Getae

Not to be confused with Geats, Jat people, getai, Gaeta, Getafe, or Gepids.
This article is about a Thracian tribe. For a group that are believed to have been related to the Getae, see Massagetae.
The area of land most often historically associated with the Getae people, shown in red dots at the mouth of the Danube River
The Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari, 3rd century BC

The Getae or Getai (/ˈɡɛtiː/ or /ˈdʒiːtiː/,[1] singular Getan) were a large nation who inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania, throughout much of Classical Antiquity. Our main source of information about the Getae are Greek and Roman writers, at least some of whom believed that the Getae were closely related to the neighbouring Thracians to the south, and Dacians to the north. Modern scholars continue to debate the details of these relationships, including the question of whether these three peoples spoke the same language.

The Getae first appear in historical records as fierce opponents of the Persian invasion in 513 BC, as described by the early Greek historian Herodotus. They faded out of historical records during the Roman empire, when many appear to have become Romans while others north of the Danube where gradually overwhelmed by other peoples moving from the north and east towards the Roman frontier.

  1. ^ “Getae.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Getae