Trajan - The Best Emperor #13 (Optimus Princeps) Roman History Documentary Series

named optimus princeps or the best emperor during his time trajan has been remembered as one of the best roman emperors and he presided over a period of renewed conquest and during his reign the empire would reach its greatest extent and a true start of the golden age of the roman empire marcus opius trianus now commonly referred to as trajan was born on september the 18th 53 a.d in the city of italica a roman colony founded after the second punic war in spain this made trajan the first roman emperor not born in italy trajan had a fairly conventional upbringing and a traditional education and he showed early on his preference for hunting physical and military activities over any academic pursuits he was the son of marcia a roman noblewoman and sister-in-law of emperor titus and marcus opius trianus the elder a well-respected senator who served with vespasian in the first jewish roman war in 66 a.d and supported the spatian's bid for the imperial throne in 69 a.d and for his loyalty to the new emperor he was granted a consulship and elevated to patrician status and would be appointed the governor of syria in 76 a.d where trajan served under his father as a military tribune trajan would later transfer to serve as a tribune in one of the legions of the rhine frontier and it seems that he saw active combat duty during both of these commissions he served as a military tribune far longer than was usual he seemed to have thrived in the army unfortunately much of trajan's early career can't be reconstructed in any detail due to the lack of sources after his time as tribune he held various civic posts until he was appointed as legate of the seventh legion stationed in hispania terra conensis and in 89 a.d when the governor of germania superior revolted against emperor domitian with the aid of the chatty tribe trajan was quick to respond and quickly mustered his legion and marched to defend his emperor but the rebellious legions were defeated before trajan could get there it seems that the legion stayed on the rhine frontier and even carried out some punitive raids across the rhine and against the chatty tribe demetian took notice of trajan's eagerness to defend him against the rebellious governor and rewarded him with a consulship in 91 a.d after his consulship trajan was granted a provincial governorship on the frontier where he would further prove his loyalty towards domitian by defeating some german tribes raiding roman land when emperor domitian was killed in the imperial palace in 96 a.d the senate greeted the news with joy and appointed a man from their own ranks to become the new emperor an elderly senator by the name of nerva the praetorian guard however was less ecstatic about the change of emperor and when nerva refused to deal with domitian's assassins they took action into their own hands and kidnapped the new emperor and forced him to promptly order the execution of the conspirators being an elderly man and in poor health and without any children to inherit the throne nerva decided to adopt trajan as his successor and son the adoption of trajan satisfied the guard and brought a measure of stability to the political situation in rome nerva sent a handwritten note announcing his decision to trajan and in this note he urged trajan to take revenge against the praetorian guards who had humiliated him trajan was governor of germania inferior at the time when news arrived of nervous choice to make him his successor news of his succession was brought to him by the future emperor hadrian who was trajan's ward hadrian's father was a cousin to treyton but when he had died in 86 trajan became the guardian of the boy soon thereafter news arrived that nerva had passed away after only 15 months on the throne making trajan the new emperor of rome the new emperor it's unknown if tragen knew of nerva's plan to adopt him ahead of time though there's always been the suspicion that the adoption was engineered by trajan's friends in rome who would have put pressure on the elderly emperor either way it proved to be a very good choice for everyone concerned upon his ascension to emperor trajan was in no hurry to get to rome instead he inspected the rhine and denude frontiers to not only safeguard against the dacians but also to test the allegiance of the many legions still loyal to domitian and he also summoned the praetorian guards who had kidnapped and extorted nerva and had them executed trajan entered rome in the latter part of 99 a.d and he did so on foot greeting the masses who had come to meet their new emperor and he made sure to embrace all the senators who had come to meet him pliny who was an eyewitness to trajan's entrance to rome wrote this neither age nor health nor sex held back those who wish to feast their eyes on the unexpected site small children learnt who you were young people gazed rapturously the agent marveled and the bedridden scorning their doctor's orders left their sick beds as if a glimpse of you could restore their health among the crowds there were some who said that their life was fulfilled now that they had caught a glimpse of you while others claimed that you gave them reason for living longer women rejoiced in their voluptuous fecundity as never before in the knowledge that now they brought forth citizens for a princess to rule and soldiers for an imperator to command all felt the same joy at your arrival joy which increased with each step you took your splendid physique seemingly growing with each stride this projection of modesty was a far cry from the last days of domitian's reign and it would become trajan's hallmark throughout his reign as trajan made sure to placate the senate and treated them with dignity and respect and he like most emperors before him promised that he would refrain from executing any senator during his reign but unlike most emperors trajan actually kept his word and no senator was put to death during his 19-year reign whereas domitian had pleased the army but not the senate and nerva pleased the senate but not the army trajan showed that he was the man to gratify both but in reality trajan concentrated power in his own hands just like his predecessors but he did so with tact and flattering speeches trajan's popularity