Ethnic Continuity in the Carpatho-Danubian Area

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First edition: East European Monographs, No. CCXLIX, 1988. This work examines the ethnic and linguistic history of the various peoples in the Carpatho-Danubian area (Southeastern Europe) from ancient times until the early Middle Ages. The ultimate fate of these peoples is also taken into consideration, as well as some aspects of the current historiography of the area. The research for this book has required an eclectic approach, based on historical materials, archaeology, and philology; the scanty and fragmentary nature of written historical records (indeed, the often total lack of documentary evidence), together with the not always reliable archaeological data, has made scholarly research on this area extremely difficult. The most reliable knowledge has been gleaned from Balkan philology. This book deals with the ethnogenesis of the Romanian people and the question of whether a Romanized population lived north of the lower Danube and has maintained continuity there, ethnically, linguistically, and in its settlements, since Roman times. This theme has been the subject of a spirited and long-standing controversy; and a great many of the works on the history of Southeastern Europe have been colored by political and ideological considerations. Preface xi Abbreviations xiii I. HISTORY ABOUT THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE PEOPLES OF SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE 1 Introduction — The Thracians — The Scythians — Moesia (Misia) ABOUT THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE ROMANIANS 4 The First Written Sources About Early Vlachs. The Testimony of Byzantine Authors MEDIEVAL CHRONICLERS. THE RUSSIAN PRIMARY CHRONICLE. THE GESTA HUNGARORUM 11 A Summary of the Gesta Hungarorum — Ethnical Criteria in the Gesta Hungarorum and the Russian Primary Chronicle — The Passages of the Gesta that Refer to Eastern Hungary and Transylvania — An Analysis of the Treatment of the Gesta Hungarorum as an Historical Source by Modern Romanian Historians — Place Names Mentioned by Anonymus in Transylvania and the Banat THE HUMANISTS 32 The Latinity of the Romanians — Transylvanian German (Saxon) Historians of the Seventeenth to Eighteenth Centuries on the Origin of the Romanians THE MOLDAVIAN AND THE WALLACHIAN CHRONICLERS 37 The Origins and Development of the Idea of Roman Continuity North of the Danube — The Muntenian Chroniclers THE ROOTS OF THE ROMANIAN NATIONAL AWAKENING 41 The Development of the Theory of Continuity as a Political Tool — The Transylvanian School (Şcoala Ardeleană) — Maior's Theories About the Presence of a Roman Population in Dacia After 275 A.D. — Transylvania in the Tenth Century in Maior's Work THE ROMANTIC WRITING OF HISTORY 53 The Rise of Modern Nationalism in Europe — Romanian Nationalism — The Beginnings of Modern Romanian Historiography — The Period Between the Two World Wars THE DOMINATION OF MARXIST IDEOLOGY 60 The Period After the Second World War — The Re-evaluation of Nationalism — History and Ideology II. ARCHAEOLOGY 67 Methodological Problems (The Significance of Archaeology in Current Romanian Historiography, Conclusion) — The Roman Cultural Influence on the non-Romanic Peoples of Europe: Roman Imports in Barbaricum — The Roman Influence on Culture — The Circulation of Roman Coins in Barbaricum — The Role of Roman Coins in Free Germania and Other Territories Outside the Roman Empire THE QUESTION OF ROMANIZATION NORTH OF THE DANUBE 78 Dacia — Roman Influence Before 106 A.D. — The Degree of Romanization in Dacia Traiana from 106 to 275 A.D. The Definition of Romanization and the Problem in Dacia — Towns and Rural Settlements in Dacia Traiana — Dacian Settlements After the Conquest. The Number of Dacians in Dacia Romana — The Rural Settlements in Dacia Traiana — Rural Farms (villae rusticae) — Cemeteries and Funeral Rites — Roman Influence on Primitive (Dacian) Earthenware — The Inscriptions of the Roman Period in Trajan's Dacia THE FOURTH CENTURY A.D. IN TRANSYLVANIA 107 The Former Roman Towns — Cemeteries in Rural Areas — The Western Group of Settlements — Non-Roman Settlements and Tombs in Transylvania from the Mid-Third to End of the Fourth Century. The So-called Sfîntu Gheorghe (Eastern) Group of Settlements — The Cemetery from the Fourth and Fifth Centuries A.D. at Bratei — The Černjachov-Sîntana de Mureş Culture — The Roman Coins from 275 to 395 A.D. Found in Transylvania — An Analysis of the Ethnic Significance Attributed to the Roman Coins — Finds of Single Coins — The Hoards of Coins — Conclusions — Christianity in Transylvania in the Fourth to Seventh Centuries: A Critical Analysis of Its Alleged Significance for Romanian Ethnogenesis — The Geographical Distribution of Christian Finds in Romania — The