TRAJAN 98AD She Wolf “Mother” to Romulus Remus Rome Ancient Roman i31719

Item: i31719

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Trajan – Roman Emperor: 98-117 A.D. –

Bronze Quadrans 16mm (2.39 grams) Struck at the mint of Rome 98-103 A.D.

Reference: RIC 694, BMC 1061, S 3246, C 340

IMPCAESNERVATRAIANAVG – Laureate head right.

She-wolf standing left, SC in exergue.

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Authenticity.

Romulus and Remus are Rome’s twin

founders

in its traditional

foundation myth

. They are descendants of the Trojan prince and refugee

Aeneas
, and are

fathered by the god

Mars

or the demi-god Hercules

on a royal

Vestal Virgin

,

Rhea

Silvia
, whose uncle exposes them to die in the wild. They are found by a

she-wolf who suckles and cares for them. The twins are eventually restored to

their regal birthright, acquire many followers and decide to found a new city.

Romulus

wishes to build the new city on the Palatine Hill; Remus prefers the Aventine

Hill.

They agree to determine the site through augury. Romulus appears to receive the

more favourable signs but each claims the results in his favour. In the disputes

that follow, Remus is killed.

Ovid has Romulus

invent the festival of

Lemuria

to appease Remus’ resentful ghost.

Romulus names the new city

Rome, after

himself, and goes on to create the

Roman Legions

and the

Roman

Senate
. He adds citizens to his new city by abducting the women of the

neighboring Sabine

tribes, which results in the combination of Sabines and Romans as one Roman

people. Rome rapidly expands to become a dominant force, due to divine favour

and the inspired administrative, military and political leadership of Romulus.

In later life Romulus becomes increasingly autocratic, disappears in mysterious

circumstances and is deified as the god

Quirinus
,

the divine persona of the Roman people.

The legend of Romulus and Remus encapsulates Rome’s ideas of itself, its

origins, moral values and purpose: it has also been described as one of the most

problematic of all foundation myths. Romulus’ name is thought to be a

back-formation

from the name Rome; Remus’ is a matter for ancient and modern

speculation. The main sources for the legend approach it as history and offer an

implausibly exact chronology: Roman historians dated the city’s foundation

variously from 758 to 728 BC. Plutarch says Romulus was fifty-three at his

death; which reckoning gives the twins’ birth year as c. 771 BC. Possible

historical bases for the broad mythological narrative remain unclear and much

disputed.

Romulus and Remus are eminent among the

feral children of ancient mythography

.

Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan (18

September, 53 – 8 August, 117), was a

Roman

Emperor who reigned from AD 98 until his death in AD 117. Born Marcus Ulpius Traianus into a non-patrician

family^[1]

in the

Hispania Baetica

province (modern day

Spain
), Trajan

rose to prominence during the reign of emperor

Domitian
,

serving as a general in the

Roman army

along the

German frontier

, and successfully crushing the revolt of

Antonius Saturninus

in 89. On September 18, 96, Domitian was succeeded by

Marcus Cocceius Nerva
,

an old and childless senator who proved to be unpopular with the army. After a

brief and tumultuous year in power, a revolt by members of the

Praetorian Guard

compelled him to adopt the more popular Trajan as his heir

and successor. Nerva died on January 27, 98, and was succeeded by his adopted

son without incident.

As a civilian administrator, Trajan is best known for his extensive public

building program, which reshaped the city of

Rome and left

multiple enduring landmarks such as

Trajan’s Forum

,

Trajan’s Market

and

Trajan’s Column

. It was as a military commander however that Trajan

celebrated his greatest

triumphs

. In 101, he launched a

punitive expedition

into the kingdom of

Dacia
against

king Decebalus

, defeating the Dacian army near

Tapae

in 102, and finally conquering Dacia completely in 106. In 107, Trajan

pushed further east and annexed the

Nabataean kingdom

, establishing the province of

Arabia Petraea

. After a period of relative peace within the Empire, he

launched his final campaign in 113 against

Parthia
,

advancing as far as the city of

Susa in 116, and

expanding the Roman Empire to its greatest extent. During this campaign Trajan

was struck by illness, and late in 117, while sailing back to Rome, he died of a

stroke
on

August 9
,

in the city of

Selinus

. He was

deified

by the Senate and his ashes were laid to rest under

Trajan’s Column

. He was succeeded by his adopted son (not having a

biological heir) Publius Aelius Hadrianus

—commonly known as Hadrian.

