Dacian Military Equipment and Technology

Abstract

Often overlooked by modern authors as a serious threat to the Roman army, the forces of the Dacian king Decebalus posed a genuine concern to Rome. Trajan's reaction to the continued Dacian incursions into Roman territory demonstrates how this threat was perceived. It is the intention of this article to examine Dacian military equipment and technology, and the Roman reaction to the Dacians, to determine how significant a threat the Romans may have thought these opponents posed on the battlefield.