Trajan's Second Dacian War
conflict between the Romans and the Dacians (105-106)
Trajan's Second Dacian War was fought between 105 and 106 because the Dacian king, Decebalus, had broken his peace terms with the Roman Emperor Trajan from the Trajan's First Dacian War.
Before the War
Following his subjugation, Decebalus complied with Rome for a time, but was soon inciting revolt among tribes against them.
Before the start of the 2nd war, Trajan had built his great bridge over the Danube to move his legions faster into Dacia.
War
Roman plans for the war led to a well-planned counter-attack led by Decebalus and numerous Roman fortified positions in Wallachia were occupied or besieged by the Dacians, as were those along the Danube. After several failed attempts, Decebalus managed to get the governor of the newly occupied territories (Gnaeus Pompeius Longinus, one of the top Roman commanders in 104) to meet him, promising that he would do whatever demanded. However, when Longinus arrived the Dacian king had him arrested and interrogated about Trajan's plans; when Longinus refused to answer, Decebalus had him imprisoned. The king then offered Trajan to trade Longinus for the territory Trajan had conquered and the money Decebalus had spent on the war. An ambiguous answer was returned, so as not to cause Decebalus to believe that Trajan regarded Longinus as either of great importance or of slight importance so as to prevent his being killed or being returned on excessive terms. Meanwhile Longinus committed suicide to deny any advantage to the Dacian king.
The work of reconquest led Trajan to spend the entire summer of 105 there and prevented him from starting a new invasion campaign in Dacian territory before the following year.
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