nd clothed them in armour, which so terrified the
soldiers as to stay their progress. According to another account he cut
the trees through their trunks but allowed them to stand, and when the
Romans attempted to force their way through with their engines of war,
the trees fell on them and killed them. Whether it was the difficulty
encountered by the Roman general in attempting to cope with his warlike
enemy in his mountains and forests, where the arts of war as practised
by the former were not so readily applicable as in the plains, or the
more probable circumstance that Domitian had been unsuccessful in an
expedition against two other tribes, the Quadi and Marcomanni, and
needed the support of Julianus, certain it is that the overtures of
Decebalus were at length received favourably, and a peace was concluded
with him in the year 90, which was less favourable to the victors than
to the conquered. Decebalus refused to treat in person with the Roman
general, but sent one of his chiefs (some historians say his brother),
with whom the conditions were arranged. According to Roman accounts
Decebalus restored the Roman prisoners, acknowledged the supremacy of
Domitian, and accepted sovereignty at his hands. It subsequently
transpired, however, that this was not the whole treaty, and that
Domitian agreed to pay the Dacian king an annual tribute, and to send
him a number of skilled artificers to teach him the art of constructing
works and fabricating arms upon the Roman model. Domitian then
celebrated a triumph, which was however made a subject of ridicule by
those who were aware of the actual result of the expedition.

We now approach a crisis in the history of Dacia. During the short reign
of Nerva nothing was undertaken against the country, and Decebalus
continued to harass and annoy the Romans in Moesia until Trajan (who had
been adopted by Nerva) ascended the throne (A.D. 98).

This emperor at once began preparations for putting an end to his
humiliating relations with Decebalus and his people, and although there
have been many conjectures concerning his motives and intentions, there
can be little doubt that his object was eventually, if not immediately,
to incorporate Dacia with his empire. Already in the reign of some of
his predecessors the construction of a military road along the right or
south bank of the Danube had been proceeding, and the first operation of
Trajan was to hasten the completion of this road for the