Editing Bastarnae (section)

=== Roman Republican era (to 30 BC) ===

==== Allies of Philip of Macedon (179–8 BC) ====
[[File:Philip V of Macedon BM.jpg|thumb|right|Silver [[tetradrachm]] of Philip V of Macedon]]

The Bastarnae first appear in the historical record in 179 BC, when they crossed the Danube in a massive force. They did so at the invitation of their long-time ally, King [[Philip V of Macedon]], a direct descendant of [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus|Antigonus]], one of the [[Diadochi]], the generals of [[Alexander the Great]] who had shared his empire after his death in 323 BC. The Macedonian king had suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Romans in the [[Second Macedonian War]] (200–197 BC), which had reduced him from a powerful [[Hellenistic]] monarch to the status of a petty client-king with a much-reduced territory and a tiny army.{{refn|group=Note|name=cnoteb|The terms imposed on Philip V of Macedon in 196 BC were: (i) loss of all possessions outside [[Macedon]]ia proper (Philip had previously ruled extensive territories in Greece, Thrace and Asia Minor); (ii) standing army limited to 5,000 men and no elephants; (iii) navy limited to 5 warships plus royal galley; (iv) reparation payment of 1,000 [[talent (measurement)|talents]] (c. 26 tonnes) of silver, equivalent then to c. 4 tonnes of gold. (In antiquity, silver was far more valuable than today: the gold/silver value ratio was c. 1:7, compared to c. 1:100 today); (v) prohibited from waging war outside his borders without the Roman Senate's permission<ref>Livy XXXIII.30</ref>}} After nearly 20 years of slavish adherence to the Roman Senate's dictats, Philip had been goaded by the incessant and devastating raiding of the [[Dardani]], a warlike Illyrian<ref>A Mocsy. Pannonia and Upper Moesia</ref> tribe on his northern border, which his treaty-limited army was too small to counter effectively. Counting on the Bastarnae, with whom he had forged friendly relations, he plotted a strategy to deal with the Dardani and then to regain his lost territories in Greece and his political independence. First, he would [[Dardanian-Bastarnae war|unleash the Bastarnae against the Dardani]]. After the latter had been crushed, Philip planned to settle Bastarnae families in Dardania (southern [[Kosovo]]/[[Skopje]] region) to ensure that the region was permanently subdued. In a second phase, Philip aimed to launch the Bastarnae on an invasion of Italy via the Adriatic coast. Although he was aware that the Bastarnae were likely to be defeated, Philip hoped that the Romans would be distracted long enough to allow him to reoccupy his former possessions in Greece.<ref name="Livy XL.57"/>

However, Philip, now 60 years of age, died before the Bastarnae could arrive. The Bastarnae host was still ''en route'' through Thrace, where it became embroiled in hostilities with the locals, who had not provided them with sufficient food at affordable prices as they marched through. Probably in the vicinity of [[Plovdiv|Philippopolis]] (modern Plovdiv, Bulgaria), the Bastarnae broke out of their marching columns and pillaged the land far and wide. The terrified local Thracians took refuge with their families and animal herds on the slopes of ''Mons Donuca'' ([[Musala|Mount Musala]]), the highest mountain in Thrace. A large force of Bastarnae chased them up the mountain, but were driven back and scattered by a massive hailstorm. Then the Thracians ambushed them, turning their descent into a panic-stricken rout. Back at their [[wagon fort]] in the plain, around half of the demoralised Bastarnae decided to return home, leaving c. 30,000 to press on to Macedonia.<ref name="Livy XL.58"/>

Philip's son and successor [[Perseus of Macedon|Perseus]], while protesting his loyalty to Rome, deployed his Bastarnae guests in winter quarters in a valley in Dardania, presumably as a prelude to a campaign against the Dardani the following summer. However, in the depths of winter their camp was attacked by the Dardani. The Bastarnae easily beat off the attackers, chased them back to their chief town and besieged them, but they were surprised in the rear by a second force of Dardani, which had approached their camp stealthily by mountain paths, and proceeded to storm and ransack it. Having lost their entire baggage and supplies, the Bastarnae were obliged to withdraw from Dardania and to return home. Most perished as they crossed the frozen Danube on foot, only for the ice to give way.<ref>Livy XLI.19</ref> Despite the failure of Philip's Bastarnae strategy, the suspicion aroused by these events in the Roman Senate, which had been warned by the Dardani of the Bastarnae invasion, ensured the demise of Macedonia as an independent state.<ref>Livy XLI.23 and XLII.12-4</ref> Rome declared war on Perseus in 171 BC and after the Macedonian army was crushed at the [[Battle of Pydna]] (168 BC), Macedonia was split up into four Roman puppet-cantons (167 BC).<ref>Livy XLV.19</ref> Twenty-one years later, these were in turn abolished and annexed to the [[Roman Republic]] as the [[Macedonia (Roman province)|province of Macedonia]] (146 BC).

