The northwest to southeast migration of the Gothic tribes, beginning in the middle of the second century, initially caused unrest among the peoples livin g beyond the fron tiers of the em pire in the n orthern h alf of the Carpathian Basin, and then led to a bitter war one and a half decades long.
The Germanic tribes (Goths, Langobards and Vandals), who were on the move in search of a new homeland, threatened the settlement territory and the hitherto peaceful existence of the border populations. The path of their flight was blocked by the Roman Empire which forced them into a depend
ent, client relationship, but which at the same time also proved to be a wealthy neighbour.
The safety of the region was undermined by the fact that in 162, Emperor M arcus Aurelius withdrew a number of troops from the European frontier provinces — including Dacia — for deployment in the Parthian war that had broken out in the previous year. However, the skilful policy charted by the governors of these provinces postponed for some time the outbreak of hostilities in this region. The first armed conflicts in Dacia can be roughly dated to after 167 on the evidence of the coin hoard from Tib6d — the latest coin from which was minted in that year — and the latest date on a series of wax tablets (29 May, 167). These wax tablets had been carefully concealed by their owners probably on their receiving news of the war; they were never able to retrieve them. Simultaneously with the onset of armed con
flict, a num ber of administrative and military changes came into force. U n
fortunately, the exact sequence of these changes within the brief three year period cannot be reconstructed from the sparse information contained in the sources. These measures were probably adopted in the face of the crisis brought on by the war so that it is hardly probable that the best solution was found already by the first years of the war. In the second half of 167, the legio V Macedonica which had returned from the eastern campaign to Troes- m is in Dobrudja, was transferred to northern Dacia, to the military camp of Potaissa, perhaps in anticipation of an attack against Transylvania. The ad
ministrative subdivision of Dacia was also modified, with the three parts of the province becoming more strongly linked to each other between 167 and 170. They were placed under the leadership of a single governor whose official title became "legatus Augusti pro praetore Daciarum trium" (governor of the three Dacias). The names of the provinces also changed: Superior became Apulensis and Inferior was hereafter called M alvensis (probably after a settlement that has not yet been identified). These changes follow the w ell-known pattern established by naming Dacia Porolissensis: the prov
inces were named after a major settlement or town. The legionary fortress of Potaissa was linked to Dacia Apulensis.
Military activity culminated between 167 and 170. Dacia's situation was especially critical because its long frontiers had to be protected from three sides. The high military command in Rome appointed capable and experi
enced soldiers as governors and procurators in the Danubian provinces;
some of them, such as M. Claudius Fronto, who in 167 had been the gover
nor of Moesia Superior, fell in battle. The defence of the western frontier of
Dacia and Moesia Superior was eventually pulled together under one com
m and in order to check the Jazyges who mounted attacks through the TemeskOz. In 168, Fronto was entrusted with the joint governorship of both provinces and subsequently was placed at the head of the Tres Daciae. When the army of Moesia Superior was defeated and the new Moesian governor also fell on the battlefield, the province was joined to Dacia. The concen
trated Sarmatian and Germanic attacks led to a critical situation at the front:
"... After waging successful battles against the Germans and the Jazyges, and while fighting valiantly for the state, he fell in battle", states the inscrip
tion on Fronto's statue erected in Trajan's forum.23 An inscription in his honour was also erected in Sarmizegethusa.24 The danger threatening the town is described in another inscription set up in honour of Marcus Aurelius, whose troops relieved the town when it was in grave danger.25
Little is known about the eastern front in Dacia. It is assumed that only minor skirmishes took place in this area since the main enemy thrust was directed towards the south. The Costoboci and the Sarmatians bypassed Dacia and plundered Moesia Inferior before advancing into Achaia. They ransacked the Eleusinian sanctuary. Finally, the governor Cornelius Clemens defeated them with the help of a Vandal group, the Asdingi Qiasdingi) in 171 and 172.26 This event marked a decisive turn in events. Rome now at
tempted to realize her aims by diplomatic means. In a somewhat similar way, "Tarbus, a neighbouring chieftain, who had come into Dacia and was demanding money and threatening to make war if he should fail to get it"27 was also checked by Rome's allies. Certain populations were admitted into the empire who later settled in Pannonia, Moesia and Germania. This course of events reflects the ultimate wish of the belligerent barbarians to be ad
mitted behind the frontiers of the empire. The events of the ensuing year were determ ined by military actions initiated by Rome. The enemy was defeated on its own territory. The Jazyges were later granted permission by Marcus Aurelius to communicate with their kindred in the east, the Roxolani, by way of Dacia under the supervision of the governor of the province.28
The legio I Italica from Moesia Inferior was also deployed in the battles on the northern frontier of Dacia. Around 180 Marcus Aurelius' son, the emperor Commodus, led his army against the peoples, primarily the Buri (buri), living in this area. The campaign proved successful because "now that they were exhausted he [Commodus] made peace with them, receiving hostages and getting many captives from the Buri themselves, as well as fifteen thousand from the others, he compelled the others to take an oath that they would never dwell in nor use for pasture a forty-stade (five-mile) strip of their territory bordering Dacia. The same Sabinianus also, when twelve thousand of the neighbouring Dacians had been driven out of their own country and were on the point of aiding the others, dissuaded them
from their purpose, promising them that some land in our Dacia should be given them ".29
At the end of the long war, Rome restored the former system of alliances on the frontiers of the empire. The appearance and settlement of various Germanic tribes along Dacia's northern front, however, cast a shadow over the province.
