was in honor of this campaign into Dacia that the famous COLUMN OF
TRAJAN, which still remains, was erected.

Trajan also annexed to the Empire Arabia Petraea, which afforded an
important route between Egypt and Syria. His invasion of Parthia,
however, resulted in no permanent advantage.

During the reign of Trajan the Roman Empire REACHED THE SUMMIT OF ITS
POWER; but the first signs of decay were beginning to be seen in the
financial distress of all Italy, and the decline of the free
peasantry, until in the next century they were reduced to a condition
of practical serfdom.

The literature of Trajan's reign was second only to that of the
Augustan age. His time has often been called the SILVER AGE. Its prose
writers were, however, unlike those of the Augustan age, far superior
to its poets. The most famous prose writers were TACITUS, PLINY THE
YOUNGER, and QUINTILIAN.

The poets of this period were JUVENAL, PERSIUS, MARTIAL, LUCAN, and
STATIUS, of whom the last two were of an inferior order.


HADRIAN (117-138).

Trajan was succeeded by his cousin's son, HADRIAN, a native of Spain.
One of the first acts of Hadrian was to relinquish the recent
conquests of Trajan, and to restore the old boundaries of the Empire.
The reasons for this were that they had reached the utmost limits
which could lend strength to the power of Rome, or be held in