amongst his peers was such that the senate bestowed upon him the honorific of optimus meaning the best it was a title that had been reserved for rome's supreme deity on the capitoline hill jupiter optimus maximus jupiter the best and the greatest the first dakian war during domitian's reign the empire had seen increased aggression from dakia who bordered roman territory along the danube they had under their king desebolis started raiding roman territory and inflicted serious defeats on the romans while demecian had tried to deal with the situation his campaigns ended in a deeply unsatisfactory way with a treaty where rome had to pay desebulous a yearly indemnity and sent him engineers to help build roads and fortifications these terms suggested that rome had lost the war which of course was unacceptable so trajan planned a new campaign to achieve a far more beneficial treaty for the romans where rome's superiority over dakia was clear to all unfortunately much of trajan's campaign has been lost to history and only a fragmentary literary account of his campaign exists we do however have trajan's column built in rome to commemorate his campaign but it's hard to read without a complimentary written account [Music] we can see the romans crossing over the danube on a pontoon bridge and here we can see trajan conducting a sacrifice outside the camp probably to war god mars to ensure military success in this scene we see trajan delivering a speech to his soldiers and in the following scenes we can see trajan overseeing his soldiers carrying out labors like building fortifications and clearing away a forest followed by negotiations with a captured dakian and a few scenes later we see the first battle it seems primarily the auxilia force engaged the enemy perhaps the second battle of tepe which the romans won but not decisively and in fact rome seems to have suffered heavy casualties forcing trajan to retreat south for the winter to regroup and reinforce his army the dakians proved to be a deadly foe for the romans with their long curved swords called fox this could reach around the shield and inflict damage on the man behind the cutting power of this sword was reputed to be devastating even cutting through shields and helmets during that winter king desebolus not one to give up the initiative to trajan launched a counter-attack across the danube but the dakians were defeated in two battles at militia in the following campaigning season trajan advanced towards the dakian capital of sarmissa gethusa through the iron gates pass while a pincer attack advanced from the east with a lightly armed moorish cavalry attacking deceptis in the rear perhaps through the vulcan pass and yet another surprise attack perhaps through the ott valley succeeded in capturing deceptis sister for these reasons deceptis was forced to sue for peace in 102 a.d some minor territories were ceded to rome and deceptis was given some military reinforcement and supplies trajan was hoping by having subjugated desebolis that he could be a powerful ally to rome who could guard against hostile migrating peoples the resources rome sent were instead used to rebuild many of the strategic fortifications trajan had torn down during his campaign a massive bridge was also built across the danube it would help the roman army advance faster in case of future wars in dakia it was very likely designed by apollodorus of damascus who will come to be trajan's court architect designing many of trajan's future building projects with roman prestige restored in the area and a proper peace treaty in place trajan set off for rome and he entered the capital in triumph and he was granted the honorary title of dasicus [Applause] and in true republican tradition the envoys from deceptists were brought before the senate to ratify the peace treaty celebratory games and theatrical displays were held in the capital and a general state of celebration gripped the people of rome however less than two years elapsed before the situation on the danube frontier once again reached a crisis point desebolis had started to re-arm and fortify his kingdom and dispatched embassies to tribes hostile to rome and he had attacked roman forces stationed in the newly occupied territories north of the danube de cebullis had also annexed parts of the lazilian land to the west as revenge for their support of rome during the previous war the second dakian war it seems that this renewed hostility caused genuine surprise in rome deceptis was declared an enemy of rome in june 105 a.d trajan left rome to once again march into dakian land however it was far into the campaigning season so he could only consolidate existing position once again the column is our primary source for the war that ensued the sebelis made plans to have trajan assassinated auxiliaries who had deserted were instructed to take advantage of the emperor's accessibility at his headquarters and have him killed the plot was discovered when one of the conspirators acted suspiciously which led to his prompt arrest and subsequent torture the dakians had also managed to capture one of the commanders of the roman forces a certain longinus who had served with distinction in the previous wars in dakia he had been lured into desebolis camp with the guarantee of peace talks the severus was hoping by having such a prominent bargaining chip he could force trade into terms however longinus resolved the situation himself by taking his own life before he could be used against the emperor meanwhile in drabeta trajan had been assembling a force large enough to deal with dakia once and for all he gathered all available troops in the empire and vexilations were sent from all around the roman world he created two new legions the second triana fortis and the 15th opia victrex this show of roman force caused many dakkians to desert deceptis who now tried to sue for peace with trajan the emperor demanded that desebulous would surrender himself and all recently acquired weapons terms to severus could not accept in the spring of 106 trajan's campaigns into dakia began the goal was clear to capture the dakian capital of sarmisigathusa the romans advanced through the vulcan pass and the scene on the column suggests that rome met little resistance instead showing the roman army involved in field craft