\b0 A descendant of the Ulpius family, originally from Todi
, he was born at Italica in ancient Baetica, near Seville, in 53. He was the first emperor of foreign birth. During his rule the empire attained the peak of its power. He conquered Arabia, Armenia, Assyria, Mesopotamia, and Dacia. The main events of the
Dacian war are wonderfully illustrated in the splendid reliefs of Trajan's Column in Rome. He married Plotina and adopted Hadrian. He ruled with such justice and mercy that he was granted the title of Optimus Princeps. On his way to wage war against the
Jews, Trajan fell ill in Syria and died at Selinus in Cilicia at the age of sixty-four.\par