Interactive history :The second dacian war

[Gurkhal]

I agree that 1. is probably the "best" alternative. Although I really just see many different bad ones. When deciding whenever to waste time or soliders I do honestly belive that time is the more precious at the moment. Thus lets attack and finish them off before they can entrench themselves even further. Perhaps (although highly unlikly) we may find something of use in the fort. Or else a boost to morale (although a losse of it if we fail).

Hopefully the number of Roman lapdogs inside the fort won't be to high. It's all in Zamolxis' hands...

[Rodion Romanovich]

I also think no. 1 will be the best idea. Time is crucial if we are to attack a fort so close to where other romans could be assembling. Waiting any longer would mean certain defeat, kidnapping Longinus would probably not achieve too much. So assaulting quickly before nearby romans can react seems like the only suitable alternative. It's interesting to reason about what the decapitated soldiers mean. Are the romans trying to make us lose discipline and attack in rage to fight a battle we can't win and take crucial losses, or a method of scaring us from attacking, because they in reality have a very small force inside the fort and expect to lose if attacked? I think the latter is more likely, because 200,000 romans wouldn't have enough reason to fear a 30,000 man large dacian force at Sarmizegetusa to think it necessary to try and get a crucial engagement here. Rather, I think it means they're too weak to withstand a proper assault launched quickly enough to not give time for romans nearby to come to their aid. And if we win here, we have the advantage of perhaps being able to block the Drobeta Danube crossing, which would be extremely good for delaying the romans, seeing as it's their best path for sending supplies to a roman army in dacian lands.

[Rex_Pelasgorum]

V SIEGE OF TIBISCUM (January 106)

Listening to the advice of Decebalus, the dacians went into the nearby forests, cut down large trees, and made ladders to climb the walls of the roman fort. Even a ram has been made, covered whith thick anymal skin, howewer it was just a simple wooden ram, it would need lots of eforts to break the roman gate.

The evening closed in, and the dacian army headed towards the roman fort, marching under the mighty banner of the Dracones. From the distance, the dacians could see the romans, which already have signalled the alarm. On all the nearby hills and mountains, fires have been lighted up, sending huge columns of black smoke into the air.

The Dacians, alligned themselfes in battle against the fort, stood and prayed to Zamolxis for victory... may the blade of Heron the knight struck down the
roman infidels !

In theyr turn, the romans mocked them, and started shouting to the dacians bad words and insults in latin, a language that most of the dacians already understood. The roman troops seem to be not very numerous, composed of about 3 to 400 legionaries, and more auxiliary troops of archers, mostly from Palmyra, some Ubians taken from the shores of the Rhine, and some Slingers brought from Iberia and the Balearic Islands.

The assault started in all directions against the fort.The dacians , despising death, went whith theyr ladders against the wall, despite the rain of missiles unsleashed by the romans. Meanwhile, the ram closed slowly to the roman gate, under a hail of flaming arrows.

"The ladders are at the walls", shouted the dacian tarabostes ! The brave dacian man, covering theyr head whith shields, started climbing them, howewer many did fell, either struck by the romans, either screaming burned by the hot water pured down by the desperate romans.

Angrily, Decebalus cried to its troops:
"The one who takes this walls for me shall know its part from the Treasure of Sarmizegetusa !"

Hearing this, a brave dacian man named Bicilis Singidavensis, because he was from Singidava, took up its sword and shield, and climbed the ladders, followed by many more dacians whishing to have the promised gold.

Carefully, Bicilis avoided the roman missiles, and managed to climb the wall, followed by many more dacians. Battle erupted now on the walls of the roman castrum, while the ram finally managed to break the gate. Hundereds of dacians poured in.

Suddenly, the romans dropped theyr weapons, and Cnaeus Pompeius Longinus cried out in latin:
"Whe shall surrender"

In the general noise, the dacians and the romans continued their fighings for a moment, but when they saw Cnaeus whith his sword put down, they all stopped the fighting.

Diegis, acompanied by two dacians tarabostes , entered in the camp , saw cnaeus and said to him:
"Will the mighty roman eagle surrender that easyly to the dacian wolf?"
"The cubs may surrender, but what about the wolf when the great eagle shall come to strike his nest and avenge his cubs?" answered boldly Longinus

Diegis did not answer.

A few moments later, Decebalus came in the fort... "Let us decide now the fate of the prisoniers and the fate of Longinus !"

1) Kill everybody
a) just kill them
b) behead them and send theyr head to Trajan
c) send some man whith theyr bodyes to Drobeta, and impale them in order for the romans to be horiffied.

2) Kill only the roman prisoniers and spare Longinus:
a) just kill them
b) behead them and send theyr heads to Trajan
c) send some man whith theyr bodyes to Drobeta, and impale them in order for the romans to be horiffied.

3) Kill only Longinus and spare the roman prisoniers:
a) just kill him
b) behead him and send his head to Trajan
c) send some man whith his body to Drobeta, and impale him in order for the romans to be horiffied.

