# Trajan: Optimus Princeps

### The First Provincial Emperor

Marcus Ulpius Traianus, born in 53 CE in Hispania Baetica (modern Spain), became the first Roman emperor born outside Italy, marking a significant evolution in imperial identity. From a distinguished military family, Trajan rose through the ranks through competence and valor rather than birth or political maneuvering. When the elderly emperor Nerva faced a mutiny by the Praetorian Guard in 97 CE, he adopted the popular and respected general Trajan as his heir, securing both his own safety and a smooth succession. Trajan assumed power in 98 CE at age forty-five, beginning a reign later remembered as one of Rome's golden ages.

Trajan distinguished himself from previous emperors through his accessible, soldierly manner and genuine respect for the Senate. He refused excessive honors, walked through Rome's streets without heavy guard, and consulted senators on important matters. The Senate reciprocated by bestowing upon him the title "Optimus Princeps," meaning "the best ruler," a designation previously reserved for Jupiter. This mutual respect created political stability and made Trajan the standard by which later emperors were judged. The Senate's traditional acclamation of new emperors would be "felicior Augusto, melior Traiano" - "more fortunate than Augustus, better than Trajan."

Historical context illustration

### The Dacian Wars

Trajan's greatest military achievement was the conquest of Dacia, the region north of the Danube corresponding roughly to modern Romania. The Dacian kingdom, under King Decebalus, had long threatened Rome's Danube frontier and extracted tribute from previous emperors. Between 101-102 CE and 105-106 CE, Trajan led two major campaigns against Dacia, demonstrating both military brilliance and engineering prowess. His forces constructed a massive stone bridge across the Danube, an engineering marvel that enabled the movement of troops and supplies.

The Dacian Wars were brutal but decisive. After the second campaign, Decebalus committed suicide to avoid capture, and Dacia became a Roman province. The conquest brought enormous wealth to Rome, particularly Dacia's gold mines, which financed Trajan's ambitious building program. The war's importance to Trajan's legacy is evident in Trajan's Column, erected in his forum, which depicts the campaigns in a continuous spiral of carved relief panels. This 125-foot monument served as both artistic masterpiece and historical record, illustrating Roman military tactics, equipment, and engineering in remarkable detail.

#### Trajan's Column

Trajan's Column contains approximately 2,662 human figures depicted across 155 scenes spiraling around the monument. The column originally served as Trajan's tomb, with his ashes placed in a golden urn in its base. It remains one of the best-preserved monuments from ancient Rome and an invaluable source for understanding Roman military history.

### Greatest Territorial Extent

Not content with the Dacian triumph, Trajan turned east toward Rome's ancient rival, Parthia. In 113 CE, using a dispute over Armenia as pretext, he launched a massive eastern campaign. Trajan's armies conquered Armenia, then swept through Mesopotamia, capturing the Parthian capital Ctesiphon in 116 CE. He reached the Persian Gulf, allegedly standing on its shores and lamenting that his age prevented him from following Alexander the Great's path to India. Under Trajan, the Roman Empire reached its maximum territorial extent, stretching from Britain to the Persian Gulf, from the Rhine to the Sahara.

However, this expansion proved unsustainable. Maintaining control over Mesopotamia strained Roman resources, and revolts erupted in the newly conquered territories and among Jewish populations across the eastern empire. Trajan's health began to fail, possibly due to a stroke, as he attempted to manage these crises. His successor Hadrian would wisely abandon most of these eastern conquests, recognizing that Rome had overextended itself. Nevertheless, Trajan's eastern campaigns demonstrated Rome's military might at its apex and added enormous prestige to his reign.

### Domestic Achievements and Legacy

Trajan's domestic policy matched his military success. He undertook massive public works, including his magnificent Forum of Trajan, the last and largest of the imperial fora. This complex included markets, libraries, and the famous column, serving as both commercial center and monument to imperial glory. He improved Rome's infrastructure with new roads, bridges, and aqueducts, while his "alimenta" program provided financial assistance for poor children throughout Italy, combining social welfare with efforts to boost Italy's declining population.

Trajan died in 117 CE while returning from his eastern campaigns, possibly in Cilicia. His ashes were returned to Rome and placed beneath his column, an honor requiring special senatorial dispensation since burial within the city was normally forbidden. The Senate immediately deified him, and his reputation only grew with time. For centuries, Romans considered Trajan the model emperor, embodying the martial virtue, civic duty, and benevolent leadership that defined Rome's ideal. His expansion of the empire, though later rolled back, represented Rome at its most powerful, while his respect for tradition and institutions provided a blueprint for how emperors should govern. Even Christian writers, despite Trajan's persecution of their faith, acknowledged his greatness, with Pope Gregory the Great allegedly praying for his soul, creating the legend of "Trajan's salvation."