==== Allies of Getan high king Burebista (62 BC) ====
[[File:Scythia Minor map.jpg|thumb|right|Map of [[Scythia Minor (Dobruja)|Scythia Minor]] (Dobruja), showing the Greek coastal cities of Histria, Tomis, Callatis and Dionysopolis (Istria, Constanța, Mangalia and Balchik)]]
[[File:HistriaCoins.jpg|thumb|right|Coin issued by the Greek coastal city of [[Histria (Sinoe)|Histria]] (Sinoe)]]
The Bastarnae first came into direct conflict with Rome as a result of expansion into the lower Danube region by the [[proconsuls]] (governors) of Macedonia in 75–72 BC. [[Gaius Scribonius Curio (consul 76 BC)|Gaius Scribonius Curio]] (proconsul 75–73 BC) campaigned successfully against the Dardani and the [[Moesi]], becoming the first Roman general to reach the Danube with his army.<ref>Smith's Dictionary: ''Curio''</ref> His successor, [[Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus|Marcus Licinius Lucullus]] (brother of the famous [[Lucullus|Lucius Lucullus]]), campaigned against the Thracian [[Bessi]] tribe and the Moesi, ravaging the whole of [[Moesia]], the region between the Haemus ([[Balkan]]) mountain range and the Danube. In 72 BC, his troops occupied the Greek coastal cities of [[Scythia Minor (Dobruja)|Scythia Minor]] (modern [[Dobruja]] region, Romania/Bulgaria),{{refn|group=Note|name=cnotec|The main ones were: [[Histria (Sinoe)]], [[Constanța|Tomis]], [[Callatis]], [[Sozopol|Apollonia]] (Istria, Constanţa, Mangalia, Sozopol)<ref>Strabo VII.6.1</ref>}} which had sided with Rome's [[Hellenistic]] arch-enemy, King [[Mithridates VI]] of [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]], in the [[Third Mithridatic War]] (73–63 BC).<ref>Smith's Dictionary: ''Lucullus''</ref>

The presence of Roman forces in the Danube Delta was seen as a major threat by all the neighbouring transdanubian peoples: the Peucini Bastarnae, the Sarmatians and, most importantly, by [[Burebista]] (ruled 82–44 BC), king of the [[Getae]]. The Getae occupied the region today called [[Wallachia]] as well as Scythia Minor and were either a [[Dacian language|Dacian]]- or [[Thracian language|Thracian]]- speaking people.{{refn|group=Note|name=cnoted|There is controversy about whether the [[Getae]] were Dacian or Thracian speakers and whether those two languages were similar. Strabo claims that the Getae were [[Thracians]].<ref>Strabo VII.3.2</ref> He adds that the [[Dacians]] spoke the same language as the Getae.<ref>Strabo VII.3.13</ref> This gave rise to the hypothesis that Thracian and Dacian were essentially the same language (the [[Daco-Thracian]] theory). But the modern linguist [[Vladimir I. Georgiev|Vladimir Georgiev]] disputes that Dacian and Thracian were closely related for various reasons, especially that Dacian and Moesian town names commonly end with the suffix -DAVA, while towns in [[Thrace]] proper generally end in -PARA. According to Georgiev, the language spoken by the Getae should be classified as "Daco-Moesian" and regarded as quite distinct from Thracian.<ref>Vladimir Georgiev (Gheorghiev), ''Raporturile dintre limbile dacă, tracă şi frigiană'', "Studii Clasice" Journal, II, 1960, 39–58.</ref> Support for the Daco-Moesian theory can be found in Dio, who confirms that the Moesians and Getae on the south bank of the Danube were Dacians.<ref>Dio LI.22.6–7</ref> But the scant evidence available for these two extinct languages does not permit any firm conclusions. For the dividing-line between the two placename forms, see the following map (lower map, scroll down): [http://members.tripod.com/~Groznijat/thrac/thrac_map.html members.tripod.com]}} Burebista had unified the Getae tribes into a single kingdom, for which the Greek cities were vital trade outlets. In addition, he had established his hegemony over neighbouring Sarmatian and Bastarnae tribes. At its peak, the Getae kingdom reportedly was able to muster 200,000 warriors. Burebista led his transdanubian coalition in a struggle against Roman encroachment, conducting many raids against Roman allies in [[Moesia]] and Thrace, penetrating as far as Macedonia and [[Illyria]].<ref>Strabo VII.3.11–12</ref>

The coalition's main chance came in 62 BC, when the Greek cities rebelled against Roman rule. In 61 BC, the notoriously oppressive and militarily incompetent proconsul of Macedonia, [[Gaius Antonius Hybrida|Gaius Antonius]], nicknamed ''Hybrida'' ("The Monster"), an uncle of the famous [[Mark Antony]], led an army against the Greek cities. As his army approached [[Histria (Sinoe)|Histria]], Antonius detached his entire mounted force from the marching column and led it away on a lengthy excursion, leaving his infantry without cavalry cover, a tactic he had already used with disastrous results against the Dardani.<ref>Dio XXXVIII.10.2</ref> Dio implies that he did so out of cowardice, in order to avoid the imminent clash with the opposition, but it is more likely that he was pursuing a large enemy cavalry force, probably [[Sarmatians]]. A Bastarnae host, which had crossed the Danube to assist the Histrians, promptly attacked, surrounded and massacred the Roman infantry, capturing several of their ''[[vexillum|vexilla]]'' (military standards).<ref>Dio XXXVIII.10.3 and LI.26.5</ref> This battle resulted in the collapse of the Roman position on the lower Danube. Burebista apparently annexed the Greek cities (55–48 BC).<ref>Crişan (1978) 118</ref> At the same time, the subjugated "allied" tribes of Moesia and Thrace evidently repudiated their treaties with Rome, as they had to be reconquered by [[Augustus]] in 29–8 BC (see below).

In 44 BC, Roman [[dictator perpetuus|dictator-for-life]] [[Julius Caesar]] planned to lead a major campaign to crush Burebista and his allies once and for all, but he was assassinated before it could start.<ref>Strabo VII.3.5</ref> However, the campaign was made redundant by Burebista's overthrow and death in the same year, after which his Getae empire fragmented into four, later five, independent petty kingdoms. These were militarily far weaker, as Strabo assessed their combined military potential at just 40,000 armed men, and were often involved in internecine warfare.<ref>Strabo VII.3.11</ref><ref>Dio LI.26.1</ref> The [[Geto-Dacians]] did not again become a threat to Roman hegemony in the lower Danube until the rise of [[Decebalus|Decebal]] 130 years later (86 AD).