Trajan
Trajan was Roman emperor from 98 to 117 CE. His reign expanded the empire to its greatest territorial extent, including through the conquest of Dacia.
Dacian Wars: Two Roman campaigns against Dacia, fought from 101 to 102 and 105 to 106 CE. Their victory brought Dacia under Roman rule and supplied the subject of Trajan’s Column.
Roman legions: The principal units of the Roman army, composed mainly of heavily equipped citizen soldiers. Their discipline and engineering enabled Trajan’s campaigns across the Danube.
Italica: An ancient Roman city in Hispania Baetica, near modern Seville, founded in 206 BCE. Trajan was born in this Roman settlement in Spain.
Trajan's Column: A monumental column in Rome, completed in 113 CE and carved with a spiral relief of the Dacian Wars. Its relief presents Trajan’s conquest of Dacia as a continuous narrative of Roman military action.
Roman Empire: The ancient state ruled by Rome and its emperors across territories in Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. Trajan’s reign marked the empire’s greatest territorial extent.
Roman provincial governor: An official appointed to administer a Roman province, with duties that could include justice and military command. Trajan governed as a provincial commander before becoming emperor.
Marcus Ulpius Traianus: A Roman senator and general, and the father of the emperor Trajan. His senatorial standing and military career helped shape Trajan’s early prospects.
Tropaeum Traiani: A Roman victory monument erected at Adamclisi in modern Romania after the Dacian Wars. It commemorates the fighting that established Roman control in Dacia.
Trajan's Forum: A monumental public complex in Rome, completed under Trajan in the early second century CE. Its construction displayed the wealth and authority of his victorious reign.
Roman Senate: Rome’s governing council, whose authority and membership changed across the Republic and Empire. Trajan maintained a cooperative relationship with the Senate and received formal titles from it.