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Dacian timeline

A line of time, with the source for every date

This is the written version of the timeline. You will find the interactive version, with the timeline that scrolls, in the Timeline, and the places on the Atlas; the wars, step by step, are in Battlefield. The dates below are those most often met in works of history; where they are debated, we say so.

The first written account of the Getae, in Herodotus
The 5th century BC
The year Dacia became a Roman province
106
The year Trajan’s Column was inaugurated
113

Before the kingdom

  • Fifth century BC: Herodotus writes about the Getae, “the bravest and most just of the Thracians”, and about their belief in Zalmoxis.
  • Fifth century BC: the ring of Ezerovo (Bulgaria) bears a Thracian text written in the Greek alphabet.

The kingdom of Burebista

  • About 82–44 BC: the reign of Burebista, according to Strabo; the kingdom extends over a large territory.
  • 44 BC: Caesar was planning a campaign against the Dacians (Suetonius); he is killed, and Burebista disappears from the sources at the same time.

Domitian and Decebalus

  • 85–89: the war with Domitian; Cornelius Fuscus falls in 86 or 87 (the date is debated).
  • 88: the battle of Tapae, won by Tettius Julianus.
  • 89: the peace, with a Dacian kingdom recognised by Rome.

Trajan’s two wars

  • 101–102: the first war, with battles at Tapae; Decebalus asks for peace.
  • 105–106: the second war; Sarmizegetusa Regia is conquered in 106.
  • 106: Decebalus takes his own life, and Dacia becomes a Roman province.

After the conquest

  • 109: the monument at Adamclisi (Tropaeum Traiani) is inaugurated.
  • 113: Trajan’s Column is inaugurated, in Rome.
  • Eutropius writes that Trajan brought colonies of people from all over the empire.

What we know

  • The succession of the wars of 85–89, 101–102, 105–106 and the year 106.
  • The existence of Burebista and of Decebalus in the ancient sources.

What is debated

  • The exact dates of the first war with Domitian (85, 86 or 87).
  • The beginning and the end of the reign of Burebista, known only approximately.

Sources

  • Herodotus, Histories, IV, 93–96 (the oldest written account of the Getae)
  • Strabo, Geography, VII, 3 (Burebista and Deceneus)
  • Suetonius, Divus Iulius, 44 (Caesar’s plan against the Dacians)
  • Cassius Dio, Roman History, LXVII and LXVIII (the wars with Domitian and with Trajan)
  • Eutropius, Breviarium, VIII, 6 (the colonisation of Dacia)
  • Trajan’s Column, Rome, inaugurated in 113 (the image of the wars)

Text written by Explore Dacia on the basis of the sources above; claims are attributed to their authors.