Burebista

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Dacian Kingdom, during the rule of Burebista, 82 BC

Burebista,^[1] the greatest king of Dacia, ruled between 82 BC and 44 BC. He unified the Thracian population from Hercynia (today's Moravia) in the west, to the Bug River in the east, and from the northern Carpathians to Dionysopolis, choosing his capital (called Argedava or Sargedava) near Costeşti in the Orăştie hills of southwestern Romania: see Dacian Fortresses of the Orăştie Mountains.

The spiritual center of the kingdom was called Kogaion (or Kagaion, the holy mountain) by Strabo, and is thought to be localized somewhere in the Bucegi mountains. According to Jordanes, in his Getica [1], the greatest priest and adviser of Burebista was Dicineus (Deceneus), who held "almost royal powers" and taught the Dacians the belagines laws, ethics and sciences, including physics and astronomy.

To the south of the Danube, the proconsul of the province of Macedonia, the general Varro Lucullus, during the second Mithridatic War (74 BC–72 BC) occupied the Greek cities on the west coast of the Black Sea from Apollonia to the Danube Delta. The Greek inhabitants of the conquered cities asked Burebista for help and the Roman army of Gaius Antonius Hybrida was defeated near Histria. The Greek cities of Tomis, Callatis, Dionysopolis and Apollonia then agreed to become part of Burebista's kingdom.

Burebista continued his incursion in the region, conquering the Celtic Aliobrix (Cartal, southern Bessarabia, now part of Ukraine), Tyras and Odessos and destroying Olvia.

In 48 BC, Burebista interfered with the internal Roman dispute between Julius Caesar and Pompey, choosing the latter as an ally. Three years later, Caesar defeated his adversary and planned on sending legions to punish Burebista, but on March 15, 44 BC before the decisive battle, Caesar was assassinated in the Senate.

Soon after, in the same year, Burebista died - also assassinated in a court plot.