Compare the personalities of Trajan and Nero: Whose rule would Octavian Augustus have approved, and why?

Trajan’s reign falls on the era of the so-called “Golden Age” of the Roman Empire. Trajan did not diminish the importance of the Senate, sought to improve the standard of living of citizens, waged large-scale and successful wars, and abandoned the policy of terror within the country. He was distinguished by religious tolerance.

Nero, in contrast to Trajan, carried out repression among the citizens of the empire. Christians and representatives of the aristocracy were especially exposed to this.

Octavian would have approved of Trajan’s reign, since Trajan copied in many ways the reign of Octavian Augustus himself.