History of Bucharest - Ancient Times

Ancient Times

In Antiquity, much of the territory of Bucharest and Ilfov was covered by the thick forests of Codrii Vlăsiei. The forested area, especially the Colentina and Dâmboviţa valleys, were home to small and scattered settlements as early as the Paleolithic; during the Neolithic, Bucharest saw the presence of the Glina culture, and, before the 19th century BC, was included in areas of the Gumelniţa culture. During the Bronze Age, a third phase of the Glina culture (centered on pastoralism, partly superimposed on the Gumelniţa culture) and, later, the Tei culture evolved on Bucharest soil. In the Iron Age, the area was inhabited by a population identified with the Getae and Dacians (speaking an Indo-European language; the view holding that the two groups were in fact one and the same is disputed, while the culture's latter phase can be attributed to the Dacians - small Dacian settlements were found in various places around Bucharest, such as Herăstrău, Radu Vodă, Dămăroaia, Lacul Tei, Pantelimon and Popeşti-Leordeni). These populations had commercial links with the Greek cities and the Romans - Ancient Greek coins were found at Lacul Tei and Herăstrău (together with a large amount of local counterfeit ones), and jewels and coins of Roman origin in Giuleşti and Lacul Tei.

Bucharest was never under Roman rule, with an exception during Muntenia's brief conquest by the troops of Constantine I in the 330s; coins from the times of Constantine, Valens, and Valentinian I etc. were uncovered at various sites in and around Bucharest. It is assumed that the local population was Romanized after the initial retreat of Roman troops from the region, during the Age of Migrations (see Origin of the Romanians, Romania in the Early Middle Ages).