Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
looking for works on Trajan's Dacian campaigns
#1
I am writing a novel, circa 100 to 130 AD. I want to be as accurate as possible, especially with the movement of captives, after the war.

any help will be greatly appreciated.

(Reading Mary Beard's SPQR.... it's a jolly good primer, but too wide in scope)
Reply
#2
If you're looking for a good basic primer on the military side of things, try and find a copy of Peter Connolly's The Legionary - it's intended for younger readers, but the research and illustrations are great. For more on the army of the period, books by Graham Webster, Ross Cowan and Adrian Goldsworthy should give you a good picture and some pointers for further research.

There are few decent works on the Dacian wars themselves; the older titles on the subject tend towards certain assumptions (on the size of Trajan's army, the location of battles and the course of the war) that are not very well supported by evidence.

Julian Bennet's Trajan: Optimus Princeps gives a solid view of the period. McKendrick's The Dacian Stones Speak has some info on Dacian life and culture, focussing on the period of the wars. Hanson's Roman Dacia: the making of a provincial society deals mostly with the Roman province after the conquest, but should give you some good extra material, while Ioana Oltean's Dacia: Landscape, Colonization, Romanization goes into greater detail on Dacian society and culture in a particular area.

Derek Williams's Romans and Barbarians has a chapter about the Dacian wars that gives an interesting persepective on things.

There have been quite a few discussions on here about the Dacian campaigns, mainly the military aspects. You might like to pick through these three threads:

Trajan's First Dacian War

Legions of Trajan's Dacian War

The Dacians: Romes Greatest Enemy?

EDIT - there's also an issue of Ancient Warfare Magazine dedicated to the Dacian Wars!...

And this !
Nathan Ross
Reply
#3
I'm new here on the forum and just finished reading throught the discussion links you posted. Thank you for posting them as I found them very informative. I also recently picked up a copy of Radu Oltean's book on the wars in Dacia. I have not finished reading it yet, but I will say the illustrations are very well done.

Scott
Reply


Forum Jump: