Why was Trajan considered to be one of the five good emperors of the Roman Empire? Trajan was a visionary leader as well as an ethical leader. First I will tell you how Trajans actions during the Dacian Wars proved that he was an inspirational leader for his soldiers. Next I will tell you how Trajan, by the domestic policies he instituted as the Roman Emperor, proved to be an ethical leader. Last I will tell you about the personal relevance this has to me. More specifically I will tell you about my actions as a leader when I moved to Holloman Air Force Base. Now that I gave you an overview of what I want to talk about let’s get to my first main point.
Visionary Leader
Trajan was a visionary leader in his quest for victory in the Dacian
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Wars. One of Trajan’s first priorities when becoming Emperor was to reestablish the respect for Roman authority with the Dacians. Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education [BCEE] (2014) states that “Idealized Influence leaders set the example”. Trajan successfully displayed this behavior when he personally led thirteen of the twenty-nine Roman Legions into war with the Dacians. (Wasson, 2013) Trajan did not have to lead him soldiers in this war. He could have very easily been sitting safely in Rome while one of his generals led the war. However because of his effective use of being a transformational leader he knew it would be better to be out in the front lines with the soldiers he was asking to fight for the empire. Additionally, Trajan he was able to successfully use “Diversity” to create “Inclusive Environments” amongst his soldiers. Trajan was able to accomplish this by not segregating himself from his troops in the battlefield. (insert author of book and year here) Trajan was known for frequently visiting and living in the same harsh conditions that his soldiers lived in while fighting. It was not common for emperors to live in such close quarters and conditions as the soldiers. Yet by making the decisions to do these things Trajan was able to inspirationally motivate his men. He realized these actions would lead his soldiers to develop more trust, faith and loyalty in him. Thus they would be more willing to fight until the death in defense of their empire. Now that I have shown you some actions that proved why Trajan was a visionary leader I would like to tell you why he was also and ethical leader. Ethical Leader Trajan proved to be an ethical leader in his decisions to institute many domestic polices through the use of ethical leadership and emergent leadership.
According to Thomas N. Barnes Center Ethical Leadership module “ethical leadership” is about knowing your core values and having the courage to live by them in all parts of your life in service of the common good. Trajan clearly displayed these ethical traits in his decisions to institute many programs designed to provide for poor children, restore rundown road system, build new bridges, aqueducts and public baths. (Wasson, 2013) Not only did Trajan institute these programs, but Trajan additionally exerted his influence over the way the provincial governors ruled their cities within the empire. Despite this fact that these governors were able to run their cities in whatever manner they chose, Trajan displayed ethical leadership characteristics as he involved himself into the governing of these cities. Trajan intervened in the management of these cities to ensure that the self-ruling governors followed the laws, prevented corruption, waste, and feuds between the cities as well as social conflicts within each of the cities. (Commire, 1997)??? was this the right book???? As stated earlier Trajan did not have to get involved in the management of these Roman cities his values and morals drove him to intervene for the good of the people and the
empire. Personal Relevance Trajans visionary and ethical leadership behaviors have caused me to look back over my career and reflect. In 2011 I had just moved to Holloman Air Force Base. During my first week at work my section failed an Air Combat Command (ACC) inspection. Since we failed we knew that the squadron was going to have to get re-inspected in the next six months. In addition to failing that inspection a few weeks later I discovered a mistake that was made a few years earlier on an aircraft time change that resulted in four aircraft being grounded. Now at this time I was faced with an ethical decision on whether or not to cover it up so that no one would know or to tell the truth to my maintenance group commander. Despite having just failed an ACC inspection less than a month earlier I made the ethically correct choice of telling my commander. Due to my honesty I was able to build trust and respect with not only my Airman that worked for me but with my group commander as well. After failing the inspection and grounding four jets the whole squadron lost trust in our ability to perform our jobs well and successfully complete the mission. I was able to effectively use my idealized influence as a leader to motive my Airman to work hard despite the reputation we had and improve the negative viewpoint of us that had been built within the group. I worked hard with my team to raise the standard that we had for our office to ensure that we would not be looked at as a weak link in the team. Because of improved teamwork, drive and determination we were able to pass our re-inspection six months later. Not only that but a year later we passed another Air Combat Command inspection and my section was one of two sections on base to win the “Superior Team” award. Remembering my actions during this time in my career reminded me that I can be a visionary and ethical leader the same way Trajan was. Now in conclusion let me recap everything I have discussed today. Conclusion First and most important I told you that Trajan was a visionary and ethical leader. I told you about some of the actions Trajan showed during the Dacian Wars that proved he was a visionary leader. Then I told you how Trajan was an ethical leader by trying to prevent corruption in the empire as well as creating policies to help take care of poor children and improve the life for all the Roman citizens. Then I told you about the personal relevance this meant to me in my story of how I helped improve the work and moral of the scheduling section at Holloman Air Force Base. Lastly I will tell you that Trajan was a visionary and an ethical leader. I started this paper with a question. Why was Trajan considered to be one of the five good emperors? It was because he was a visionary leader as well as an ethical leader who did what was right for his people.
