Trajan was born into a non-patrician family in the city of Italica (close to modern Seville), on September 18, 53.
Trajan distinguished himself during the reign of Emperor Domitian. When serving as a general in the Roman army along the German frontier, he successfully put down the revolt of Antonius Saturninus in 89.
Emperor Nerva was a childless old man when he came to power in AD 96, following the assassination of the tyrannical Domitian. On October 27, 97, he adopted Trajan as his son, making him emperor apparent.
Trajan, absent with his army, is said to have been unaware the adoption ceremony was taking place in Rome at the Temple of Jupiter.
Nerva died on January 27, 98, and was succeeded by Trajan without incident.
Trajan conquered Dacia (approximately modern Romania) between 101 and 106. The future emperor Hadrian served as Trajan's companion in the emperor's first war in Dacia.
Trajan's war against the Parthian Empire in Asia ended with the sack of its capital Ctesiphon and the annexation of Armenia and Mesopotamia.
Under Trajan's rule the Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent.
Following his successful Dacia campaign, Trajan held a three-month victory celebration in AD 107 during which 11,000 slaves and criminals were killed in gladiatorial contests.
Trajan is best known for his extensive public building program which reshaped the city of Rome and left multiple enduring landmarks. One of them was Trajan's Forum, which was built on the order of the emperor with the spoils of war from the conquest of Dacia. Designed by Trajan's architect, Apollodorus of Damascus, it was a vast expanse measuring 300 metres (980 feet) long and 185 metres (607 feet) wide and housed at least 150 shops and offices.
Trajan's Column located in the Forum commemorates Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. Completed in AD 113, the freestanding column is most famous for its spiral bas relief, which artistically represents the wars between the Romans and Dacians.
Trajan was a just and conscientious ruler, who was noted for his fair treatment of the senate and his mildness toward enemies who plotted against him.
He has a place in Christian history because of correspondence with Pliny the Younger, who was governor of Bithynia between AD 111-113. The policy which Pliny followed, which Trajan commended, did not involve seeking out Christians for special punishment. But if a person was discovered to be a prison, he or she was given an opportunity to renounce their faith. Refusal to do so meant he or she was executed. This is one of the earliest mentions of Christians in pagan literature and is often quoted.
While sailing back to Rome in late 117, Trajan fell ill and died of a stroke in the city of Selinus on September 8, 117. As the emperor lay dying, nursed by his wife, Plotina, he adopted Hadrian as heir.
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| Wikipedia Commons |
Trajan distinguished himself during the reign of Emperor Domitian. When serving as a general in the Roman army along the German frontier, he successfully put down the revolt of Antonius Saturninus in 89.
Emperor Nerva was a childless old man when he came to power in AD 96, following the assassination of the tyrannical Domitian. On October 27, 97, he adopted Trajan as his son, making him emperor apparent.
Trajan, absent with his army, is said to have been unaware the adoption ceremony was taking place in Rome at the Temple of Jupiter.
Nerva died on January 27, 98, and was succeeded by Trajan without incident.
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| Statue of Trajan, posing in military garb. By Hartmann Linge |
Trajan conquered Dacia (approximately modern Romania) between 101 and 106. The future emperor Hadrian served as Trajan's companion in the emperor's first war in Dacia.
Trajan's war against the Parthian Empire in Asia ended with the sack of its capital Ctesiphon and the annexation of Armenia and Mesopotamia.
Under Trajan's rule the Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent.
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| The extent of the Roman Empire under Trajan (117) By Tataryn6 |
Following his successful Dacia campaign, Trajan held a three-month victory celebration in AD 107 during which 11,000 slaves and criminals were killed in gladiatorial contests.
Trajan is best known for his extensive public building program which reshaped the city of Rome and left multiple enduring landmarks. One of them was Trajan's Forum, which was built on the order of the emperor with the spoils of war from the conquest of Dacia. Designed by Trajan's architect, Apollodorus of Damascus, it was a vast expanse measuring 300 metres (980 feet) long and 185 metres (607 feet) wide and housed at least 150 shops and offices.
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| Trajan's Forum |
Trajan's Column located in the Forum commemorates Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. Completed in AD 113, the freestanding column is most famous for its spiral bas relief, which artistically represents the wars between the Romans and Dacians.
Trajan was a just and conscientious ruler, who was noted for his fair treatment of the senate and his mildness toward enemies who plotted against him.
He has a place in Christian history because of correspondence with Pliny the Younger, who was governor of Bithynia between AD 111-113. The policy which Pliny followed, which Trajan commended, did not involve seeking out Christians for special punishment. But if a person was discovered to be a prison, he or she was given an opportunity to renounce their faith. Refusal to do so meant he or she was executed. This is one of the earliest mentions of Christians in pagan literature and is often quoted.
While sailing back to Rome in late 117, Trajan fell ill and died of a stroke in the city of Selinus on September 8, 117. As the emperor lay dying, nursed by his wife, Plotina, he adopted Hadrian as heir.
He was deified by the Senate, and his ashes were laid to rest under Trajan's Column.
His successor Hadrian built a temple dedicated to the deified Trajan on the far north side of the Forum facing inwards.
Every new emperor after Trajan was honored by the Senate with the prayer "felicior Augusto, melior Traiano," meaning "may he be luckier than Augustus and better than Trajan".
The 18th century historian Edward Gibbon popularized the notion in Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire of the Five Good Emperors, of which Trajan was the second.
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