Eldritch Rome: A Brief History
Dacian Wars (101, 105)
The Dacian Wars are by far the most significant recent event, overshadowing the early years of Trajan's reign (which were marked by relative peace and stability). The Dacians have been plaguing the Empire for almost fifteen years now with border raids, and although a truce was established in AD 88, the citizens saw it as unsatisfactory, giving the Dacians far too much freedom along the north-eastern borders of the Empire. Trajan went on a first campaign in 101, achieved victory, and the Dacian king Decebalus threw himself down before the Emperor, agreed to be his vassal and never wrong him again. Trajan, in his beneficience, spared Decebalus' life - but the traitor was back to raiding Roman towns in the Danube region within a year. So Trajan went on a second campaign in 105, crossed the Danube with his army by means of a marvelous bridge built by Apollodorus of Damascus, and crushed the Dacian forces.
The outcome of the war was glorious for Rome and extremely bloody for the Dacians: not only was Decebalus (along with his high command and court) outright killed, but so were many of the soldiers and even civilians among the Dacian people. Corpses covered the battlefields, villages burned, and the few Dacians who stayed alive were taken back to Rome as slaves, their culture, their gods eradicated by the might of the Empire. Gold flowed along with blood: Emperor Trajan discovered Decebalus' hidden treasure, many THOUSANDS of tons of gold, and brought it to Rome. The spoils of war not only paid for the campaign, they allowed the emperor to announce a lavish triumphal celebration, to last almost four months and bring gladiators, wild animals, dancers, mock battles and other forms of entertainment to the Roman people. The celebration has just recently begun...
Nabbatean War
There are talks of a just-started campaign against the Nabbatean Kingdom in Western Arabia, but they are rather far from Rome and have slipped into the background of the massive victory celebrations tied to the Dacian wars.