As an emperor, Trajan’s reputation has endured – he is one of the few rulers

whose reputation has survived the scrutiny of nineteen centuries of history.

Every new emperor after him was honoured by the Senate with the prayer

felicior Augusto, melior Traiano, meaning “may he be luckier than

Augustus

and better than Trajan”. Among

medieval

Christian theologians, Trajan was considered a

virtuous pagan

, while the 18th century historian

Edward Gibbon

popularized the notion of the

Five Good Emperors

, of which Trajan was the second.

Early life and

rise to power

Trajan was born on September 18, 53 in the Roman province of

Hispania Baetica

^[3]

(in what is now

Andalusia

in modern Spain), a province that was thoroughly Romanized and called southern

Hispania, in the city of

Italica
,

where the

Italian

families were paramount. Of

Italian

stock himself, Trajan is frequently but misleadingly designated the

first provincial emperor.^[4]

Trajan was the son of

Marcia

and

Marcus Ulpius Traianus

, a prominent

senator

and general from the famous

Ulpia
gens.

Trajan himself was just one of many well-known Ulpii in a line that continued

long after his own death. His elder sister was

Ulpia Marciana

and his niece was

Salonina Matidia

. The

patria
of

the Ulpii was Italica

, in Spanish Baetica^[3],

where their ancestors had settled late in the third century B.C. This indicates

that the Italian origin was paramount, yet it has recently been cogently argued

that the family’s ancestry was local, with Trajan senior actually a Traius who

was adopted into the family of the Ulpii.^[5]

As a young man, he rose through the ranks of the

Roman army
,

serving in some of the most contentious parts of the Empire’s frontier. In

76–77, Trajan’s father was

Governor
of

Syria

(Legatus

pro praetore Syriae), where Trajan himself remained as

legionis. Trajan was nominated as

Consul
and

brought

Apollodorus of Damascus

with him to

Rome around 91.

Along the

Rhine River

, he took part in the Emperor

Domitian
‘s

wars while under Domitian’s successor,

Nerva
, who was

unpopular with the army and needed to do something to gain their support. He

accomplished this by naming Trajan as his adoptive son and successor in the

summer of 97. According to the

, it was the future Emperor

Hadrian
who

brought word to Trajan of his adoption.^[6]

When Nerva died on January 27, 98, the highly respected Trajan succeeded without

incident.

 His

reign

The new Roman emperor was greeted by the people of Rome with great

enthusiasm, which he justified by governing well and without the bloodiness that

had marked Domitian’s reign. He freed many people who had been unjustly

imprisoned by Domitian and returned a great deal of private property that

Domitian had confiscated; a process begun by Nerva before his death. His

popularity was such that the

Roman

Senate
eventually bestowed upon Trajan the

honorific

of optimus, meaning “the best”.

Dio Cassius

, sometimes known as Dio, reveals that Trajan drank heartily and

was involved

with boys
. “I know, of course, that he was devoted to boys and to wine, but

if he had ever committed or endured any base or wicked deed as the result of

this, he would have incurred censure; as it was, however, he drank all the wine

he wanted, yet remained sober, and in his relation with boys he harmed no one.”^[7]

This sensibility was one that influenced his governing on at least one occasion,

leading him to favour the king of Edessa out of appreciation for his handsome

son: “On this occasion, however,

Abgarus

, induced partly by the persuasions of his son Arbandes, who was

handsome and in the pride of youth and therefore in favour with Trajan, and

partly by his fear of the latter’s presence, he met him on the road, made his

apologies and obtained pardon, for he had a powerful intercessor in the boy.”^[8]

