Distant origins and the debate about them lie at the heart of Romanian identity. From at least the seventeenth century down to the present, self-identification has engaged the energies of scholars and, not infrequently, of churchmen and politicians, who for their own reasons have been at pains to explain how the Romanians came to be. In their diligence historians, archeologists, and linguists, in particular, have brought to light the most diverse evidence to support the most diverse theories about origins, but sometimes their reasoning has belonged more to myth than to science. Nonetheless, these notions of origins and the interpretations they begot would prove crucial for the image the Romanians gradually formed of themselves and would decisively shape their relationship to “Europe,” that is, whether to turn east or west for models and inspiration.

The Dacians

Central to the Romanians’ long-standing debate about beginnings and identity was the nature of the Roman conquest and settlement of Dacia, the land that was to form the core of modern Romania, both geographically and psychologically. No less important in delineating an acceptable self-image was the fate of the Dacians, the indigenous inhabitants of the land, who were subjected to Roman rule and acculturation for a century and a half.