The one and a half decade long war and the plague following in its wake, as well as the weakness of the military defence and the slower pace of the granting of urban autonomy compared to other provinces, again caused unrest among the provincial population under Commodus's control. The em peror's biography mentions these events briefly. In the mid-180s, "the provincials in Britain, Dacia and Germany attempted to cast off his yoke".30 The minor details are unknown but there is nothing to show that the native Dacian population participated in these movements. Similar stirrings were reported in Germania. It is possible that the Dacian legions received the epithet "pia fidelis, pia constans" at this time for their fidelity to Commodus.
The legion stationed in Apulum erected a statue to Commodus.31
In 192, Commodus was murdered and in March 193, the governor, Sep- timius Severus, was acclaimed emperor by the Pannonian legions in Car- nuntum. Together with the other Danubian provinces, the Dacian army, too, immediately recognized him as their overlord. The new emperor en
trusted the governorship of Dacia to his brother. From this point, the mili
tary detachments of the Dacian army fought on the side of Septim ius against the pretenders. Under the reign of Septimius Severus the fate of the Danubian provinces which had supported him from the outset took a turn for the better. The peaceful political situation also favoured economic prosperity.
The reconstruction of Dacia is reflected in broad grants of urban autonomy.
Severus granted autonomy to three settlements while one settlement was promoted to the rank of colonia. It would appear that grants of ius Italicum to several Dacian towns can also be dated to his reign. The territorium of towns that had received the ius Italicum were exempted from land tax.
The paucity of archaeological finds — those that do exist are, moreover, largely unpublished — does not allow a detailed reconstruction of this Seve- ran prosperity. It is nonetheless conspicuous that this prosperity appears to have been restricted to Transylvania rather than extending to the whole of Dacia. The chief beneficiaries of this prosperity were the soldiers of the two legions and of the auxiliary troops stationed in the province. The rebuilding and enlargement of various towns following the ravages of the M arcomann wars can also be attributed to this new policy of urbanization.
Dacia suffered no enemy attacks under Septimius Severus. Following the devastation of the long war, reconstruction work in the military for
tresses also began. W herever necessary, the fortifications were rebuilt in stone. It has been suggested that the Limes Transalutanus was also built at this time. Armed hostilities broke out again in 212-213 in the northern part
2 9 . Dion Cassiu s, LXXII, 3. Vettius Sabinianus was governor of Dacia.
30. SHA, vita Commodi 13. 6-6.
31. C1L III. 1172.
of Transylvania when the province was attacked by the free Dacians, the Vandals and the Carpi. After the fighting, Caracalla visited the province before setting out with his army to fight in the war raging in the eastern part of the empire.
In 218, following Caracalla's murder, the free Dacians "... after ravaging Dacia and showing an eagerness for further war, now desisted when they got back the hostages that Caracalla, under the terms of the alliance, had taken from them ".32 Few inscriptions have survived from the reign of the last Severan emperor, Alexander, although soldiers, in the spirit of the em peror cult, erected inscriptions to the emperor and his mother, Julia Mam- maea, as a token of their loyalty.