Among the typical for Trajan paternalistic gestures there were also those which set up social security for the poorest citizens, alimony fund supporting young men and women from poor families, a wide range of food distribution, but also the funding of an aqueduct (Aqua Traiana) leading water to the poorest regions of the city – Transtiberium. He acquired the support of senators through respect which he showed them as well as spectacular conquests which resulted in until then unknown expansion of the empire’s borders, which now included the resource rich areas of Dacia, Arabia, Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria. Their annexation brought loot, influx of taxes and tens of thousands of slaves – a cheap labor force. An expression of the harmonious cooperation between the emperor and the Senate, was the bestowment upon him of the nickname “Optimus” (the best), which no emperor before him had ever been given.

Trajan was born in the Spanish city of Italica, near Seville and was the first emperor from the province, as well as the first so-called adopted emperor, who had been elevated to this rank not by birth or imperial blood, but values of a most worthy and most able man in the empire. His reign began in the year 98 A.D., after he was adopted by his predecessor, Emperor Nerva, appointing a successor who enjoyed great popularity among the legionaries. At this time Trajan was a middle-aged man, whose smoothly brushed hair was slightly grayish giving him – according to the chronicler Pliny the Younger – distinction and majesty. His skull was, according to the same chronicler, well-formed, his stature stout, while the way he carried himself was first-class. As opposed to Pliny who was prone to idealize Trajan in every possible way, the chronicler Cassius Dion adds other, less exemplary features of the emperor.   In his opinion he was prone to abuse wine and had fleeting affairs with young boys, however he never allowed himself to be ridiculous or improper in his behavior. He also adds that the emperor did not receive a broad education, however his organizational mind, inborn intelligence and pragmatism balanced out these shortcomings.

Even prior to his adoption, Trajan married Plotina (Pompeia Plotina), described by chroniclers as a modest, virtuous and devoted wife. The marriage seemed to have been a happy one, albeit childless. However, this did not present a dynastic problem – Trajan appointed his successor upon his deathbed, or perhaps his wife had done it. This was Hadrian.

During his nineteen-year reign Trajan turned out to be an ambitious builder, his roads, bridges, ports, and broad complexes can be found in all corners of the empire, although Italy interested him in a special way. In Rome, he left behind several significant objects, which served the comfort of its inhabitants, but also added splendor to the city and its name. With this goal in mind, the emperor had the renowned architect Apollodorus brought from Damascus in Syria, entrusting him with the construction of an enormous, new forum named after him (Trajan’s Forum), which apart from numerous buildings and an equestrian statue was adorned with Trajan’s Column, created as a posthumous mausoleum of the emperor. Still today, the bereft of marble slabs complex of market halls, which were directly adjacent to the forum draws our attention.

Many Roman buildings were renovated and expanded by Trajan, such as the Circus Maximus in which the favored entertainment of the city inhabitants took place – chariot races.

In the last years of his life the emperor was besieged by illnesses; he died during one of his numerous voyages in Selinus in Asia Minor. His ashes were brought to Rome and laid under a column on the Forum of Trajan.

The image of an ideal ruler – just and bold, to a large extent painted by Pliny – survived for centuries. Subsequent emperors willingly compared themselves to him, even the Christian ones. Next to Octavius Augustus, Trajan is believed to be the best and most skilled of the Roman emperors. Despite the fact that he was a pagan, he enjoyed respect for many centuries to come. Even his persecutions of Christians were forgotten. He had such renown, that in his Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri place him in Paradise as the only non-Christian.