All right, here's the abridged and unedited version for your reading pleasure. I'm going off memory, so I don't guarantee perfection.
Basically, after the Punic Wars, Rome took Spain as a sort of victory prize and made it into a province. Spaniards were not well thought-of at the time. They had no rights, no status, and no respect from the Romans. It was into that situation that Trajan was born in 53 AD.
The emperor at the time, Domitian, was generally a poor ruler- arrogant, abusive of power, and an all around jerk. Despite this, he did initiate some reforms regarding provincials that allowed them to enjoy some citizen-only priveleges such as joining the army or participating in the local government. Trajan's father, a poor farmer, took advantage of the reforms and became a member of the province's council, but Trajan himself wanted no political power or personal glory, only to have contributed toward the glory of Rome and the wellbeing of his homeland. So he did the logical thing for a teenage guy and joined the army as a low-ranking legionary.
He served in the military for most of his life, from when he was about 12 to age 45. Trajan proved himself a talented and intelligent soldier, and after a short while was placed in the rear of the marching formation, with the most skilled fighters. The back were beasts. He slowly worked his way up the battle hierarchy, from a literally expendable footsoldier (the Spanish were exploited and used as decoys all the time in wars.) to a leader. Trajan's superiors began to take notice of him for his merit, unimpressive roots, and lack of concern for power. Being Romans, they appreciated a guy who wasn't constantly trying to stab distinguished gentlemen to death to get the throne. Soon Trajan found himself a tribune, which was a level of military command higher than a centurion and lower than a legatus, at the head of a maniple 160 men strong.
Following the Universal Laws of Comedy, just as things were working out nicely for Trajan, an esteemed commander in Germany named Saturninus openly revolted against Emperor Domitian, and more importantly, against Rome itself. Saturninus turned on the other legions stationed in Germany in a scandalous bloodbath just to spite the emperor.
The soldiers around the rest of the empire, including Trajan, were ordered to steer clear and let Saturninus run himself down. When he heard the number of casualties (I don't know them, but they must have been high.), Trajan broke ranks with his legion, driving his maniple north to stand up to Saturninus. Although almost comically outnumbered, Trajan and his men emerged victorious. As a reward for his bravery, Domitian promoted Trajan to the rank of commander, a pretty significant leap from tribune. In addition to the loyal soldiers who had fought under him against the rebela, hw was given an entire legion of elite soldiers. The legion soon became infamous, although few knew the name of its soft-spoken leader.
Trajan was chummy with his men. Kind, a bit shy, and a brilliant combatant and strategist, he knew each soldier by their nickname.
He employed creative strategies in warfare, and is known for having constructed an entire fake harbor at Ostia to fool enemies. But he never suspected that he'd rule not just one legion, but the entire Roman world.
When Trajan was in his 30's, Domitian was spontaneously assassinated. Okay, it wasn't that spontaneous. Nobody liked him. But he was the last of his dynasty.
Moving back a bit, the last time a dynasty ended, it was with Nero's suicide, which had resulted in one of Rome's goriest civil wars. Fearing that the same would occur with Domitian's murder, the Senate hurriedly selected a new leader who no Roman could possibly harbor ill will toward... Nerva, an elderly and childless politician.
Nerva was neither a poor nor a particularly eminent emperor. Picture Dumbledoor, add a toga, and you have a good idea of what he was like. Nerva spoke so wisely and cryptically that the Senate declared him mentally unstable. (They didn't get it, so he must be insane. Roman logic.)
Their theory was proven true, at least to their thinking, when Nerva announced who exactly he planned to name his heir. When the emperor first stated that he planned on adopting a son to succeed him, the Senate was delighted. They bombarded him with lists of famous politicians, rich generals, and, of course, themselves. But Nerva waved them away. He would have Trajan, and only Trajan, on the throne after himself.
Outraged, the Senators berated him, saying that a shy, little-known commander who was not even a proper citizen of Rome was unfit to lead. This was the last straw for them. Nerva would be metaphorically committed to the old folk's home in the morning.
Still he insisted, claiming that since Trajan did not expect nor desire power, he would not abuse it. That this commander had a greater integrity than any in Rome, greater than Trajan himself knew.
