Decebalus: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Decebalus (ruled 87-106 CE) (Decebal in Romanian) was a Dacian king.

He unified the various Dacian tribes into one nation with his capital at Sarmizegetusa, organized an army and in 85 CE, he began raids against the Roman province of Moesia, located south of the Danube.

Domitian decided to send his prefect of the Praetorian Guards, Cornelius Fuscus, to punish and conquer the Dacians, but the two Roman legions sent were defeated.

Another attack on Dacia, in 88, was successful, but revolts of the Germans on the Rhine required the military force of Moesia, and the Romans were forced to pay large sums of money to the Dacians for maintaining peace in this region.

Decebalus was defeated by the Romans when they invaded Dacia in 102, but he was left as a client king under a Roman protectorate. Three years later, Decebalus destroyed the Roman troops in Dacia, and the Romans were forced to send reinforcements.

After a long siege of Sarmizegetusa and a long battle, the Romans conquered Dacia. The battle is described in Trajan's Column. After his army was defeated, rather than being captured as a prisoner by the Roman soldiers, Decebalus committed suicide.

His real name was Diurpaneus, but after the victorious wars of 84-85 against the Romans, he was named "Decebalus", probably meaning "the strength of the Dacians" (as "balus" is derived from the Indo-European root *bal meaning strength and "Dece" appears to be a plural genitive of "Daci", meaning "of the Dacians").