Roman Annexation: Costs and Benefits of Trajan's Dacian Conquest

Abstract

The aim of this work is to create a more comprehensive methodology for the assessment of Roman annexation in order to determine whether, and under what circumstances, annexation was advantageous to Rome. In doing so, it will also demonstrate that monocausal explanations for the causes of Roman annexation can only provide a simplified, and hence flawed, assessment of causality. The scope of this work is restricted to the imperial period, and specifically the reign of the emperor Trajan (AD 98 - 117). The usefulness of the methodology presented here is not restricted to this period, nor the annexationist actions of the Romans alone. With some minor adjustments, the methodology presented can be utilised to examine any annexationist imperialist action regardless of when it occurred or who the participants were. Additionally, it will also be demonstrated that it is possible to utilise the methodology as an analytical tool to determine the likely advantage or disadvantage to be gained from a planned act of conquest. This is particularly useful for occasions where an emperor's motives for not engaging in an act of annexation are questioned.