Inscriptions — The Donarium Found at Biertan — Conclusions THE FIFTH AND THE SEVENTH CENTURIES IN TRANSYLVANIA 139 The Old Germanic Peoples — The Goths — The Gepidae THE HUNS 147 CEMETERIES IN TRANSYLVANIA FROM THE SIXTH TO NINTH CENTURIES 148 The Avars THE APPEARANCE OF THE SLAVS IN THE CARPATHIAN BASIN 151 Archaeological Remnants of the Slavs in Transylvania — The Extension of the Theory of Romanization to Territories Beyond Roman Dacia — The Assumed Romanization in Muntenia — The Assumed Romanization in Moldavia — The Material Remains at Costişa-Botoşana — The Hypothesis of the "Daco-Roman"-Slav Symbiosis in the Fifth to Seventh Centuries in Moldavia — Theories About the Material Culture in the First Millenium in the Territory of Romania — Conclusions THE CARPATHIAN BASIN IN THE NINTH TO ELEVENTH CENTURIES 176 The Hungarian Conquest — The Bulgars — The Theory of the Dual Hungarian Conquest. The Onogur Bulgars — The Székelys (Szeklers) — The Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós — The Bijelo Brdo Culture. Early Archaeological Remnants of the Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin — Fortifications of the Tenth to Twelfth Centuries in Transylvania. Doboka III. LINGUISTICS THE ROMANIAN LANGUAGE 191 The Testimony of Language — Language Community — The Apennino-Balkan Group of Romance Languages. The Descendants of East Latin — Danubian Latin — The Characteristics of East Latin Phonology — Late Latin — The Changes of Late Latin Continued in Romanian — Late Latin Characteristics Not Found in Romanian — The Relationship of the Territory of Former Dacia Traiana to the Roman Provinces South of the Danube During the Late Latin Period THE PROBLEM OF THE ETHNO-LINGUISTIC SUBSTRATUM 211 Ancient Indo-European Elements in Romanian — The pre-Roman Languages of Southeastern Europe — The "Thraco-Dacian" Linguistic Data — Thracian and Dacian — The Problem of the Dacian Elements in Romanian — A Comparison of the pre-Roman Lexical Elements in Romanian with Thracian and Dacian Words — Why "Thraco-Dacian"? — The Origin of Albanian — The Relationship of the Substratum of Romanian to Albanian — The pre-Latin Lexical Elements in the Romanian Language — A Comparison of Two Groups of Words: Those with and Those Without an Albanian Counterpart — Theories Based on the Distribution of the Assumed Substratum Words Among the Romanian Dialects — Albanian-Romanian Contacts in the Late Latin Period — Common Romanian. The Early Slavic Influence — The Development of Dialects THE ROMANIAN LINGUISTIC LITERATURE 252 Correspondences Between the Latin Elements of Albanian and Romanian — The "Carpatho-Balkan Territory" as the Assumed Area of the Origin of the Romanian Language — About the Relationship of Latin to Gothic and Its Assumed Relevance to the Romanian Language — The Alleged Gothic influence on the Romanian Language — The Inherited Latin Words in Romanian THE THEORY OF THE "CORE REGIONS" (KERNGEBIETE) OF THE ROMANIAN LANGUAGE 272 Other Proponents of the Kerngebiet Theory — The Kerngebiet Theory and the Romanian Dialects — Dardania and the Origin of Romanian — The Kerngebiet Theory in Romanian Historiography IV. GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 291 Theories About Early Romanian Geographical Names — The Preservation of the Slavic Nasal Vowels — The Rise and Disappearance of the Nasal Vowels in Slavic — Romanian Geographical Names Borrowed Directly from Slavs — Romanian Geographical Names in Transylvania Borrowed Directly from Slavs — Romanian Geographical Names Assumed to Be Older Than the Hungarian Toponymy — A Review of the Geographical Names Existing Before 1400 in Hunedoara (Hunyad) County — Dubious Etymologies, Place Names Assumed To Be Inherited Directly from Latin PLACE NAMES 309 The Romanian Place Names — The Formal Peculiarities of Romanian Place Names — Differences Between Northern Romanian Place Names Recorded on the Balkan Peninsula and Those from the Territories North of the Danube — A Comparison of Place Names in Transylvania with Those of the Transcarpathian Areas of Romania — The Names of Rivers in Romania — Place Names of Slavic Origin in Transylvania (Hungarian, German, Romanian) — Romanian Geographical Names of Slavic Origin. The Definition of Geographical Names Borrowed from Slavs — The Slavic Elements of the Romanian Language — The Geographical Names of Slavic Origin — The Discrepancy Between the Geographical Names of Slavic Origin and the Slavic Elements of the Romanian Language — Hungarian Geographical (Place) Names — The Appearance of Parallel Hungarian and Romanian Place Names — German (Transylvanian Saxon) Place Names — Geographical Names in the Transylvanian Area of the Carpathian Basin in the 12th to 13th Centuries — The name of Transylvania APPENDICES Notes 337 Selected Bibliography 399 Name Index 421 Gazetteer 431 Subject Index 438