IV) Dont kill any of the prisoniers, bring them to the camp and decide better upon theyr fate at the meeting of the tarabostes, the dacian nobles.

P.S: more and more complicated decisions will come in the next turns... plan carefully...

[GiantMonkeyMan]

hmm...
are any of the auxillaries slightly disloyal to Rome? would any of them join us without later betraying us?

anyway i think that we should kill the legionaires definately, keep Longinus prisoner for barter later, and if possible recruit the auxillaries for our own cause, if not kill them as well. so basically 2a. Sending a few heads or disfigured bodies is not going to scare off a 200,000 strong army, if anything it would anger them further to commit such atrocities to our own troops in the future.

[Gurkhal]

I think that IV is the way to go. We shouldn't provoce the Romans into retaliation actions by send heads of implaing their comrades, their retaliation would also most likly to be directed towards civilians and future captured Dacians so I don't think they'd make any rash moves like that. Thus we shouldn't kill anybody, not yet. They did surrender fairly easily, so a bit of "over-mercy" might be in place to hopefully encourage future Romans to surrender quickly in a hopeless position rather than fight to the end.

Having a few hundred Roman prisioners, including legioneries as well as a Roman nobleman might also be a fine prize to show to our nobles and possibly allies against the Romans. And as I said: we can always kill the prisoners later if such should be necissery.

[Rodion Romanovich]

I also think IV is the best. The romans know how to use propaganda, and unnecessary cruelty benefits them more than us at this stage. Not killing them would also give us more options in the future, we can always kill them later. But killing should be avoided, because those who surrender must be rewarded, if we want romans in the future to be likely to surrender. What should be done now is probably to send the prisoners to some appropriate place in Sarmizegetusa where they can be held, but have guards who are ready to kill them at the slightest sign of any enemy approaching to try and free them. As for the roman auxiliaries, offer them a chance to join our side with good wage and free right to pillage any roman soldiers they kill or any roman city they raid if they join the dacian forces. For those who refuse, keep them prisoners under the same conditions as the roman legionaries - kill them if the romans advance too far and threaten to be able to free them. If possible in the future we should find a way to play on the card that the romans let the auxilia do all the dirty work while the legions are staying back, like at the battle of Tapae, but I see no such possibility at present.

[Rex_Pelasgorum]

SOME HISTORICALL INFO (take it like commercials in a TV show )

A little history !

I tried to make the story as plausible as it is possible. I am very curious about its outcome. Up to this moment, believe it or not, things happened in the same way as in real history : The dacians stormed the iazigii, but did not attacked panonia. The differences start in the story of Longinus. Altough Tibiscum was assaulted and taken, Longinus was captured trough threachery.

In the story, it is still winter. Many interesting things will come until the late spring, as i will insert and adapt to the story some really interesting plots from the history. Trajanus did not attack only but in the late spring. The reasons are obvious... to avoid snow, and bad weather which probably made him withrdraw in the first war, when he was just at the gates of Sarmizegetusa.

The ruins of Sarmizegetusa, altough very little known to the world,are in the list of the World Heritage by UNESCO. The city was located at around 1000-1200 meters above sea level, deep in the mountains of Sureanu, together whith many more other fortresses. Sarmizegetusa was more of a religious center, whith a unique calendar and a temple complex. The fortress Sarmizegetusa, altough defended by solide walls, it was not ment to be a military settlement, as it was not that strong compared to the neighbouring fortresses. In an around it, lived aproximately 25-50 000 people, in terasses, across the mountains. You can ask yourselfs how this man made a living at such a high altitude where snow is around 6 months/year... they did manage to make a living theyr, carving those terasses in the hillsides. They could practice agriculture, or growing out sheeps (traditional practice).A complex system of canalization (hundred of kilometers of clay pipes), brought fresh water to the theyr houses and the settlements.Some of them still work (i visited the area this summer).

Historically, the romans advanced on 5 columns , whith ~200 000 men. The major column attacked at Drobeta, went to Ad Mehadiam, Tibiscum, Agnaviae, Tapae, then straight to Sarmizegetusa. The other columns crossed the Danube at 4 different points, using pontoon bridges or boats, following other directions, invading the centre of Dacia (Transilvania), trough all the known passes of the Carpathians.

The dacian fortresses , built whith the assistance of greek and roman engineers, where very strong, as they where located on the hilltops, but had one major flaw : they lacked water ! In rainy months, this was not much of a problem as they had water collecting system, but in the summer months it prooved to be critical. This, the threachery and the might of Trajanus led to the demise of the Dacian state in august 106, when the last pockets of resistance where whiped out, and king Decebalus commited suicide to avoide beeing captured by the romans alive and humiliated.

In 106, the independence of Dacia ended, forever. It was a terrible blow from which the dacians never recovered. A new chapter started in the dacian history which would radically change the dacian culture: the romanization.