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Trajan
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Trajan's father, of the same name as his son, was the first in the family line to obtain a Senate seat and rose as high as the consulship in the chaotic period following Nero's death (around AD 70). Having served under Vespasian in Judaea, the Trajanus family rose rapidly along with Vespasian's ultimate accession to the throne. The elder Trajan eventually served governorships in the provinces of Baetica (southern Hispania), Syria and the prestigious post of Asia Minor. Despite the son's future adoption as Nerva's heir, Trajan did not ignore his familial roots. Trajan's father likely lived long enough to see his son's accession and coinage reflects the deification of the natural father in AD 113.
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Trajan was an emperor of Rome who was the second of what is called the Five Good Emperors. It was under his leadership that the Roman Empire was able to reach its largest size. He was the son of a respected senator, and he spent time in the areas that are known as Hispania. He became a member of the Roman army, and he quickly moved up through the ranks. He served in one of the more dangerous portions of the empire. In 76, his father would become the governor of Syria, and he remained in the military during this time.
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After the death of his father, Trajan had no close male relatives. His life was as closely linked with his wife and female relations as that of any of his predecessors; these women played enormously important roles in the empire's public life, and received honors perhaps unparalleled. His wife, Pompeia Plotina, is reported to have said, when she entered the imperial palace in Rome for the first time, that she hoped she would leave it the same person she was when she entered. [[26]] She received the title Augusta no later than 105. She survived Trajan, dying probably in 121, and was honored by Hadrian with a temple, which she shared with her husband, in the great forum which the latter had built.
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Admired by contemporaries for his integrity, humility and sense of public duty, Trajan was ... reported to have had a weakness for wine and young men! He was succeeded by Hadrian, who abandoned much land that Trajan had gained. His great wall in northern Britain was based on an idea proposed originally by Trajan.
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Trajan (98 - 117) ruled for 19 years and is remembered as one of the most renowned and greatest of the Roman emperors. He was the first non-Italian emperor (the first emperor to come from a province), being born of Roman parents in Spain. He is best remembered for his military conquests and public works in Rome. He became a military hero after his defeat of a Germanic invasion. He extended the Roman frontier to its greatest extent by conquering and annexing Dacia (the region north of the Danube River). He ... fought the Parthians in the east and annexed Armenia, Mesopotamia, and part of Arabia to the Roman Empire.
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Trajan eventually arrived in Rome in AD 99 under circumstances that rivaled a triumphal procession. He entered the city on foot and was greeted by massive crowds. The Senate too was pleased with this new choice in spite of his 'provincial' origin and the manner of his selection as heir without their pre-approval. He re-affirmed the vow by Nerva that no Senator would be harmed and applied the Augustan principals of the principate. Trajan was considerate and mindful to Republican tradition making sure that the position of emperor appeared again like that of a first citizen among peers rather than a despot that ruled at his own whims. He ruled with an outward lack of political ambition and it endeared him to both the masses and the aristocracy.
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Trajan