Trajan

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Trajan
Marble bust of Trajan
13th Emperor of the Roman Empire
Reign	27 January 98 – 8 August 117
Predecessor	Nerva, adoptive father
Successor	Hadrian
Born	18 September 53 Italica, Hispania, now Province of Seville, Andalusia, Spain
Died	8 August 117 (aged 63) Selinus, Cilicia, now Gazipaşa, Antalya Province, Turkey
Burial	Rome (ashes in foot of Trajan's Column, now lost), now Trajan's Forum, Rome, Italy
Wife	Pompeia Plotina
Full name Marcus Ulpius Traianus (from birth to adoption) Caesar Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus (from adoption to accession) Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Divi Nervae filius Augustus (as emperor)
Dynasty	Nerva–Antonine
Father	Marcus Ulpius Traianus Nerva (adoptive)
Mother	Marcia

Roman imperial dynasties
Nervo-Trajanic Dynasty

Nerva Children    Natural - (none)    Adoptive - Trajan Trajan Children    Natural - (none)    Adoptive - Hadrian Hadrian Children    Natural - (none)    Adoptive - Lucius Aelius    Adoptive - Antoninus Pius

Trajan (/ˈtreɪdʒən/; Latin: Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Divi Nervae filius Augustus;^[1] 18 September 53 – 8 August 117 AD) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Officially declared by the Senate optimus princeps ("the best ruler"), Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presided over the greatest military expansion in Roman history, leading the empire to attain its maximum territorial extent by the time of his death. He is also known for his philanthropic rule, overseeing extensive public building programs and implementing social welfare policies, which earned him his enduring reputation as the second of the Five Good Emperors who presided over an era of peace and prosperity in the Mediterranean world.
Born in the city of Italica in the province of Hispania Baetica, Trajan's non-patrician family was of Italian and perhaps Iberian origin. Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in 89 Trajan supported Domitian against a revolt on the Rhine led by Antonius Saturninus. In September 96, Domitian was succeeded by Marcus Cocceius Nerva, an old and childless senator who proved to be unpopular with the army. After a brief and tumultuous year in power, culminating in a revolt by members of the Praetorian Guard, Nerva was compelled to adopt the more popular Trajan as his heir and successor. He died on 27 January 98 and was succeeded by his adopted son without incident.
As a civilian administrator, Trajan is best known for his extensive public building program, which reshaped the city of Rome and left numerous enduring landmarks such as Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Market and Trajan's Column. Early in his reign, he annexed the Nabataean Kingdom, creating the province of Arabia Petraea. His conquest of Dacia enriched the empire greatly, as the new province possessed many valuable gold mines. However, its exposed position north of the Danube made it susceptible to attack on three sides, and it was later abandoned by Emperor Aurelian.
Trajan's war against the Parthian Empire ended with the sack of the capital Ctesiphon and the annexation of Armenia and Mesopotamia. His campaigns expanded the Roman Empire to its greatest territorial extent. In late 117, while sailing back to Rome, Trajan fell ill and died of a stroke in the city of Selinus. He was deified by the Senate and his ashes were laid to rest under Trajan's Column. He was succeeded by his adopted son Hadrian.