Remembered by history as one of the “Five Good Emperors,”

Remembered by history as one of the “Five Good Emperors,”

Trajan came to power in 98 A.D. During his 19-year reign the Roman Empire grew and prospered. Under his military leadership the Empire reached its greatest geographic size and under his able civic administration he initiated and oversaw numerous important building and public works projects. Obviously, that is not to say that Trajan was without faults. He had plenty, as did the society he governed. But notwithstanding them, Trajan was a successful emperor.

Born into a prominent Roman family in what is now Spain, Trajan was 44 years old and leading an army on the northern frontier when he received word that the Emperor Nerva had adopted him. Having no children (and therefore no heir), the elderly Nerva adopted the popular and successful General Trajan in order to assure a smooth transfer of power (and possibly because Roman army leaders forced him to). Three months later Nerva was dead, and Trajan was the new emperor.

Trajan adeptly managed Roman political, military, and civil affairs, keeping the empire powerful and secure. He conquered the province of Dacia (roughly modern Romania) and in the east he drove back the Parthians, extending the boundaries of the empire to the Tigris and Euphrates River valleys in modern day Iraq.

In 117 A.D., after 63-year-old Trajan suffered a heatstroke while leading his army in the siege of Hatra in modern day Iraq, he decided to return to Italy to rest and recover. Along the way he grew increasingly ill and was taken ashore at Celinas, in modern southeastern Turkey, where he passed away. 

Like Nerva, Trajan had no children and therefore Rome faced the prospect of a dangerous civil war. So, on his deathbed Trajan followed Nerva’s example and adopted a successor, choosing his cousin Hadrian, husband of Trajan’s niece and a prominent and successful general. It is worth noting that according to the Roman historian Cassius Dio the document by which Trajan adopted Hadrian was a forgery, created after Trajan’s death by his wife the Empress Pompeia Plotina. Other historians, both ancient and modern, dispute the claim and insist the document was legitimate and reflected Trajan’s actual desire. Either way, Hadrian would go on a successful 21-year reign and, like Trajan, is included among the “Five Great Emperors.”

Trajan died in 117 A.D., on August 7, 8 or 9. Let us say the 8th, which was 1,907 years ago today. According to tradition, Trajan’s ashes were deposited in the base of Trajan’s Column, which is still standing in Rome.

The map shows the Roman Empire at the time of Trajan’s death, its greatest territorial extent.