CHAPTER XL.

THE FIVE GOOD EMPERORS.

NERVA (96-98).


NERVA was appointed by the Senate to succeed Domitian, and was the
first Emperor who did not owe his advancement to military force or
influence. He associated with himself MARCUS ULPIUS TRAJANUS, then in
command of the army on the Rhine. Nerva ruled only sixteen months; but
during that time he restored tranquillity among the people, conferring
happiness and prosperity upon every class.


TRAJAN (98-117).

Nerva was succeeded by TRAJAN, whose character has its surest guaranty
in the love and veneration of his subjects; and it is said that, long
afterwards, the highest praise that could be bestowed on a ruler was
that he was "more fortunate than Augustus, and better than Trajan."
Trajan was a soldier, and, if he lacked the refinements of a peaceful
life, he was nevertheless a wise and firm master.

He added to the Empire Dacia, the country included between the Danube
and the Theiss, the Carpathians and the Pruth. This territory became
so thoroughly Romanized that the language of its inhabitants to-day is
founded on that of their conquerors nearly eighteen centuries ago. It