and engineering desebulus was outnumbered and very reluctant to face the roman army in the field opting for a war of attrition and ambushing detachments before fleeing back into the hill forts in the carpathian mountains the systematic reduction of these strongholds seems to have taken up most of the campaigning in 106. when the roman army finally arrived at sarmisthusa the city surrendered without a fight desebulous however was nowhere to be found in the city he had fled to the mountains determined to continue the war against rome but many dakian noble surrendered to trajan and disclosed the whereabouts to the royal treasury they had diverted a river and buried the treasure in a riverbed the emperor ordered the treasure to be recovered and it proved to be of astonishing value some 500 000 pounds of gold and twice as much silver eventually deceptis who had retreated further into the more remote parts of the carpathians was tracked down by roman auxiliary cavalry but desebulous committed suicide before he could be captured the man who captured deceptis was a man by the name of tiberius claudius maximus who had after his 25 years as legionary transferred to the auxiliary where he eventually became the commander of the unit who captured deceptious deceptis head was parted from his body and taken to the emperor and maximus received military decorations from a grateful trajan this evolus's head was paraded in front of the soldiers and then sent ahead to rome where it would be hurled down the stairs of the capitoline hill dakia had been utterly defeated half a million dakians were taken prisoners many of whom were sent to rome to fight as gladiators as a part of trajan's triumph and the rest were enslaved a monumental trophy was erected in mouisha inferior to commemorate the war and the structure was consecrated to mars ultor mars the avenger dakia was incorporated into the roman empire and many of the veterans who had fought in the dakian wars now colonized the new province [Music] upon trajan's entrance into rome in the middle of june 107 he was met with numerous embassies from beyond the empire including one from india all congratulating the emperor and seeking reassurance that they wouldn't suffer the same fate as the emperor was voted another triumph and festivities even more lavish than the last ensued called the dakian games this was a spectacle the like of which rome had never seen and they lasted for 117 days with a simple purpose to display trajan's generosity and rome's power money was distributed to all citizens sometime towards the end of the second dakian war the client kingdom of navita was fully incorporated into the empire yet again our sources are sparse on the circumstances surrounding the annexation but some military action seems to have been required for the subjugation [Music] trajan's buildings there had long been a convention for the victorious generals to embellish the city with impressive public buildings paid for by the spoils of war so trajan undertook and encouraged extensive public works in rome and in the provinces constantine the great wood 200 years later called trajan a creeper that grows on the walls because so many buildings all around the empire bore his name he built roads bridges and even new ports he oversaw the construction of a new port in austria so as to be better able to satisfy the increased need for grain in rome the imperial capital was a huge metropolis at this time which needed to import enormous amounts of grain and naturally trajan's most famous building projects were in the capital itself a vast new forum was built the biggest of them all trajan's forum that included a basilica two libraries a new market and crowning the new forum was trajan's column an innovative spiral relief illustrating trajan's conquest of dakia in front of the column a temple was erected trajan failed to dedicate this temple to any deity but it would be a temple to trajan after his death the romans could not accept a living emperor dedicating a temple to his own honor while he was still alive he also constructed a massive public bath complex right above the one built by titus and it would come to dwarf the earlier bath an aqueduct was built to bring more water into the capital and to help supply his new bath the brain behind many of these projects was apollodorus of damascus originally a military engineer from the greek-speaking eastern provinces and his designs incorporate a mix of roman greek and even elements of the near east the variety and design could symbolize the massive size of the empire [Music] trajan's internal affairs trajan married a woman from southern galt platina while they never had any children of their own they seemed to have been very happy together trajan's friend pliny wrote this about platina she was an exemplary model of the ancient wifely virtues obedient to her husband in a spirit of reciprocal understanding and consistently faithful to the habits he inculcated in her demure and unassuming in her attire and entourage she even accompanied trajan on foot whenever custom allowed revealing an unswerving devotion to him and not his position platina and marciana trajan's older sister were both granted the title of augusta marciano was close to her brother and often traveled with him and assisted him in decision making marciana's grandchild vibia sabina would later marry the future emperor hadrian trajan made efforts to help the poor specifically children in italy by setting aside public money to provide for their upkeep a sort of rudimentary welfare scheme this system would last for almost 200 years while trajan did many good things he was not perfect one of our sources claims that trajan was too fond of boys and wine and that he took too much pleasure in war but his fellow soldiers liked him trajan often shared his soldiers hardship in campaign walking on foot and forwarding rivers with his army pliny would later publish many of his personal letters some of them still survive to this day one correspondence with trajan is of particular interest pliny had been sent out to govern bithynia in asia minor because there seems to have been some inconsistencies in the financial reporting pliny sent a letter to trajan asking for advice on how to deal with the growing christian population in the province and this