Nerva and Trajan (ruled 96 – 98 AD, 98 – 117 AD) were not born to rule, but were chosen for the job. The results were remarkably successful. Nerva became emperor immediately after Domitian’s ...

Because he is unsure as to whether he can kill them legally for no other crime than their faith, he writes to his friend the Emperor for advice. The Emperor replies that he did the right thing in ...

The victory of the Roman emperor Trajan over the Dacians in back-to-back wars is carved in numerous scenes that spiral around a 126-foot marble pillar in Rome known as Trajan’s Column.

Plutarch did not have a personal relationship with Trajan (as did, for example, Pliny the Younger). Indeed, Emperor and scholar may never have met directly (though Plutarch probably appeared before ...