Roman marble bust of Plotina, empress and wife of emperor Trajan. Dated back to 110-120 CE. Located at the National Museum in Rome.
Plotinus was an exemplary, only wife of Trajan. Due to the fact that there were no negative rumors about her and that she was modest and kind, the Roman people respected her very much. This is how he judged her Pliny the Younger :
[…] for you on your wife is an ornament and a better by glory […]
– Pliny the Younger, Panegyrique of Trajan, 835
The Empress died in 122 CE and Trajan’s successor – Hadrian – gave her a sumptuous funeral and ordered her to mourn for 9 days. Her ashes must have been rested at her husband’s side, under the Trajan’s Column.
