Most likely the year of Trajanus' birth is 52 AD. He was born at Italica, which is near Seville, on September 18. Being Spanish, Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, was the first Roman Emperor who did not originate from Italy. His old Umbrian family was from Tunder, a place located in northern Italy, but it decided to settle in Spain. This means that Trajanus' family was not entirely provincial.

The name of his father was also Marcus Ulpius Trajanus. His father was able to reach the office of senator. Marcus Ulpius Trajanus was appointed the commander of the Tenth Legion "Fretensis," which was involved in the Jewish War held in the period between 67 and 68 AD. Later, in 70 AD, he became consul and five years later he was appointed the governor of Syria, which at that time was one of the main provinces in the Roman Empire. After some time he became also the governor of Baetica and Asia.

While his father was the governor of Syria, Trajan served in the region as a military tribune. He had a tremendous growth in his career. First, in 85 AD, he gained the office of praetorship. Then he was chosen to lead the Seventh Legion "Gemina" which was based in Legio, northern Spain. In 88/89 AD Trajan led his legion into Upper Germany in order to stop the revolt of Saturninus against Domitian. Unfortunately his army arrived too late to be involved in the revolt.

Due to his prompt actions performed on Domitian's behalf, the Roman Emperor made Trajan consul in 91 AD. After Domitian's murder, Trajan's close relationship with Domitian may have served as a source of embarrassment.

The next emperor was Nerva whose reign brought liberation from Domitian's terror governing, which is why he was not the one to keep anger on Domitian's close ties. Soon Trajan was appointed as the governor of Upper Germany and in 97 AD he received an official letter from Nerva informing Trajan about his adoption.

Surely the adoption of Trajan was a pure political step. Nerva needed a trustful, powerful and popular among Roman people heir in order to improve his somewhat shattered imperial authority. Because Trajan earned a high reputation, especially among Roman army, his adoption was probably the best choice against the disagreement between Nerva and the Roman troops.

However, Trajan was not in a hurry to reestablishing the authority of Nerva. Instead of going instantly to Rome he sent for the leaders of the earlier revolt by the praetorians to Upper Germany. The leaders of the revolt did not receive their promotion. Instead they were all executed on arrival.

Death came after emperor Nerva on January 28, 98 AD. Trajan still was not in a hurry. He decided to take a tour of inspection in order to observe the legions along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. The move proved to be a wise one, mainly because the legions still kept good memory of Domitian. Thus Trajan hoped to gain support among the armies by personally paying a visit to them.

The entry of Trajan at Rome in 99 AD was successful. Upon his entry crowds rejoiced. Trajan entered Rome on foot. In addition he embraced every senator and what is most amazing he walked among ordinary citizens. Not one of the emperors demonstrated such modesty and openness. In such a way Trajan earned a lot of support during the first years of his rule.

He showed his modesty and respect towards the senate and ordinary Roman citizens by promising that the senate will always be informed about the government's affairs and by stating that the right of the emperor to rule the state should not come in contradiction with the freedom of those who were ruled.

The emperor was an educated person, who, however, was not an especially learned one. Surely Trajan was a powerful individual. He enjoyed hunting and climbing mountains.

Under his rule the program of public works was significantly extended. The program continuously increased. He renovated the networks of roads in Italy. The sections that went through wetlands were paved or placed on embankments. In addition, during his reign many bridges were constructed. He organized the provisions for poor people, especially for children. There were special imperial funds created, called "alimenta." By the way, this system would still be applied 200 years later.

Although he has done a lot for the empire, Trajan was surely not perfect. He enjoyed too much wine. In addition it seemed that he really enjoyed war. He was passionate about war mainly because he had talent at it. Trajan was a wise general, which can be proved by his military achievements. This is why he was so popular with the Roman armed forces.

Undoubtedly the most powerful and famous campaign of Trajan was against Dacia, which was a great and powerful kingdom located north of Danube, the current territory of Romania. He was involved in two wars against Dacia. The final result was the destruction of the kingdom and annexation of it as a Roman province. The event took place in 106 AD.

The majority of treasure gathered in Dacia went to the construction of public works. One of them was a new harbor at Ostia and Trajan's Forum.

The passion for war did not provide any rest to Trajan. In 114 AD he started another campaign and would probably spend all his life fighting in the east against the Parthian empire. The made Armenia a Roman province and then was victorious in the battles that brought the entire Mesopotamia to his feat, including Ctesiphon, Parthian capital.

Some time later the rebellions of the Jews in the middle east along with the conquered Mesopotamians started weakening Trajan's position. He was not able to continue his campaign and withdrew Roman armed forces to Syria. He wanted to come back to Rome but this was not to happen.

Suffering from some circulatory problems, which are believed to be brought by poison, Trajan had a stroke that partly paralyzed him. He died on August 9, 117 AD in Selinus, Cilicia. His body was cremated in Seleucia and then Trajan's ashes were brought back to Rome and placed in an urn made of gold. The urn was placed into the base of "Trajan's Column."

The fame of Trajan was remembered for years to come. During the 4^th century the senate still was in search for an emperor that would be "felicior Augusto, melior Traiano," meaning "More fortunate than Augustus and better than Trajan."