| Marcus Ulpius Traianus | |
|---|---|
 Bust at the National Museum of Serbia, Belgrade, usually identified as Trajan's father. It may instead depict Trajan himself. [1] | |
| Born | Italica |
| Died | before AD 98 |
| Spouse | Marcia |
| Issue | Trajan and Ulpia Marciana |
Marcus Ulpius Traianus (fl. 1st century) was a Roman senator and the father of Emperor Trajan.
Traianus belonged to a branch of the gens Ulpia, which originally came from the Umbrian city of Tuder, but he was born and raised in the Roman colony of Italica, north of modern Santiponce and northwest of Seville, in the Roman Province of Hispania Baetica. [2] The town was founded in 206 BC by Scipio Africanus, as a settlement for wounded and invalid veterans of the wars against Carthage. [2] The Ulpii, like the Aelii and the Traii, were among the leading Roman families of the city. [2] From the latter family came the ancestors of Traianus, who intermarried with the Ulpii, giving rise to the cognomen Traianus. [2] Since the father of Traianus joined the ranks of the senators in Rome, it is very likely that his grandfather was already a member of the Roman Senate. [2] The ancestry of Traianus' mother is unknown. His sister Ulpia was the mother of Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer, and grandmother of the emperor Hadrian. Traianus married a Roman noblewoman named Marcia. [3] She was the elder sister of Marcia Furnilla, the second wife of Titus, which enabled her to further her husband's career. [3] They had two children: a daughter, Ulpia Marciana, and a son, Marcus, the future emperor Trajan. [3]
The chronology of Traianus' career is uncertain. He may have taken his seat in the senate by the reign of Claudius. [3] In the time of Nero, he may have commanded a legion under the general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo; during the First Jewish–Roman War, from AD 67 to 68, he came into favour with the future emperor Vespasian, then governor of Judaea, under whom he commanded the Tenth Legion. After his accession to the Empire, Vespasian recognized Traianus' military successes by awarding him the governorship of Cappadocia, and naming him consul suffectus for the months of September and October in AD 72. [lower-alpha 1] After his consulship, Trajan served as governor of Syria from 73 to 74, then proconsul of Asia from 79 to 80. He was also governor of Hispania Baetica, but the time of this appointment is unknown. [6]
Traianus lived out his final years in honor and distinction. Indirect evidence suggests that he may have died before his son became emperor in AD 98. [7] In AD 100, his son founded a colony in North Africa, named Colonia Marciana Ulpia Trajana Thamugadi after his mother and father; today the town is known as Timgad, in Algeria. [8] In 112, Traianus was deified by his son, becoming known as Divus Traianus Pater. [9]
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| Notes: Except where otherwise noted, the notes below indicate that an individual's parentage is as shown in the above family tree.
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Trajan was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier-emperor who led the Roman Empire to its greatest territorial extent by the time of his death. He was given the title of Optimus by the Roman Senate.
Aulus Platorius Nepos was a Roman senator who held a number of appointments in the imperial service, including the governorship of Britain. He was suffect consul succeeding the consul posterior Publius Dasumius Rusticus as the colleague of the emperor Hadrian for March to April 119 AD.
Ulpia Marciana was the beloved elder sister of Roman Emperor Trajan and grandmother of empress Vibia Sabina the wife of Hadrian. Upon her death, her brother had her deified.
Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer was a distinguished and wealthy Roman senator and soldier who lived in the Roman Empire during the 1st century. Hadrianus Afer was originally from Hispania and was of Roman descent. He was born and raised in the city of Italica in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica. He came from a well-established, wealthy and aristocratic family of Praetorian rank. He was the son of the noble Roman woman Ulpia and his father was the Roman senator, Publius Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus. Hadrianus Afer's maternal uncle was the Roman general and senator Marcus Ulpius Traianus, the father of Ulpia Marciana and her younger brother Emperor Trajan. Ulpia Marciana and Trajan were his maternal cousins.
Gaius Bruttius Praesens Lucius Fulvius Rusticus was an important Roman senator of the reigns of the emperors Trajan, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. A friend of Pliny the Younger and Hadrian, he was twice consul, governed provinces, commanded armies and ended his career as Urban prefect of Rome. Bruttius’ life and career left few coherent traces in the literary record, but a number of inscriptions, including his complete cursus honorum, fills out the picture considerably.
Manius Laberius Maximus was a Roman senator and general, who was active during the reign of Domitian and Trajan. He was twice consul: the first time he was suffect consul in the nundinium of September to December 89 AD as the colleague of Aulus Vicirius Proculus; the second time as ordinary consul in 103 as colleague to the Emperor Trajan.
Marcia was an ancient Roman noblewoman and the mother of the emperor Trajan.
Gaius Salonius Matidius Patruinus was a Roman Senator who lived in the Roman Empire during the 1st century during the reign of Vespasian.
The gens Vibia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Although individuals named Vibius appear in history during the time of the Second Punic War, no members of this gens are found at Rome until the final century of the Republic. The first of the Vibii to obtain the consulship was Gaius Vibius Pansa in 43 BC, and from then until imperial times the Vibii regularly filled the highest offices of the Roman state. The emperors Trebonianus Gallus and Volusianus each claimed descent from the family.
Ulpia was a noble Roman woman from the gens Ulpia settled in Spain during the 1st century CE. She was the paternal aunt of the Roman emperor Trajan and the paternal grandmother of the emperor Hadrian.
Publius Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus, also known as Aelius Hadrianus Marullinus or Aelius Marullinus, was a Roman Senator of Praetorian rank from Hispania who lived in the Roman Empire during the 1st century.
The gens Ulpia was a Roman family that rose to prominence during the first century AD. The gens is best known from the emperor Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, who reigned from AD 98 to 117. The Thirtieth Legion took its name, Ulpia, in his honor. The city of Serdica, modern day Sofia, was renamed as Ulpia Serdica.
Marcus Lollius Paullinus Decimus Valerius Asiaticus Saturninus was a prominent Roman Senator who was a powerful figure in the second half of the 1st century and first half of the 2nd century. He is also known by the shorter form of his name, Decimus Valerius Asiaticus.
Sextus Erucius Clarus was a Roman senator and aristocrat. He was Urban prefect and twice consul, the second time for the year AD 146. Clarus was the nephew of Gaius Septicius Clarus, a friend of Pliny the Younger.
Quintus Glitius Atilius Agricola was a Roman senator and general who held several posts in the emperor's service. He was twice suffect consul: for the first time in AD 97 with Lucius Pomponius Sura as his colleague, and the second time in 103 when he replaced the emperor Trajan. He is the last known person to have held two suffect consulates. Agricola is known only through a large number of fragmentary inscriptions from Augusta Taurinorum, which appears to be his home town.
Quintus Pomponius Rufus was a Roman senator active in the imperial service; he was governor during the reigns of the emperors Domitian and Trajan. Rufus was also suffect consul for the nundinium September-December AD 95 as the colleague of Lucius Baebius Tullus. Pomponius Rufus is known primarily from inscriptions.
Titus Aurelius Fulvus was a Roman consul and grandfather of the emperor Antoninus Pius, as his son by the same name was Pius's father.
A bust of Hadrian, the second-century Roman emperor who rebuilt the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma, was formerly displayed in Pope Sixtus V's Villa Montalto and is now displayed at the British Museum in London. The bust is one of the Townley Marbles collected by Charles Townley (1737–1805) and sold by his heir Peregrine Edward Towneley at a reduced price to the British Museum in 1805. Unlike most busts of Hadrian and other emperors, it shows him in heroic nudity. The bust was found in Rome and is carved from Greek marble.