During the reign of Trajan, the territory of the Roman Empire expanded to the greatest extent in history by consolidating the economic and social system at home and waging war abroad. Because of his outstanding achievements, he was awarded the title of "Best Head of State" by the Roman Senate.
Trajan was born in a Spanish-Italian military family. He grew up with his father in the army and gradually became an experienced general. His father is a descendant of Roman colonists in Spain, and his mother is Spanish. His family is rich and famous, and his father was the governor of Spain, Syria and other provinces. [1] In 89 AD, Trajan became a corps commander, and in 9 1 year, he served as a consul. [2] He was awarded the honorary title of "Germanic Nikus" for his achievements in fighting against the Germans. It is said that Trajan's character is kind, simple, resolute, bold and cautious. He was a perfect man, who not only won the support of the army, but also was loved by the Roman people. [3]
In 96 AD, the Roman emperor Titus Flavius Domitianus was killed in a coup because of his long-term contempt for the Senate, and the Flavian dynasty of the Roman Empire ended in blood. Veteran Marcus Cocceius nerva was elected emperor. Despite the full support of the Senate, Marcus Cocceius nerva lacks power and prestige in the army. [3] In order to gain the support of the army, in the second year of his succession, he made a wise decision and chose 45-year-old German Governor Trajan as his adopted son and heir. This decision not only quelled the dissatisfaction of the army, but also ushered in a new period of the Roman Empire, which brought Rome into a period of peace and prosperity for 60 years, and all aspects of the Roman Empire reached its peak. [ 1]
At the beginning of 98 AD, Marcus Cocceius nerva died, and Trajan, who was guarding Cologne, was called to the throne.
Political strategy
Trajan gold coin
Trajan was the first Roman emperor to be born in a province. His status as a mainlander shows that the status of mainlanders in the ruling class has changed qualitatively. This is a symbol that the highest position in Rome is being opened to all upper classes, whether in Rome or other provinces. [ 1]
Trajan was widely praised in the army and the Senate, not only because he was a marshal with outstanding military achievements, but also because he was charming and showed kindness and care for the people. After he succeeded to the throne, he did not return to Rome to accept power in 1998. Instead, he spent more than a year in the Rhine and Danube regions, patrolling, consolidating border defense, and planning war preparations with Dacia. In 99 AD, Trajan returned to Rome to carry out the policy of reviving the Senate, giving it a prominent position, showing friendly respect for the elderly, and appointing members from eastern provinces, thus gaining the favor of the Senate and strengthening its relationship with it. [ 1]
Trajan reformed local administration, appointed some loyal cronies as provincial governors, and improved the relationship between the central government and the provinces; He knows the importance of cultivating people's strength, that is, reducing people's burden and helping small farmers make a living through government loans. In addition, he also imitated the method pioneered by Marcus Cocceius nerva, that is, the government used part of the tax revenue to set up funds in various places to raise poor orphans. [4]
Another achievement of Trajan is that he encouraged and personally supervised the expansion of public works in Rome, Italy and other provinces, such as road building, bridge building, trench digging, sea reclamation, ports and buildings. In modern Spain, North Africa, the Balkans and Italy, the remains of these buildings can still be seen everywhere. He was awarded the title of "Prince Optimus Prime" by the Senate. [5]
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Trajan statue in Xanten, Germany.
As the emperor of a military empire, Trajan is famous in the world mainly because he is the biggest and last successful expansionist and invader in Rome after Caesar. The war of foreign aggression and conquest he launched was a great success, and the imperial territory expanded to an unprecedented scale. [ 1]
In foreign policy, Trajan broke away from the tradition of the early empire established by Augustus, but revived its aggressive tendency during the Republican period. [4] He ended the state in which several generations of emperors did nothing in expanding the territory. He actively carried out foreign expansion, the main purpose of which was to plunder wealth and increase the revenue of the state treasury through such a war of foreign aggression, so as to make up for the shortage of tax revenue, solve the shortage of funds needed for various domestic undertakings and meet the needs of the ruling group for profligacy. In order to meet the needs of foreign wars, he expanded the Roman legion to 30, and the size of each legion also increased. The auxiliary personnel who cooperate with the regular army are expanded by new and various local troops. They are made up of tribes and ethnic units from non-Rome, using their own weapons, including armored cavalry. Trajan launched a series of wars of foreign aggression with its huge army. [ 1]
Dasia war
The kingdom of Dasia in the lower reaches of the Danube was the first target of Trajan's invasion and plunder. Under the leadership of King Dekai Barousse, Dacia became powerful from the end of A.D. 1 and became a serious threat to the Roman Empire. In the spring of A.D. 10 1, Trajan, after careful preparation, concentrated 200,000 troops and divided them into two ways to cross the Danube. Trajan personally led the army to the west, all the way through the virgin forest, and reached Salmize Jettusa (now Varle), the capital of West Asia. The Darcy rebelled and caused great losses to the Romans. 102, the Romans crushed the resistance of the Darcy and approached the capital Dacia. De Kay Barros was forced to accept the peace treaty unconditionally and said that he would always be an enemy and friend with Rome. [ 1]
