Trajan
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Wikipedia.
Trajan
Bibliography
See F. A. Lepper, Trajan's Parthian War (1948); L. Rossi, Trajan's Column and the Dacian Wars (1972).
Trajan
(Marcus Ulpius Traianus). Born A.D. 53; died 117. Member of the Antonine dynasty and Roman emperor (98–117).
Under Trajan the empire reached its greatest territorial extent. As a result of the Dacian Wars (101–102 and 105–106), Dacia became a Roman province, and in 106 the Nabataean Kingdom was conquered and became the province of Arabia. War with the Parthians from 114 to 117 resulted in the occupation of Greater Armenia and the subjugation of all Mesopotamia. Under Hadrian, Trajan’s successor, all the captured provinces were lost, except Dacia and Arabia.
Trajan maintained harmonious relations with the Senate and freely granted the rights of Roman citizenship to provincials. He instituted the alimenta system in an effort to alleviate the destitution of city dwellers and of landowners with medium and small holdings. Under Trajan, ambitious public works were undertaken in Rome and the provinces. Trajan’s Forum in Rome is a splendid example of such public construction.