Andalusia Andalusia Andalusia , a province that was thoroughly Romanized and called southern Hispania, in the city of
ItalicaItalica was the birthplace of Roman emperor Trajan. Hadrian was generous to his settled town, which he made a colonia; he added temples, including a Trajaneum venerating Trajan, and rebuilt public buildings. Italica’s amphitheater seated 25,000 spectators—half as many as the Flavian Amphitheatre in...
, where the Italian families were paramount. Of Italian stock himself, Trajan is frequently but misleadingly designated the first provincial emperor.
Trajan was the son of
Marcia-Family:Marcia came from a noble and politically influential family, the Patrician gens Marcia, which claimed to be descended from Roman King Ancus Marcius. Marcia was perhaps the daughter of Quintus Marcius Barea Sura. Her father was a friend to future Roman Emperor Vespasian...
and
Marcus Ulpius TraianusMarcus Ulpius Traianus Maior was a Roman senator who lived in the 1st century. He was father of the Roman Emperor Trajan.-Family:...
, a prominent
senatorThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government...
and general from the famous
gens UlpiaUlpius may refer to:*Marcus Ulpius Traianus , Roman senator*Ulpia , sister to senator Marcus Ulpius Traianus, mother of Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer and paternal grandmother to emperor Hadrian...
. Trajan himself was just one of many well-known Ulpii in a line that continued long after his own death. His elder sister was
Ulpia MarcianaUlpia Marciana was the beloved elder sister of Roman Emperor Trajan. She was the eldest child born to Roman woman Marcia and the Spanish Roman senator Marcus Ulpius Traianus. Her second name Marciana she inherited from her mother’s paternal ancestors...
and his niece was
Salonina MatidiaSalonina Matidia was the daughter and only child of Ulpia Marciana and wealthy praetor Gaius Salonius Matidius Patruinus. Her maternal uncle was the Roman emperor Trajan. Trajan had no children and treated her like his daughter...
. The
patriaPatria is a Latin word cognate with the Greek πατρίς , both of which derive from the word for "father", typically translated into English as "fatherland" or "family"...
of the Ulpii was
ItalicaItalica was the birthplace of Roman emperor Trajan. Hadrian was generous to his settled town, which he made a colonia; he added temples, including a Trajaneum venerating Trajan, and rebuilt public buildings. Italica’s amphitheater seated 25,000 spectators—half as many as the Flavian Amphitheatre in...
, in Spanish Baetica, where their ancestors had settled late in the third century B.C. This indicates that the Italian origin was paramount, yet it has recently been cogently argued that the family's ancestry was local, with Trajan senior actually a Traius who was adopted into the family of the Ulpii.
As a young man, he rose through the ranks of the
Roman armyThe Roman Army was employed by the Romans, the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire, as part of the Roman military. Its most important infantry constituent for much of its history was the Roman legion, whose soldiers were called legionaries....
, serving in some of the most contentious parts of the Empire's frontier. In 76–77, Trajan's father was
GovernorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of
SyriaSyria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War...
(
LegatusA legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of senatorial rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes...
pro praetore Syriae), where Trajan himself remained as
Tribunus legionis. Trajan was nominated as
Consul-Ancient Rome:During the time of ancient Rome as a Republic, the consuls were the highest civil and military magistrates, serving as the heads of government for the Republic. New consuls were elected every year. There were two consuls, and they ruled together...
and brought
Apollodorus of DamascusApollodorus of Damascus was a Syrian or Greek engineer, architect, designer and sculptor who flourished during the 2nd century AD. He was born in Damascus, Syria, and was a favourite of Trajan, for whom he constructed Trajan's Bridge over the Danube for the 105-106 campaign in Dacia...
with him to
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
around 91. Along the Rhine River, he took part in the Emperor
DomitianTitus Flavius Domitianus , known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death...
's wars while under Domitian's successor,
NervaMarcus Cocceius Nerva was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 96 until his death in 98. Nerva acceded to this position at the advanced age of 65, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the rulers of the Flavian dynasty—Vespasian, Titus and Domitian...
