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Historia Augusta (Augustan History)

Scriptores Historiae Augustae

A later Roman collection of imperial biographies that preserves disputed stories about Trajan's succession, though much of its content is considered unreliable.

This later collection preserves the disputed story of Trajan's deathbed adoption of Hadrian as his heir.

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Manuscript page in brown ink with red rubrics, showing dense Latin text in a medieval hand. Red headings read 'Vita Antonini Pii explicit' and 'Incipit Marci Antonini Philosophi'. A large decorated initial M begins the next life. Marginal notes appear at the top and right.
Historia Augusta manuscript page, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vaticanus Palatinus lat. 899, fol. 19r.

About this source

What it is

The Historia Augusta is a late Roman collection of biographies of emperors, written in Latin by one or more authors long after the events it describes. Covering rulers from Hadrian to Numerian (117-284 AD), it survives today in manuscripts such as the 9th-century Codex Palatinus, held in the Vatican Library.

Why it matters

Although biographies of Trajan himself may be lost from the work, it preserves later traditions about his reign, including the contested story of his deathbed adoption of Hadrian as his successor. Historians have long debated the book's reliability, since it mixes genuine information with invented documents and speeches. It shows how later Romans remembered, reshaped, and sometimes fabricated the story of emperors like Trajan.

Look closer

  • Why might a source written centuries after an emperor's death be less trustworthy than one written at the time?
  • What problems do historians face when a text mixes fact and fiction without saying which is which?
  • Why do historians keep using a source they know is partly unreliable?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Tall marble Trajan's Column in Rome, a fluted column with spiral relief bands, topped by a bronze statue on a balcony platform. Behind it is a domed church with a lantern and tall buildings under a clear blue sky.Sculpture

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Trajan's Column

Apollodorus of Damascus · 113 AD

Plan drawing of the Imperial Fora in Rome. Labeled features include Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Column, Basilica Ulpia, Temple of Trajan, Libraries, Markets of Trajan, Forum of Augustus, Forum of Nerva, Temple of Peace, Forum of Caesar, and Curia, with a scale bar in metres and feet.Artifact

Primary source

Trajan's Forum

Apollodorus of Damascus · c. 100-113 AD

Plain red cloth book cover with fine vertical ribbed texture and a darker spine edge on the left side. No title or text is visible.Speech

Primary source

Panegyricus

Pliny the Younger · c. 100 AD

Front view of the Arch of Trajan in Benevento, a white marble Roman triumphal arch with carved relief panels and a long inscription on the attic, under a clear blue sky. Tourists stand on the paved square at left, and a tour bus and a small rounded shrub are visible on the right.Artifact

Secondary source

Arch of Trajan at Benevento

114-117 AD

Marble head sculpture of a man with short, combed, curled hair over the forehead, a stern brow, a straight nose, and a slight closed-mouth expression. The head rests on a plain base against a brick-colored wall.Sculpture

Primary source

Portrait of Trajan

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