Marcus Ulpius Trajan's Achievements

The Roman Empire is one of the most widely known empires, lasting from 753 BCE to 1453 CE. It completely surrounded the Mediterranean Sea, stretching from present-day England and Spain to Egypt and Turkey. Its vast territory was partially due to the ruling of Trajan, one of the five good emperors; he ruled from 98 AD to his death in 117 AD. Trajan’s rule over the Roman empire had a positive impact on Roman history as a result of his relations with the people and senate, as well as his improvements of the harbors and the economy. Marcus Ulpius Traianus was born in 53 AD in present-day Spain. According to Benario (2003), his biological father was the first to “pursue a senatorial career.” Trajan grew up in a world of politics and was later

There were two parts to the Forum, “the piazza and the basilica” (Wei, 2010). Its entirety was built based on what Trajan had won in the wars so it was a constant reminder to the citizens of their emperor’s legacy and importance. The Forum had many monuments made out to Trajan, such as the Arch of Trajan and Trajan’s Column, both of which honored his winning battles. In the middle of the courtyard, there was also a bronze statue of Trajan on his horse (Wei, 2010). Connected to this courtyard was yet another one that supplied two libraries, “one for Greek texts and the other for Latin texts” (Farber, 2013). This shows that education and knowledge was also important to Trajan and played a role in his ruling. After his death in 117 AD, his ashes were buried at the bottom of Trajan’s Column and his successor, Hadrian, dedicated a temple to him. Trajan was a loved emperor, perhaps because of his close ties to his people or his accomplishments. Either way, it was evident that his ruling had a positive impact on the population and history of Rome. All in all, Trajan appears to be a good emperor, one that cares for his people. However, it is true that he participated in a few wars, which may be frowned upon. Despite this outlook, as a result of these wars, Trajan was able to acquire quite a bit of land for his empire, expanding

Dacia, present-day Romania, was ruled by King Decebalus at the time of the war. The Roman Empire had long wanted to take over the territory for its land and resources, more specifically, the gold from the Carpathian mountain mines (Ulrich, 2017). The first Dacian War ended somewhat peacefully, where the two parties decided to part ways. However, this left both sides unhappy and inevitably led to the second war when “Decebalus violated the peace treaty with Rome” (Ulrich, 2017). Trajan took the second war personally and was determined to win. In order to get his troops across, he built the grand Danube Bridge. Unfortunately, this bridge was later taken down by his successor, Hadrian, in fear of being invaded (Ulrich, 2017). At the time, the bridge was seen as a marvelous structure and played a major part in Trajan’s success. Decebalus failed to overcome Trajan’s advances and committed suicide in the end. When Trajan won the war and conquered Dacia, this added to his list of achievements and his people viewed him as superior. To memorialize the great war, Trajan’s column was built – it depicted the war, scene by scene, spiraling from top to bottom. The Tropaeum Traiani is another monument that was built to honor Trajan’s victory in the Dacian Wars (Lightfoot, 1990). This war characterized Trajan as a great and strong military