, who was unpopular with the army and needed to do something to gain their support. He accomplished this by naming Trajan as his adoptive son and successor in the summer of 97. According to the
Augustan HistoryThe Augustan History is a late Roman collection of biographies, in Latin, of the Roman Emperors, their junior colleagues and usurpers of the period 117 to 284...
, it was the future Emperor
HadrianPublius Aelius Hadrianus was emperor of Rome from AD 117 to 138, as well as a Stoic and Epicurean philosopher...
who brought word to Trajan of his adoption. When Nerva died on January 27
98Year 98 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.-Roman Empire:* January 27—Nerva is succeeded by Trajan....
, the highly respected Trajan succeeded without incident.
His reign
The new Roman emperor was greeted by the people of Rome with great enthusiasm, which he justified by governing well and without the bloodiness that had marked Domitian's reign. He freed many people who had been unjustly imprisoned by Domitian and returned a great deal of private property that Domitian had confiscated; a process begun by Nerva before his death. His popularity was such that the
Roman SenateThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government...
eventually bestowed upon Trajan the
honorificAn honorific is a word or expression that conveys esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes the term is used not quite correctly to refer to a title of honor...
of
optimus, meaning "the best".
Dio CassiusLucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek...
, sometimes known as Dio, reveals that Trajan drank heartily and was
involved with boysPederasty or paederasty is a relationship between an older man and an adolescent boy outside his immediate family...
. "I know, of course, that he was devoted to boys and to wine, but if he had ever committed or endured any base or wicked deed as the result of this, he would have incurred censure; as it was, however, he drank all the wine he wanted, yet remained sober, and in his relation with boys he harmed no one." This sensibility was one that influenced his governing on at least one occasion, leading him to favour the king of Edessa out of appreciation for his handsome son: "On this occasion, however, Abgarus, induced partly by the persuasions of his son Arbandes, who was handsome and in the pride of youth and therefore in favour with Trajan, and partly by his fear of the latter's presence, he met him on the road, made his apologies and obtained pardon, for he had a powerful intercessor in the boy."
Dacian Wars
It was as a military commander that Trajan is best known to history, particularly for his conquests in the
Near EastNear East today is an ambiguous term that covers different countries for archeologists and historians, on one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
, but initially for the two wars against
DaciaIn ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land in East-Central Europe inhabited by the Dacians. Ancient Greeks called the same people "Getae"...
— the reduction to client kingdom (101-102), followed by actual incorporation to the Empire of the trans-Danube border kingdom of Dacia—an area that had troubled Roman thought for over a decade with the unfavourable (and to some, shameful) peace negotiated by
DomitianTitus Flavius Domitianus , known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death...
's ministers In the first war c. March–May 101, he launched a vicious attack into the kingdom of
DaciaIn ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land in East-Central Europe inhabited by the Dacians. Ancient Greeks called the same people "Getae"...
with four legions,
name="Romanis REquote05"> crossing to the northern bank of the Danube River on a stone bridge he had built, and defeating the Dacian army near or in a
mountain passIn a range of hills, or especially of mountains, a pass is a path that allows to cross a mountain chain, it is usually a saddle point in between two areas of higher elevation. If following the lowest possible route through a range, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
called Tapae (see
Second Battle of TapaeThe Battle of Tapae was the decisive battle of the first Dacian War, in which Roman Emperor Trajan defeated the Dacian King Decebalus's army. Other setbacks in the campaign delayed its completion until 102.-Background:...
). Trajan's troops were mauled in the encounter, however and he put off further campaigning for the year to heal troops, reinforce, and regroup.
name="Romanis REquote03"
>
During the following winter, King
DecebalusDecebalus or "The Brave One" was a king of Dacia
launched a counter-attack across the DanubeThe Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg rivers which join at the German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows...
further downstream, but this was repulsed. Trajan's army advanced further into Dacian territory and forced King Decebalus to submit to him a year later, after Trajan took the Dacian capital/fortress of Sarmizegethusa. The Emperor Domitian had campaigned against Dacia from 86 to 87 without securing a decisive outcome, and Decebalus had brazenly flouted the terms of the peace (89 AD) which had been agreed on conclusion of this campaign.
Trajan now returned to Rome in triumph and was granted the title Dacicus Maximus. The victory was celebrated by the Tropaeum TraianiThe Tropaeum Traiani is a monument in Roman Civitas Tropaensium , built in 109 in then Moesia Inferior, to commemorate Roman Emperor Trajan's victory over the Dacians, in 102, in the Battle of Tapae. The monument was erected on the place where legio XXI Rapax had previously been crushed...
. Decebalus though, after being left to his own devices, in 105 undertook an invasion against Roman territory by attempting to stir up some of the tribes north of the river against her.
name="Romanis REquote04"
>
Trajan took to the field again and after building with the design of
Apollodorus of DamascusApollodorus of Damascus was a Syrian or Greek engineer, architect, designer and sculptor who flourished during the 2nd century AD. He was born in Damascus, Syria, and was a favourite of Trajan, for whom he constructed Trajan's Bridge over the Danube for the 105-106 campaign in Dacia...
his
massive bridge over the DanubeTrajan's Bridge or Bridge of Apollodorus over the Danube was a Roman bridge , the first to be built over the lower Danube. For more than a thousand years, it was the longest arch bridge in the world to have been built, in terms of both total and span length...
, he conquered Dacia completely in 106. Sarmizegethusa was destroyed,
DecebalusDecebalus or "The Brave One" was a king of Dacia
committed suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
, and his severed head was exhibited in Rome on the steps leading up to the CapitolThe Capitoline Hill , between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Campidoglio in Italian. The English word capitol derives from Capitoline...
. Trajan built a new city, "Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa", on another site than the previous Dacian Capital, although bearing the same full name, Sarmizegetusa. He resettled Dacia with Romans and annexed it as a province of the Roman Empire. Trajan's Dacian campaigns benefited the Empire's finances through the acquisition of Dacia's gold mines. The victory is celebrated by Trajan's ColumnTrajan's Column is a monument in Rome raised in honour of the Roman emperor Trajan and probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate. It is located in Trajan's Forum, built near the Quirinal Hill, north of the Roman Forum...
.
Expansion in the East
At about the same time Rabbel II SoterRabel II Soter was the last ruler of the kingdom of the Nabataea, ruling from AD 70 to 106.After the death of his father, Malichus II, ar-Rabil still a child, ascended to the throne. His mother, Shaqilath, assumed control of the government in the early years. His sister Gamilath became queen of...
, one of Rome's client kings, died. This event might have prompted the annexation of the Nabataean kingdomThe Nabataean kingdom, also named Nabatea , was a political state of the Nabataeans which existed during Classical antiquity and was annexed by the Roman Empire in AD 106 .-Geography:...
, although the manner and the formal reasons for the annexation are unclear. Some epigraphic evidence suggests a military operation, with forces from SyriaSyria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War...
and Egypt. What is clear, however, is that by 107, Roman legions were stationed in the area around PetraPetra is an archaeological site in the Arabah, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan, lying on the slope of Mount Hor in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah , the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is renowned for its rock-cut architecture...
and Bostra, as is shown by a papyrus found in Egypt. The empire gained what became the province of Arabia PetraeaFor the Achaemenid satrapy of Arabia, see Arabia Arabia Petraea, also called Provincia Arabia or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Empire beginning in the second century; it consisted of the former Nabataean kingdom in modern Jordan, southern modern Syria, the Sinai Peninsula...
(modern southern JordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in Western Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. Jordan shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, the Gulf of Aqaba to the southwest,...
and north west Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south...
).
Period of peace
The next seven years, Trajan ruled as a civilian emperor, to the same acclaim as before. It was during this time that he corresponded with Pliny the YoungerGaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome...
on the subject of how to deal with the ChristiansChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
of PontusPontus or Pontos is a historical Greek designation for a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Pontos...
