Origin of the Romanians

Several theories try to explain the origin of the Romanians. The Romanian language comes from the Vulgar Latin spoken in the Roman provinces north of the "Jireček Line", which separated areas where Latin was spoken from areas where Greek was spoken in Southeastern Europe a long time ago in Late Antiquity.

One main theory is called the theory of Daco-Roman continuity. It says that the Romanians are mostly from the Daco-Romans, a mix of the local Dacians and Roman people who lived together in the area called Dacia Traiana (mostly in what is now Romania) north of the Danube river.

Another theory, called the immigrationist theory, suggests that the Romanians began south of the Danube river. It says groups like Thraco-Romans and Illyro-Romans, known as Vlachs in the Middle Ages, moved through mountain areas both south to Greece and north through the Carpathian Mountains. Some other ideas say that Romanized people lived on both sides of the Danube, and the river was not a big barrier. According to the "admigration" theory, people moving from the Balkan Peninsula to areas north of the Danube helped keep the Romance-speaking groups alive there.

These theories were shaped by historical and political events. Even today, these debates can be strong. In 2013, experts said that we still do not have enough proof to say for sure where the "Daco-Romance" language began. This idea was repeated in 2016, which also says we are not sure about the exact place where this language started.

Historical background

Main articles: History of the Balkans, History of Romania, and History of Dacia

Three big groups of people — the Dacians, Illyrians, and Thracians — lived in the northern parts of Southeastern Europe long ago. We know little about their languages.

The Romans took over the Illyrians first, making their land the province of Illyricum around 60 BC. Later, they made Moesia for the Thracians. The Romans defeated the Dacian kingdom north of the Lower Danube in 106 AD, making Dacia a province. The Romans left Dacia around 275 AD but set up a new area called Dacia Aureliana south of the river.

After the Romans left, many groups moved in, like the Goths, Huns, Gepids, and Bulgars. Over time, new states formed. In the 1300s, two Romanian-led areas, Wallachia and Moldavia, became independent.

Theories on the Romanians' ethnogenesis

Romanians speak a language that comes from the ancient Latin language. A line called the "Jireček Line" ran through the Balkan Peninsula. It separated areas where Latin was spoken from areas where Greek was spoken. Today, Romanian is the main language in Romania. Related languages are also spoken in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and North Macedonia.

Early scholars noticed that Romanian was similar to Latin. In the 1800s, a German scholar named Friedrich Christian Diez described Romanian as a special kind of Latin language. Romanian has some unique features and shares similarities with other languages. Despite these differences, Romanian is part of the group of Latin-based languages.

There are different ideas about where Romanians came from. Some believe that Romanians are mainly descended from people who lived in the Roman province of Dacia, north of the Danube River. Others think Romanians came from areas south of the Danube. Some scholars think Romanian developed from a mix of these groups. These theories are still discussed by historians and linguists today.

Written sources

On peoples north of the Lower Danube

Antiquity

Further information: Romania in Antiquity

In the 5th century BC, Herodotus wrote about people in south-eastern Europe. He wrote about the Getae, calling them a brave tribe. The Getae lived on both sides of the Lower Danube, in what is now northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. Strabo wrote that the language of the Dacians was the same as that of the Getae.

Roman writers wrote about the conquest of Dacia. Cassius Dio wrote that some Dacians supported Emperor Trajan before his war against Decebalus. Other writers noted big changes after the Dacian state fell.

Early Middle Ages

Further information: Romania in the Early Middle Ages

In the centuries that followed, the area was called "Gothia" by writers. Christian communities lived there. Many Goths, Taifali, and other tribes joined the Eastern Roman Empire after the Huns invaded in 376. The Carpo-Dacians mixed with the Huns.

In the 6th century, Jordanes wrote about the Antes and Slavenes. He said the Slavenes lived from the city of Noviodunum to the river Dniester, and the Antes lived near the sea of Pontus. Another writer, Procopius, noted that the Antes and Slaveni spoke the same language.

