Battle (2nd) of Tapae - Dacian War help

**gamerdude873** · 06-25-2009, 04:33

I've been looking around for pics, descriptions, or ancient authors who wrote about the Dacian wars in detail, but the most i get is general descriptions. I was wondering if there was some sort of COMPREHENSIVE, detailed written work on the dacian wars i could look through, particularly about Tapae.

When i say Tapae, I mean the second battle fought (Imperator Traianus vs Decebalus). Cause i can find stuff on the first battle and what Decebalus did to those poor fellows. However, I could use some help in figuring out what kind of defences Decebalus had set up there, (something about a literal Iron Gate there, not just a figuritive name for a mountain pass? Source wasn't helpful) and figuring out why Trajan had to build a friggin road practically on the surface of some river... Wouldn't the Dacians try to stop him if Trajan was going to circumvent their defenses? I know I'm probably asking for a lot more than I know, but help is very much appreciated... btw it would really help if a map of some sort was involved, it would really help.

Ty very much for any help

**Urg** · 06-25-2009, 05:28

Maybe:

Dio Cassius Book 68

Oltean "Dacia : landscape, colonization and romanisation" (2007)

Rossi "Trajan's Column and the Dacian wars" (English Translation 1971)

Cataniciu "Evolution of the system of defence works in Roman Dacia" (English Translation 1981)

No idea if these are good.

I don't think alot is known about the battle. But I'm no expert.

**gamerdude873** · 06-25-2009, 06:32

Ty for quick response.

I don't think alot is known about the battle

I'll settle for at least some info. But I think I remember reading somewhere that Trajan actually wrote a "Daci Bello" (spelling?) as a sort of rival to Ceasars Galica Bello, but it didn't survive to present day or something. Maybe no one wrote any more on the wars in detail because they already had an eye witness account from an emperor... I hope not...

**Urg** · 06-25-2009, 08:20

Yes I think there's only a fragment (one line) remaining:

inde Berzobim, deinde Aizi processimus

I think the text is called Dacica, or maybe commentarii de bello dacico.

**gamerdude873** · 06-26-2009, 04:14

geez that sucks. One line doesn't do me a whole lota good. What rotten luck for me! If only it survived, that would have been an epic story from the high empire from one of Rome's greatest emperor's

On a side note, its kinda funny how english is so backwards. I wrote Gallica Bello instead of Bello Gallica and likewise for Dacian. No wonder why loan words always get messed up. got idiots like me screwing with em. (I mean just look at the word Emperor. How did we get that from Imperator?!!?)

**Urg** · 06-26-2009, 05:13

I think bellum gallicum is the normal way to write "gallic war", but the beautiful thing about latin is you can write it either way, so gallicum bellum is perfectly ok - unlike English which has is a very definite order to words, latin doesn't have a strict order.

So "Caesar wrote a book on the Gallic war" would usually be "Caesar a book on the Gallic war wrote" in classical Latin, but there's nothing wrong with "A book wrote on the Gallic war Caesar".

So you didn't screw it at all.