Dacian Wars: Encyclopedia II - Dacian Wars - The First War

Dacian Wars - The First War

After gaining support in the Roman Senate and its blessing for war, by 101 Trajan was ready to advance on Dacia. This was a war in which the Roman military's ingenuity and engineering might were well demonstrated: a stone bridge later known as Trajan's bridge was constructed across the Danube to assist with the legionaries' advance. The Roman offensive was spearheaded by two legionary columns, marching straight to the heart of Dacia, burning towns and villages in the process. Trajan defeated a Dacian army at the Battle of Tapae, and in 102 Decebalus chose to surrender after some additional minor conflicts. The war, spanning only months, had concluded with a heroic Roman victory.

The famous bridge at Drobeta was constructed in preparation for the second war. This bridge, probably the biggest at that time and centuries to come was designed by Apollodorus of Damascus and it was needed in order to reconquer Dacia since the "peace" was actually lost by the Roman empire. Decebalus got technical and military reinforcement from Trajan in order to create a powerful allied zone against the dangerous possible expeditions from the northern and eastern teritories by the already moving migrator people. The resources were, however, instead used to make Dacian Kingdom a great independent power.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The First War", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki