THE DACIANS
The Dacians were known as Geton in Greek writings, and as Dacus and also Getae in Roman documents.
The ancient inhabitants of Dacia were 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, Serbia and Bulgaria).
Since the reign of
Burebista, widely considered to be the greatest Dacian king—who ruled between 82 BC and 44 BC—the Dacians had represented a threat for the Roman Empire. Caesar himself had drawn up a plan to launch a campaign against Dacia.
The threat was reduced when dynastic struggles in Dacia lead to a division into four (or five, depending on the source) separately governed tribal states after Burebista's death in 44 BC. Augustus later came into conflict with Dacia after they sent envoys offering their support against Mark Antony in exchange for "requests", the nature of which have not been recorded. Augustus rejected the offer and Dacia gave their support to Antony. In 29 BC, Augustus sent several punitive expeditions into Dacia led by Marcus Licinius Crassus (Marcus Licinius Crassus the Younger, also known as Marcus Licinius Crassus Dives, grandson of the famed Marcus Licinius Crassus who put down the Spartacus slave rebellion, and of the 1st Triumvirate with Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompey) that inflicted heavy casualties and apparently killed three of their five kings. Although Dacian raids into Pannonia and Moesia continued for several years despite the defeat, the threat of Dacia had effectively ended.[13
The first Dacian War began in 87 AD.
Ther main reason was that the army of King Duras led by general Diurpaneus attacked the Roman province of Moesia, killing the Moesian governor Oppius Sabinus, a former consul.
The Roman emperor Domitian led legions into the ravaged province and reorganized the possession into Moesia Inferior and Moesia Superior, planning an attack into Dacia.
The Romans crossed the Danube River, trespassing the Dacian territory on an improvised vessel-made bridge. The Dacian warriors managed to ambush them within the extremely narrow mountain pass of Tapae (a zone also longtime nicknamed "Transylvania's Iron Gates") and to draw an awesome victory over the invaders. As a result, the famous V-th Roman Legion "Aludae" was totally destroyed and its military insignias captured, with its commander- in-chief, veteran General Cornelius Fuscus, being killed on the battlefield. The commander of the Dacians was Diurpaneus, according to the Roman historian Tacitus, a "tarabostes" (namely an aristocrat, according to local denomination) and to whom the king Duras Durbaneus, would grant his throne soon after Tapae's victory. Following deeds, to be carried out during the entire rest of his turbulent life, entitled Thraco-Dacian population to granting him the legendary nickname of Decebal, meaning Lord (Bal) of Dacia (Dece).
Dio Cassius writes in Epitome of Book 67 about Domitian's war: "At this time the Romans became involved in a very serious war with the Dacians, whose king was then Decebalus. This man was shrewd in his understanding of warfare and shrewd also in the waging of war; he judged well when to attack and chose the right moment to retreat; he was an expert in ambuscades and a master in pitched battles; and he knew not only how to follow up a victory well, but also how to manage well a defeat. Hence he showed himself a worthy antagonist of the Romans for a long time. I call the people Dacians, the names used by the natives themselves as well as by the Romans, though I am not ignorant that some Greek writers refer to them as Getae.". Once, Decebalus "cut down the trees that were on the site and put armour on the trunks, in order that the Romans might take them for soldiers and so be frightened and withdraw; and this actually happened."
"Decebalus, the king of the Dacians, was making overtures to Domitian, promising him peace; but Domitian sent Fuscus against him with a large force. On learning of this Decebalus sent to him an embassy anew with the insulting proposal to make peace with the emperor, on condition that every Roman should elect to pay two obols to Decebalus each year; otherwise, he declared, he would make war and inflict great ills upon the Romans." Finally, Domitianus "had given large sums of money to Decebalus on the spot as well as artisans of every trade pertaining to both peace and war, and had promised to keep on giving large sums in the future."
Dacia had rich resources of iron and copper and were prolific metal workers. A large percentage of Dacians owned swords, greatly reducing Rome's military advantage. Dacia sported 250,000 potential combatants, enough to enable an invasion. It was allied to several of its neighbors and on friendly terms with others that Rome considered enemies.
Despite some co-operation on the diplomatic front with Domitian, Decebalus continued to oppose Rome.
After Domnitian's death Trajan started to prepair his army against dacians.
After gaining the Senate's blessing for war, by 101 Trajan was ready to advance on Dacia. The Roman offensive was spearheaded by two legionary columns, marching straight to the heart of Dacia, burning towns and villages en route. Trajan defeated a Dacian army at the Battle of Tapae, and in 102 Decebalus chose to make peace after additional minor conflicts. The war had concluded with an important Roman victory. A stone bridge later known as Trajan's bridge was constructed across the Danube at Drobeta to assist with the legionaries' advance.
When Trajan won the first war established garrisons in Dacia, nominated Decebal a Rome's vassal but the Dacian king had to pay a big sum of money and also remove the fortifications and free the romans prisoners.
Trajan decided so beacause he wanted to use Dacia as a defense from the Scythian, Sarmatian or other populations from east.
During the peace Decebalus reinforced his defences and then destroyed the roman garrisons an raized Roman colonies across the Danube. True to his intrepid and optimistic nature, Trajan rallied his forces in AD 105 for a
second war.
This time Trajan prepaired all very well and his mission was to destroy the Dacians.
It is estimated that He used 13 legions + auxiliary to defeat the Dacians. Anyway it wasn't easy because the Dacians were determined to defeat the romans that occupied their land.
The Dacians warriors were hard to defeat due to their skills but also for their faith in Zamolxis (thei divinity). They believed that dying in that why was a blessing and they would have gifted with a new and better life. There are some old roman documents that cite their amazement when they saw dacians dying with serenity.
Another reason why the roman soldiers had serious problems were the Dacian warriors with the FALX dacicus (a two handed weapon that could reach 3 meters).
This weapon was able to crush the helmets and the romans shields.
In fact romans during the Dacian Wars had to reinforce their helmets, their shields and to add additional protection to thei arms and legs.
The Dacians repelled the first attack, but the Romans, helped by a treacherous local nobleman, found and destroyed the water pipes of the Dacian capital. Running out of water and food the city fell and was razed. Decebalus fled, but was followed by the Roman cavalry and committed suicide rather than submit. Nevertheless, the war went on. Thanks to the treason of a confidant of the Dacian king, Bicilis, the Romans found Decebalus's treasure in the river of Sargesia/Sargetia - a fortune estimated by Jerome Carcopino at 165,500 kg of gold and 331,000 kg of silver.
The conclusion of the Dacian Wars marked a triumph for Rome and its armies. Trajan announced 123 days of celebrations throughout the Empire.
UNITS
Cometai (commons).
They didn't was as armored as a noble but they was very important and skilled warriors, specially the infantry and the archers.
There are naked versions or with clothes. There were also elitè warriors among the commons. They usually had long hair and long beard.
Here is one of the most fearsome warrior of the Dacians:
The Falx warrior.
spearmen
skirmisher: Similar to other light infantry but using javelins and short sica.
axeman
slingers (didn't found pictures).
Archers
They had good archers and good bows. During peace they usually were hunters but during wars they were very usefull for Dacian army.
I am still searching informations and pictures.
Tarabostes (nobles):
They wear helmet or Pilleum (felt hat). Well armored use celtic swords (medium lenght), spears or medium falx (one handed) and a large shield (wood reinforced with leather or iron).
Heavy and light cavarly + the
scythian allies with they
horse archers. Dacians heavy cavalry weared a Phrygian helmet, chain armor and a long lance or a medium falx + shield. Light cavalry wasn't very skilled and usually used javellins spears and a sica.
standard bearer: Dracones.
The draco/dracones Standard was originally developed by the cavalry peoples of the steppes, such as the Sarmatians and the Alans, but also by the Parthians and the Sassanid Persians. It may have been used primarily to determine the wind-direction for the horse archers.
Dacian Weapons, shields, armors, helmets
SICA - short sword
