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Decebalus or "The Brave One" was a king of Dacia
Dacia

In ancient geography, Dacia was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Greeks "Getae". Dacia was a large district of East-Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathian Mountains, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisia or Tisza, on the east by the Tyras or Dniester, now in eastern Moldova....
 (originally named Diurpaneus—ruled the Dacians 87 – 106) and is famous for fighting three wars and negotiating two interregnums of peace without being eliminated against the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 under two emperors.






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Decebalus B
Decebalus or "The Brave One" was a king of Dacia
Dacia

In ancient geography, Dacia was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Greeks "Getae". Dacia was a large district of East-Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathian Mountains, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisia or Tisza, on the east by the Tyras or Dniester, now in eastern Moldova....
 (originally named Diurpaneus—ruled the Dacians 87 – 106) and is famous for fighting three wars and negotiating two interregnums of peace without being eliminated against the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 under two emperors. In the later short peace (end of 102-105) granted by Trajan, Decebalus continued to act as an independent king, vice a conquered client and repeatedly annoyed or infuriated the Romans.

Consequently, the Legions under Trajans orders went on the offensive again in 105 AD and reduced the Dacian stronghold and capital Sarmizegetusa
Sarmizegetusa

Sarmizegetusa was the most important Dacian military, religious and political centre. Erected on top of a crag 1,200 metres high, the fortress was the core of the strategic defensive system in the Orastie Mountains , comprising six citadels....
 in 106 AD, finally running down Decebalus the same year, whereupon he committed suicide rather than being marched through Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
 as a captured foreign leader.

Recent history preceding


After the death of Great King Burebista
Burebista

Burebista is widely considered to be the greatest king of Dacia. He ruled between 82 BC and 44 BC. He unified the Thracian population from Hercynia in the west, to the Bug river in the east, and from the northern Carpathians to Dionysopolis....
, Dacia split into four then five smaller states. The situation lasted until Diurpaneus managed to consolidate the core of Dacia around Sarmizegetusa
Sarmizegetusa

Sarmizegetusa was the most important Dacian military, religious and political centre. Erected on top of a crag 1,200 metres high, the fortress was the core of the strategic defensive system in the Orastie Mountains , comprising six citadels....
, in today's Hunedoara county
Hunedoara County

Hunedoara is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva, Romania....
. He reorganized the Dacian army (though not yet king of the recombined tribe) and in 85 the Dacians began minor raiding in the heavily fortified Roman province of Moesia
Moesia

Moesia was an ancient region and Roman province situated in the areas of modern Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania along the south bank of the Danube River....
, located south of the Danube
Danube

The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance...
 under Dacian king
List of Dacian kings

This is a list of kings of the ancient land of Dacia. The chronology may not be very precise, since many of the Greek and Roman writings on the Dacian history were lost through time....
 Duras
Duras

Duras may refer to:...
.

In 86, the Duras ordered a more vigorous attack south into Roman province
Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italia ....
 of Moesia, and the Emperor
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 Domitian
Domitian

Titus Flavius Domitianus , commonly known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death. Domitian was the last emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Domitian's father Vespasian , his elder brother Titus , and that of Domitian himself...
 personally advanced into the province with legions and relief supplies, reorganized it, and planned an attack into Dacia
Dacia

In ancient geography, Dacia was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Greeks "Getae". Dacia was a large district of East-Central Europe, bounded on the north by the Carpathian Mountains, on the south by the Danube, on the west by the Tisia or Tisza, on the east by the Tyras or Dniester, now in eastern Moldova....
 the next campaign season. The same year everything was lost.

Battles at Tapae


In 87, Domitian decided to send his prefect of the Praetorian Guards, Cornelius Fuscus
Cornelius Fuscus

Cornelius Fuscus was a Ancient Rome general who fought campaigns under the Roman Emperor of the Flavian dynasty. During the reign of Domitian, he served as Praetorian prefect of the imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, from 81 until his death in 86....
, to punish and conquer the Dacians with four or five legions but suffered a major defeat when ambushed by the forces led by Diurpaneus. Two Roman legions (among which V Alaudae
Legio V Alaudae

Legio quinta Alaudae sometimes known as Gallica, was levied by Julius Caesar in 52 BC from native Gauls. Their emblem was an elephant, and their cognomen Alaudae came from the high crest on their helmets, typical of the Gauls, which made them look like larks....
) were ambushed and defeated at a mountain pass
Mountain pass

In a range of hills, or especially of mountain range, a pass is a saddle point in between two areas of higher elevation. If following the lowest possible route through a mountain range, a pass is locally the highest point on that route....
 the Romans called Tapae (likely an outlying Dacian stronghold, location is near modern Bucova), and General Fuscus was killed. Diurpaneus changed his name into Decebalus, meaning "strong as ten (men)" or alternatively, "The Brave one", and became king.