Tiberius is remembered as a tightfisted and paranoid emperor. Tacitus goes against this view of Tiberius by giving examples of extreme generosity. However Tacitus doesn 't present Tiberius as a perfect emperor and his portrayal of Tiberius isn 't just propaganda. When it comes to military affairs Tacitus paints a very unflattering picture of Tiberius turning his back on the frontier while Romans are killed. Tacitus stated that his accounts on the Julio Claudian emperors was made without prejudice and the fact that he highlights both positive and negative aspects of Tiberius ' rule indicates that he was probably telling the truth.
In conclusion, Augustus has written his personal account and presented himself as popular and successful leader. He did many things that helped society as well as did many things that did nothing long term. Augustus may have done things for only the betterment of himself but they did pay off when it all came to an
Although these emperors committed crimes and acts of kindness, they were considered bad; a big part of this came from their personalities. Commodus was a man with a weak character and was easily swayed by pressure; he was prone to cruelty and excessive behavior. This was proven when he had thought his father had died, he then took control and utter chaos broke out (Cavazzi F, n.d.). Nero on the other hand was a passionate music lover, kind, and controlled but over time his loving personality degraded due to obsession of power and some thought lead poisoning, One example of Nero’s good personality was his love for music, people loved his music so much they called him “The New Apollo” (Champlin, E, 2003). On the other hand Caligula was on his own level being self-indulgent, self-absorbed, extravagant, and had a loose temper. This leads him to being easily angered and murdered who had angered him, many lived in fear of his tyranny. Examples of his anger and selfish are stated later. Commodus was the best out of the three worst, although he did acts that made him not so good in the eyes of the Romans
Goodness is a subjective term, one that tends to represent a person’s righteousness and generous actions. However, when speaking of a good emperor in the Roman Empire, one must also realize that goodness must also relate to how that emperor made the empire better. The five so-called good emperors were Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. How were they good? Trajan was the best emperor because he was able to have not only a great relationship with the Roman Senate and people, but also because he was able to make the empire greater, whereas the other emperors were only moderately good because they accomplished only one of the above qualities.
"Five Good Emperors (ancient Rome)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. .
There names are Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. Nerva was the one who began the reign of the five Good Emperors. He was known as an honorable guy because he lessened the strain of taxation and worked to bring back into the fold of Rome, of those who had been mistreated and exiled. Before Nerva died he adopted Trajan as his heir. What Trajan did was expanding the boundaries of the empire.
...ortant such as the development of the economy. In addition to the respect given to Trajan there was a level of respect that was owed to the Roman government and its own members of society as well. With these standards employed, it ensured that the people of Rome would realize that they were representing the city in which they lived.
Every empire, dynasty, government, regime etc. has consisted of both good and bad leadership. This directly affects the society in which they oversee and/or control. The infamous Roman Empire experienced its share of triumphs and depression through its leader’s actions. Run as a monarchy, the kings of Rome had various ways of implementing their authority. Many of them chose to rule based on their interests and desires while others catered to the welfare of Rome’s booming population.
...s to make Rome a democracy and through it he faced his sorrows like a god and held a good reputation in society. He made his own enemies look up to him with respect and never gave up his great moral character. He turns nobler through every act and scene. A noble person is someone with moral character, courage, generosity, honor and bravery to do what is right. They are the people who show respect for what is right and face obstacles, challenges and risks and face the consequences and challenges to prove what is right. They are strong, honorable and face their sorrows in silence. They find the truth and reason in everything that happens. They are great people like Martin Luther King, Jr., honorable soldiers and senators like Brutus. Brutus was a man of courage, generosity, honor, bravery and honor. He was the noblest of them all.
He improved roman cities with the construction of aqueducts and roads, which resulted in roman trade improving. August was named after him. Another great emperor was Trajan. He was very wise and he improved the everyday life of Roman citizens. One generous thing he did was set up funds for poor people.
Maximus survives, but is turned into a gladiator slave and opposes the Emperor using his fame and popularity from the games. Because Maximus inspires people through respect, love and honor he is shown as a great leader, compared to Commodus who is the complete opposite of him. Honor is one of the main reasons why Maximus was a great leader. When the Emperor Marcus Aurelius gave Maximus the final task of giving Rome back to itself, Maximus put the emperor’s orders above all else.
Trajan was always involved in the military and was considered a great general. While he was in power he had a mass conquest and denied the policy set by augustus to not expand the empire. In his first conquest he went east to conquer
He analyzes his own judgment and clearly states that rulers should be well respected. There are three types of leadership as shown in Plato’s The Republic, Machiavelli’s The Prince, and Marcus Aurelius’
What do Kenneth Lay, Bernard Ebbers, Conrad Black, Dennis Kozlowski, and Scott Thompson have in common? Yes, they were all in high ranking leadership positions, worked for very large companies, and were men. Unfortunately for the companies they worked for, they also lacked any sense of ethical leadership. Ethics are very important in the business world, and managers need to do all they can to hire and retain ethical people.
Ethical leadership organizational ethics and socially responsibility are inseparable (Johnson). Leadership is not a inherited gift or family heritage; it is not a degree from an ivy league graduate school. Becoming a leader is an intentional process of growth that must be lived out experientially (Mullane). Ethical leaders demonstrate three distinctive characteristics, knowledge, action and character. Leaders have to have the ability to say “yes” or even “no” to a never ending series of challenges. A leader needs to be able to define their values, character and leadership style. When accepting the role of leadership you become encumbered by ethical issues and concerns. .