, telling Pliny to leave them alone unless they were openly practising the religion. He built several new buildings, monuments and roads in ItaliaItalia, under the Roman Republic and later Empire, was the name of the Italian peninsula.-Under the Republic and Augustan organization :During the Republic and the first centuries of the empire, Italia was not a province, but rather the territory of the city of Rome, thus having a special status:...
and his native HispaniaHispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior...
. His magnificent complex in Rome raised to commemorate his victories in DaciaIn ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land in East-Central Europe inhabited by the Dacians. Ancient Greeks called the same people "Getae"...
(and largely financed from that campaign's loot)—consisting of a forumTrajan's Forum is chronologically the last of the Imperial fora of Rome. The forum was constructed by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus.-History:...
, Trajan's ColumnTrajan's Column is a monument in Rome raised in honour of the Roman emperor Trajan and probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate. It is located in Trajan's Forum, built near the Quirinal Hill, north of the Roman Forum...
, and Trajan's Market still stands in Rome today. He was also a prolific builder of triumphal archesThe Arches of Trajan were built in the manner of triumphal arches in a number of places in the Roman Empire during the reign of Trajan, probably constructed by his chief architect, the engineer Apollodorus of Damascus...
, many of which survive, and rebuilder of roads (Via Traiana300px|thumb|Via TraianaThe Via Traiana was an ancient Roman road. It was built by the emperor Trajan as an extension of the Via Appia from Beneventum, reaching Brundisium by a shorter route . This was commemorated by an arch at Beneventum.-Background:Via Traiana was constructed in 109 A.D...
and Via Traiana NovaThe Via Traiana Nova was rebuilt by Trajan. It was specifically known as the Via Traiana Nova in order to distinguish it from the Via Traiana in Italy....
).
One notable act of Trajan was the hosting of a three-month gladiatorA Gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...
ial festival in the great ColosseumThe Colosseum or Roman Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre , is an elliptical amphitheatre in the center of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire...
in Rome (the precise date of this festival is unknown). Combining chariot racing, beast fights and close-quarters gladiatorial bloodshed, this gory spectacle reputedly left 11,000 dead (mostly slaves and criminals, not to mention the thousands of ferocious beasts killed alongside them) and attracted a total of five million spectators over the course of the festival.
Another important act was his formalisation of the Alimenta, a welfare program that helped orphans and poor children throughout Italy. It provided general funds, as well as food and subsidized education. The program was supported initially by funds from the Dacian War, and then later by a combination of estate taxes and philanthropy.. Although the system is well documented in literary sources and contemporary epigraphy, its precise aims are controversial and have generated considerable dispute between modern scholars: usually, it's assumed that the programme intended to bolster citzen numbers in Italy. However, the fact that it was subsidized by means of interest payments on loans made by landowners restricted it to a small percentage of potential welfare recipients (Paul VeynePaul Veyne, born 13 June 1930 in Aix-en-Provence, is a French archaeologist and historian, and a specialist on Ancient Rome. A former student of the École normale supérieure and member of the École française de Rome, he is now honorary professor at the Collège de France.-Biography:From an ordinary...
has assumed that, in the city of VeleiaVeleia, an ancient town of Aemilia, Italy, situated about 20 miles south of Placentia. It is mentioned by Pliny among the towns of the eighth region, though the Veleiates were Ligurians by race. Its inhabitants were, in the census of Vespasian, found to be remarkable for their longevity...
, only one child out of ten was an actual beneficiary) - therefore, the idea, advanced by Moses I. FinleySir Moses I. Finley CBE, FBA was an American and English classical scholar. His most notable work is The Ancient Economy , where he argued that status and civic ideology governed the economy in antiquity rather than rational economic motivations.He was born in 1912 in New York City as Moses Israel...
, that the whole scheme was at most a form of random charity, a mere imperial benevolence.
Maximum extent of the Empire
In 113, he embarked on his last campaign, provoked by ParthiaParthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasts, after which the Arsacid Empire is then also known as the 'Parthian Empire'....
