Marcus Ulpius Trajan Research Paper

Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, also known as Trajan, was born on 18 September in Italica, Spain in the year AD 52. His Spanish origin made him the first emperor of Rome to not to be born in Italy. Trajan was the son of a well-respected general and senator also named Marcus Ulpius Trajanus. In his adult years, he became a soldier and served on many distant Roman frontiers. He was elected head of the senate in 98 A.D. Shortly after, he married a woman named Pompeia Plotina.
Trajan, who was at that time inspecting the Roman frontier in Germany, became the sole ruler of the empire. He did not return to Rome until several years later, however. He celebrated his accession by largesses to his soldiers and also made provisions for the maintenance of the children of poor freemen in Rome and other Italian cities, thus continuing the system of governmental benevolence initiated by Nerva. In 101 Trajan set out on his first campaign against the Dacians in southeastern Europe. The struggle was long and fierce, but by 106 the Romans had completely subdued the country, which became the Roman province of Dacia. This conquest was celebrated by a triumph and by games that lasted four months. The famous Trajan's Column in the Forum of Trajan in Rome was erected to commemorate the victory.
Although the greater part of Trajan's reign was spent in military campaigns, the government of Rome was carefully guided, and several administrative reforms were made. New roads, canals, and bridges were constructed; the Appian Way was restored; the …show more content…
Even the elaborate name conjures up a picture of this great Emperor of Rome. Trajan had attracted the attention of the Emperor Nerva who, as he had no son, adopted him, confident that Trajan would prove a good ruler. His faith could not have been better