As Thracian tribes evolved, the cult became central to the Dacians, the most powerful Thracian group north of the Danube. Under the Dacian king Burebista (82–44 BCE), the high priest of Zalmos, a man named Deceneus, wielded power equal to the king. Deceneus reformed Dacian society, creating a warrior aristocracy that despised luxury and feared nothing—not even death.