Time Commanders s2e8 Battle of Sarmizegethusa 1/5

Sarmizegethusa Due to 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. 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 very hard peace conditions: Decebalus had to renounce all claims to portions of his kingdom, including Banat, Tara Hategului, 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 103105, 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 less than 20,000 men capable of fighting the invasion.