The histories of Nerva and of Trajan are some of those which are
comparatively the most imperfectly known to us, although these two
emperors have so gladdened the hearts of the Romans by their rule, and
theirs was an age of the best Roman literature, an age of which moreover
so many other monuments are come down to us. Tacitus evidently has not
described this period: he says that he had kept it for when he was old;
to excuse himself for not writing contemporary history, as he could
certainly not have praised it unconditionally. Trajan himself has
written memoirs, especially of the events of the Dacian war; but no
author of any note has dwelt upon this important history.
Nerva was much beyond sixty, and a venerable consular and senator: how
he came to be proclaimed, we know not. When proclaimed, he was gladly
received by the senate, and the prætorians assented to the choice. He
set forth the principles on which he would govern, and he remained true
to them. But he was very cautious in making reforms: for being old, he
did not venture to undertake much, or to give provocation to the
prætorians; and therefore he punished so few of the informers who under
Domitian had been a curse to mankind. This gave offence and disgust to
many honourable men, while it raised the courage of many bad ones: the
feeling of actual happiness was chilled by the consciousness that all
these men were still alive and in office, and that they might one day
again become dangerous. The consequence of this weakness of Nerva’s was,
that those who wished to continue the time of Domitian, now used their
influence in the senate to do anything they liked. Junius Mauricus
therefore, when the death of an informer was talked of at a party at the
emperor’s, said, “Yes, if he were still alive, nothing would be done to
him; but he would be in company with us.”[45] The præfect Casperius
called upon the soldiers to demand the murderers of Domitian from Nerva;
and on his refusal they seized them by force, and two of them were most
horribly ill-used: they then compelled Nerva to express his approval of
it in the senate.[46] Nerva, feeling his own weakness, had recourse to
the same means as Galba to strengthen himself in his old age: but he
made a much more happy choice than the former had done,—he adopted
Trajan.
Hispania Bœtica was by this time quite Latinized, and Latin only was
spoken there, at least in the towns; just as West Prussia and Silesia
are Germanized. Italica, in the neighbourhood of Seville, was one of the
earliest settlements in those parts; it was founded by Roman soldiers of
the Scipios, who chose to remain in a country in which they had lived a
number of years, and got families by Spanish wives: the town, being
constituted as a colony or a second-rate _municipium_, became very
thriving. It was the birthplace of Trajan and Hadrian: Trajan’s family
was one of the most distinguished there. M. Ulpius Trajanus was the son
of a man of note: his father had in the reign of Nero already attained a
high rank in the Roman army, and was much looked up to; the son became
known and honoured even in the times of Domitian, which were so little
favourable to the display of excellence. A happier choice Nerva could
never have made; it was received with joy and respect by the Prætorians
themselves. At that time, Trajan was in Rome; but he soon went to
Germany where his head-quarters were at Cologne. Our knowledge of the
affairs of Germany in those days is very scanty; the relations of that
country with the Romans were still strikingly peaceful. The name of a
place on the military road from the Main to Augsburg, _Aræ Flaviæ_,
proves that (probably under Domitian) the Romans had already taken
possession of this _sinus imperii_. Whether the rampart and ditch,
which, beginning from the Westerwald, reached along the Lahn, the
Taunus, and the Main, to the Altmühl, was or was not made at that time,
the country was at all events subject to the Romans. Free German tribes
were dwelling only in Franconia, the Upper Palatinate, Hesse, and
Westphalia; Suevia, in the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, was not yet
under the Roman rule; the Frisian tribes were subdued under Tiberius,
but they afterwards became free. In the days of Nerva, there was a
little war in Suabia; of this the only trace is to be met with in an
inscription which speaks of the _Victoria Suevica_. The boundaries of
the several tribes are most distinctly given in the Germany of Tacitus,
where we see how they did not interfere with each other.
