Abstract: Classical tradition remembers Emperor Trajan as optimus princeps, a just ruler and equally successful in both political and military campaigns he carried out. Pious, he strove in his aim to preserve the traditional faith of the Romans by implementing strict rules for those who practiced Christianity. Emperor Trajan lived and died as a ‘pagan.’ However, the later medieval account praises Trajan for his unmistakable Christian virtues. This paper will explore the earliest narratives which lead to the Christian legend of Emperor Trajan, known to be narratum a Romanis and written down for the first time in the Life of Saint Gregory from the Whitby monastery. How did Christians liberate and baptize the soul of a ruler known for his persecutions? This paper will offer a summary of the main classical and Christian sources that were responsible for one of the greatest theological debates on ‘virtuous pagans’ in the Late Medieval Times.

Key words: Trajan, baptism, virtuous pagans, Whitby, Gregory the Great

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