First references to Romanians

The Gesta Hungarorum from around 1150 or 1200 is the first chronicle to mention Vlachs in the lands between the Carpathian Mountains. It talks about a Vlach named Gelou who lived in Transylvania.

Other old writings from the 12th and 13th centuries also mention Vlachs living in what is now Romania. For example, a document from 1223 talks about land that used to belong to Romanians.

On Balkan Vlachs

Further information: Uprising of Asen and Peter and Vlachs

Old writings from the 10th and 11th centuries mention Vlachs living in the Balkan Mountains. One story from the late 600s tells of a person who spoke several languages, including Latin.

In 1185, the Vlachs and Bulgars rebelled and formed the Second Bulgarian Empire. Many writers from that time called the new state "Vlachia" or "Blacia".

Uncertain references

Some old writings from the 10th and 11th centuries might mention Romanians, but it is not certain. For example, a Muslim writer from the 10th century mentioned a people called Waladj, who might have been Vlachs. Another writing from around 1050 tells of Blakumen who attacked a merchant. Historians think these might be early references to Romanians, but it is not completely clear.

Archaeological data

North of the Lower Danube

Tumuli built for cremation appeared in Oltenia and Transylvania around 100 BC, before the Dacian kingdom formed. Their contents share similarities with sites south of the Danube. Though only around 300 graves from the next three centuries have been found in Romania, they show many burial styles, including cremation and inhumation. New villages in the Mureș valley show population growth in the 1st century BC. Fortified settlements appeared on hilltops, mainly in the Orăștie Mountains, but open villages remained common.

The Romans destroyed Dacian fortresses and sanctuaries around 106 AD. Roman settlements built on former Dacian sites haven’t been identified yet. However, rural communities at Boarta, Cernat, and other places used both traditional and Roman items even after this. Objects showing local traditions were found at Roman villas in Aiudul de Sus, Deva, and other places. A special type of native pottery that kept being made in Roman times is the Dacian cup, a hand-made mug with a wide rim, used even in military centers. The use of tall cooking pots shows that traditional cooking ways continued.

Colonization and military units led to the growth of most towns in Dacia Traiana. For example, Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa was founded for veterans, and Apulum and Potaissa began as canabae. Towns were the only places where Christians might have been present, based on objects with Christian symbols from the Roman period. Rural cemeteries with burial styles similar to sites east of the Carpathians show the presence of immigrant communities, for example at Obreja and Soporu de Câmpie. Along the northwestern borders of the province, Przeworsk settlements were found at Boinești, Cehăluț, and other places.

Archaeological evidence suggests attacks on Roman Dacia grew stronger from the mid-3rd century. An inscription from Apulum praises Emperor Decius as the “restorer of Dacia,” and coin hoards ending with coins from this time have been found. Inscriptions from the 260s show that the two Roman legions of Dacia were moved to Pannonia Superior and Italy. Coins saying “DACIA FELIX” made in 271 might mean Trajan’s Dacia still existed then, or they might refer to the new province of Dacia Aureliana.

Telling apart archaeological finds from before and after the Roman leave isn’t easy, but Archiud, Obreja, and other villages have items from both times. Generally, items after the leave are simpler, but some parts of Roman provincial culture stayed, especially in pottery and other making, like typical provincial Roman brooches. Towns also show evidence of people staying behind. For example, in Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, at least one building was lived in even in the 4th century, and a local factory kept making pottery, though in a smaller range. Roman coins from the 3rd and 4th centuries, mostly bronze, were found in Banat where small Roman forts were built in the 290s. Coins made under Emperor Valentinian I were also found in Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, where the gate of the amphitheater was walled at some unknown time. A votive plate found near a spring at Biertan has a Latin writing from the 4th century and matches objects made in the Roman Empire.

