Domitian’s Dacian Wars (AD 85–⁠89)

Horsemen and legionaries before a palisade: cast of a scene from Trajan’s Column (2nd century AD), the Dacian war. An image related to the event, not a record made at the time.

The Dacians crossed the Danube and killed the governor of Moesia. The praetorian prefect Cornelius Fuscus, sent against King Decebalus, was killed and his army routed. In AD 88 Julianus defeated the Dacians at Tapae. After the defeat by the Marcomanni and the revolt in Germania, Domitian made peace with Decebalus in AD 89: he gave him money and craftsmen and promised to keep paying. The years are supplied by modern scholars.

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  • Image: Joe Mabel (photo), 2nd century AD, Trajan’s Column cast, Bucharest; Wikimedia Commons, public domain

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