Rome's Antic History (vol. IV) of Th. Mommsen shows that Julius Caesar was prepared to attack the "Danubian wolves", being obsessed by the idea of the destruction of the non-Roman religious centers, which represented major obstacles for the Roman colonization.
During the summertime of the year 87 A.D., Domitianus sent his troops into an attempt to conquer Dacia, especially for its gold and silver mines from the Western Carpathians. The Romans crossed the Danube River on an improvised vessel-made bridge. The Dacian warriors managed to ambush them within the extremely narrow mountain pass of Tapae (now Transylvania’s Iron Gates) and to draw a great victory over the invaders. The Roman legion called “Aludae” was totally destroyed, its military insignias captured and its commander-in-chief, veteran General Cornelius Fuscus was killed on the battlefield. The commander of the Dacians was Diurpaneus, a “tarabostes” that became the king after this victory. He became the famous legendary Dacian king named Decebalus meaning Lord (bal) of Dacia (Dece).
Trajan became the emperor of Rome and, because the empire was going through an economic crisis, he wanted to conquer Dacia for its richness. Then, the Roman army attacked Dacia, the final battle being at Tapae, again, where Decebalus lost the peace and he was forced to surrender in 102. Then they made peace, which wasn’t very favorable for Dacia, so Decebalus was preparing for another war. The cause of the second war was the violation of the peace. After Trajan heard this he put Appolodor from Damasc build a stone bridge above the Danubius (the Danube River) for the war.
The bridge was situated East from the Iron Gates nearby the present-day cities Drobeta Turnu Severin (Romania) and Kladovo (Serbia). For more than a thousand years, it was the longest arch bridge in the world to have been built. The structure was 1,135 m in length, 15m in width and 19m in height. Apollodorus of Damascus used wooden arches set on twenty masonry pillars. The bridge was destroyed by Aurelian when the Romans left Dacia. In 1856, when the Danube hit a very low level , you could still see the twenty pillars. You can still find one of the feet of the bridge in Dobreta Turnu Severin. This bridge is now considered a Monument of Culture of Exceptional importance.
The Dacians repulsed the first attack, but the Romans destroyed all the water resources of the capital and then they ignited Dacia. A large part of the country between Carpathian Mountains (Transylvanian Alps) and the Danube River, together with a part of Transylvania, were conquered by the Romans. The scenes representing the conquest of Dacia are represented on the Trajan’s Column from Rome. To celebrate the conquest of Dacia, Trajan ordered the longest festivities that ever took place in Rome. The celebrations lasted for 123 days, while in a year there were only 66 days of festivities. It was perhaps the most magnificent spectacle of ancient Rome. With the huge amounts of gold taken from Dacia, Trajan erected impressive buildings: Basilica Ulpia and Trajan’s Column.
At the end of these two wars, Dacia had been transformed into a Roman province.
