The legacy of Trajan, the Spanish emperor who led Rome to its greatest expansion

The "construction of the narrative" about the Roman Empire —a fundamental period in history—has Hadrian as one of its central figures. The beauty of Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian may influence this. Less widely known about his predecessor , Trajan , was the subject of much of the historiography, but a large portion of historiography places him as "the greatest of all the emperors " within a dynasty (the Antonine) that marked the empire's most prosperous period. For the millions of tourists who pass through Rome, Trajan is only a reference point for the imposing column that bears his name or the section of the Forum, also named after him, whose ruins still remain in the heart of the Italian capital.

But a monumental biography of more than 700 pages recently published in Spain by Doctor of History David Soria leaves no doubt about his connotation: Trajan, the best emperor . In his time, senators honored Trajan as "Optimus Prínceps."

Trajan had this column erected in 114 to celebrate his campaigns against the Dacians (the first in 101, the second in 105). Its nearly 40-meter height features images of 2,500 figures —Trajan himself is depicted 60 times—and at the top was placed an effigy of an eagle, then that of the emperor, and, in the 16th century, the Church ordered its replacement with that of St. Peter.

“Trajan's ashes lay sublime, buried in the air, in the deep blue sky of Rome, and looking up at the stars. They had contained a spirit that might have found its home among them, the last of those who reigned over all the earth, over the Roman world, since, after him, none held, but surrendered their conquests,” wrote Byron , in one of his accounts of his travels in Italy.

According to Soria, Trajan's Column "is a great propaganda piece for the campaign against the Dacians, aimed at the capital's public. The war is greatly softened when compared to another, much more stark representation, that of the Tropaeum Traiani in Romania. It represents the triumph of Trajan as a great conqueror and the success of his regime."

Nearby, tourists wander around Trajan's Forum, the largest of the Roman forums at 200 x 120 meters, the work of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus between 107 and 112.

The great journalist and historian Indro Montanelli wrote that “after six years of peace spent on these projects, Trajan felt nostalgic for his military encampments . And even though he was almost 60, he set his mind to completing the work of Julius Caesar and Antony in the East, extending the confines of the Empire to the Indian Ocean. He achieved this after a triumphant march through Mesopotamia, Persia, Syria, and Armenia.”

No one had ever gone so far . But on his return, he collapsed, suffering from dropsy. He died at the age of 64. "And only his ashes returned to Rome, buried beneath his column," Montanelli concludes. He believes that "Trajan was a great emperor. But among the many merits that truly grace our memory, he had one fortunate achievement: that of earning the gratitude of a historian like Tacitus and a chronicler like Plinth, whose testimonies would be decisive for the court of posterity."

Marcus Ulpius Trajan, as he was known, was born in 53 AD in the area now known as Italica, near Seville : it was the province of Hispania in the Roman era. Thus, Trajan would become the first emperor from a "province." Trajan's father moved to Rome and rose to the ranks of the Senate, where he also guaranteed his son's protection. As a military man, he was quickly promoted to head of a legion, fought in Hispania itself and in Germania, and was chosen as his successor by the veteran Emperor Nerva.

Trajan's military campaigns are impressive , but his own achievements as "imperator" were no less impressive. He modernized the bureaucratic system of an expanding empire, guaranteed food supplies for the most disadvantaged, and undertook a series of projects that still astonish today: the renovation of roads and sewers, the completion of the port of Ostia and the Appian Way, and the construction of the amphitheater in Verona. And in his Spanish homeland, he built the Segovia Aqueduct, still admirable to this day .

But Trajan was a man of his time , almost inhumane toward slaves, promoting gladiatorial duels and mercilessly persecuting early Christians. "Trajan's reign is one of the most memorable in the history of urban planning, architecture, and engineering," according to Montanelli.

Soria's book covers the vast geography that Trajan traveled through in his campaigns, especially the battles against the main enemies of the Roman Empire, whom he managed to subdue: the Dacians (in present-day Romania) and the Parthians (in present-day Iran).

“ The Dacian Kingdom and the Parthian Empire were two superpowers,” the historian explains. “They weren't tribal armies at all. The Parthian army was almost a medieval feudal army, with a core of professional troops and an elite with extensive military training, like the knights of the Middle Ages, as well as specialized troops. They had learned from the Hellenistic powers.”

"The Dacians also had a core of professional fighters and theirs was an army of citizen soldiers, like the Spartans or the Athenians," he adds. "They were highly motivated and very tough fighters , with weapons and tactics not very different from those of the Romans; they did not launch disorderly charges like the Germans. The Dacian kingdom was a great threat to Rome, and Rome assessed it very well. It was no longer a question of turning it into a vassal kingdom but of destroying it completely. Trajan achieved complete success in this." With the Parthians it was more difficult and they ended up agreeing to a long peace.

And on a personal level, as Soria expressed in an interview with the newspaper El País, "I think he was a friendly, down-to-earth man, easy-going and not at all elitist, very accessible. He liked to consider himself just another citizen and avoided pomp and ceremony. When he arrived in Rome in 99, after being proclaimed emperor the year before, he left his personal escort behind, opting to enter not in a chariot or sedan chair but on foot, and he didn't wait for the senators to emerge to greet him but went to find them to address them one by one without formalities. He didn't want to be courted. Energetic but not harsh, at times he was too direct , almost brusque, the result of an excess of frankness. He recognized talent, accepted advice, and took criticism well. We would have liked him, yes ."

Also, like Hadrian, he was bisexual . “He was attracted to young boys, just like Hadrian in that respect.” He had no children and adopted his successor, whose second cousin he was.

Traces of both remain to this day , almost two millennia later. In legend, but also in history.

Trajan. The Best Emperor , by David Soria (Desperta Ferro Editions).