's decision to put an unacceptable king on the throne of ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, a kingdom over which the two great empires had shared hegemonyHegemony is the preponderance of power, and the construction of consent from the powerless through cultural values.-In politics:...
since the time of NeroNero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great uncle Claudius to become heir to the throne...
some fifty years earlier. Some modern historians also attribute Trajan's decision to wage war on Parthia to economic motives: to control, after the annexation of Arabia, Mesopotamia and the coast of the Persian Gulf, and with it the sole remaining receiving-end of the Indian trade outside Roman control - an attribution of motive other historians find absurd, as seeing a commercial motive in a campaign triggered by the lure of territorial annexation and prestige - by the way, the only motive for Trajan's actions ascribed by Dio Cassius in his description of the events. Other modern historians, however, think that Trajan's original aim was quite modest: to assure a more defensible Eastern frontier for the Roman Empire, crossing across Northern Mesopotamia along the course of the river Khabur in order to offer cover to a Roman Armenia.
Trajan marched first on Armenia, deposed the Parthian-appointed king (who was afterwards murdered while kept in the custody of Roman troops in an unclear incident) and annexed it to the Roman Empire as a province, receiving in passing the acknowledgement of Roman hegemony by various tribes in the Caucasus and on the Eastern coast of the Black Sea - a process that kept him busy until the end of 114. The cronology of subsequent events is uncertain, but it's generally believed that early in 115 Trajan turned south into the core Parthian hegemony, taking the Northern Mesopotamian cities of NisibisNusaybin is a city in Mardin Province, southeastern Turkey populated by Turks, Kurds, Assyrian/Syriacs, Arabs....
and Batnae and organizing a province of MesopotamiaMesopotamia "land between the rivers" is a name for the Tigris–Euphrates region in the eastern Mediterranean, largely corresponding to Iraq, as well as northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of southwestern...
in the beginning of 116, when coins were issued announcing that Armenia and Mesopotamia had been put under the authority of the Roman people.
In early 116, however, Trajan began to toy with the conquest of the whole of Mesopotamia, an overambitious goal that eventually backfired on the results of his entire campaign: One Roman division crossed the Tigris into AdiabeneAdiabene was an ancient Assyrian semi-independent kingdom in Mesopotamia, with its capital at Arbela . Its rulers converted to Judaism in the 1st Century....
, sweeping South and capturing Adenystrae; a second followed the river South, capturing BabylonBabylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
; while Trajan himself sailed down the Euphrates, then dragged his fleet overland into the Tigris, capturing SeleuciaSeleucia was one of the great cities of the world during Hellenistic and Roman times. It stood in Mesopotamia, on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the smaller town of Opis .-Seleucid empire:...
and finally the Parthian capital of CtesiphonCtesiphon, the imperial capital of the Arsacids and of the Sassanids, was one of the great cities of ancient Mesopotamia.The ruins of the city are located on the east bank of the Tigris, across the river from the Hellenistic city of Seleucia. Today, the remains of both cities lie in Iraq,...
. He continued southward to the Persian GulfThe Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf by most Arab states or simply The...
, receiving the submission of Athambelus, the ruler of Charax, whence he declared Babylon a new province of the Empire, sent the Senate a laurelled letter declaring the war to be at a close and lamented that he was too old to follow in the steps of Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
and reach the distant IndiaThe Kushan Empire of Ancient India originally formed in the territories of ancient Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Oxus River or Amu Darya in what is now northern Afghanistan, and southern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan...
itself. A province of Assyria was also proclaimed, apparently covering the territory of Adiabene, as well as some measures seem to have been considered about the fiscal administration of the Indian trade.
However, as Trajan left the Persian Gulf for Babylon - where he intended to offer sacrifice to Alexander in the house where he had died in 323 B.C. - a sudden outburst of Parthian resistance, led by a nephew of the Parthian king, Sanatrukes, imperilled Roman positions in Mesopotamia and Armenia, something Trajan sought to deal with by forsaking direct Roman rule in Parthia proper, at least partially: later in 116, after defeating a Parthian army in a battle where Sanatrukes was killed and re-taking Seleucia, he formally deposed the Parthian king Osroes IOsroes I of Parthia ruled the Parthian Empire c. 109–129. He succeeded his brother Pacorus II. For the whole of his reign he contended with the rival king Vologases III based in the east of Parthia....
and put his own puppet ruler Parthamaspates on the throne. That done, he retreated North in order to retain what he could of the new provinces of Armenia and Mesopotamia.
