Dacian Warriors
The Dacians were a tribal people, with a society at least superficially similar to that of the contemporary Gauls and Germans. We know from Roman writings that there were two "castes" in Dacian society - the upper class wore caps, long beards, and medium-length hair; while the lower class, made up predominately of farmers, went bare-headed with longer hair and less facial hair. A man of the cap-wearing caste, unless he was a priest, probably devoted most of his time to war. Factors like his birth, merit, and connections would determine whether he became a war-chief like Decebalus, serving as an officer in the Kingdom's army; or whether he fought simply as an elite warrior in the battle-line. The fact that Dacian priests are known to have used both bows and arrows, and spears, in rituals, would suggest that they were able and perhaps expected to fight alongside the "laymen" in Dacian society. The average Dacian warrior was just that - a warrior, by no means a professional soldier. Probably a farmer, hunter, or miner by trade, he was obligated to take up the spear when the local clan-leader was preparing for a raid - or preparing to muster his contingent for service in Decebalus' Army.
