ABSTRACT
The situation became critical for Nerva in the summer of 97, when the commander of the imperial guard, Aelianus, called upon the soldiers to revolt. Nerva showed his best side. He was fearless, even giving the soldiers who had locked him in his palace the chance to kill him. He was, however, unable to prevent them from
killing two of Domitian’s murderers. Perhaps it was this incident that brought him to the realisation that he was too old for the job and made him decide to appoint a co-emperor. In any case, shortly thereafter, in late October 97, from the Capitol he uttered the words, ‘May prosperity shine upon the Senate and people of Rome as well as myself. I now adopt Marcus Ulpius Nerva Trajanus.’ Nerva had no sons himself, but in the tradition of the Julio-Claudian emperors he was able to look for a successor within his own family. He reviewed all possible family members, paying attention only to their qualities; in the end he chose someone from outside the family who had earned his spurs: Trajan, a capable and level-headed man, who was loyal to the government and popular with the army. It is remarkable that Trajan, who was at that time governor of Germania Superior, did not come to Rome at once to discuss the course of events with his foster father. He still had not come to Rome when Nerva became gravely ill in January 98.
