My research aims to examine the rise of the Roman Emperor Trajan (CE 98-117) using a prosopographic method. Epigraphic and documentary evidence filling in gaps in the extremly pro-Trajan literary sources. By considering who held which command or political positions through their respective careers, I will build a picture of how Trajan was able to emerge as the successor to Nerva, from a position of relative obscurity under the Flavians.

This will lead into a discussion and analysis of the literary works of Pliny the Younger, Tacitus and more, who display clear pro-Trajanic biases which blur our understanding of his pre-Imperial career. By examining these sources from the angle of post-truth politics, and the way modern perceptions of Trajan were built on European ideals of Empire, I will demonstrate the way Trajan survives to us as one of the “good emperors”.