Editing Decebalus (section)

== Romanian national hero ==
Decebalus is considered a [[Folk hero|national hero]] in [[Romania]], and has been portrayed in numerous literary works, movies, public sculptures, and other memorials.

Decebalus began to be seen in these terms during the 19th century, when he came to be associated with Romantic ideals of national freedom and resistance to imperialism. Romanian politician [[Mihail Kogălniceanu]] gave a speech in 1843 in which he called Decebalus "the greatest barbarian king of all time, more worthy to be on the throne of Rome than the rascally descendants of Augustus!"<ref name = "boi">Lucian Boia ''Myth in Romanian Consciousness'', Central European University Press, Budapest, 2001, p.89</ref>

[[Alecu Russo]] compared him to the medieval hero [[Stephen the Great]], saying "The one and the other both had the same aim, the same sublime idea: the independence of their country! Both are heroes, but Stephen is a more local hero, a Moldavian hero, while Decebalus is the hero of the world."<ref name="boi" /> [[Mihai Eminescu]], the Romanian national poet, wrote the historical drama ''Decebalus''. [[George Coșbuc]]'s 1896 poem '' Decebal către popor'' (Decebalus to his People) lauds the Dacian leader's scorn of death.

Decebalus is often paired with his enemy Trajan, with the former representing national identity and the latter the grandeur and classical values brought by Rome.<ref name = "lav">Lavinia Stan, Lucian Turcescu, ''Religion and Politics in Post-Communist Romania'', Oxford University Press, 2007, p.46</ref> Decebalus and Trajan were depicted as a pair on many Romanian banknotes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://spinnet.eu/wiki-banknotes/index.php/Decebalus_%28Dacian_King%29_and_Emperor_Trajan |title=Decebalus (Dacian King) and Emperor Trajan - Banknotes |publisher=Spinnet.eu |date=2010-05-16 |access-date=2014-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808150822/http://spinnet.eu/wiki-banknotes/index.php/Decebalus_(Dacian_King)_and_Emperor_Trajan |archive-date=2014-08-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Bartetzky, Arnold, et al, ''Neue Staaten - neue Bilder?: visuelle Kultur im Dienst staatlicher Selbstdarstellung in Zentral- und Osteuropa seit 1918'', Böhlau Verlag, Cologne, Weimar, 2005, p.343</ref>

Decebalus and Trajan were regularly invoked at the coronation of new rulers. Both featured significantly in the imagery of [[Ferdinand I of Romania]] and his wife [[Marie of Romania]]. The Romanian poet [[Aron Cotruș]] wrote a long poem "Maria Doamna" ("Lady Marie") after Marie's death, invoking both Decebalus and Trajan as admirers of Marie. The Dacian king, along with the Roman emperor who conquered Dacia are sometimes invoked as the fathers of the Romanian nation.<ref name = "boi2">Lucian Boia ''Myth in Romanian Consciousness'', Central European University Press, Budapest, 2001, p.209.</ref>

He remained a hero in the [[Communist]] era, especially in the Stalinist "national Communism" of [[Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej]]. According to Lavinia Stan and Lucian Turcescu, "In a process paralleling the way modern Serbs perceive the defeat by the Ottomans in the Battle of Kosovo of 1389, Decebal's defeat at the hands of Trajan in 101–107 CE and the resulting population mix were reclaimed as the cornerstones of Romanian ethnic identity". The nationalist model progressed further under [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]], under whom Decebalus was listed as one of the ten great leaders of Romania.<ref name = "boi3">Lucian Boia ''Myth in Romanian Consciousness'', Central European University Press, Budapest, 2001, p.222.</ref>

He was depicted as a great national leader in two major epic films in this period, ''[[Dacii (film)|The Dacians]]'' (1967, directed by [[Sergiu Nicolaescu]]), and ''[[The Column (film)|The Column]]'' (1968, directed by [[Mircea Drăgan]]). In both films he was portrayed by [[Amza Pellea]]. Several public statues of Decebalus were also set up in the Ceaușescu era, including an equestrian statue in [[Deva, Romania|Deva]] created in 1978 by the sculptor [[Ion Jalea]], and a column topped by a bust in [[Drobeta-Turnu Severin]], created in 1972.

He was central to the nationalist [[protochronism]] movement, which identifies Romania as the cradle of east-European civilisation, and the [[Dacianism]] movement, which directly relates Romania as descendants of the Dacians. During the 1990s, a team of sculptors carved a 40-metre-tall [[rock sculpture of Decebalus]] from a stone outcrop overlooking the Danube near the city of [[Orșova]], [[Romania]]. It was devised and funded by [[Iosif Constantin Drăgan]], a supporter of the protochronist and Dacianist movement. He is quoted saying, "Anyone travelling towards 'Decebal Rex Dragan Fecit' [King Decebalus made by Dragan] is also travelling towards the origins of east-European civilization and will discover that a United Europe represents the natural course of history".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.decebalusrex.ro/en/istoricul-3.php |title=Decebalus Rex Dragan Fecit |publisher=Decebalusrex.ro |access-date=2014-08-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808042159/http://www.decebalusrex.ro/en/istoricul-3.php |archive-date=2014-08-08 }}</ref>