Traiano e Kanishka: una mancata pax universalis?
Trajan and Kanishka: a failed pax universalis?

Summary/Abstract: The converging interests of Trajan, emperor of Rome, and of Kanishka, King of the Kushans, led to a military alliance against the Parthians, ruled by two sovereigns in mutual conflict. Ambassador and mediator between the two emperors was Palamedes, a Greek historian from Bactria, under the sign of the great power of Hellenistic culture and the multiculturalism of the Kushan empire. However, the dream of a universal peace was prematurely interrupted by the unexpected death of Trajan (117 A.D.), on which there were ab antiquo suspicions of poisoning. A little-investigated Chinese source will help us reconstruct this littleknown but fundamental chapter of ancient history, with all its cultural implications.

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