ter on Roumania, and if
he were alive to-day he would be surprised to hear that there is a
school of modern historians who, using his very authorities, deny that
the descendants of the Daco-Roman colonists were ever to be found on
Dacian ground during the incursions of the eastern barbarians. But of
that more hereafter.[101]

The history of the Roman occupation of Dacia, which lasted from the time
of Trajan until it was evacuated by Aurelian,[102] affords little to
interest the reader. Dacia was, so to speak, the outwork of the Empire
which served to hold the barbarians at bay during its 'decline and
fall;' and the country was more prosperous than during the period of its
independence, when the tribes were constantly at war with one another
and there was no settled government. That the attitude of the barbarians
was threatening even a few years after the death of Trajan is, however,
more than probable, for his immediate successor, Hadrian, contemplated
withdrawing his legions, and destroyed the bridge across the Danube, 118
or 120 A.D. Some writers, indeed, attribute this act to his
jealousy of Trajan, others to his hatred of Apollodorus, the architect;
but most probably the cause assigned by Dion Cassius, that it was to
prevent its being used by the barbarians for making inroads into Moesia,
was the true one.[103] During the reigns of Antoninus Pius and Marcus
Aurelius for about half a century, the barbarians were kept in check,
although even during that period they had managed to encroach upon the
Roman territory.

At the beginning of the third century, however, the Roman hold on Dacia
began to be very precarious, and we approach the time when the dark veil
of the so-called barbarian ages is drawn over the history of Europe.
That the Roman emperors had to contend, with very varying fortunes, with
barbarous tribes is certain, and that their arms were still frequently
successful is proved by the erection of fortresses and towns, named
after their emperors, on the borders of their possessions. For example,
Caracalla defeated certain barbarous hordes about A.D. 212, and
assumed the name of 'Geticus,' but whether the conquered tribes were
Dacians or Goths is uncertain.

A few years later the Quadi and Marcomanni made inroads into Western
Dacia, but they were held in check by the proconsul Varus, who built a
tower or fort in close proximity to Trajan's bridge, of which the ruins
are still visible to travellers on the Dan