What was emperor trajan best known 4?

Answer 1

Trajan is best known as a military commander. He fought the Dacians who attacked the empire from across the river Danube. In the two Dacian Wars (101-2 and 105-6) he conquered Dacia (Romania and Moldova). He annexed the kingdom of Nabataea (modern southern Jordan and northwest Saudi Arabia) which, although there is epigraphic evidence of a military operation, appears to have submitted to the Romans willingly. He fought a war against the Persian in which he expanded Roman territory from northern Mesopotamia into the rest of this area and reached the Persian Gulf. This was the point when the Roman Empire reached its greatest extent.

Trajan was a highly phrased emperor and all ancient sources had a positive view of him. He was described as just and wise and as a moral man who was always dignified. The famous theologian Thomas Aquinas discussed Trajan as an example of a virtuous pagan. Machiavelli listed Trajan as one of the five good emperors. He called them good emperors because they were benign rulers, pursued moderate policies, ruled wisely, allowed a lot of freedom and were popular. This contrasted with the more tyrannical rule of other emperors.

A legendary episode in the life of Trajan in Cassius Dio's biography of the emperor had been called "The Justice of Trajan." The emperor was petitioned for justice by the mother of a murdered man. He asked her to wait until he returned from a war, but she pointed out that he might not return at all. He made time to settle her case despite all the other calls on his time. According to Cassius Dio "He did not, however, as might have been expected of a warlike man, pay any less attention to the civil administration nor did he dispense justice any the less; on the contrary, he conducted trials…" In the Divine Comedy, Dante sees the spirit of Trajan in the Heaven of Jupiter with other historical and mythological persons noted for their justice. A mural of the justice of Trajan is in the first terrace of Purgatory as a lesson to those who are purged for being proud. This popularised the legend which appears in poems and painting.

Trajan was a prolific builder. He built monuments and roads in Italy and his native Hispania. He rebuilt roads which were renamed via Traiana and via Traiana Nova. In Rome he built Trajan's Forum and Trajan's Column. He built the Alcántara Bridge in Spain. For his wars in Dacia he built a road and canal around it the Iron gates (a gorge on the river Danube) and Trajan's Bridge . This bridge was one of the marvels of Roman engineering. It was 1,135 m (3,724 ft.) long, 15 m (49 ft.) wide, and 19 m (62 ft.) above the water level. It had twenty masonry pillars and arches with a span of 38 m (125 ft.). Although it was functional for only a few decades, for more than 1,000 years it was the longest arch bridge in both total and span length.