 Dacian

Wars

It was as a military commander that Trajan is best known to history,

particularly for his conquests in the

Near East
,

but initially for the two wars against

Dacia
— the

reduction to client kingdom (101-102), followed by actual incorporation to the

Empire of the trans-Danube border kingdom of Dacia—an area that had troubled

Roman thought for over a decade with the unfavourable (and to some, shameful)

peace negotiated by

Domitian
‘s

ministers^[9]

In the first war c. March–May 101, he launched a vicious attack into the kingdom

of Dacia
with

four legions,^[10]

crossing to the northern bank of the

Danube River

on a stone bridge he had built, and defeating the Dacian army

near or in a

mountain pass

called

Tapae

(see

Second Battle of Tapae

). Trajan’s troops were mauled in the encounter,

however and he put off further campaigning for the year to heal troops,

reinforce, and regroup.^[11]

During the following winter, King

Decebalus

launched a counter-attack across the

Danube
further

downstream, but this was repulsed. Trajan’s army advanced further into Dacian

territory and forced King Decebalus to submit to him a year later, after Trajan

took the Dacian capital/fortress of

Sarmizegethusa

. The Emperor Domitian had campaigned against

Dacia from 86 to 87

without securing a decisive outcome, and Decebalus had

brazenly flouted the terms of the peace (89 AD) which had been agreed on

conclusion of this campaign.

Trajan now returned to Rome in triumph and was granted the title Dacicus

Maximus. The victory was celebrated by the

Tropaeum Traiani

. Decebalus though, after being left to his own devices, in

105 undertook an invasion against Roman territory by attempting to stir up some

of the tribes north of the river against her.^[12]

Trajan took to the field again and after building with the design of

Apollodorus of Damascus

his

massive bridge over the Danube

, he conquered Dacia completely in 106.

Sarmizegethusa was destroyed,

Decebalus

committed suicide
,

and his severed head was exhibited in Rome on the steps leading up to the

Capitol

. Trajan built a new city, “Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica

Sarmizegetusa”, on another site than the previous Dacian Capital, although

bearing the same full name, Sarmizegetusa. He resettled Dacia with Romans and

annexed it as a province of the Roman Empire. Trajan’s Dacian campaigns

benefited the Empire’s finances through the acquisition of Dacia’s gold mines.

The victory is celebrated by

Trajan’s Column

.

 Expansion

in the East

At about the same time

Rabbel II Soter

, one of Rome’s client kings, died. This event might have

prompted the annexation of the

Nabataean kingdom

, although the manner and the formal reasons for the

annexation are unclear. Some epigraphic evidence suggests a military operation,

with forces from

Syria

and

Egypt

. What is clear, however, is that by 107, Roman legions were stationed

in the area around Petra

and

Bostra

, as is shown by a papyrus found in Egypt. The empire gained what

became the province of

Arabia Petraea

(modern southern

Jordan
and

north west

Saudi

Arabia
).

 Period

of peace

The next seven years, Trajan ruled as a civilian emperor, to the same acclaim

as before. It was during this time that he corresponded with

Pliny the Younger

on the subject of how to deal with the

Christians

of Pontus

, telling Pliny to leave them alone unless they were openly practicing

the religion. He built several new buildings, monuments and roads in

Italia

and his native

Hispania
.

His magnificent complex in Rome raised to commemorate his victories in

Dacia
(and

largely financed from that campaign’s loot)—consisting of a

forum

,

Trajan’s Column

, and Trajan’s Market still stands in Rome today. He was also

a prolific builder of triumphal arches

, many of which survive, and rebuilder

of roads (Via

Traiana and

Via Traiana Nova

).

One notable act of Trajan was the hosting of a three-month

gladiatorial

festival in the great

Colosseum

in Rome (the precise date of this festival is unknown). Combining chariot

racing, beast fights and close-quarters gladiatorial bloodshed, this gory

spectacle reputedly left 11,000 dead (mostly slaves and criminals, not to

mention the thousands of ferocious beasts killed alongside them) and attracted a

total of five million spectators over the course of the festival.

Another important act was his formalisation of the Alimenta, a welfare

program that helped orphans and poor children throughout Italy. It provided

general funds, as well as food and subsidized education. The program was

supported initially by funds from the Dacian War, and then later by a

combination of estate taxes and philanthropy.^[13].

Although the system is well documented in literary sources and contemporary

epigraphy, its precise aims are controversial and have generated considerable

dispute between modern scholars: usually, it’s assumed that the programme

intended to bolster citzen numbers in Italy. However, the fact that it was

subsidized by means of interest payments on loans made by landowners restricted

it to a small percentage of potential welfare recipients (Paul

Veyne has assumed that, in the city of

Veleia

, only one child out of ten was an actual beneficiary) – therefore,

the idea, advanced by

Moses I. Finley

, that the whole scheme was at most a form of random charity,

a mere imperial benevolence^[14].

 Maximum

extent of the Empire

In 113, he embarked on his last campaign, provoked by

Parthia
‘s

decision to put an unacceptable king on the throne of

Armenia
, a

kingdom over which the two great empires had shared

hegemony

since the time of Nero

some fifty years earlier. Some modern historians also attribute Trajan’s

decision to wage war on Parthia to economic motives: to control, after the

annexation of Arabia, Mesopotamia and the coast of the Persian Gulf, and with it

the sole remaining receiving-end of the Indian trade outside Roman control^[15]

– an attribution of motive other historians find absurd, as seeing a commercial

motive in a campaign triggered by the lure of territorial annexation and

prestige^[16]

– by the way, the only motive for Trajan’s actions ascribed by Dio Cassius in

his description of the events^[17].

Other modern historians, however, think that Trajan’s original aim was quite

modest: to assure a more defensible Eastern frontier for the Roman Empire,

crossing across Northern Mesopotamia along the course of the river

Khabur

in order to offer cover to a Roman Armenia^[18].

Trajan marched first on Armenia, deposed the Parthian-appointed king (who was

afterwards murdered while kept in the custody of Roman troops in an unclear

incident) and annexed it to the Roman Empire as a province, receiving in passing

the acknowledgement of Roman hegemony by various tribes in the Caucasus and on

the Eastern coast of the Black Sea – a process that kept him busy until the end

of 114^[19].

The cronology of subsequent events is uncertain, but it’s generally believed

that early in 115 Trajan turned south into the core Parthian hegemony, taking

the Northern Mesopotamian cities of

Nisibis

and

Batnae

and organizing a province of

Mesopotamia

in the beginning of 116, when coins were issued announcing that

Armenia and Mesopotamia had been put under the authority of the Roman people^[20].

In early 116, however, Trajan began to toy with the conquest of the whole of

Mesopotamia, an overambitious goal that eventually backfired on the results of

his entire campaign: One Roman division crossed the

Tigris

into Adiabene

, sweeping South and capturing

Adenystrae

; a second followed the river South, capturing

Babylon
;

while Trajan himself sailed down the

Euphrates

, then dragged his fleet overland into the Tigris, capturing

Seleucia

and finally the Parthian capital of

Ctesiphon
^[21].

He continued southward to the

Persian

Gulf
, receiving the submission of Athambelus, the ruler of

Charax

, whence he declared Babylon a new province of the Empire, sent the

Senate a laurelled letter declaring the war to be at a close and lamented that

he was too old to follow in the steps of

Alexander the Great

and reach the distant

India

itself^[22].

A province of

Assyria

was also proclaimed, apparently covering the territory of Adiabene,

as well as some measures seem to have been considered about the fiscal

administration of the Indian trade^[23].

However, as Trajan left the Persian Gulf for Babylon – where he intended to

offer sacrifice to Alexander in the house where he had died in 323 B.C.^[24]–

a sudden outburst of Parthian resistance, led by a nephew of the Parthian king,

Sanatrukes, imperilled Roman positions in Mesopotamia and Armenia, something

Trajan sought to deal with by forsaking direct Roman rule in Parthia proper, at

least partially: later in 116, after defeating a Parthian army in a battle where

Sanatrukes was killed and re-taking Seleucia, he formally deposed the Parthian

king

Osroes I

and put his own puppet ruler

Parthamaspates

on the throne. That done, he retreated North in order to

retain what he could of the new provinces of Armenia and Mesopotamia^[25].

