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The greatest war that the Romans had on their hands at this time was one against the Dacians. Decebalus was now king of the latter [since Douras, to whom the sovereignty belonged, had voluntarily withdrawn from it in favor of Decebalus, because] . He had a good comprehension of the rules of warfare and was good at putting them in practice, displayed sagacity in advancing, took the right moment for retreating, was an expert in ambuscades, a professional warrior, knew how to make good use of a victory and to turn a defeat to advantage. Hence he showed himself for a long time a worthy antagonist of the Romans.
I call the people Dacians, just as they name themselves and as the Romans do; but I am not ignorant that some of the Greeks refer to them as Getae, whether that is the right term or not. I myself know Getae that live along the Ister, beyond the Haemus range.
Domitian made an expedition against them, to be sure but did not enter into real conflict. [Instead, he remained in a city of Moesia, rioting, as was his wont.] (Not only was he averse to physical labor and timorous in spirit, but also most profligate and lewd toward women and boys alike). But he sent others to officer the war and for the most part he got the worst of it.
A.D. 87(?)
Decebalus, king of the Dacians, carried on negotiations with Domitian, promising him peace. Domitian sent against him Fuscus [
] with a large force. On learning of it Decebalus sent an embassy to him anew, sarcastically proposing to make peace with the emperor in case each of the Romans should choose to pay two asses as tribute to Decebalus each year; if they should not choose to do so, he affirmed that he should make war and afflict them with great ills.
A.D. 90 (a.u. 843)