Battle of Gatae
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Gatae was an engagement fought in roughly 103
AD
during the Roman Emperor
Trajan
's war with the kingdom of Dacia
.
There is no serious historical evidence giving an exact place or time to the battle, nor any troop positions, numerical statistics, casualties, or much of anything of that nature. It is not even fully understood if the battle was in of itself a major engagement or merely a small battle or even a large skirmish. Dio Cassius
gives a minor mention of the battle, but it is a mere mention.
It is understood that this battle did however somehow break the back of the Dacian army and allow the Roman Legions to make serious tactical headway. However, Decebalus
, king of Dacia, managed to secure a peace before the capital of Sarmizegetusa was captured.
103
Year 103 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Traianus and Maximus...
AD
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
during the Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
's war with the kingdom of Dacia
Dacia
In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...
.
There is no serious historical evidence giving an exact place or time to the battle, nor any troop positions, numerical statistics, casualties, or much of anything of that nature. It is not even fully understood if the battle was in of itself a major engagement or merely a small battle or even a large skirmish. Dio Cassius
Dio Cassius
Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek...
gives a minor mention of the battle, but it is a mere mention.
It is understood that this battle did however somehow break the back of the Dacian army and allow the Roman Legions to make serious tactical headway. However, Decebalus
Decebalus
Decebalus or "The Brave" was a king of Dacia and is famous for fighting three wars and negotiating two interregnums of peace without being eliminated against the Roman Empire under two emperors...
, king of Dacia, managed to secure a peace before the capital of Sarmizegetusa was captured.