Moesia and the Question of Its Namee

Moesia and the Question of Its Name

Moesia was a province of the Roman Empire. It was located in what is now Bulgaria, Serbia, and partly Romania, extending in the west as far as the borders of modern Albania.

Its name has often been compared with that of the Mysians, a people who lived in the northwestern region of Anatolia. The presence of a similar name in the Balkans has sometimes been used as an argument for the migration of the Mushki from that region.

However, Boteva questions the origin of the name Moesia and argues that it was likely a fabrication of the Roman Imperial period. No known source mentions this term in connection with that region before the 1st century AD. According to this view, the name itself was derived from Mysia and written as Moesia in order to conform to older Latin orthographic conventions.

The reason the Romans began using this term for the region was probably ideological and political. Western Moesia was largely inhabited by the Dardani, a tribal name that played an important role in Roman epic traditions concerning Trojan origins. In these traditions, the Roman founding ancestors were linked to the Dardani. However, when the Romans conquered the Balkans, they came into conflict with the actual Dardani people. In Roman sources, these Dardani were portrayed as barbarians attacking Roman territories, creating a contradictory narrative: in one case the Dardani were noble ancestors, while in another they appeared as hostile enemies.

To avoid referring to their new enemies by the prestigious name Dardani, Roman authorities may have chosen to designate their lands with a new name. Thus, the term Musia or Moesia was adopted, borrowing a name from Anatolia. In this way, the name Dardani became obscured and gradually faded from use in reference to the region.

If this interpretation is correct, then the argument that the name Moesia reflects a migration of the Mysians or Mushki from the Balkans is no longer tenable.