It was at this point that Trajan's health started to fail him. The fortress city of HatraHatra is an ancient ruined city in the Ninawa Governorate and al-Jazira region of Iraq. It is today called al-Hadr, and it stands in the ancient Persian province of Khvarvaran. The city lies 290 km northwest of Baghdad and 110 km southwest of Mosul.Hatra was founded as an Assyrian city...
, on the TigrisThe Tigris is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates. The river flows from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
in his rear, continued to hold out against repeated Roman assaults. He was personally present at the siegeA siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit"....
and it is possible that he suffered a heat stroke while in the blazing heat. Shortly afterwards, the JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s inside the Eastern Roman Empire rose up in rebellion once more, as did the people of Mesopotamia. Trajan was forced to withdraw his army in order to put down the revolts. Trajan saw it as simply a temporary setback, but he was destined never to command an army in the field again, turning his Eastern armies over to the high ranking legate and governor of Judaea, Lusius Quietusthumb|300px|Moorish Cavalry under Lusius Quietus, fighting against the Dacians. From the Column of Trajan.Lusius Quietus was a Roman general and governor of Iudaea in 117.- Life :...
, who in early 116 had been in charge of the Roman division who had recovered Nisibis and EdessaEdessa may refer to:*Edessa, Greece*Edessa, Mesopotamia, now Şanlıurfa, Turkey*County of Edessa, a crusader state*Osroene, an ancient kingdom and province of the Roman Empire...
from the rebels; Quietus was promised for this a consulate in the following year - when he was actually put to death by HadrianPublius Aelius Hadrianus was emperor of Rome from AD 117 to 138, as well as a Stoic and Epicurean philosopher...
, who had no use for a man so committed to Trajan's aggressive policies.
Early in 117, Trajan grew ill and set out to sail back to Italy. His health declined throughout the spring and summer of 117, and by the time he had reached Selinus in CiliciaIn antiquity, Cilicia now known as Çukurova, was a commonly used name of the south coastal region of Asia Minor south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
which was afterwards called Trajanopolis, he suddenly died from edemaEdema or oedema , formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin, or in one or more cavities of the body...
on August 9. Some say that he had adopted HadrianPublius Aelius Hadrianus was emperor of Rome from AD 117 to 138, as well as a Stoic and Epicurean philosopher...
as his successor, but others that it was his wife Pompeia PlotinaPompeia Plotina Claudia Phoebe Piso or Pompeia Plotina was a Roman Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Trajan. She was renowned for her interest in philosophy, and her virtue, dignity and simplicity. She was particularly devoted to the Epicurean philosophical school in Athens, Greece...
who hired someone to impersonate him after he had died.
HadrianPublius Aelius Hadrianus was emperor of Rome from AD 117 to 138, as well as a Stoic and Epicurean philosopher...
, upon becoming ruler, recognized the abandonment of Mesopotamia and restored Armenia - as well as OsroeneOsroene , also known by the name of its capital city, Edessa , was a historic Syriac kingdom located in Mesopotamia, which enjoyed semi-autonomy to complete independence from the years of 132 BC to AD 244.It was a Syriac speaking kingdom.Osroene,...
- to the Parthian hegemony under Roman suzerainty - a telling sign the Roman Empire lacked the means for pursuing Trajan's overambitious goals. However, all the other territories conquered by Trajan were retained. Trajan's ashes were laid to rest underneath Trajan's column, the monument commemorating his success.
Building activities
Trajan was a prolific builder in Rome and the provinces, and many of his buildings were erected by the gifted architect Apollodorus of DamascusApollodorus of Damascus was a Syrian or Greek engineer, architect, designer and sculptor who flourished during the 2nd century AD. He was born in Damascus, Syria, and was a favourite of Trajan, for whom he constructed Trajan's Bridge over the Danube for the 105-106 campaign in Dacia...