Enemy's eye view

Regarding the Domitian wars Dio Cassius
Dio Cassius

Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English language as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a noted Roman Empire historian and public servant....
 described Decebalus as follow:

Second battle of Tapae


In 88, Tettius Iulianus commanded another Roman army under Domitian in a campaign against the Dacians, who defeated the Romans at the second battle at Tapae; revolts of the Germans on the Rhine
Rhine

File:Swiss Grand Canyon.jpgThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
 required the augmented military force in Moesia
Moesia

Moesia was an ancient region and Roman province situated in the areas of modern Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania along the south bank of the Danube River....
, and the Romans were forced to pay large sums of money in the form of tribute
Tribute

A tribute is wealth one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance....
 to the Dacians for maintaining peace in this region. This was seen as a controversial peace by Romans of the times, and many felt humiliated.

The uneasy and unsatisfying political situation for the Romans lasted until Trajan
Trajan

Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 98 until his death in 117. Born Marcus Ulpius Traianus into a nonpatrician family in the Hispania Baetica province , Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian, serving as a general in the Roman army along the Limes G...
 acceded as Emperor of the Roman Empire in 98. Immediately he began preparations which in the end (including unrelated conquests in the Near East
Near East

Near East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other....
) resulted in engaging in a series of military campaigns which would expand the Roman Empire to its maximum extent during his reign.

Third battle at Tapae


Decebalus was defeated by the Romans when they invaded Dacia beginning March 25th, 101 AD, again in the fortifications of Tapae, but after accepting harsh peace conditions including losses in territory, he was left as a client king under a Roman protectorate and a small local garrison after suing for peace a second time.

Siege of Sarmizegetusa


Three years later, Decebalus destroyed the small Roman garrison
Garrison

Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, of more than 50 men, but now often simply using it as a home base....
 in Dacia, and the Romans were forced again to send reinforcements, and this time Trajan wasn't accepting peace offers.

After a long siege of Sarmizegetusa and a few skirmishes in the greater region, the Romans conquered Dacia, but Decebalus, with his family managed to flee the fortress Sarmizegetusa.

Death of Decebalus


Hunted, his army defeated, surrounded by Roman detachments seeking his head and Decebalus, together with two children, was finally cornered and rather than being captured as a prisoner to be exhibited at Rome, committed suicide by slashing his own throat, as depicted on Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column

Trajan's Column is a monument in Rome raised in honour of the Roman Empire emperor Trajan and constructed by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate....
 (spiral 22, panel b).

It is likely, however, that in the process of dying Decebalus was captured by a Roman Cavalry Scout named Tiberius Claudius Maximus
Tiberius Claudius Maximus

Tiberius Claudius Maximus was a Roman soldier who served with Legio VII Claudia in the Dacian Wars during the reign of emperor Domitian and emperor Trajan....
 from Legio VII Claudia
Legio VII Claudia

[Image:Antoninianus-Gallienus-l7claudia-RIC 0348-j-v.jpg|thumb|300px|Gallienus coin, celebrating LEG VII CLA VI P VI F Legio septima Claudia was a Roman legion....
 as is claimed on the funerary stele discovered at Gramini in Greece. His head and right hand were then taken to Trajan in "Ranisstorium" (an unidentified Dacian village, perhaps Piatra Craiului) by Claudius Maximus when he was decorated by the emperor, and the trophy sent to Rome where it was thrown on the Gemonian stairs
Gemonian stairs

The Gemonian Stairs were a flight of steps located in the ancient city of Rome. Nicknamed the Stairs of Mourning, the stairs are infamous in Roman history as a place of Execution ....
. Tiberius Claudius Maximus' tomb cites two occasions where the legionary
Legionary

The Ancient Rome legionary was a professional soldier of the Military history of ancient Rome after the Marian reforms of 107 BC. Legionaries had to be Roman citizenship under the age of 45....
 was decorated for his part in the Dacian wars, one of which being the acquisition and recovery of Decebalus' head.

Statue of Decebalus

During the 1990s A.D., team of sculptors carved a 40-meter tall statue of Decebalus
Statue of Decebalus

The Statue of Dacian king Decebalus is a 40-meter high statue that is the tallest Rock cut architecture in Europe. It is located on the Danube's rocky bank, near the city of Orsova, Romania....
 from a stone outcrop near the city of Orsova
Orsova

Orsova is a port city on the Danube river in southwestern Romania's Mehedinti County . It is situated just above the Iron Gate , on the spot where the Cerna River meets the Danube....
, Romania
Romania

Romania is a country located in Southeastern Europe Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian Mountains, bordering on the Black Sea....
.

See also

  • Dacian Wars
    Dacian Wars

    The Dacian Wars were two brief wars between the Roman Empire and Dacia during Emperor Trajan's rule. The conflict was a result of raiding across the Danube by Dacians in 86 AD into the south bank Danube Roman Province of Moesia....
  • Regalianus
    Regalianus

    P. C Regalianus was a Roman usurper against Gallienus.The main source of information is the unreliable Historia Augusta. Other sources are Eutropius, who calls him Trebellianus, and Aurelius Victor and the Epitome, which call him Regillianus....
     was, according to Tyranni Triginta
    Thirty Tyrants (Roman)

    The Thirty Tyrants were a series of thirty rulers that appear in the Historia Augusta as having ostensibly been pretenders to the throne of the Roman Empire during the reign of the emperor Gallienus....
    , a descendant of Decebalus.
  • Decebalus Treasure
    Decebalus Treasure

    The Decebalus Treasure is a legendary story written by Dio Cassius concerning events said to have happened in the Roman world in the second century AD....