The following year a Dacian force annihilated the army of Cornelius Fuscus under the new leader Decebalus after the victory of Tettius Julianus at Tapae. In another one in 85 the Romans have almost lost Moesia, and its governor Oppius Sabinus was killed. A major one was just checked in 69 by Licinius Mucianus while on his way to battle Aulus Vitellius. After some decades, the invasions restarted. Dacia, however remained a formidable foe: in the winter of 10 BC, a raid across the Danube was repulsed by Marcus Vinicius. Dacia lost control over territories beyond the Danube and Tisza and collapsed into hostile fractions, now being able to master only 40,000 men from the previous 200,000.
Julius Caesar made preparations for war with King Burebista to prevent an invasion of Macedonia, however both rulers died in the same year. The Dacian tribes established a highly militarized society and, during the periods when the tribes were united under one king (82 -44 BC, 86-106 AD), posed a major threat to the Roman provinces of Lower Danube.
The men themselves fought in everyday clothing defended merely by an oval shield, for body armor and helmets were only worn by the nobility. Instead, local chieftains, the pileati, meaning "cap-wearing people", raised a levy when required, a force only available after the harvesting season ended. The Dacians, like any other barbarian nation, never fielded a standing army, even though there was a warrior class of sorts, the comati, meaning "lorg-haired people".
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