Well, we've been talking about the Julio Claudian's, we've been talking about the Flavians, and Lana now today, we're going to talk about Trajan and Hadrian. You want to talk about them for awhile? You like them? She likes Hadrian. Okay Lana, well you go down and go listen and we'll talk for a little bit. As we said last time, Domitian was murdered, and once again, the question arose, as you might image, as to who might become emperor. Well, the answer came from the Senate, when a distinguished Umbrian became entrusted with the future of Rome. And his name was Marcus Cocceius Nerva. But he was already well up into his 70's. It's the year now '96, and Nerva had to move quickly to stabilize the empire. They did a pretty good job, though. The heir apparent was a popular troop commander in upper Germany, a man who had grown up in Italica near modern Sevilla in Spain, and who's family, however, was Italian. His name was Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, from the Ulpi gens, but we know him today as Trajan. Trajan proved to be an effective administrator, and his campaigns sought to bring in natural resources for Rome, and to spread Romanization from Parthia in the east up into the Balkans. He even created a new province, Dacia, which would remain within the Roman Empire for 150 years, and be seen by the modern Romanian people as the ancestor of their current country. He restored order and discipline to the army. And he set out to transform Rome with an amazing forum complex designed to outdo anything that had ever been done before. And it did. Like Augustus, Trajan was a master at propaganda and self glorification, and his forum complex was one of the greatest wonders of Ancient Rome that people would go specifically to visit. Portions of it which survive are still amazingly impressive. By Trajan's time, what we call the High Empire, the old Roman Forum was a bustling place. The old Temples had been upgraded and restored. The traditional buildings were all still in their original places, but had been for the most part improved to a state more worthy of Rome's position. With the addition of the government center established with the Forum of Julius Caesar, to the northwest of the Curia, and the Forum of Augustus beyond that, taking on many trials and ceremonies, the population of Rome was able to be accommodated with a massive civic center. Domitian had attempted to add to that, but his memory was condemned, so that his little forum was finished up by Nerva. And it was nothing more than a monumentalized passageway from the Sebora district to the northeast leading to the original Forum. And finally, Vespasian built a beautiful park and a museum and a library complex to the east of the forum of Augustus, which proved very popular. There seemed nowhere else to build in downtown Rome, without encroaching on steep hills. But Trajan would take care of that problem. But before we investigate what Trajan did and how he did it, lets take a brief look at the Roman forum in the Imperial Period.
