TRAJA'NUS, MARCUS IIIPrus, Roman emperor, was born at Italica (Alcala), near Seville, Sept. 18, 52 A.D. He was descended from a family which was probably of Roman origin, and was early trained to arms, becoming a prominently successful leader in the Parthian and German campaigns, during the reigns of Titus and Domitian. He was rewarded for his valuable services by promotion to the offices of pretor and consul (91 A.D.), and was ultimately adopted (97 A.D.) by Nerva (q.v.) as his colleague and suc cessor. Trajanus became sole ruler in January of .,he following year, and celebrated the event of his accession by the usual largess to the soldiers, which gift his liberal ty prompted him to extend also to the Roman citizens and their children; and he made large pro vision out of the imperial treasury for the upbringing of the children of poor freemen in Rome and other Italian towns, with the view of encouraging the increase of the popu lation. In 101 A.D., Mime, for the first time, beheld its emperor lending forth his legions in person on a career of conquest, when Trajanus set out on his first campaign against the Dacians who had exacted tribute from Room since Domitian's time. The struggle vas long and destructive; the emperor's opponents were valiant warriors, and headed by an able leader, their monarch, Decebalus; but the Romans at last gained a decisive superiority; and in a subsequent campaign (104 to 105) completely subdued their opponents, whose country thenceforth became the Roman province of Dacia, and was secured by partial colonization. This conquest, the first since the death of Augustus, was celebrated, on Trajanus's return to Rome, by a triumph, and by games on a most extensive scale, which continued for four months. Thirst for dominion again impelled Trajanus to the east iu 106 A.D. Landing in,Syria, he marched northward, received on his way the submission of numerous princes, possessed himself of Armenia, which he made a province of his empire, and hugely gratified the Roman senate with long lists of monarchs, never before heard of, who had bowed to their sway. The record of the events of the next seven years of Trajanus's reign is extremely defective, the few notices in Dion Cassius and others being insufficient for the construction of a consecutive narra.
tive. In 115 A.D., he again set out from Syria, directing his march this time against the degenerate Parthian empire; took Ctesiphon almost without a struggle; and •descending the Tigris, and subduing the tribes on both banks, became the first and only Roman general who navigated the Persian gulf. On his return, he found that, like the bent reed which recovers its position when relieved from pressure, the peoples of Mesopotamia, north Syria, and Arabia required to be again and more thoroughly subdued. This being done, and Parthia again conquered, Trajanus, sinking under a combination of dropsy and paralysis, which had long afflicted him, attempted to reach Italy, but was overtaken by death at Selinus, in Cilicia, Aug., 117. Though most of Trajanus's reign was spent in the gratification of his warlike ambition, the internal administration was far from being neglected; the administration of justice was vigorous and impartial; that of finance was equally acceptable; informers (delatores) were severely punished, and peculating governors of provinces rigorously prosecuted. The improvement and beautifying of Rome—a favorite occupation of the emperors—was carried on: the empire was traversed in all directions by uew military routes, canals and bridges were constructed, new towns built, the Via Appia was restored, the Pontine marshes partially drained, the magnifi cent "Forum Trajaui" erected, and the harbor of Centum Cell (Civita Vecchia) con structed. Even if there were not abundant evidence of the sincere desire of Trajanus to increase the comfort and happiness of his subjects, the customary wish formally uttered on the occasion of an emperor's accession, that he might be "happier than Augustus, better than Trajan" (Augusto felicior, Trajano melior), would of itself suffice for proof. During Trajanus's reign, a persecution of the Christians, of a mild character, took place; and taking into account that Trajauus almost necessarily shared the general belief that Christianity was a perilous species of fanaticism, his conduct toward them deserves, perhaps, to be entitled to moderation.