Getae

The Getae /ˈdʒiːtiː/ or /ˈɡiːtiː/ or Gets (Ancient Greek: Γέται, singular Γέτης; Bulgarian: Гети; Romanian: Geţi) are names given to several Thracian tribes inhabiting the regions to either side of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. Both the singular form Get and Getae may be derived from a Greek exonym: the area was the hinterland of Greek colonies on the Black Sea coast, bringing the Getae into contact with the Ancient Greeks from an early date.

Getae and Dacians

Ancient sources

Strabo, one of the first ancient sources to mention Getae and Dacians, stated in his Geographica (ca. 7 BC – 20 AD) that the Dacians lived in the western parts of Dacia, "towards Germania and the sources of the Danube", while Getae in the eastern parts, towards the Black Sea, both south and north of the Danube. The ancient geographer also wrote that the Dacians and Getae spoke the same language, after stating the same about Getae and Thracians.

Pliny the Elder, in his Naturalis Historia (Natural History), ca. 77–79 AD, states something similar: "... though various races have occupied the adjacent shores; at one spot the Getae, by the Romans called Daci...".