is how trajan responded you have followed the right course of procedure my dear pliny in your examination of the cases of persons charged with being christians for it is impossible to lay down a general rule to a fixed formula these people must not be hunted out if they are brought before you and the charge against them is proved they must be punished but in the case of one who denies that he is christian and makes it clear that he is not by offering prayers to our gods he is to be pardoned as a result of this repentance however suspect his past conduct may be but pamphlets circulated anonymously must play no part in any accusation they create the worst sort of precedent and are quite out of keeping with the spirit of our age pleni's letter shows the extent of christianity spread in the empire and the decentralized nature of the ancient world it also exemplifies trajan's personal attitude towards legal matters trajan's response is blunt and uncompromising concerning the matter of the law but emphasized magnanimity where possible the parthian campaign adrian had been sent to the eastern provinces probably as the governor of syria to make preparations for an impending campaign against rome's greatest enemy the parthian empire the pretext for the war seems to have been rome's relation with the armenian king a new king had been installed with a parthian crown the treaty between rome and parthia had ever since nero stated that the armenian king would be a man from parthia but he would be crowned by rome this new king clearly broke the treaty and therefore stipulated a just cause for war even though the parthians had backed off frasien refused any terms he wanted war the peace with parthia had always been uneasy all other tribes and kingdoms neighboring roman territory were reduced to subservient client states parthia however had always remained fully independent and strong for years rome had amassed supplies in the east in preparation for this war in 114 trajan started his campaign by going into armenia and reducing it to a roman province and in successive years he would conquer mesopotamia most of the parthian heartland and its capital tessephon trajan penetrated as far as the persian gulf the senate in rome awarded him the title of parthicus and said that he could hold as many triumphs as he wanted to parthia had put up little resistance to trajan's advance they were embroiled in a civil war at the time so could put up little coordinated resistance while besieging the city of hatra trajan was almost struck by a missile shot from a wall a cavalry man in his escort was hit and killed the emperor was not wearing any symbols of rank hoping not to stand out but trajan was in his 60s at the time of this so seniority was clear to all and hatra would prove too difficult to siege in the desert sun so the roman army was forced to withdraw and while it seems that trajan wanted to fully annex the conquered territories into direct roman rule he was forced to withdraw from mesopotamia when another jewish revolt broke out in the empire and soldiers needed to be reallocated to deal with the situation and the parthian land proved to be hard to control small rebellions sprung up all over mesopotamia attacking roman supply lines death of a princess it proved to be impossible for rome to hold its new territory and deal with the revolts inside the empire at the same time whether this was a coordinated revolt between the jewish population and parthia is unknown but it's probably fair to say that the jewish population throughout the empire saw their chance with the majority of the roman forces occupied in the east so trajan returned to antioch in 117 and by the time he got there most of the conquered territories had been lost due to his failing health he suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed he was determined to continue his campaign but he was advised against it and given his poor health trajan decided to return to rome and celebrate his parthian triumph and he left hadrian in overall command of the armies in the east and while traveling along the salesian coast his condition suddenly worsened so they pulled into the nearest harbour salinas where the elderly emperor would eventually die trajan had never considered his imminent death and had left no clear instructions concerning the succession and he had no children it has been suggested that perhaps he wanted the senate to appoint a suitable successor nonetheless rumors suggest that platina frajin's wife who is believed to have been infatuated with hadrian had actually concealed trajan's death and smuggled in someone to impersonate the emperor with a suitably feeble voice so that she could consort with the praetorian prefect and ensure that hadrian's adoption could be announced before the news of the death was made public fueling these speculations is the fact that the imperial correspondence announcing the adoption was signed by platina and not trajan but perhaps the emperor's failing health and the partially paralyzing stroke may have caused platina to help the dying emperor either way hadrian was in a strong position at the time controlling the armies in the east so no one challenged his ascendants to the imperial throne trajan's body was brought to hadrian who had the old emperor cremated and his ashes were brought to rome in a golden urn which was placed at the foot of his column for the next 200 years the senators would address the new emperor by saying reign fortunately like augustus and virtuously like trajan [Music] thanks for watching the video don't forget to subscribe to the channel or like the video you can find the sources used for this video in the description below the next video in the series will be on hadrian

Channel: The SPQR Historian

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Keywords: Trajan, Emperor Trajan, Roman Emperor Trajan, Trajan Emperor, trajan documentary, trajans column, Trajan Rome, traiano imperatore, The Roman Emperor Trajan, Dacian Wars, Parthian War, roman emperors documentary, The SPQR Historian, trajan roman emperor, decebalus, roman history, ancient history, history of rome, full documentary, biographics, trajan (monarch), hadrian and trajan

Id: -BagdB-pqno

Length: 26min 20sec (1580 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 17 2020