What is the first person that you think of when I mention the Roman Empire? For me and I would wager most of you reading this, that person would be Julius Caesar.
Julius Caesar was arguably the first emperor of the Roman Empire because of his commitment to ruling the newly forming empire solely. Contrarians to this argument would say that Augustus is the first emperor, which in my opinion is true, because Augustus is the first person to hold the title of Princep, or first citizen.
But fun fact, the height of the Roman Empire was under neither of these people that I have mentioned, it was under Trajan, who came nearly a hundred years after the end of Augustus’ reign. The empire under Trajan was at its largest and at its height of power.
The only thing that Trajan didn’t see the height of was the height of Roman peace and prosperity, that happened under Antoninus Pius. But what does this long-winded explanation have to do with any opinion I may have?
It speaks volumes about the remembrance of the first vs. who did it the best. Most people who have absorbed the history of the Roman Empire through cultural osmosis know about Caesar, some may know about Augustus, but almost nobody who does not study Roman History know who Trajan is.
And Trajan was the emperor that oversaw the height of Roman power, arguably the best emperor in Roman history. For an American context, it’s like knowing who George Washington is, but not knowing who Franklin Delano Roosevelt was.
It’s interesting to see that we can know who started something, but not who did it the best, arguably.
