The choice was not a difficult one. He named Marcus Ulpius Traianus - better known as Trajan - the recently named governor of Upper Germany as his “son.” On January 28, 91 CE Nerva died a natu… He built roads, bridges, aqueducts, and harbors from Spain to the Balkans to North Africa. Trajan, Roman emperor (98–117 CE) who sought to extend the boundaries of the empire to the east (notably in Dacia, Arabia, Armenia, and Mesopotamia), undertook a vast building program, and enlarged social welfare.

He is also known for his philanthropic rule, overseeing extensive public building programs and implementing social welfare policies, which earned him his enduring reputation as the second of the Five Good Emper… After safely escaping the Praetorian Guard mutiny, the ailing Roman emperor Nerva began to question his own mortality and realized the urgency to name a successor.

Learn more about Trajan in this article. Officially declared by the Senate optimus princeps ("best ruler"), Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presided over the greatest military expansion in Roman history, leading the empire to attain its maximum territorial extent by the time of his death. Without any children of his own, he recognized his only option was to adopt. Trajan was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Trajan put the proceeds from the Dacian War to good use throughout the empire.