Publisher's Synopsis
Dacia is a mysterious country. It is said the Dacians are wild and dangerous, allied with the Carpathian wolves. Sometimes the warriors descend from the mountains and cross the old Danuvius river to raid the south eastern Roman provinces. People fear the mountain Dacians.
It is the end of summer 86 AC when Alexios, the well respected trader from Histria decides against all odds to leave the Greek settlement at the shore of Pontus Euxinus (today's Black Sea) and head for the northern mountains taking up an offer made by the Great Priest of the Dacians. He had always dreamed about travelling north to the unknown and feared Dacian mountains but he had given up his dreams when he married his master's daughter and settled in the comfortable life of a Greek trader. His life never brought him real happiness and when his wife takes her own life, he sees himself facing the responsibility of raising alone his twins, Silias and Ariane, four at the time. His second wife brings him even less happiness and when she leaves him to return to her own people, he decides to leave Histria and take his now 17 years old children with him. The path to another life is hard and they encounter many dangers, people, beasts and their own weakness. But they manage to arrive to the destination and find out their happiness awaits among the Dacian people. They meet chieftains and simple soldiers, noblemen and servants, warriors and kings. But most of all they get to meet Ataraxes, the young commander of the Dacian army and end up following him.
In the meantime the Roman Emperor Domitian decides to conquer Dacia. With its own treasury depleted by the Persian wars Domitian is convinced that a victory against the Dacians would bring him fame and fortune. He deploys five legions on the banks of the Danuvius and orders general Cornelius Fuscus to take Dacia.
Ataraxes devices a cunning plan to defend his land. His friend and ally, the Buri chieftain Strukon helps him and together they lure the Romans into the large Banat Valley. There the Dacians manage to sidetrack the first legion, Alaudae, led by Fuscus himself and block it in a narrow side valley. They annihilate it completely and kill general Fuscus. The rest of the army, frozen, scared and under continuous attack finally surrenders in misery and humiliation.
General Ataraxes returns in glory to the Dacian capital, Sarmisegetusa. On the stairs of the royal residence Vezina, the Great Priest welcomes him and hands him the crown of the kingdom. Ataraxes promises to do everything for his people and even die for them if the gods will. The crowd cheers its new king and gives it the name "Decebal", "The Brave".
