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Roman head of a Dacian of the type known from Trajan's Forum, AD 120–130, marble, on 18th-century bust. The Dacians (/ ˈ d eɪ ʃ ən z /; Latin: Daci; Ancient Greek: Δάκοι, [1] Δάοι, [1] Δάκαι [2]) were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea.
The Dacians and the Getae frequently interacted with the Romans prior to Dacia's incorporation into the Roman Empire. [1] However, Roman attention on the area around the lower Danube was sharpened when Burebista [ 1 ] (82–44 BC) [ 2 ] unified the native tribes and began an aggressive campaign of expansion.
However, the Romans built a settlement bearing the same name, Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetuza 40 km away, to serve as the capital of the new Roman province of Dacia. A group of "Free Dacians" may have remained outside the Roman Empire in the territory of modern-day Northern Romania until the start of the Migration Period. [1]
The Dacians repelled the first attack, but the Romans, helped by a treacherous local nobleman, [who?] 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.
From 85 to 89, the Dacians, commanded first by King Duras-Diurpaneus, and from 86 by the new king Decebalus, [21] fought two wars against the Romans. [39] In 85 the Dacians, having gathered a mighty army, crossed the Danube and swept into the Roman province of Moesia, where only one legion was stationed, led by governor Gaius Oppius Sabinus ...
The city was taken after the Romans discovered and destroyed [citation needed] the capital's water supply line. Dacians decorated their bodies with tattoos like the Illyrians [10] and the Thracians. [11] The Pannonians north of the Drava had accepted Roman rule out of fear of the Dacians. [12] Dacia remained a Roman province until 271.
For the remainder of Domitian's reign Dacia remained a relatively peaceful client kingdom, but Decebalus used the Roman money to fortify his defences. [18] Domitian probably wanted a new war against the Dacians, and reinforced Upper Moesia with two more cavalry units brought from Syria and with at least five cohorts brought from Pannonia.
Nevertheless, the war went on with more sieges of Dacian forts and Dacian attacks on Roman camps until the last battle with Dacians took place at Porolissum. Decebalus sought refuge in the north, in the Carpathian mountains an almost inaccessible region, but a Roman column pursued him along the valley of the Marisus river.