tribal confederation · Balkans and Hungary

Costoboci

50 CE – 200 CE (approx.)

Dacian people north of the Carpathians whose daring raid of 170 CE reached Greece and sacked the sanctuary of Eleusis.

Origins

Known mainly from Roman sources, the Costoboci were a Dacian people living beyond Roman Dacia, probably in the upper Dniester and Prut region of modern Ukraine and Romania, in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. An inscription in Rome names a Costobocian king, Pieporus.

Rule and society

Little is known of their society beyond Roman notices. During the Marcomannic Wars, in about 170 CE, they broke through the Danube frontier, swept through Moesia, Thrace and Macedonia, and plundered the mysteries sanctuary at Eleusis near Athens.

Decline and legacy

Soon after the raid they were attacked by the Asding Vandals, who took their lands. They vanish from the record by the end of the 2nd century, probably absorbed by the Carpi and other neighbours.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

More states of Balkans and Hungary →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Costoboci. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/costoboci
MLA
“Costoboci.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/costoboci. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Costoboci.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/costoboci.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Costoboci’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/costoboci (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