Trajan

Statue of Trajan, Tower Hill
  • Trajan (98-117 CE) is known in history as the greatest of all the Roman Emperors, who expanded the Roman Empire to its greatest territorial area whilst he was Emperor. Trajan was the first Roman Emperor to invade Parthia.
  • He was one of the Five Good Emperors and the first Emperor not to be from an Italian family, but to come from Iberia. At least 10 major Roman Works or Monuments were constructed by him around the Empire.

1. BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

  • NAME:
    • Marcus Ulpius Traianus
    • Name as Emperor: Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Divi Nervae Filius Augustus
  • TRAJAN’S DATES OF REIGN AS EMPEROR:
    • 98 CE – 8 Aug 117 CE
  • FAMILY DYNASTY:
  • TRAJAN’S DATE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
    • Born 18 Sept 53 CE – Died 8 Aug 117 CE
  • PLACE OF BIRTH AND DEATH:
  • TRAJAN’S PREDECESSOR:
  • TRAJAN’S SUCCESSOR:
  • HEIR TO THE THRONE BECAUSE:
  • TRAJAN’S FATHER:
  • TRAJAN’S MOTHER:
    • Marcia, sister-in-law of Titus
  • TRAJAN’S WIVES AND CHILDREN:
    • Wife:
      • Pompeia Plotina
    • Children:
  • DIED PEACEFULLY OR ASSASSINATED:
    • After returning from the successful War with Parthia, he fell ill on board the vessel returning to Rome, and died in the southern Turkish port of Selinus. His remains were brought back to Rome.
  • WHERE BURIED:
    • Trajan Ashes and his wife’s were buried in Gold Urns beneath Trajan's Column, in Trajan's Forum. However, the Urns disappeared in later history, although the Column remains.

2. GOOD OR BAD EMPEROR

  • TRAJAN’S CHARACTER:
    • Cassius Dio described Trajan as simple in his tastes, brave, just and unenvious in his treatment of others.
  • TRAJAN’S POPULARITY:
    • When he was made Emperor, Trajan was popular with the Legionary Commanders and with the Senate.
    • During his reign, Trajan remained respectful to the Senate and popular amongst the Legionary Commanders.
    • Historians consider him to be one of the Five Good Emperors.
  • THE REASON TRAJAN WAS FAMOUS
    • Trajan is known in history as the greatest of all the Roman Emperors.
    • He is known by historians as one of the Five Good Emperors.
    • Trajan was declared by the Roman Senate to be the ‘Optimus Princeps’ (the best of Rulers).
    • Trajan expanded the Roman Empire to its greatest extent. He invaded and added the provinces of Dacia, Arabia Petraea, Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Assyria.
    • He was the first Emperor not to be from an Italian family, but to come from Iberia.
    • Trajan was the first Roman Emperor to invade Parthia, since the Invasion by Crassus in 53 BCE.
  • FAMOUS QUOTES BY TRAJAN
    • ‘If I deserve it, use it for me, or should I fail, against me.’
      • Referring to the gift of a sword to a newly appointed Officer.

3. TRAJAN’S EARLY LIFE:

  • Trajan’s Father
    • Trajan’s father was a Provincial Governor, and by 67-8 CE, a Commander of a Legion under Vespasian during the war in Judea. In 70 CE he became Consul, then was invited to become a Patrician, and finally became Governor of Syria then Asia.
  • Tribune
    • Trajan was a Tribune for 10 years serving in Syria whilst his father was Governor. He became a Praetor, then Commander of the Spanish Legion in 89 CE. Trajan and his Legion were ordered to Germany to suppress a rebellion by the Governor of Germania Superior.
  • Consul
    • As a reward, Domitian in 91 CE, made Trajan one of the two Consuls of [[Rome.
    • When Domitian was assassinated in 96 CE, the Conspirators and the Senate invited the elderly Nerva to become Emperor. The Praetorian Guard forced Nerva to execute the very Conspirators who had brought him to power. Later, when Trajan became Emperor, he had these same Praetorian Guards executed.
  • Governor
  • Adoption by Nerva
    • In 97 CE, Nerva adopted Trajan as his heir, knowing him to be popular with the restless Legionary Commanders and also with the Senate.
    • When Nerva died in 98 CE, Trajan became Emperor.

4. REIGN OF TRAJAN

  • TRAJAN’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ROMAN SENATE:
    • Trajan remained respectful towards the Senate during his reign.
    • Trajan was declared by the Senate to be the ‘Optimus Princeps’, (the best of Rulers). Dante placed him with the other just and able Rulers in his sixth sphere of Heaven.
    • Trajan also passed a decree ordering that all Senators, even if they were from the Provinces, should have one third of their landed estates in Italy.
  • TRAJAN’S MILITARY CAMPAIGNS:

  • Dacian Wars (101-106 CE)

    • Trajan Invaded Dacia and included it as a Roman Province, thus acquiring the Dacian Gold Mines. Huge amounts of Gold and Silver were then brought back to Rome as War Booty.
    • Dacia remained a Province until 271 CE.

