^title. I would have thought that the Danube would have been an ideal cradle of civilization - a massive river, emptying into a sea ideal for trade, good farmland. It even played host to the beginnings of culture, according to this article from the NYT. Yet, from what I can recall, the Danube area was inhabited by Thracians, Germanic tribesmen, etc. - not utter savages, but not a civilization along the lines of Egypt or the Indus Valley people. What gives?