Dacian stories

Burebista, the King of Kings

Dacians had many enemies who oftentimes pillaged their lands: they stole their sheep, their grain, they burnt their towns and villages. Anytime a Dacian cheiftan tried to resist the enemy he was easily defeated and taken prisoner. Even Burebista almost lost his life in one such battle. These enemies were a terrible burden on the dacians. Seeing this, Burebista summoned all the Dacian chieftains and said: " If we want peace and quiet, we need to unite. Make a big country. A strong army. Build stone fortresses." Some leaders agreed and said: We will follow your advice, Burebista, but lead us to victory." Others declined : " Before we listen to you, we'd rather make peace with the enemy. We'll pay them tribute and they will leave us alone. " Two years after this, the enemy invaded Dacia. They had heard that Burebista had united most of the Dacians, but they still believed that they could defeat him and take away the spoils. What did Burebista do? He met their army halfwat to the river Nistru and stopped their charge. With another part of his army he encircled them. He took a lot of his enemies prisoners. He caught three Dacian leaders who had betrayed him by joining the enemy army. "Have you discovered that by staying united we can overcome? " "Yes, we have, please forgive us." "I would forgive you, but treason is the worst crime. I will let the people decide your fate." Burebista forgave a lot of enemies, letting them return to their countries, after they swore never to raise their weapons against Dacia. The people sentenced the traitors to death. So, with wisdom, determination, courage and justice, Burebista established Dacia, Romania's motherland, two thousand years ago. Don't forget, Burebista is our ancestor. He united the Dacians, built Dacia as a free country. And he defended her against any force.

Decebalus, the Dacian Hero

Decebalus was the most important king of the Dacians after Burebista. He too strengthened Dacia with fortresses and armies. Now, there was a new enemy: the Roman Empire. The Dacians fought the Romans many times. The Romans wanted to conquer Dacia at any cost. In the begining the Dacians emerged victorious. When the Roman Emperor sent a big army against Decebalus, the latter summoned his troups and faced him. He sent emissaries to ask the roman general to return home to his own riches and let the Dacians live freely in their country. But the roman general rejected his offer. He was arogant for he had won many hard battles before. Decebalus knew this and he tried to outsmart him. He retreated towards the mountains and let the roman general advance on the river Olt with his well equipped army. When the romans were in a tight spot, he attacked them and took many prisoners. Seeing the danger, the roman general asked Decebalus to fight alone and decide the battle. Decebalus replied:" I would gladly fight , I am not afraid of death. But I cannot fight beneath my rank. If your emperor will fight me then I will accept immediately. I will send you Duras, my bravest general. Fight him and if you are victorious then you are free to return to your empire with your people. " Still the Roman general refused to fight a Dacian general. He yelled: "I am a Roman general! I will not fight just anybody. " Seeing this Decebalus thought: " I would rather fight him then lose more soldiers in battle, even though I am a king and he is a general." So he did. After many sword strikes, Decebalus defeated the general. He did not kill him but said: " I will spare your life, now command your army off my country." The roman general returned with his men. But the Emperor was furious and sentenced him to death. Then the romans left Dacia. Decebalus' victory worried the Roman Emperor. And for a while, he gave up his plans to conquer Dacia. Later, when Trajan became Emperor, the wars started again.....


The story of the beautiful Dochia

Decebalus had a sister called Dochia. She was young, brave and beautiful. When the roman emperor saw her, he fell in love with Dochia. He said: " I saw you bravely defend your citadel of Sarmisegetuza. Now that I've defeated your brother Decebalus and I have conquered Dacia and the war is over, I want you to come with me to Rome. You will live in riches and praises, in my wonderful palace." "Thank you, emperor, said Dochia. I admire your bravery and kindness. But I cannot go to Rome." Why?" "Because I am Decebalus' sister. And he killed himself so that he wouldn't be your prisoner. No matter how beautiful your castle is, I would still be a slave in it. There are many Dacian girls more beautiful than me; if you want, you and your romans should marry them and make a new people, brave as us and great as you are. I will not leave, I want to be buried in the sacred earth of Dacia. " The Roman Emperor listened to her advice. But soon he learned that Dochia had taken a flock of sheep and went to live in the mountains. He was very angry. He wanted Dochia to be his trophy in his triumph chariot in Rome. He took some men and went searching for her. He wandered for days and weeks and found her among the peaks of the Ceahlau mountains. She was watching her sheep feed on a pasture with white, red and blue flowers. "Dochia, he said, you will not escape me now, I am taking you with me!" "No, emperor! I would rather die like my brother Decebalus than become a slave." "I only mean well, you will live like a queen in riches!" "If you want my happiness then leave me in my country, in Dacia." "I will kidnap you then and take you by force!" And he signaled his men to catch her. Frightened, Dochia, raised her hands towards the sky and whispered: "Even if I were to become stone, I want to stay in my country!" Suddenly, the beautiful Dochia and all her sheep became stones, thrusted in the mountain. Trajan was stunned. He said:" I can't help it. The Dacians, men and women are tied to their country as rock and stone. I have to listen to Dochia's advice and bring more romans here." And so, he returned to Rome. Even today, on Ceahlau mountain you can see a tall stone, like a shepherdess and around her a dozen smaller rocks scattered on the field like sheep. For hundreds of years, Romanians call these rocks "Old Dochia and her sheep."

from Stories from History for children and students