Augustus (left) and Trajan (right).

Felicior Augusto, melior Traiano or Sis felicior Augusto, melior Traiano (Latin: "be more fortunate than Augustus [and] better than Trajan) was the formula delivered in the Roman Senate at the inauguration of late Roman emperors.[1]: 8.5  The phrase refers to the perceived well-being of the empire during the reigns of Augustus and Trajan. Particularly, it recalls the divine favour Augustus supposedly enjoyed,[2]: 7.8  as well as Trajan's title Optimus,[3] expressing the senatorial memory of Trajan as the exemplar of imperial modesty.

After the setbacks of the third century, Augustus and Trajan became in the Later Roman Empire the paragon of the most positive traits of the Imperial order.[4] The phrase was in use until at least the 4th century AD,[3] when the Roman Empire had dramatically changed in character from what it had been under Trajan's rule.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Eutropius (1886). Breviarium Historiae Romanae [Abridgement of Roman History]. Translated by Watson, John Selby. George Bell and Sons. So much respect has been paid to [Trajan's] memory, that, even to our own times, they shout in acclamations to the emperors, "More fortunate than Augustus, better than Trajan!" So much has the fame of his goodness prevailed, that it affords ground for most noble illustration in the hands either of such as flatter, or of such as praise with sincerity.
  2. ↑ Eutropius (1886). Breviarium Historiae Romanae [Abridgement of Roman History]. Translated by Watson, John Selby. George Bell and Sons. [Augustus] was a man who was considered in most respects, and not without reason, to resemble a divinity, for scarcely ever was there any one more successful than he in war, or more prudent in peace.
  3. 1 2 Chenault, Robert R. (2008). Rome Without Emperors: The Revival of a Senatorial City in the Fourth Century CE. p. 108.
  4. ↑ Karl Strobel, Das Imperium Romanum im "3. Jahrhundert": Modell einer historischen Krise? Zur Frage mentaler Strukturen breiterer Bevölkerungsschichten in der Zeit von Marc Aurel bis zum Ausgang des 3. Jh.n.Chr. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1993, ISBN 3-515-05662-9, p. 319
  5. ↑ "Trajan". UNRV History. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
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