Page "Zalmoxis" Paragraph 16

Strabo in his Geography, book 7, 3, 1-11 talks about a certain Deceneus ( Dékainéos ) which calls γόητα, " magician ".

Following Strabo, king Burebista ( 82 BC-44 BC ) recruited this man, who had been in Egypt, to render his people more docile.

As a sign of their obedience, Strabo affirms that they consented to destroy all their wines as Deceneus ordered so.

The " reform of Deceneus " is the result of the elaborations of the 6th century bishop and historian Jordanes who includes the Getae in his history of the Goths: here he describes how Deceneus teaches the Getae people philosophy and physics.

Even if it is far more probable that Jordanes just introduced his own philosophical knowledge in the text, a lot of modern Romanian authors considers that Deceneus is a priest who reforms the Getae cult, changing Zalmoxis ' cult into a popular religion and imposing strict religious rules such as the restriction of wine consumption.

Jean Coman considers it even as the origin of the modern orthodox food restrictions during Lent.