This articlerelies largely or entirely on asingle source. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Battle of Adamclisi" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2020)

Battle of Adamclisi
Part of theDacian Wars
Date Winter 102 Location Adamclisi,Dobruja,Romania 44°05′00″N27°57′00″E / 44.083333°N 27.95°E /44.083333; 27.95 Result Roman victory
Belligerents
Dacia and itsRoxolani and GermanicBastarnae allies	Roman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Decebalus	Trajan (WIA)[1]
Strength
Around 15,000 Sarmatians, Germanic Bastarnae and Dacians[citation needed]	50,000 soldiers
Casualties and losses
The vast majority of the army	Most of the army
class=notpageimage| Location within Romania Show map of Romania Battle of Adamclisi (Black Sea) Show map of Black Sea Battle of Adamclisi (Europe without the extreme north) Show map of Europe without the extreme north

TheBattle of Adamclisi was a major clash during theDacian Wars, fought in the winter of 101 to 102 between theRoman Empire and theDacians nearAdamclisi, in modernRomania.

After the victory ofThird Battle of Tapae, EmperorTrajan decided to wait until spring to continue his offensive onSarmizegetusa, the capital ofDacia. TheDacian kingDecebalus benefited from this, and made out a plan along with the neighboring allied tribes of theRoxolans andBastarnae, to attack south of theDanube, in theRoman province ofMoesia, in an attempt to force the Romans to leave their positions in the mountains near Sarmizegetusa.^[2]

TheDacian army, together with theRoxolani and theBastarnae, crossed the frozenDanube but, because the weather was not cold enough, the ice broke under their weight, causing many to die in the frozen water.

Trajan moved his army from the mountains, following the Dacians into Moesia. A first battle was fought at night somewhere near the town ofNicopolis, a battle with few casualties on either side and with no crucial result. However, as the Romans received reinforcements, they were able to corner the Dacio-Sarmatian army.

The decisive battle was fought at Adamclisi, a difficult battle for both the Dacians and the Romans. Even though the outcome of the battle was a decisive Roman victory, both sides suffered very heavy casualties.

After the battle, Trajan advanced toSarmizegetusa, Decebalus requesting a truce. Trajan agreed to the peace offerings. This time the peace was favorable to theRoman Empire: Decebalus must yield the territories occupied by the Roman army, and he must give back to the Romans all the weapons and war machines received after 89, when the Romans under Domitian were forced to pay an annual gift to the Dacians.

Decebalus was obliged to reconsider his foreign policies, and “to have friends and enemies the friends and enemies of the Roman Empire”, as described byDio Cassius.

After the conquest of Dacia following the 105–106 war, Trajan built theTropaeum Traiani atAdamclisi in 109, in memory of the battle. On the Tropaeum Traiani monument was a frieze comprising 54metopes.^[3]

• Dacian warfare
• Capidava

• Biblioteca Dacica
• Enciclopedia Dacica
• [1]
• La colonne d'Adamclisi ou le trophée de Trajan(in French)La colonne d'Adamclisi en photos

• Battles involving the Roman Empire
• 102
• Trajan's Dacian Wars
• Battles involving Dacia
• History of Dobruja
• 101

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles needing additional references from May 2020
• All articles needing additional references
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from February 2012
• Articles with French-language sources (fr)