When the Senators did not relent, he declared Trajan governor of Germany, so that he would have the political status required of a future emperor, then died shortly thereafter of unspecified causes. *cough Senate cough*
A messenger was sent to Trajan, who was engaged in battle with the Parthians near the Danube River at the time, informing him of his adoption, new status, and of Nerva's demise. Immediately, Trajan's men sank to their knees and hailed him as emperor, but Trajan smiled sadly and told them to stand in an epic Aragornish fashion. He quietly told the messenger that he did not see himself as a capable politician, and that Rome deserved better than he. He would not go to the capital, and the Senate should choose a more competent diplomat to lead.
He then mounted his horse and ordered his legion to move out. Dejected, the messenger returned to Rome and relayed Trajan's speech to a gleeful audience in the Senate.
Several years past, and Trajan had celebrated his 40th year before word at last reached him in the form of a desperate peasant that the Senate had taken over the government, and that corruption and violence an tyranny had seized the empire under their twisted rule. This was the convincing Trajan needed. Setting aside his own misgivings and his hesitance to leave the life he'd led and loved for so long, he appointed a close friend the new head of the legion and rode hard for Rome, through several days and nights.
When he arrived, he was choked with terror. He had never seen a city so extensive, nor a throng so large. Yet he somehow mustered the courage to pass through the looming walls into the capital.
Unlike the emperors before and after him, Trajan's entrance into Rome had no parades or grandeur. He did not even flatter himself so much as to ride a horse, just walked, slowly and gracefully, down the crowded street with his head held high.
All the citizens of Rome gathered to watch his trek through the metropolis.
When Trajan reached the Senate building, he found the Senators waiting for him on the stairs with murder in their eyes. To their surprise, he knelt to the ground before them. His words, though they were never specifically recorded, were soft and respectful, and his disposition modest. Grudgingly, the Senate handed over the laurel crown, if only not to look bad in the eyes of the public.
I won't bore you with the specifics of his reign. Trajan is still known to be the greatest of all Roman emperors, the only one to survive his term with untarnished morals and a clean conscience. Through gentle words and the brilliant strategem only a military man could create, Trajan led the Senate back to the light and made a new empire out of Rome where trust and forgiveness took precedence over wealth and status. He connected the outer provinces to central Rome, expanded the territory to the fullest extent it would ever reach, and rebuilt the Forum, which had burned in the Great Fire during Nero's rule. Rome shone like a beacon in the Mediterranean.
And then things went wrong.
Trajan was 64 and terribly ill, and had been for years. No physician could diagnose him, but it was clear that the emperor's body was failing him, and that his time was running out. With their leader's guiding light flickering, the people grew wary and unsteady. The Parthians attacked once more, seeking vengeance for Trajan's earlier victories. Trajan himself rode out to meet them in Mesopotamia, and faught side-by-side with his old comrades even while his sword grew too cumbersome for him to lift any longer. During battle, he was stricken by a heart attack and had to be carried out of the fray on the shield of a fellow warrior. Those who saw this feared that the emperor was dead, and before anyone could deny it, the runor had spread like wildfire across the empire. In response, conquered areas stirred rebelliously. Trajan's homie, whom he had given command of the legion to, was killed in the New Parthian Wars defending his emperor and friend. Another plummet in health followed the news of the casualty, and Trajan was ordered to stay in bed. Soon he could not have done otherwise even if he had been of a defiant temperament.
This was the opportunity that the rising insurgency had been waiting for. A full-scale revolt erupted on the edges of the empire. Provinces burned. The Jews rebelled, first in Cyrene, then Alexandria, and then the entire enpire. Barbarians attacked, and the people of Rome were thrown into chaos without their beloved emperor to lead them.
Trajan knew the end was near. He confronted his half-cousin Hadrian, a younger politician, and named him his heir. He told Hadrian to inform the people that Trajan had left on a long journey from which he would likely not return. He said he would rather they cursed his name forever for abandoning them in a time of crisis than for them to be more divided by grief.
Trajan planned to steal away in the night and die quietly away from the eyes of the Romans. That night, he donned a peasant cloak and left the Senate building where he had been hospitalized. Halfway down the grand staircase, he crumpled to the hard marble of a fatal stroke.
A Roman woman filling a water pitcher at the nearby well saw him fall and carried him into her home, where he died shortly thereafter, only surfacing from his unconscious state long enough to say "I am sorry." No one is sure to what he referred.
Trajan had feared that sorrow would divide the people.
But on August 8, 117 AD, all of Rome joined in mourning.
And that's what saw them through those days.
Now I need to find out what the heck happened to Hadrian afterward.