Nerva, who reigned but one year and a half, died, A. D. 98, in his
sixty-sixth year. The empire was so firmly settled, that Trajan,
although absent in Cologne, could quietly step into the imperial dignity
as if it were an inheritance: he did not come to Rome until the
following year; but allegiance was yielded to him everywhere. He now
soon showed his energy, as he laid hold upon the ruffians whom Nerva had
spared: a few only atoned for their guilt with their lives, by far the
greater part being exiled to the rocks of the Mediterranean. He took a
still bolder step when he brought the Prætorians to account, who had had
a share in the late misdeeds; and had the ringleaders executed. By this
means, his rule was completely strengthened. His reforms were gentle,
nor did they reach much beyond individuals: he reduced the taxes,
especially taking off those which had been laid as a penalty on the
provinces; and he must have got the finances into excellent order, as
Hadrian after him was able to remit such immense sums. Whilst he thus
lightened the burthens of the world, he had not only money for expensive
wars, but also for the most costly works: he never was embarrassed for
money. The details of the care which he took of the provinces, and also
the principles of his administration, we may glean from the tenth book
of Pliny’s Epistles: the good emperors checked the arbitrary rule of the
governors by looking themselves into what was done. It was part of
Trajan’s happiness, that his father, who was in a hale old age, still
lived many years to see the successes of his son, and to have his heart
gladdened by his glory: such fine family affection had never been seen
in the Roman world before. He was married to an excellent wife in
Plotina, who, however, did not bear him any children: the praise of this
woman far outweighs those few anecdotes which look very like gossip. His
sister Marciana was likewise most respectable, a true matron. And to
these two ladies, a considerable improvement in the Roman manners is
certainly owing: all the empresses, since Livia—with the exception of
Vespasian’s wife, who as a freed woman could not indeed appear in
society—had exercised a most baneful influence upon morals. The open
shamelessness which was quite the fashion, was now put a stop to.
Trajan’s true bent was for war and for great works. This, as the empire
was then situated, was by no means to be found fault with. Whilst he
gave occupation to his subjects and his armies, he imparted a higher
tone to the age in which he lived: if such a universal empire continues
to have peace, torpor and stagnation must be the consequence. Trajan’s
wars and victories were certainly beneficial to the Roman state; the
only question was, Whither were they to lead?—There was no stopping
short; and hence it may be seen, how wretched is such a dominion over
the world.
The cause of his first war, was one which to Roman feelings appeared a
just one. Domitian had made peace with Decebalus on condition of paying
a tribute; this tribute Trajan would not pay, and Decebalus, conscious
of his power, declared war, A. D. 101. His empire comprised
Transylvania, the mountain districts of Moldavia and Wallachia, and
perhaps also the plains of the latter country and of Upper Hungary; in
the plains of Moldavia and Bessarabia he in all likelihood ruled over
the Sarmatians: his frontiers cannot be accurately laid down. This
mighty and strong country was inhabited by a most warlike, free, and
civilized people, whose prince was a worthy match for Trajan. The war
lasted for three years, until Trajan, by taking the capital, compelled
Decebalus to conclude a peace, the terms of which are fully known to us
from the pillar: the Roman prisoners and deserters were to be given up,
and Decebalus had to pay a large war-contribution,—which was not hard
for him to do, as Dacia was rich in silver,—and he was still left as an
independent prince in his kingdom. Some years afterwards, the war broke
out again. The peace was a very oppressive one; its heavy burthens were
only felt after it was concluded, when the insolence of the Roman
governors made matters unbearable; and as the Dacians repented of what
they had done, Rome declared war once more. Decebalus fell; and in the
second campaign, Dacia was made a province, which it continued to be
down to the times of the Goths. In the heart of the country, a number of
Roman colonies were established; one, for instance, in its capital,
Zarmizegethusa, under the name of _Colonia Ulpia_; and also especially
in Transylvania and the mountain districts of Moldavia and Wallachia: no
traces of any are found in the plains. And so firmly did the Roman rule
take root there, that to this day, after the most varied vicissitudes,
the language spoken in Wallachia is but a corruption of Latin, although
Rome was only mistress there for a hundred and fifty years. The
Wallachs, however, spread further towards Pindus in Macedon, and into
Greece and Epirus: they are a mysterious people. From the many ruins and
inscriptions in it, one may see that Dacia was a very flourishing and
civilized country.
