Very soon after he became emperor, Trajan turned his gaze to Dacia, a kingdom stretched and rich, with a strategic position, at north of the Danube, which Roman Empire had failed to conquer it until then. One of the most important battles of the war which followed took place in the winter of 101-102 A.D. on the site where later will be built Civitas Tropaensium, the largest Roman city of Scythia Minor (Dobrogea), in nowadays Adamclisi, in modern Romania. The Romans were victorious in this battle, but with heavy losses.
After the conquest of Dacia following of the second war (105-106 A.D.), Trajan build in 109, on the battle's place, Tropaeum Traiani, inspired by the Augustus mausoleum, and dedicated to the god Mars Ultor (Mars the Avenger). Before Trajan's construction, an altar existed there, on the walls of which were inscribed the names of the 3,800 legionaries and auxilia (servicemen) who had died "fighting for the Republic". The present edifice is a reconstruction dating from 1977.
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