A new cultural mix, the “Sântana de Mureș-Chernyakhov culture,” spread across the plains of Moldavia and Wallachia in the early 4th century. It mixed parts of the Wielbark culture from today’s Poland and local traditions. Over 150 Sântana de Mureș-Chernyakhov settlements show the area grew in people. Three sites in the Eastern Carpathians lived in before prove the old people stayed. The popularity of inhumation burials also grew during this time. Sântana de Mureș-Chernyakhov cemeteries from the 4th century were also found in Transylvania. Coin hoards ending with coins from between 375 and 395 found at Bistreț, Gherla, and other places point to a time of trouble. Items showing parts of the Przeworsk and Sântana de Mureș-Chernyakhov cultures disappeared around 400. Archaeological sites from the next centuries show scattered groups with different traditions. Cremation became the most common burial way again east of the Carpathians, where a new type of building — sunken huts with an oven in the corner — appeared. The different vessel styles were replaced by the more alike Suceava-Șipot archaeological horizon of hand-made pottery from the 550s.

Unlike areas east of the Carpathians, Transylvania saw the spread of the “row grave” horizon of inhumation cemeteries in the 5th century, known also from the same time in Austria, Bohemia, Transdanubia and Thuringia. At the same time, large villages appeared in Crișana and Transylvania, mostly in places where no earlier living has been proven yet. Also, items brought in with Christian symbols, including a fish-shaped lamp from Lipova, and a Saint Menas flask from Moigrad, were found. However, only about 15% of the 30 known “row grave” cemeteries lasted until the late 7th century. Together they make the distinct “Band-Noșlac” group of graveyards that also had weapons and other objects from the West or Byzantium.

The earliest examples in Transylvania of inhumation graves where a corpse was buried with the remains of a horse, following nomadic ways, were found at Band. The “Gâmbaș group” of cemeteries appeared at the same time, making weapons like those found in the Pontic steppes. Sunken huts appeared in the far east areas of Transylvania around the 7th century. Soon the new “Mediaș” cemeteries spread along the region’s rivers, mostly with cremation graves. The “Nușfalău-Someșeni” cemeteries also follow the cremation way, but they had large tumuli with links to lands east of the Carpathians.

Meanwhile, the “Suceava-Șipot horizon” ended in Moldavia and Wallachia, and the new “Dridu culture” appeared on both sides of the Lower Danube around 700. After this, the area grew in people again. For example, the number of settlements found in Moldavia went from about 120 to about 250 from the 9th to the 11th century. Few graveyards with items like those from “Dridu cemeteries” were also set up around Alba Iulia in Transylvania. The nearby “Ciumbrud group” of inhumation graveyards shows warriors were there. However, no early medieval forts found in Transylvania, including Cluj-Mănăștur, Dăbâca, and Șirioara, can be surely dated earlier than the 10th century.

Small inhumation graveyards of the “Cluj group,” known for “partial symbolic horse burials,” appeared in several places in Banat, Crișana, and Transylvania including at Biharia, Cluj and Timișoara around 900. Cauldrons and other items from the “Saltovo-Mayaki” culture of the Pontic steppes were found in Alba Iulia, Cenad, Dăbâca, and other settlements. A new way of putting coins on the eyes of the dead started around 1000. “Bijelo Brdo” graveyards, a group of large cemeteries with links across the Carpathian Basin, were found at Deva, Hunedoara and other places. The east-west way of their graves might show Christian influence, but the next “Citfalău group” of huge cemeteries that appeared in royal forts around 1100 clearly belong to a Christian group.

