The Emperor Trajan. From the Enc. Britt.: born Sept. 15?, AD 53, Italica, Baetica [now in Spain], died Aug. 8/9, 117, Selinus, Cilicia [now in Turkey]. Latin in full Caesar Divi Nervae Filius Nerva Traianus Optimus Augustus, also called (AD 97–98) Caesar Nerva Traianus Germanicus, original name Marcus Ulpius Traianus Roman emperor (AD 98–117), the first to be born outside Italy. He 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.