The Dacians ( Lat . DÃ kai ) were an Indo-European people , the ancient inhabitants of Dacia ( located in the area in and around the Carpathian mountains and east of there to the Black Sea ) , present-day Romania and Moldova , parts of Sarmatia ( mostly in eastern Ukraine ) and Scythia Minor in southeastern Europe ( Romania and Bulgaria ) . The Dacians ( , , Medieval Greek Î '' Î Î Î Î `` DÃ kai '' ) were an Indo-European people , the ancient inhabitants of Dacia ( located in the area in and around the Carpathian Mountains and east of there to the Black Sea ) , present-day Romania and Moldova , parts of Sarmatia ( mostly in eastern Ukraine ) and Moesia ( Eastern Serbia and Northern Bulgaria ) , also parts of present-day Slovakia and Poland .