Editing Decebalus (section)

=== Death ===
[[File:108 Conrad Cichorius, Die Reliefs der Traianssäule, Tafel CVIII.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Plaster cast (Cichorius 108) of panel on  [[Trajan's Column]]. The head of the defeated Dacian king Decebalus (left background) is displayed on a shield to Roman  troops (AD 106). The head was then taken to Rome to form the central exhibit in the emperor [[Trajan]]'s official Triumph ]]
[[File:Macedonian Museums-26--482.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Tiberius Claudius Maximus memorial]]

Decebalus was hunted down and finally cornered by Roman detachments seeking his head.  Rather than being captured only to be exhibited and humiliated at Rome, Decebalus committed suicide by slashing his own throat, as depicted on [[Trajan's Column]] (spiral 22, panel b).

It is likely that he killed himself as a Roman cavalry scout named [[Tiberius Claudius Maximus]] from [[Legio VII Claudia]] was approaching. He was probably still alive when Maximus reached him, as is claimed on Maximus' [[funerary stele]] discovered at Gramini in Greece. Maximus is presumably the figure seen on Trajan's column reaching out to Decebalus from his horse.

Decebalus' head and right hand were then taken to Trajan in "Ranisstorum" (an unidentified Dacian village, perhaps [[Piatra Craivii]]) by Maximus, who was decorated by the emperor. The trophy was sent to Rome where it was thrown down the [[Gemonian stairs]].<ref>M Spiedel - JRS 60 page 142-153</ref> Tiberius Claudius Maximus' tomb cites two occasions where the [[legionary]] was decorated for his part in the Dacian wars, one of which being the acquisition of Decebalus' head.<ref>"Julian Bennett -Traian</ref>