Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1181

Rh TRAJANUS. bene was intended to remain ; and that Trajan had also sent boats down tlie Euphrates, which Dion Cassius has not mentioned. Dion Cassius's nar- rative, which exists only in the epitome of Xiphi- linus, is very confused. There were already canals existing, which joined the Euphrates and Tigris, and we must therefore suppose that they required clearing out, and were not in a fit condition for the transit of boats. According to Dion Cassius, Trajan did not cut the intended canal, for fear that the Euphrates might be drained by it of its waters. Accordingly, the boats Avere taken across by land, the Tigris was bridged, and the Roman emperor entered the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon. This event was commemorated by his assuming the name of Parthicus, though it seems that he had assumed it before. (See the medal at the close of this article.) Tillemont supposes that Trajan returned to Antioch in the winter of a. d. 115, during which happened the great earthquake, which nearly de- stroyed Antioch and many other cities ; but Dion Cassius places the earthquake before the capture of Ctesiphon. This terrible calamity, which was as awful in its circumstances as the great earthquake of Lisbon in the last century, destroyed a great number of buildings and many people : Pedo the consul perished, and Trajan escaped through a Avindow, with a slight injury, being led forth by a man of supernatural size. In the following year Trajan descended the Tigris and entered the Erythraean Sea (the Persian Gulf). The king of the district called Mesene, between the lower course of the Tigris and the Euphrates, submitted to the emperor. Dion Cassius adds tiiat Trajan sailed as far as the Ocean, and seeing a vessel bound for India, said that he would have gone thither, if he were younger. In the mean time he was losing his Eastern conquests a» quick as he had gained them ; some of his governor* were slaughtered, and others expelled. He sent his generals Lusius and Maximus to restore obe- dience. Maximus lost his life ; but Lusius was successful, for he recovered Nisibis, and took Edessa by storm and burnt it. Seleucia on the Tigris, near Ctesiphon, was taken and burnt by Erycius Clarus and Julius Alexander. It appears that the whole countrj'- east of the Tigris from north to south, had risen against the Romans. Returning to Ctesiphon, Trajan determined to give the Parthians a king. He assembled the Romans and Parthians in a great plain near the city, and ascending a lofty tribunal, he commemorated his own exploits, and concluded by declaring Partha- maspates king of the Parthians, and placing the diadem on his head. The conquest of Arabia is recorded by several medals among the exploits of Trajan, but it is impossible to say which of the several parts of Asia included under that name, Avas conquered by him. Dion Cassius says : "after this he Avent into Arabia and attacked the Atreni, who had revolted ; and their city is neither large nor rich." By Arabia lie here means northern Mesopotamia, for Atra is Al Hadhr. (London Geog. Journal., vol. xi. p. 17«) Trajan was obliged to raise the siege of this town. Tillemont supposes that Trajan entered the Indian Ocean, and pene- trated " even to the extremities of Arabia Felix," but it is impossible to adopt his conclusions from the evidence that he produces. Trajan fell ill after the siege of Atra, and as his ' VOL. IIL TRAJANUS. 1169 compiaint gre.w worse, he set out for Italy, leaving Hadrian in Syria, and Parthia again hostile, for the Parthians had ejected the king Avhom Trajan gave them. The emperor seems to have had a variety of complaints, both dropsy and paralysis. He lived to reach Selinus in Cilicia, afterAv'ards called Trajanopolis, where he died in the early part of August, a. d. 11 7, after a reign of nineteen 3'ears six months and fifteen days. His ashes were taken to Rome in a golden urn, carried in triumphal procession, and deposited under the column Avhich bears his name. He left no children, and he Avas succeeded by Hadrian. Trajan constructed several great roads in the empire ; he built libraries at Rome, one of Avhich, called the Ulpia Bibliotlieca., is often mentioned ; and a theatre in the Campus Martins. His great Avork Avas the Forum Trajanum, the site of AA-hich was an elevation Avhich AA-^as removed, and the ground Avas levelled to a plain, in the centre of which Avas placed the column of Trajan, the height of which marked the height of the earth which had been removed. The inscription on the column fixes the date at the year a. d. 112, the sixth con- sulship of Trajan. Apollodorus Avas Trajan's architect. Trajan constructed the port of Ancona, on the ancient mole of Avhich there still stands a triumphal arch, dedicated to Trajan, his wife, and his sister. The inscription on the bridge of Alcan- tara over the Tagus belonged to the year a. n. lOG, but though the inscription Avas in honour of Trajan, it states that the bridge Avas made at the common expense of the several towns which are there mentioned. Under the reign of Trajan lived Sextus Julius Frontinus, C. Cornelius Tacitus, the Younger Plinius, and various others of less note. Plutarch, Suetonius, Epictetus, survived Trajan. The jurists Juventius Celsus, and Neratius Priscus,were living under Trajan. The authorities for part of the reign of Trajan are very defective. Tillemont, Avith all his in- dustry, has not been able to construct a narrative of the latter years of his reign, Avhich Ave can fully accept, and his chronology is open to seA'eral ob- jections. Still the life of Trajan in the Histoire des Empereurs (vol. ii.) contains all the materials that exist for the reign of this distinguished man, and, with the notes of Reimarus on the sixty- eighth book of Dion Cassius, must be the founda- tion of any future attempts to give a satisfactory history of this period. There is an essay by H. Francke, Zur Geschichte Trajans und seiner Zeit- genossen, ^x'., 1 837, Avhich is Avell spoken of. [G. L. ] COIN OF TRAJANUS. TRAJA'NUS, comes, a general of the emperor Valens, In A. d. .^73 he conducted the war against the Persians, and defeated Sapor Avith great slaughter. He spent the winter Avith Valens at Antioch, and in the following year (374) was seat 4 y