. Notable structures include Trajan's ColumnTrajan's Column is a monument in Rome raised in honour of the Roman emperor Trajan and probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate. It is located in Trajan's Forum, built near the Quirinal Hill, north of the Roman Forum...
, Trajan's ForumTrajan's Forum is chronologically the last of the Imperial fora of Rome. The forum was constructed by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus.-History:...
, Trajan's BridgeTrajan's Bridge or Bridge of Apollodorus over the Danube was a Roman bridge , the first to be built over the lower Danube. For more than a thousand years, it was the longest arch bridge in the world to have been built, in terms of both total and span length...
, Alcántara BridgeThe Alcántara Bridge is a Roman stone arch bridge built over the Tagus River at Alcántara, Spain between 104 and 106 by an order of the Roman Emperor Trajan in 98...
, and possibly the Alconétar BridgeThe Alconétar bridge was a Roman bridge on the river Tagus in Spain. It was one of the oldest stone segmental arch bridges in the world, predating other examples such as the Zhaozhou Bridge in China and Ponte Vecchio in Italy...
.
In order to build his forum and the adjacent brick market that also held his name Trajan had vast areas of the surrounding hillsides leveled.
Trajan's legacy
Unlike many lauded rulers in history, Trajan's reputation has survived undiminished for nearly nineteen centuries.
Ancient sources on Trajan's personality and accomplishments are unanimously positive. Pliny the younger, for example, celebrates Trajan in his panegyric as a wise and just emperor and a moral man. Dio CassiusLucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek...
admits Trajan had vices like heavy drinking and sexual involvement with boys, but added that he always remained dignified and fair. The Christianisation of Rome resulted in further embellishment of his legend: it was commonly said in medieval times that Pope Gregory IPope St. Gregory I , better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death...
, through divine intercession, resurrected Trajan from the dead and baptized him into the Christian faith. An account of this features in the Golden LegendThe Golden Legend is a collection of fanciful hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that became a late medieval bestseller...
.
Theologians, such as Thomas AquinasSaint Thomas Aquinas, O.P. was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in the Dominican Order from Italy, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis...
, discussed Trajan as an example of a virtuous pagan. In the Divine ComedyThe Divine Comedy , written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321, is widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem's imaginative and allegorical vision of the Christian afterlife is a...
, DanteDANTE is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various National Research and Education Networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
, following this legend, sees the spirit of Trajan in the Heaven of JupiterIn Roman mythology, Jupiter or Jove was the king of the gods, and the god of sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon. He was called Iuppiter Optimus Maximus ; as the patron deity of the Roman state, he ruled over laws and social order...
with other historical and mythological persons noted for their justice.
He also features in Piers PlowmanPiers Plowman or Visio Willelmi de Petro Ploughman is the title of a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in unrhymed alliterative verse divided into sections called "passus"...
. An episode, referred to as the justice of TrajanThe Justice of Trajan is a legendary episode in the life of Roman Emperor Trajan, based upon Dio Cassius' account : "He did not, however, as might have been expected of a warlike man, pay any less attention to the civil administration nor did he dispense justice any the less; on the contrary, he...
was reflected in several art works.
In the 18th Century King Charles III of SpainCharles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to his death in 1788.Eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, Princess Elisabeth of Parma, he became the Duke of Parma and Piacenza under the name of Charles I ; later on in 1734 while Duke of Parma he conquered...
comminsioned Anton Raphael MengsAnton Raphael Mengs was a German painter, active in Rome, Madrid, and Saxony, who became one of the precursors to Neoclassical painting.- Biography :...
to paint The Triumph of Trajan on the ceiling of the banqueting-hall of the Royal Palace of MadridThe Palacio Real de Madrid , also known as the Palacio de Oriente , is the official residence of the King of Spain in the city of Madrid and it is only used for State Ceremonies....
- considered among the best work of this artist.
"Traian" is used as a male first name in present-day RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
- among others, that of the country's incumbent president, Traian BăsescuTraian Băsescu is a Romanian politician and former Merchant Navy officer. He is the current President of Romania, after winning the office in the 2004 presidential election, and being inaugurated on December 20, 2004...
.
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