One of the political-military events of Europe in the period of the late first century and early second century A.D. was the warlike confrontation between the Roman Empire, led by Emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus, and the unitary Dacian state with King Decebal who remained at the head of his people from 87 A.D. to 107 A.D.
The wars waged by Rome to transform the Dacians’ kingdom into an Imperial Province entered, already at that time, the pages of historical writings and then the works of generations of Romanian historians. This especially happened because of the incredible resistance of the natives north of the Carpathian Danube in the face of the largest concentration of armed forces at that time.
Eloquent testimony is the letter written by Pliny the Younger to Caninius, who wanted to dedicate a book inspired by that event:
….. you do well to prepare yourself to write about war Dacia. For what subject can be more topical, richer, broader, more full of poetry, almost like legend even if it is about the very true things? You will sing new rivers, rivers flowing through the countryside, bridges thrown over, encampments located on the sloping mountainsides, a Decebal king removed from his residence and his own life without ever having lost hope……….
From Dione Cassius the Decebal King is characterized as follows:
…. He was skillful in warfare and very sharp in deeds, knowing when to advance and when to retreat in time, valiant in fights, a master of ambushes , tactfully exploiting a victory and retreating well before being overcome; for such qualities he was for a long time a great enemy for the Romans to fear…..
The dimension of Decebal’s military personality gained, from one historical period to the next, new values highlighting itself to the extent of the qualitative evolution of the science of History and the enrichment of information about the Daco people.