Romanian archaeologists say a series of archaeological groups that followed one another in lands north of the Lower Danube in early Middle Ages support the continuity theory. In their view, archaeological finds at Brateiu (in Transylvania), Ipotești (in Wallachia) and Costișa (in Moldavia), part of the Ipotești-Ciurel-Cândești Culture, show the Daco-Roman stage of the Romanians’ making which ended in the 6th century. The next (“Romanic”) stage can be seen in groups found in Ipotești, Botoșana, Hansca and other places dated to the 7th-8th centuries. Finally, the Dridu culture is said to be proof of the “ancient Romanian” stage of the making of the Romanian people. However, Opreanu argues the main proof of this idea — finding items brought in from the Roman Empire and their local copies in supposed “Daco-Roman” or “Romanic” groups — isn’t strong, because close links between the empire and nearby Slavs and Avars are well known. He also notes that Dridu culture came after a “cultural break” that followed the end of the earlier groups. Seeing both Slavs and Romanians as settled groups, Alexandru Madgearu also says it’s hard to tell “Slavic” and “Romanian” items apart, because archaeologists can only say these items couldn’t be used by nomads. He suggests that “The wheel-made pottery made on the fast wheel (unlike the tournette), found in many settlements from the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries, might show the continuing of Roman ways” in Transylvania.

Thomas Nägler suggests a separate “Ciugud culture” shows the Vlach group of southern Transylvania. He also says two treasures from Cârțișoara and Făgăraș point to Vlachs being there. Both treasure collections have Byzantine coins ending with ones made under Emperor John II Komnenos who died in 1143. Tudor Sălăgean says these treasures show a local group with “at least” economic links to the Byzantine Empire. Paul Stephenson says Byzantine coins and jewelry from this time, found in many places in Hungary and Romania, are linked to salt trade.

Florin Curta says no signs of people moving from the south to the north of the Danube in the 10th century have been found. Many sites dug up from the 10th century in Romania look like they were built in the last 100 or 200 years, while in ones started in the 10th century the pottery isn’t different from what was used before in the area, and most animal bones found are from horned cattle and pigs, not sheep or goats which are usually linked with moving herds.

Central and Northern Balkans

Fortified settlements on hill-tops were common in Illyricum before the Roman takeover. Also, pile dwellings made villages along the Sava river and its tributaries. Roman coins found in the northwest parts may show trade links between the Roman Empire and Illyricum started in the 2nd century BC, but piracy, common at that time, could also have added to their numbers. The first Roman road in the Balkans, the Via Egnatia linking Thessaloniki to Dyrrhachium, was built in 140 BC. Byllis and Dyrrhachium, the earliest Roman colonies, were set up a century later. The Romans built many colonies for veterans and other towns, including Emona, Siscia, Sirmium and Iovia Botivo, over the next four centuries.

Hand-made pottery of local ways stayed popular even after the Romans brought the potter’s wheel. Also, as shown by altars for Illyrian gods at Bihać and Topusko, local belief ways lived on after the Roman takeover. Latin writings on stone monuments prove there was a local upper class in Roman times. Local settlements did well in the mining areas of Upper Moesia until the 4th century. Local names and burial ways only went away in these lands in the 3rd century. But the border area along the Lower Danube in Moesia had already become “a safe Roman-only zone” (Brad Bartel) by the 1st century AD, where old people were moved away.

Emperors born in Illyricum, common at that time, built many imperial homes at their birth places. For example, a palace was built for Maximianus Herculius near Sirmium, and another for Constantine the Great in Mediana. New buildings, rich burials and late Roman writings show centers like Horreum Margi, Remesiana, Siscia, Viminacium, and others did well under these emperors. Archaeological work — including the big cemeteries found at Ulpianum and Naissus — shows Christian groups did well in Pannonia and Moesia from the 4th century. Writings from the 5th century show Christian groups lasting after the Huns destroyed Naissus, Viminacium and other towns in Upper Moesia. But villae rusticae, which had been farming centers from the 1st century, went away around 450. Also, forums, well-planned streets and other normal parts of city design stopped existing. For example, Sirmium “broke apart into small pieces emerging in city areas that hadn’t been used until then” after 450. New strong centers grew up around new Christian churches in Sirmium, Novae, and many other towns by around 500. Unlike towns, there are only two archaeological places from this time known as country settlements.

Under Justinian the walls of Serdica, Ulpianum and many other towns were fixed. He also built hundreds of small forts along the Lower Danube, at mountain passes across the Balkan Mountains and around Constantinople. Inside these forts small churches and houses were built. Pollen looking suggests the people grew legumes inside the walls, but no other farming signs have been found. They were given grain, wine and oil from far away places, as shown by the many amphorae found in these sites used to carry these things to the forts. Most Roman towns and forts in the north parts of the Balkans were destroyed in the 570s or 580s. Even though some were fixed soon after, all were given up, many “with no signs of force,” in the early 7th century.

The new “Komani-Kruja” cemeteries horizon came up in the same century. They had grave goods with links in many places, including belt buckles common across the whole Mediterranean Basin, rings with Greek writings, neck crosses, and weapons like “Late Avar” items. Most are in the Dyrrhachium area, but such cemeteries were also found at Viničani and other places along the Via Egnatia. “Komani-Kruja” cemeteries ended in the early 9th century. John Wilkes says they “most likely” show a Romanized group, while Florin Curta points out their Avar parts. Archaeological finds linked to a Romance-speaking group have also been looked for in the low lands south of the Lower Danube. For example, Uwe Fiedler says inhumation graves with no grave goods from between the 680s and 860s might show them, though he himself doesn’t agree with this idea.

Historian Florin Curta, backing Bulgarian archaeologist Rasho Rashev’s studies, says the Bregalnica river area, where Schramm thought the making of Romanians began, didn’t show any signs of living after the Romans until around 800 CE when early Bulgarian culture started. Also, from an archaeological view, there’s a clear growth in people in the wider area of today’s North Macedonia after 900 CE with no signs of people leaving.

Linguistic approach

Development of Romanian

Main article: History of the Romanian language

Further information: Albanian–Romanian linguistic relationship, Balkan sprachbund, Eastern Romance substratum, Jireček Line, and Paleo-Balkan languages

The Romanian language started forming from Vulgar Latin between the 5th and 7th centuries and finished by the 8th century. It later split into different versions from the 10th to 12th centuries. The dialects of Romanian north of the Danube are very similar. Differences come mostly from using unique words, but their sounds stay almost the same. Some experts think Romanians' movements and trade helped keep the language united. Others think recent settlements explain this unity better.

Romanian has about 90 words from older languages. Many of these describe nature, like land, plants, and animals, with about 30% linked to Albanian words. Where these words come from is still debated—some think they are from Albanian, others from older Thracian or Daco-Moesian languages. Experts note that Romans were important at first, but both groups lived together and talked about daily life even after Roman rule ended.

Romanian has about 2,000 words directly from Latin. Around one-fifth of modern Romanian words come from Latin, especially in common uses like sensing, counting, family, and space. More than 75% of words about seeing, numbers, family ties, and places come from Latin. However, some Latin words missing in Romanian were kept in other Romance languages, while about 100 Latin words were only kept in Romanian. These were likely kept because they were used often. Some experts see this as proof Romanians lived north of the Danube.

Romanian shows most Latin changes from the 2nd to 6th centuries. Only continued contact within the Roman Empire could explain these changes, which rules out areas north of the Danube left by Romans in the late 3rd century. Experts also note that Romanian and Albanian share changes in word meanings, suggesting frequent contact. For example, the Latin word for dragon turned into words meaning devil in both languages.

Besides Latin and older words, Romanian has many loanwords—over 40%, maybe up to 80%. Even basic words about nature are often borrowed. Slavic languages contributed about one-fifth of Romanian words. These borrowings happened mostly around the 9th century and show strong contact with Slavic groups. Greek and Hungarian also added smaller parts to the Romanian vocabulary.

Linguists study language to understand Romanians' past, as historical records are scarce. Romanians kept many Latin farming words but borrowed Slavic terms for tools and methods. Words about movement are very common, showing the importance of moving with animals in their economy. Some experts think Romanians started farming later, while others see Latin farming terms as proof of long farming traditions.

