If Trajan Lived.

Well, see topic.

Trajan died at Selinus in 117 after suffering from the heat over the last year, but he always saw this as just a temporary illness and was setting out to take care of Jewish revolts. What if he was right, and recovered?

Someone of his ability would have taken care of the revolts quickly (Hadrian did so, if I remember rightly), then move back to his previous tasks. I've heard that he had crossed into and took out the region of Atropatene and the city of Susa even if he didn't convert them to provinces like he did the Mesopotamian lands and Armenia, and I have to wonder if he'd then move on again and establish even more of Persia to be Roman territory.

That's probably my big wonderance and divergance: would these areas he conquered STAY Roman? Would Rome, delayed by the would-be Emperor Hadrian's tours and peaceful reign continue to conquer new lands for a bit longer and consider itself glorious for doing so?
 
There'sa a good chance Trajan would continue his conquests and in the process set the Empire up for a serious fall. The problem is that while militarily, a conquest of the Arsacid Empire was feasible, economically and politically it was most likely not. Part of the motivation of the rebellions that Hadrian had to deal with were the massively high impositions to pay for the war and the depletion of military forces to deter would-be rebels. Thus the most likely outcome of a Roman conquest of Parthia is going to be serious unrest in the eastern provinces followed by a loss of many oer all occupied territories either to resurgent Arsacids or (IMO more likely) the next steppe dynasty. Of course that's liable to happen after Trajan dies, so like Alexander he gets to be all glorious and future historians will execrate his unfortunate successor for 'losing Parthia'.
 
He was 64 yo by 117 AD... This is considered old enough in Roman standards... i doubt if he lived longer... Besides he was ill for quite some time before 117...
 
Hadrian would retreat back to the same borders he did in OTL. Butterflies might make him retreat from Dacia as well, as he initially intended to.
 
Hadrian would retreat back to the same borders he did in OTL. Butterflies might make him retreat from Dacia as well, as he initially intended to.

There's no guarantee Hadrian would be Trajan's successor if he lived a few more years. The entire adoption thing was entirely less than kosher if we can trust our sources - certainly a last-moment dedcision if nothing else.
 
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