Domitian’s Dacian War, 85–89

Domitian’s Dacian War

After the Dacians crossed the frozen Danube and ravaged Moesia, Domitian’s armies fought them for four years: one Roman army was routed at Tapae, another won a battle on the same ground, and the war ended in a compromise peace that made Decebalus a client king subsidised by Rome.

Date

between 85 and 86 – 89start: exact date unknown: an interval is given; end: year known · duration: ≈ 4 years

Place

Tapaeapproximate locationtoday: Iron Gates of Transylvania, near Zeicani, Hunedoara County, Romania · Balkans and Anatolia

Participants

Roman Empire, Domitian, Decebalus, Dacians

Threads

Europe in the Roman age (1st–5th c.)

Also known as

First Battle of Tapae; Second Battle of Tapae; Первая битва при Тапах; Вторая битва при Тапах; Дакийская война Домициана

In the winter of 85/86 (by another account, in 84 or 85) the Dacians invaded the province of Moesia and killed its governor, Oppius Sabinus. Domitian came to the Danube in person; Moesia was divided into two provinces and reinforced with more legions. The praetorian prefect Cornelius Fuscus crossed into Dacia, but at Tapae, the pass guarding the way to the Dacian capital Sarmizegetusa, his army was ambushed by Decebalus (in 86 or 87): Fuscus was killed and the standard of the Praetorian Guard was lost. In 88 a new commander, Tettius Julianus, defeated the Dacians on the same ground but did not march on Sarmizegetusa.

In 89 the revolt of Saturninus on the Rhine and a war with the Marcomanni, Quadi and Sarmatians on the Pannonian frontier led Domitian to make peace. Decebalus became a nominal client of Rome, receiving an annual subsidy and Roman engineers, and his brother Diegis received a crown from Domitian in Rome. Contemporaries thought the treaty shameful, and Decebalus used the Roman money to fortify his kingdom — the prelude to Trajan’s wars of conquest.

Connections

Consequences

Trajan’s Dacian Wars101–106 · Balkans and AnatoliaDecebalus used the Roman subsidies to fortify Dacia

Same participants

Eruption of Vesuviusbetween 24 August and 1 November 79 · Western and Central Europevia Roman Empire

Adjacent events in the thread

Domitian’s Dacian War

Connections

Consequences

Same participants

Adjacent events in the thread

Meanwhile in the world

Western and Central Europe

Eastern Europe

Middle East and Egypt

Central and Northern Asia

South Asia

East Asia

Southeast Asia and Oceania

North America

Latin America

The same period

Sources