It was at this point that Trajan’s health started to fail him. The fortress

city of Hatra
, on

the Tigris
in

his rear, continued to hold out against repeated Roman assaults. He was

personally present at the

siege
and it is

possible that he suffered a heat stroke while in the blazing heat. Shortly

afterwards, the Jews

inside the Eastern Roman Empire rose up in rebellion once more, as did the

people of Mesopotamia. Trajan was forced to withdraw his army in order to put

down the revolts. Trajan saw it as simply a temporary setback, but he was

destined never to command an army in the field again, turning his Eastern armies

over to the high ranking legate and governor of Judaea,

Lusius Quietus

, who in early 116 had been in charge of the Roman division

who had recovered Nisibis and

Edessa
from the

rebels^[25];

Quietus was promised for this a consulate in the following year – when he was

actually put to death by

Hadrian
, who

had no use for a man so committed to Trajan’s aggressive policies^[26].

Early in 117, Trajan grew ill and set out to sail back to Italy. His health

declined throughout the spring and summer of 117, something publicy acknowledged

by the fact that a bronze bust displayed at the time in the public baths of

Ancyra

showed him clearly aged and edemaciated^[27].

By the time he had reached Selinus in

Cilicia
which

was afterwards called Trajanopolis, he suddenly died from

edema
on August

9. Some say that he had adopted

Hadrian
as

his successor, but others that it was his wife

Pompeia Plotina

who hired someone to impersonate him after he had died.

Hadrian
,

upon becoming ruler, recognized the abandonment of Mesopotamia and restored

Armenia – as well as

Osroene
– to

the Parthian hegemony under Roman suzerainty^[23]

– a telling sign the Roman Empire lacked the means for pursuing Trajan’s

overambitious goals^[15].

However, all the other territories conquered by Trajan were retained. Trajan’s

ashes were laid to rest underneath Trajan’s column, the monument commemorating

his success.

 Building

activities

Trajan was a prolific builder in Rome and the provinces, and many of his

buildings were erected by the gifted architect

Apollodorus of Damascus

. Notable structures include

Trajan’s Column

,

Trajan’s Forum

,

Trajan’s Bridge

,

Alcántara Bridge

, and possibly the

Alconétar Bridge

. In order to build his forum and the adjacent brick market

that also held his name Trajan had vast areas of the surrounding hillsides

leveled.

 Trajan’s

legacy

Unlike many lauded rulers in history, Trajan’s reputation has survived

undiminished for nearly nineteen centuries.

Ancient sources on Trajan’s personality and accomplishments are unanimously

positive. Pliny the younger, for example, celebrates Trajan in his panegyric as

a wise and just emperor and a moral man.

Dio Cassius

admits Trajan had vices like heavy drinking and sexual

involvement with boys, but added that he always remained dignified and fair.^[8]

The

Christianisation

of Rome resulted in further embellishment of his legend: it

was commonly said in

medieval

times that

Pope Gregory I

, through divine intercession, resurrected Trajan from the

dead and baptized him into the Christian faith. An account of this features in

the Golden Legend

.

Theologians, such as

Thomas Aquinas

, discussed Trajan as an example of a virtuous pagan. In

the Divine Comedy

,

Dante

, following this legend, sees the spirit of Trajan in the Heaven of

Jupiter

with other historical and mythological persons noted for their

justice.

He also features in

Plowman
. An episode, referred to as the

justice of Trajan

was reflected in several art works.

In the 18th Century King

Charles III of Spain
comminsioned

Anton Raphael Mengs

to paint The Triumph of Trajan on the ceiling of

the banqueting-hall of the

Royal Palace of Madrid

– considered among the best work of this artist.

“Traian” is used as a male first name in present-day

Romania
–

among others, that of the country’s incumbent president,

Traian Băsescu

.