Trajan was emperor of Rome for nearly twenty years.
Trajan was born to a noble family in Spain, and he was the first non-Italian to hold the imperial throne.
The Roman emperor Trajan (ca. 53-117), or Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, was the first non-Italian emperor. He expanded Rome's territory to its farthest limits, and his designation as optimus princeps, "the best of princes, " attests to his reputation.