Cassius Dio says Dacia's king buried his gold under a diverted river and killed the diggers, and a companion told the Romans where it was

Decebalus was king of Dacia. Rome under Trajan fought two wars against him and took his capital and his land. Cassius Dio writes that when Decebalus was about to be captured he killed himself, and his head was taken to Rome. Dio says the king's treasures lay under the river Sargetia, which ran past his palace. Using captives, Decebalus turned the river aside, dug in its bed and buried silver, gold and other valuables. He covered them with stones and earth and let the river back. He had captives hide his robes and other valuables in caves, then killed them so they could not talk. His companion Bicilis, who knew what had been done, was captured and told the Romans. The editor of the Lacus Curtius edition notes that the story is unlikely to be true, that Diodorus tells a similar one, and that the river has never been located. Dacian gold has kept coming out of the ground. From 1998 to 2001 looters dug up solid gold spiral bracelets around Sarmizegetusa, each weighing between 682 and 1,196 grams. One was sold at Christie's New York on 8 December 1999. In December 2009, 13 men were sentenced to seven to twelve years in prison. By 2011 Romania had recovered 13 bracelets, partly by buying them back. They are shown in the National History Museum in Bucharest. At least a dozen are still missing.