Sarmizegetusa Regia, the mountain capital of Kingdom that once rivaled Rome

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The Dacians were a Thracian people who inhabited the cultural region of Dacia, an area that incorporated parts of modern Romania, Moldova, as well as smaller parts of Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Ukraine.

During the reign of the Thracian King Burebista (82/61 BC to 45/44 BC), the Getae and Dacian tribes were unified into the Dacian Kingdom, with the capital being moved to Sarmizegetusa Regia (possibly from the Geto-Dacian stronghold at Argedava).

Archaeological findings suggest that the Dacian god Zalmoxis and his chief priest played a central role in Dacian religious worship at Sarmizegetusa Regia, a deity who Herodotus gives mention in his Histories Book IV, 93–96 which states: “93. the Getae are the bravest of the Thracians and the most just. 94.

They believe they are immortal forever living in the following sense: they think they do not die and that the one who dies joins Zalmoxis, a divine being; some call this same divine being Gebeleizis. Every four years, they send a messenger to Zalmoxis, who is chosen by chance.”

Sarmizegetusa Regia was situated at an elevation of 1200 metres near a mountain summit, serving as a nucleus of a strategic defensive system that included the fortresses of Costești-Blidaru, Piatra Roșie, Costeşti-Cetățuie, Căpâlna and Băniţa.

Source - https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/03/sarmizegetusa-regia-the-mountain-capital-of-the-dacians/138232