Trajan was one of the best emperors of Rome. During his reign the empire reached its greatest extent. Though of noble Roman blood, Trajan was born and raised in southern Spain. He proved to be a very able ruler and administrator, and a strong and popular military leader, conquering Dacia (current Romania) and Parthia (current Iran). His conquest of Dacia is memorialized on Trajan's Column. That column was part of the major construction work he performed, building the new Trajan's Forum with its Basilica Ulpia, Trajan's Market and the Baths of Trajan. The Plutei of Trajan show Trajan helping people in need, and show, in their backgrounds, a bit of how Rome looked during his reign. The ruins of the Baths of Trajan can be seen in Parco Oppio, just northeast of the Colosseum.

    

Trajan, in the Capitoline Museum's Hall of the Emperors
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Statue of Trajan on Via dei Fori Imperiali, in front of Trajan's Forum and Trajan's Market
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Trajan, in the Capitoline Museum
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Trajan, in the Capitoline Museum
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Trajan, in the museum in Ostia Antica
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Trajan, in the museum in Ostia Antica
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Trajan, in the museum in Ostia Antica
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Trajan, in the Hall of the Doves of the Palazzo Nuovo of the Capitoline Museum
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Trajan, in the Hall of the Emperors of the Palazzo Nuovo of the Capitoline Museum
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Trajan, in the Hall of the Emperors of the Palazzo Nuovo of the Capitoline Museum
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Portrait of Trajan as Hercules, from 108 AD, in the National Museum of Rome, Palazzo Massimo
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Portrait of Trajan as Hercules, from 108 AD, in the National Museum of Rome, Palazzo Massimo
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• Rebuilt the Ludus Magnus.
• Rebuilt the Temple of Venus Genetrix in Caesar's Forum in 113 AD.
• Trajan is shown in the Plutei of Trajan reliefs on display in the Curia Julia in the Roman Forum
• Built and dedicated Trajan's Forum. Eight statues of Dacian Soldiers were taken from Trajan's Forum centuries later for use on the Arch of Constantine, where they can still be seen.
• Built and dedicated Trajan's Market.
• Built and dedicated Trajan's Column, which celebrates his victories in the Dacian Wars.
• Built the Baths of Trajan.
• Rebuilt the Circus Maximus in stone, replacing the wooden structure.
• Corrected the turbidity of the Aqua Anio Novus
• Built the Aqua Paola to bring water to the Janiculum Hill.

• My Trajan photos