Trajan, << TRAY juhn >> (A.D. 53?-117) was a Roman emperor and an important military leader. He expanded the empire by conquest and carried out extensive building programs.
Trajan conquered Dacia (now parts of Romania and Hungary) and made Nabataea part of the Roman Empire. Nabataea was a kingdom in what are now southern Jordan and northwestern Saudi Arabia. Trajan also won victories on the western frontier of Parthia, in present-day Iraq. He founded new cities, including Thamugadi (now Timgad, Algeria), and built bridges and harbors. These included bridges across the Danube River in Dacia and a harbor at the port of Rome. Trajan also introduced a program for the support of children in Italian cities.
Trajan was born Marcus Ulpius Traianus in Italica, Spain, of Roman parents. His father was a senator who became governor of Syria, which was an important province. Trajan became a senator and served in military posts in Spain, Syria, and Germany. In A.D. 97, Emperor Nerva adopted Trajan as his heir and successor. When Nerva died in A.D. 98, Trajan was declared emperor. He died in early August in 117.
Trajan’s Column is a monument built in the emperor’s honor after he conquered Dacia. It was dedicated in A.D. 113. The well-preserved column, 100 feet (30 meters) high, stands in Trajan’s Forum in Rome. A spiral staircase inside the column leads to the top. The column and its pedestal are covered with carvings portraying events of the Dacian wars. The ashes of Trajan are said to have been placed in the column, but no trace of them has ever been found.
See also Library (Ancient libraries of papyrus) .
