the arrival of a new population—the bearers of the "Gura Baciului-Cârcea/Precriş culture"—from the southern parts of the Balkan Peninsula. [33][36] He also described the Getae's belief in the immortality of the soul and their practice of human sacrifices in order to send messages to their principal god, Zalmoxis. [93] The names of some of their kings were recorded by Roman writers. [82][77], The native tribes of the wider region of the Lower Danube were for the first time united under King Burebista who ruled from around 80 or 70 BC. In the 1st ce… The only exception was Transylvania, conquered by the Hungarian Kingdom in the 11th century. [69] The governor of the Roman province of Macedonia, Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus forced Callatis to sign a treaty of alliance with the Roman Empire in 72 or 71 BC. Many of Romania’s ministers and members of the Parliament were given no chance in extermination camps like the one from Sighetu Marmatiei, transformed today into a Memorial for the Victims of Communism. During the time of Emperor Traian, the Romans conquered and occupied Dacia at the end of two wars in 101 and 106 AD. [61], The Bastarnae settled in the region between the rivers Siret and Dniester around 200 BC. [100][101] It not only acknowledged Decebalus's status as rex amicus or client king, but the Romans also gave "large sums of money" to him "as well as artisans of every trade pertaining to both peace and war",[102] according to Cassius Dio. At the end of the Second World War, the country fell under the complete influence of the USSR and a harsh communist regime was installed until December 1989. In the few centuries of Roman occupation, Latin became the main language used by the locals who also embraced Roman administration and the Roman law. For an image of the royal times, visit Peles and Pelisor Castles in Sinaia and Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest. [129] From around 259, no inscriptions prove the presence of the two legions at their headquarters in Apulum and Potaissa. [20], Inscriptions from Histria and Callatis prove that the townsfolk preserved their ancestral traditions for more than half a millennium. [120][121] Indeed, inscriptions prove that the colonists came from many parts of the Roman Empire, but especially from Pannonia and Noricum. [48][21][49], The Syginnae, who had "small, short-faced, long-haired horses",[50] according to Herodotus, were the bearers of the "Szentes-Vekerzug culture". [94][93] These pilleates or tarabostes formed the ruling stratum of the Dacian society; the commoners were called capillati or comati. Their principal religion was the cult of Zalmoxis; when people died, they went to him. [125][126] Roads built for military purposes also contributed to the development of long-distance trade. After the revolution of 1848, the independence from the Ottoman Empire and the unity of the Romanian provinces became the most important goal of the Romanian elites. The new province was surrounded by "barbarian" tribes, including the Costoboci, the Iazyges and the Roxolani. [16] The three colonies developed into important centers of trade in olive oil, wine, fine pottery and jewelry. Until that moment, Romania like of all of Europe passed through the horror of the two world wars. [68], The three towns made an anti-Roman alliance with the Bastarnae, the Getae and other "barbarian" tribes in 61 BC. While the Romanian provinces were never part of the Ottoman Empire, except for Dobrogea, the Sultan often decided the faith of local princes or the succession to the throne. The history of Romania is eventful and deeply connected with its geographical position on the continent, at the crossroads of great historical empires. [127] Literary sources—for instance, Eutropius—even recorded that "Dacia, which had been added beyond the Danube by Trajan, was lost"[128] in the reign of Gallienus (260-268).
[98], A new empire dominated by the Dacians emerged in the reign of Decebalus who ruled from 87 AD. [65] Marcus Licinius Crassus in short routed them. [131][132], The Costoboci were a free Dacian group mentioned in the 1st and 2nd centuries in Roman sources. [107] The new province was administered by former consuls who commanded two Roman legions, the Legio V Macedonica and the Legio I Italica. [100] Although the Romans defeated Decebalus in the Battle of Tapae in 88, he concluded a favorable peace treaty with the Roman Empire. Whoops, you're not connected to Mailchimp. Romania was a constitutional monarchy until the end of 1947 when King Michael the 1st, the grandson of King Ferdinand was forced by the communists to abdicate.

[32][33] He wrote of the Getae in connection with King Darius I of Persia's campaign against the Scythians in about 513 BC. [139][140] The governor or Dacia, Sextus Cornelius Clemens persuaded the Germanic Hasdingi to invade and occupy their land around 171.