There now followed some years of peace, which certainly did not make him
happy. When therefore the Parthian king had deposed the king of Armenia,
which was subject to the doubtful sovereignty of Rome and Parthia, and
had raised a kinsman of his to the throne; Trajan, availing himself of
the opportunity, took up arms, marched into Armenia, and received the
homage of Parthamasiris, the king set up by the Parthians. With this he
was satisfied, the king having come to his camp, and received back his
kingdom from him as a fief, which it in truth may be called. But Trajan
went on with the war. It is a pity that we do not know its history in
detail: like the Dacian wars, it must have been rich indeed in great
achievements, as nature opposed immense difficulties. Thus much seems
clear, that Trajan took Armenia for the base of his operations, and
penetrated towards the lower Tigris. There he reduced, not only
Seleucia, but also Ctesiphon, the capital of the king of kings; and he
came as far as the ocean, that is to say, the Persian Gulf. Here he
either began to feel the difficulties in the way of his darling wish to
conquer the whole of the Persian Empire; or it was with him as with many
a great general who waged war for its own sake, finding pleasure in it,
that he became tired of war, and thought that he should be able at any
time to return to it. Thus it was with Napoleon, in whose case it saved
the world. He was sometimes sick of war; and as he then wished to rest
himself for some months in Paris, he would make peace, meaning to renew
the war afterwards: he liked moreover to let people somewhat raise their
heads once more, and then, when they had recovered their strength a
little, to beat them again with so much the greater glory. Thus Trajan
also felt induced to grant peace to the Parthians, after having given
them Parthamaspates, one of their pretenders, for a king. The Parthians,
as individuals, deserve but little of our esteem: they were barbarians,
and they gained their civilization only from the Greek towns. Persia did
not rise into eminence till it was ruled by Sassanides. At this time,
the Parthians had vassal-kings in the different countries, and the king
himself with his court travelled from one of these to the other, and was
entertained by them: his proper residence was at Ctesiphon.
Trajan, however, was not yet able to make up his mind what to do. He
then set about the conquest of Arabia. From inscriptions and coins, and
from the things there which had not existed until his time, we may
conclude that he made Arabia Petræa on the eastern coast of the Red Sea
down to the Gulf of Acaba—even as far as Medina, if Medina were not
included—a Roman province, and received the homage of the Arab tribes
between the Euphrates and Syria. He had in the treaty of peace caused
the Parthians to give up to him the supremacy over Osroëne, Mesopotamia,
and Kurdistan: Edessa likewise was incorporated into the empire. Thus he
reserved for himself the groundwork for a future war, just as Napoleon
did: he undoubtedly meant, should he live long enough, to extend the
frontier as far as to India; or at least, to leave the conquest for his
successor.
Nubia, between Egypt and the upper cataract, was likewise subjected in
the reign of Trajan to the Roman sway, under which it remained for a
hundred and fifty years. Moreover Fezzan between Tripoli and the town of
Bornu on the Niger were Roman; which is proved by the inscriptions at
Gharma.
Whilst Trajan could not make up his mind to leave the East, he also
stayed for a considerable period in Cilicia; and there he fell sick at
Selinus, which was afterwards called Trajanopolis, and died in the
sixty-first, or sixty-fourth year of his life, A. D. 117. His ashes were
brought to Rome, and enshrined there in a golden urn beneath the
triumphal pillar. In the last months of his life, he had adopted
Hadrian; or Plotina had spread a report of his having done so. This was
undoubtedly a happy thing for Rome: for although Hadrian in his after
life was guilty of sad misdeeds, it was owing to his ill state of
health; so that he was hardly accountable for them. He was a near
kinsman of Trajan and a most able man.