The area roughly located between the Danube, Tisza and Dniester rivers – approximately coinciding with modern-day Romania – became home to a varied group of Thracian peoples, including the Getae and Dacians, sometime around the 7th to 6th centuries BC.
The Getae and Dacians are related but distinct peoples that are sometimes treated as a single group under the name of Geto-Dacians.
The Getae and the Dacians shared many cultural and linguistic similarities.
Living in the lower Danube basin, the Getae were able to establish regular trade with the Greek cities along the coast of the Black Sea.
The Dacians were located in the Carpatho-Danubian basin along the southern border of the Carpathian Mountains.
This relative geographic isolation allowed the Dacians to survive catastrophic struggles – often with the Getae – and thrive to become the dominant tribe by the 1st century BC.

Before Burebista became king, the Dacians had experienced a succession of kings through the period 450 to 60 BC.
The kings included Dromichaetes, Oroles, and Rubobostes in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.
From the 4th century BC to the 2nd century BC the La Tène Celts of the Danube, Alpines, and Balkans influenced the Dacian culture.
La Tène material culture was found in the central and north-west regions of Dacia.
The development of a La Tène-based economy in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC allowed the consolidation of political power through tribal unions.
Such regional unions were found among both the Transylvanian Dacians under the rule of Rubobostes and the Moldavian and Muntenian Getae in Argedava.
It is from the La Tène that the Dacians were introduced to the potter's wheel, superior metal-working techniques, and probably a tradition of minting coins.
In homes were found a combination of Celtic and Dacian pottery, and certain Celtic-style graves contain Dacian style vessels.
This suggests a sort of co-existence and fusion between the cultures.
Sometime after around 150 BC, however, evidence of La Tène culture peters out, around the same time the Dacian culture began to mature, as evidenced by population and economic growth.
Under Rubobstes the authority of the Dacians appears to have increased, thus ending the dominance of the Celtic culture, and leading to the Celts being expelled from the area or merging into the culture, or both.
There is archaeological evidence to suggest that relations between Dacians and Celts living in the areas north and west of Dacia continued.
Painted ceramics of late La Tène-style have been found in Dacian sites in west and central Dacia.
Some of these ceramics were imported while others were made by Dacian potters imitating Celtic style.
A stable monarchy, however, only developed when Burebista became king.
Burebista's accession came with the expulsion of Celts around 60 BC when his forces moved through to the middle Danube region, and with the support of the religious establishment and leaders in Dacia which brought around a stricter moral code in the Dacian kingdom.
Around this time the pottery of the Dacian style began appearing in Celtic settlements in Central Europe, including the area covered by the former Yugoslavia, especially in Gomolava, Yugoslavia, and Budapest, Hungary.
The area roughly located between the Danube, Tisza and Dniester rivers – approximately coinciding with modern-day Romania – became home to a varied group of Thracian peoples, including the Getae and Dacians, sometime around the 7th to 6th centuries BC. The Getae and Dacians are related but distinct peoples that are sometimes treated as a single group under the name of Geto-Dacians. The Getae and the Dacians shared many cultural and linguistic similarities. Living in the lower Danube basin, the Getae were able to establish regular trade with the Greek cities along the coast of the Black Sea. The Dacians were located in the Carpatho-Danubian basin along the southern border of the Carpathian Mountains. This relative geographic isolation allowed the Dacians to survive catastrophic struggles – often with the Getae – and thrive to become the dominant tribe by the 1st century BC.
Before Burebista became king, the Dacians had experienced a succession of kings through the period 450 to 60 BC. The kings included Dromichaetes, Oroles, and Rubobostes in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. From the 4th century BC to the 2nd century BC the La Tène Celts of the Danube, Alpines, and Balkans influenced the Dacian culture. La Tène material culture was found in the central and north-west regions of Dacia. The development of a La Tène-based economy in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC allowed the consolidation of political power through tribal unions. Such regional unions were found among both the Transylvanian Dacians under the rule of Rubobostes and the Moldavian and Muntenian Getae in Argedava. It is from the La Tène that the Dacians were introduced to the potter's wheel, superior metal-working techniques, and probably a tradition of minting coins. In homes were found a combination of Celtic and Dacian pottery, and certain Celtic-style graves contain Dacian style vessels. This suggests a sort of co-existence and fusion between the cultures. Sometime after around 150 BC, however, evidence of La Tène culture peters out, around the same time the Dacian culture began to mature, as evidenced by population and economic growth. Under Rubobstes the authority of the Dacians appears to have increased, thus ending the dominance of the Celtic culture, and leading to the Celts being expelled from the area or merging into the culture, or both. There is archaeological evidence to suggest that relations between Dacians and Celts living in the areas north and west of Dacia continued. Painted ceramics of late La Tène-style have been found in Dacian sites in west and central Dacia. Some of these ceramics were imported while others were made by Dacian potters imitating Celtic style. A stable monarchy, however, only developed when Burebista became king. Burebista's accession came with the expulsion of Celts around 60 BC when his forces moved through to the middle Danube region, and with the support of the religious establishment and leaders in Dacia which brought around a stricter moral code in the Dacian kingdom. Around this time the pottery of the Dacian style began appearing in Celtic settlements in Central Europe, including the area covered by the former Yugoslavia, especially in Gomolava, Yugoslavia, and Budapest, Hungary.
Burebista