Aizis (''Aixis'', ''Aixim'', ''Airzis'', ''Azizis'', ''Azisis'', ''Aizisis'', ''Alzisis'', ''Aigis'', ''Aigizidava ', ''Zizis'', grc, Αίζισίς) was a Dacian town mentioned by Emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

in his work ''Dacica''. Located at ''Dealul Ruieni'',

Fârliug Fârliug ( hu, Furlug) is a commune in Caraș-Severin County, western Romania. It is composed of six villages: Dezești (''Dezesd''), Duleu (''Dulló''), Fârliug, Remetea-Pogănici (''Pogányosremete''), Scăiuș (''Bojtorjános''), and Valea Mar ...

, Caraș-Severin,

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. One sentence surviving from '' Dacica'', in the Latin grammar work of

Priscian Priscianus Caesariensis (), commonly known as Priscian ( or ), was a Latin grammarian and the author of the ''Institutes of Grammar'', which was the standard textbook for the study of Latin during the Middle Ages. It also provided the raw materia ...

, , says: ''inde Berzobim, deinde Aizi processimus'', meaning ''We then advanced to Berzobim, next to Aizi''. The phrase describes the initial itinerary march into Dacia by the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

army After the Roman conquest of

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...

, a

castrum In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a po ...

gets built at Aizis. It is also depicted in the

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the '' cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-ce ...

, as ''Azizis'', on a Roman road network, between Bersovia and Caput Bubali.

Etymology

The place name Aizizi, located in the South West of Dacia has a root / radical containing the Bactrian "ait",

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

"iz" 'snake' or better the Bactrian "azi" Armenian "ajts" 'goat'. The Romanian historian and archaeologist

Vasile Pârvan Vasile Pârvan (; 28 September 1882, Perchiu, Huruiești, Bacău County – 26 June 1927, Bucharest) was a Romanian historian and archaeologist. Biography Vasile Pârvan came from a modest family, being the first child of the teacher Andrei P ...

also gives the meaning 'goat'. This Dacian name (mentioned also by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

as ) confirms the

Dacian language Dacian is an extinct language, generally believed to be Indo-European, that was spoken in the Carpathian region in antiquity. In the 1st century, it was probably the predominant language of the ancient regions of Dacia and Moesia and possib ...

change from

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...

*g to z: Αίζισίς (Ptolemy) < *aig-is(yo) – '(place) with goats' (Greek αίζ, αίγός goat) E.C. Polome "Chapter 20e Balkan Languages (Illyrian, Thracian and Daco-Moesian)" in The Cambridge Ancient History, edited by John Boardman, 2nd Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, The Prehistory of the Balkans, the Middle East and the Aegean World, Tenth to Eighth Centuries BC, , page 887

Notes

References

Ancient

Modern

External links

Traiani Augusti, ''Dacica'' at Forum Romanum

Monografia localității Fârliug by Pr. Cristian Franț
* {{Dacian cities Dacian towns Archaeological sites in Romania Ruins in Romania Former populated places in Romania History of Banat