Battle of Sarmizegetusa

Battle of Sarmizegethusa
Part of the Dacian Wars
Date 106 Location Transylvania, Romania Result Decisive Roman victory, part of Dacia annexed to the Roman Empire
Belligerents
Dacia	Roman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Decebalus	Trajan
Strength
18,000-20,800	unknown

The Battle of Sarmizegetusa (also spelled Sarmizegethusa) was a siege of Sarmizegetusa, the capital of Dacia, fought in 106 between the army of the Roman Emperor Trajan, and the Dacians led by King Decebalus.

Because of the threat the Dacians represented to the Roman Empire's eastward expansion, in the year 101 Emperor Trajan made the decision to begin a campaign against them. The first conflict began on March 25 and the Roman troops, consisting of four principal legions, the units X Gemina, XI Claudia, II Traiana Fortis and XXX Ulpia Victrix, defeated the Dacians, and it thus ended in Roman victory.

Although the Dacians had sustained a defeat during the First Dacian War, the emperor postponed the final assault on their capital of Sarmizegetusa to reorganize his troops. Trajan demanded severe concessions from the Dacians and very hard peace conditions: Decebalus, the Dacian king, had to renounce all claims to portions of his kingdom, including Banat, Tara Haţegului, Oltenia, and Muntenia in the region south-west of Transylvania. He also had to surrender all Roman deserters his troops had captured, as well as the Dacian war machines. Upon returning to Rome, Trajan was welcomed as victorious leader, and in honor of his triumph he took the name of Dacicus, a title that appears on his coinage of this period.

However, during the years 103–105, Decebalus did not respect the peace conditions imposed by Trajan, and in retaliation the Emperor prepared to annihilate the Dacian kingdom and finally conquer Sarmizegetuza. The siege of Sarmizegetuza took place in the summer of the year 106. It is estimated that the Dacians most likely had fewer than 20,000 men capable of fighting the invasion.

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