[Antoninus]

Today is the anniversary of the death of the Roman emperor Trajan. Though one of the most successful, he is not particularly well remembered today.

[Antoninus]

Catholic ping (at the end of the article, at least!)

[2banana]

Good man!

####

“He refrained equally from the money of others and from unjust murders. He expended vast sums on wars and vast sums on works of peace; and while making very many urgently needed repairs to roads and harbours and public buildings, he drained no one’s blood for any of these undertakings.”

[stinkerpot65]

Pliny and Democrats have a lot in common.

[Rurudyne]

John the Deacon’s story amounts to proclaiming a different gospel than the Gospel.

[SunkenCiv]

...according to one story written down in the 9th century by John the Deacon... says that while walking through the Forum of Trajan in Rome, Pope Saint Gregory the Great saw an inscription describing how Trajan had given justice to a poor widow. Feeling so moved, the Pope entered Saint Peter's and wept such tears of supplication, that a sign was given him that Trajan's soul had been released from torment, under condition that he never attempt to rescue another pagan from Hell again. This story gained such currency in the Middle Ages that it was included even in Dante's Divine Comedy, though later theologians and historians give the story no credence.

Trajan died not long after conquering the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon and adding Mesopotamia to the Roman Empire, but was alas succeeded by has allegedly adopted son Hadrian, who only liked little boys' behinds and traveling the Empire.

[Kommodor]

Sounds like Mr. Pliny would have fit right in at a certain party’s national convention a few years back...

[moovova]

Trajan's Column...Rome.

Per Wiki...

Trajan's Column (Italian: Colonna Traiana, Latin: COLVMNA·TRAIANI) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate. It is located in Trajan's Forum, built near the Quirinal Hill, north of the Roman Forum. Completed in AD 113, the freestanding column is most famous for its spiral bas relief, which artistically represents the wars between the Romans and Dacians (101–102 and 105–106). Its design has inspired numerous victory columns, both ancient and modern.

The structure is about 30 metres (98 feet) in height, 35 metres (115 feet) including its large pedestal. The shaft is made from a series of 20 colossal Carrara marble[a] drums, each weighing about 32 tons,[2] with a diameter of 3.7 metres (12.1 feet). The 190-metre (620-foot) frieze winds around the shaft 23 times. Inside the shaft, a spiral staircase of 185 steps provides access to a viewing platform at the top. The capital block of Trajan's Column weighs 53.3 tons, which had to be lifted to a height of c. 34 metres (112 feet).[3]

[Boogieman]

“But anonymously posted accusations ought to have no place in any prosecution. For this is both a dangerous kind of precedent and out of keeping with the spirit of our age.”

It only took the #MeToo crowd about 1900 years to reverse this precedent.

[AlienCrossfirePlayer]

Though one of the most successful, he is not particularly well remembered today.

Trajan in one of the leaders in the turn based strategy game of Sid Meier's Civilization VI. For that he is significantly less obscure.