Place names

In an article about the Romanian language, Nandriș says that the study of place names "does not solve the problem of where Romanian began." Schramm says that place names are important for finding Romanians' homeland, because "Romania has many place names that show Romanians were not always there." Place names help us learn about extinct languages in Southeastern Europe. The longest rivers in Romania, over 500 kilometers, are thought to have names from Dacian roots. About twenty of their tributaries also seem to have Indo-European roots, hinting at Dacian origins. The Romans kept the local names of these long rivers after conquering Dacia.

Experts like Oliviu and Nicolae Felecan argue that keeping river names from ancient times supports the idea that Romanians stayed in the area, as these names must have been passed down from the Dacians to the Romans and then to the Romanians. They point to the Romanian name for the Danube, Dunărea, suggesting it came from an old local form. However, others, like Vékony, argue that the Romanian name for the Danube shows their ancestors lived far away, or else they would have kept the Latin name. Schramm adds that early Slavs used a Germanic name for the Danube, meaning Goths lived nearby before Slavs arrived.

Schramm also notes that changes in river names contradict the idea of Romanians living continuously north of the Danube. For example, changes from "s" to "ʃ" in river names didn’t exist in Latin, so non-Romanized locals must have passed these names on. Makkai says that vowel shifts from "a" to "o" in river names show Slavic influence, as this shift happens in Slavic languages but not in Romanian.

About half of the longer tributaries (over 200 kilometers) have names from Slavic origins. Schramm thinks the name Dâmbovița shows Romanians reached Wallachia between 900 and 1200, as it shows changes from old Bulgarian sounds. Other tributaries have names from Turkic groups like the Pechenegs or Cumans. Spinei, supporting continuity, suggests these water names mattered more to nomadic groups than to local Romanians.

Many smaller rivers and creeks (under 100 kilometers) have Romanian names, mostly in mountainous areas. Some experts see these as translations from Romanian to Slavic, showing early Romanian presence. Others argue that Romanian place names are more common in areas settled later in the Middle Ages.

Old Roman towns in Dacia like Drobeta and Sarmizegetusa had local names, which some take as proof Dacians lived there under Roman rule. Others say these names don’t prove long-term Dacian settlement, as Roman towns grew from military camps that may have destroyed earlier Dacian towns. Schramm points out that all names of Roman towns in Dacia disappeared after the Romans left, unlike in areas south of the Danube where many Roman town names survived.

Place names of Slavic, Hungarian, and German origins appear often in old records for Banat, Crișana, Maramureș, and Transylvania. In some areas, Romanians and Transylvanian Saxons adopted Slavic names directly. This suggests long contact between Romanians and Slavs. Some historians see this as proof Slavs lived there when Hungarians arrived. Others argue that Romanians adopted Slavic names because they lived together before Hungarians came.

The first clear Romanian place name, Nucșoara, meaning "walnut" in Romanian, appeared in records in 1359. Some think this late appearance shows Romanians kept moving for a long time before settling down in the second half of the 14th century. The area Vlașca near where the Argeș meets the Danube may have a name showing a small Romance-speaking group lived among Slavs in Wallachia.

No place names in Gesta Hungarorum for Transylvania and Banat are Romanian; they are mostly Hungarian.

Place names of Latin or Romanian origin are found south of the Danube, in places like Albania, Bulgaria, and Serbia. These are seen as proof that many Romance-speaking people lived there until the 9th century. Schramm and Makkai link these to a movement of Latin-speaking groups south from the northern Balkans in the 7th century. Romanian place names are common around Vlasina in Bulgaria and Serbia and in Montenegro and Kosovo, showing Romanians once lived there but later moved north or mixed with Slavic groups.

DNA / Paleogenetics

Main article: Romanians § Genetics

Scientists study DNA to learn about where people come from. They look at DNA from old bones to find clues. In Romania, studies show that people who lived thousands of years ago are related to people there today. These studies help us understand how groups of people moved and changed over time.

Researchers have found that big changes in populations happened long ago, especially after 3000 BC, when people from the steppe lands moved into the area. However, in southeastern Europe, these changes seemed smaller than in areas farther north. More studies are needed to learn exactly how families changed over many centuries.