Emperors of Rome | Trajan in Rome and in the East (Lecture 21)

Lecture 21: After the Dacian wars, Trajan returned to Rome to carry out various good works, including the opening of his great bath complex and his magnificent Forum. Not satisfied with domestic affairs, however, the emperor again embarked on a military expedition, this time to Armenia and Parthia. We pause here in our narrative to examine an extraordinary correspondence from the years 110 and 111, when Pliny the Younger was Trajan’s special envoy to the province of Bithynia Pontus on the northern coast of Turkey. Pliny wrote letters to the emperor on various matters and subsequently published them, along with Trajan’s replies, in the 10th book of his collected Epistles.

This unique volume provides fascinating insights into the personalities of Pliny and Trajan, life in a Roman province, and the workings of the imperial administration. We pay particular attention to the missive concerning the spread of Christianity in Bithynia-Pontus. Meanwhile, Trajan’s campaigns in the east (113–116) met with equivocal success. Weakened by his hardships, Trajan fell ill in 116 and died in Turkey in 117.

Essential Reading:
Cassius Dio, Roman History, book 68.
Pliny, Epistles, book 10.
Bennett, Trajan Optimus Princeps: A Life and Times, especially chapters 9–14.

Supplementary Reading:
DIR, “Trajan.”