The Justice of Trajan is a legendary episode in the life of Roman Emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

, based upon

Dio Cassius Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

' account (Epitome of Book LXVIII, chapter 10): "He did not, however, as might have been expected of a warlike man, pay any less attention to the civil administration nor did he dispense justice any the less; on the contrary, he conducted trials, now in the Forum of Augustus, now in the Portico of Livia, as it was called, and often elsewhere on a tribunal." According to the story, Trajan, busy with preparations for the Dacian Wars, was petitioned for justice by the mother of a murdered man. He asked her to wait until he returned, but she pointed out that he might not return at all. He made time to settle her case despite all the other calls on his time. The legend, though indirectly, was popularized by

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...

in ''

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature an ...

'', alluded to in the Paradise, and recounted in Purgatory, X, 73-94: The origin of the legend and its vicissitudes since antiquity have been the subject of several studies, including the detailed "Leggende" by G. Boni, published in 1906. The episode was depicted in several works of art and in the verse ''The Justice'' by Belarusian poet Simeon of Polotsk (1629—1680). Visually, the core motif is the confrontation between the emperor, often mounted on a horse, and the widow, sometimes shown kneeling. Some depictions, like that carved on the facade of the

Doge's Palace The Doge's Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale; vec, Pałaso Dogal) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme aut ...

, Venice, are restricted to those figures, but often there is a great crowd of the emperor's army and courtiers. Among artists that depicted the legend are

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

Rogier van der Weyden Rogier van der Weyden () or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 140018 June 1464) was an early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and diptych portraits. He was highly ...

Hans Sebald Beham Sebald Beham (1500–1550) was a German painter and printmaker, mainly known for his very small engravings. Born in Nuremberg, he spent the later part of his career in Frankfurt. He was one of the most important of the " Little Masters", the group ...

Noël Coypel Noël Coypel (; 25 December 1628 – 24 December 1707) was a French painter, and was also called Coypel le Poussin, because he was heavily influenced by Poussin. Coypel was born in Paris, the son of an unsuccessful artist. Having been employed ...

and

Noël Hallé Noël Hallé (2 September 1711, Paris – 5 June 1781, Paris) was a French painter, draftsman and printmaker. He was born into a family of artists, the son of Claude-Guy Hallé. Hallé took the Prix de Rome in 1736. He studied at the Fren ...

. A French painter

Raoul Dufy Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted ...

was inspired by Delacroix's painting of the justice. Historically, ''the justice of Trajan'' may also refer either to what was described by

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...

(''Epistulae'', VI, 31, a court trial in

Centumcellae Civitavecchia (; meaning "ancient town") is a city and '' comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located west-north-west of Rome. The harbour is formed by two p ...

) or depicted on

Trajan's Column Trajan's Column ( it, Colonna Traiana, la, Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Ap ...

, where Trajan judges the captured barbarian chiefs, or to a lost painting by

. (The city of Brussels commissioned Van der Weyden to paint four large panel paintings for the

Brussels Town Hall The Town Hall (french: Hôtel de Ville, Dutch: ) of the City of Brussels is a landmark building and the seat of the City of Brussels municipality of Brussels, Belgium. It is located on the south side of the famous Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Bru ...

illustrating the 'Justice of Trajan' and the ' Justice of Herkenbald'; they were destroyed when the French bombarded the city in 1695).Dirk de Vos, 1999, ''Rogier van der Weyden'', pp. 345-355 File:4431 - Venezia - Palazzo ducale - Colonna 36 - Traiano imperadore che fè iustitia ala vedova - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 31-Jul-2008.jpg, Capital on the "Corner of Justice" of the

, Venice File:Lippo d'andrea (pseudo ambrogio di baldese), desco da parto con la giustizia di traiano e putto con tamburello e flauto, 01.jpg, 15th-century Italian ''

desco da parto A painted ''desco da parto'' (a birth tray or birth salver) was an important symbolic gift on the occasion of a successful birth in late medieval and Early Modern Florence and Siena. The surviving painted ''deschi'' represented in museum colle ...

'' File:Maestro delle antiche leggende eroiche, giustizia di traiano, 1525-50 ca. (germania).JPG, German

plaquette A plaquette (, ''small plaque'') is a small low relief sculpture in bronze or other materials. These were popular in the Italian Renaissance and later. They may be commemorative, but especially in the Renaissance and Mannerist periods were of ...

, 1525-50 Image:Beham's Trajan.JPG, ''The Justice of Trajan'' by

Image:Hallé's Justice of Trajan.jpg, ''The Justice of Trajan'' (''La clémence de Trajan'') by

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Trajan and the Widow Italian panel
*{{in lang, ru}

Iconography Trajan

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Further reading

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