In A.D. 105, Dekai Barousse took the opportunity of the Romans to leave Dacia and resumed the war. Trajan mobilized 12 Legion to fight against the Darcy and occupied one stronghold after another. The two sides fought the worst bloody battle in Salmizejetusa. Dacia, like the Carthaginians in those days, would rather die of poison than be a slave to the Romans when victory was hopeless. When Trajan entered the city, he almost entered an empty city. Trajan plundered a lot of treasures. The capital of Dacia was razed to the ground. Trajan built a huge stone bridge on the Danube River, which merged Dacia into Rome and became a new province of Rome. Trajan established many Roman settlements on the north bank of the Danube. The descendants of these settlements still call themselves Romanians and call their country Romania, all of which are derived from the word Rome. [4]
Conquering Dacia not only destroyed a powerful enemy and stabilized the lower reaches of the Danube, but also gained huge wealth and land, which provided funds for Trajan to carry out grand public buildings. Trajan announced in Rome that he would celebrate the victory of the Dasia War with a festival lasting 123 days. Celebrating the victory of a war for such a long time is unique in the history of ancient and modern China and foreign countries. [ 1]
Parthian war
Subsequently, Trajan pointed its aggression at Asia and went to war with Parthia. Since the middle of the first century BC, Parthia has been a deadly enemy of the Roman Empire, with constant wars between the two countries and changing borders from time to time. [4] On the one hand, Trajan is not satisfied that the eastern border of Rome is limited to the upper reaches of the Euphrates River; On the other hand, the west was also tempted by Parthia's wealth and vast land, eager to follow the footsteps of Alexander the Great and annex the country. As early as 105, in preparation for the war with Parthia, Trajan sent troops to occupy the kingdom of Nabatiyah in northern Arabia, controlled the main road of eastern trade, and established a new province-Arabian Province here. In 1 10, the Parthians took control of Armenia, abolished the original king who supported Rome and established a new king. The war in Armenia became the fuse of diplomatic relations between the two countries. 1 14, Trajan sent troops to occupy Armenia, abolished the king controlled by Parthians, declared Armenia a new province of Rome, and incorporated it into the territory of Rome. This effortless victory stimulated Trajan's desire for expansion, and he decided to continue eastward and occupy the whole Mesopotamia. Roman troops divided into two roads, went hand in hand, and reached the Tigris and Euphrates rivers at the same time, occupying Upper Mesopotamia. [ 1]
1 16 years, the Roman army went south along the Tigris River and occupied Taixi Peak, the capital of Parthia. At the end of this year, Trajan soldiers arrived in the Persian Gulf. This is the first time and the last time that Roman troops arrived in the Persian Gulf. Trajan was the only Roman commander who arrived here. Trajan is here, facing the sea, deeply moved and in tears, because he is too old to repeat Alexander's conquest of India. However, when he visited the ruins of Babylon and saw the place where Alexander died 440 years ago, he gave a different sigh: "What is fame? Just rubbish, stones and ruins. " [1] He incorporated the newly occupied areas into Rome and established Mesopotamia and Assyria provinces here. [4] His fleet ravaged towns on the Arabian coast, while Trajan boasted that his troops had almost reached Indian territory. [6]
After a series of expansions by Trajan, the territory of the Roman Empire expanded to the greatest extent. It starts from the two river basins in the east, reaches most parts of Britain in the west, reaches Egypt and North Africa in the south, reaches the Rhine River in the north and reaches Dacia in the Danube River in the north.
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The victory and success of Trajan's Crusade was temporary, behind his advancing army, in one eastern province after another.
Trajan's column
There was a Jewish rebellion. He was forced to retreat and turn back to deal with the people's uprising. Being old and weak, and worried that this great expedition would be in vain, I was exhausted and fell ill. 1 16 years, Trajan's condition deteriorated and he suddenly became paralyzed. 1 17 died in the city of Celenos in the southeast corner of Asia Minor and failed to return to Rome. Trajan reigned 19 years, at the age of 64. [1] When Trajan died, his measures in the two river basins immediately went up in smoke. [4]
translocation
Trajan never officially appointed an heir, but according to Queen Plotina, he passed the throne to Hadrian before he died. [4] Previously, he had hesitated for many times whether he should entrust the power of ruling the country to his nephew Hadrian, a man with changeable personality and hard to distinguish between true and false. On her deathbed, the vigilant Queen Plotina either dispelled Trajan's hesitation or boldly tried to make adoption a reality. [6]
As early as 86, after Trajan's cousin died, Trajan adopted Hadrian, the son left by his cousin, as his adopted son, and married his niece and granddaughter "sabine" to this adopted son. On his deathbed, Trajan appointed Hadrian as his successor. Shortly after his death, the Eastern Corps swore allegiance to Hadrian on August11/in 2007. Later, the Senate approved Hadrian as the "first citizen" of Rome.
Trajan is an excellent commander-in-chief, but also a consul with considerable administrative ability. [9] Militarily, he was overjoyed and was a pure imperialist. He thinks that order is more important than peace. Politically, he is a competent and energetic CEO, a prudent financier and an impartial judge. [10] During the reign of Trajan, the social economy was prosperous and the national strength was unprecedentedly strong, and both the Northern Expedition and the Eastern Expedition reached the limit. The empire reached its peak. [ 1]
Marcus Cocceius nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius are also called the Five Emperors. These five emperors brought the golden age and unprecedented prosperity to Rome. In his book History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, edward gibbon hailed this era as "the happiest era of mankind". [6]
Trajan is kind, simple, tenacious and decisive. After his death more than 250 years ago, the Senate announced the new emperor (Vallans Valens, reigning from 364 to 378) as usual, and expressed the hope that he would surpass Augustus in benefiting the people and Trajan in kindness.