  • Trajan's Parthian War (113-116 CE)

    • Letters between Pliny the Younger and Trajan show that Trajan had already been preparing and provisioning 10 Legions in the East as early as 111 CE, although no new Legions were created for this War.
    • For 50 years the Roman and Parthian Empires had shared appointing the Kings of Armenia.
    • In 113 CE, Parthia didn’t consult Trajan and appointed their own choice of King. Trajan declared War.
    • In 114 CE, he invaded Armenia.
    • He then became the first Roman Emperor to invade Parthia.
    • Trajan’s strategy was a pincer movement: one Roman Army went north under Lucius Quietus, across the River Araxes from Armenia, to invade the area around the Caspian Sea towards the Caucasus.
    • In 115 CE Trajan took the remaining Legions into Mesopotamia. He built a Fleet of 50 ships and sailed down the Euphrates from Dura Europos, eventually hauling the ships over the narrow strip of land into the Tigris where he captured Seleucia and the Parthian capital Ctesiphon. From here he continued down river and took Charax on the Persian Gulf. Here he stopped, having left garrisons of soldiers behind him. Interestingly, he sent a letter to the Senate apologising for not continuing on to Invade India, as Alexander the Great had done. Neither did Trajan attempt to cross the Kushan Mountains into the Iranian Plateau to where the Parthian Army had retreated.
    • In 116 CE coins were minted declaring Armenia and Mesopotamia were now Roman Provinces, along with a Province called Assyria. Osrhoene also became a Roman Client Kingdom.
    • However, the Kitos War which erupted in 115-117 CE, forced Trajan to withdraw from Mesopotamia and back to Syria.
    • On the return journey to Rome whilst passing Selinus, in Turkey, Trajan fell seriously ill and died there. His body was brought back to Rome.
  • TRAJAN’S DOMESTIC POLICY: TAXATION

  • The Devaluation of 107 CE:

    • The reason is unconfirmed, but was probably done to pay for a large civil building programme and on military expenditure for the forthcoming invasion of Parthia. After 106 CE, he also had the Silver and Dacian Gold Mines.
    • In 107 CE Trajan Devalued the Currency. The silver content of the Denarius was reduced from 93.5% to 89%.
    • Trajan withdrew silver Denarii minted before Nero‘s Devaluation.
    • Trajan then proceeded to mint a greater amount of Denarii than any previous Emperor.

  • The Alimenta:

    • The Alimenta Fund was a very limited early form of the Welfare state, that applied only to Italy.
    • Trajan supplied Funds, Food and Education for orphans and the children of the poor. Initially paid for out of the Silver and Gold from the Dacian Wars, it later came from the Taxes on country Estates. The Imperial treasury gave a loan/ mortgage to only very large registered Italian Estates (Fundi), and a percentage of the annual repayment, went to the Alimenta Fund.
    • The scheme was successful, and lasted for 150 years until the reign of Aurelian (270-275 CE)
  • TRAJAN AND THE PROVINCES:

  • GREECE: The Imperial Correctores:

    • These were positions in the Provinces created by Trajan for senators to investigate and reform the administration of those Provinces that were formerly exempt from the authority of the Provincial Governor. These were:
    • The Free Cities in the Greek speaking Eastern Empire, The Senatorial Provinces, and the Cities of Italia.
    • The Cities of Greece wished for the same autonomy as enjoyed by the Provincial cities of Italy, based on their own illustrious history. The problem was that they vied for prestige one against the other with lavish and expensive public buildings, considerably reducing the taxes due to the Roman State to little or nothing.
    • Trajan was keen to maintain the notion of Freedom for Greek Nobles and Literati, but not to give them equality with their Roman rulers. Therefore, he reversed Domitian‘s Policy and allowed Greek Exiles to return home and take back their confiscated property. But created the Correctores to reign in their political ambitions.
    • Trajan created more than 14 new senators from the Greek speaking Nobles in the Eastern Empire.
  • TRAJAN’S RELIGIOUS REFORMS:

  • Kitos War:

    • No Reforms were undertaken, but the Kitos War which was a major Rebellion by the Jews of the Eastern Provinces, was ruthlessly suppressed with great loss of life. The Rebellion had forced him to retreat from Parthia, and give up his conquered territories.

  • Christianity:

    • Trajan’s attitude towards Christians is recorded in a series of letters published by Pliny the Younger in Book 10 of his Letters. Trajan advises Pliny to be firm, but forgiving if they were cooperative, and not to allow unsubstantiated accusations to be brought against them in court.

5. TRAJAN’S PERSONAL LIFE

  • CHILDHOOD:
    • Little is recorded other than he grew up in a Spanish family, partly in Spain and partly in Rome, moving around as his Father reached each new promotion.
  • PERSONAL LIFE:
    • Trajan was happily married to Pompeia Plotina. They had no children, but adopted Hadrian as Trajan’s heir. There were no scandals.
    • Trajan’s sister, Marciana, was also widely respected. Her marriage would produce a notable great great grandson, Marcus Aurelius.
  • PERSONAL INTERESTS:
  • LANGUAGES SPOKEN:
    • Latin and Greek.

6. CONSEQUENCES OF TRAJAN’S REIGN

  • EXPANSION OR CONTRACTION OF THE EMPIRE:
    • Expansion: Under Trajan, by 116 CE the Roman Empire had reached its greatest Territorial size.
    • The absorption of Dacia to become a Roman Province (106 CE)
    • Annexation of Nabataean Kingdom (106 CE)
    • Briefly, the successful invasion and occupation of Persia (114-116 CE)
  • ENRICHMENT OR BANKRUPTCY OF THE STATE:
    • He left the Empire’s Administration and Finances in a healthy state.
    • Although the expenditure on Trajan's Parthian War was high, it had been paid for in part by the war booty of Gold and Silver from the Dacian Wars.
  • TRAJAN’S MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS:
    • The Roman Empire was expanded to its greatest extent.
    • He initiated an early Welfare State by creating a State Funded Charitable Foundation which supported the poor, although only operating in Italy, the system lasted for over 150 years.

7. THE SUCCESSION TO TRAJAN

    • Trajan adopted Hadrian as his Heir.

8. BUILDINGS AND MONUMENTS TO VISIT

  • PALACES AND VILLAS:

9. BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Image: Statue of Trajan, Tower Hill, London

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