Trajan's Column

Trajan's Column (Italian: Colonna Traiana, Latin: Columna Traiani) is a grand Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy. It was built to honor Roman emperor Trajan for his victories in the Dacian Wars. The column was likely made under the guidance of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus and finished in the year 113 AD. Its most famous feature is a spiral sculpture that shows scenes from the wars between Romans and Dacians.

The column stands about 30 metres (98 feet) tall, not counting its base. It is made from huge blocks of Carrara marble, each very heavy. Inside, there is a winding staircase that leads to a platform at the top. Originally, the column was planned to have a statue of a bird on top, but after Trajan’s time, it was topped with a statue of Saint Peter by Pope Sixtus V, which is still there today.

Nearby, there were once two parts of the Ulpian Library, one for Greek books and one for Latin books. It is thought that one of these rooms may have held Trajan’s own writings about the wars, which are now lost. The design of the column’s sculpture was likely meant to match the story told in those writings.

Frieze

Roman carroballista, a cart-mounted field artillery weapon (relief detail)

The column shows many figures and scenes, with Emperor Trajan appearing many times. The design winds around the column like a spiral and was new at the time.

The scenes show Trajan's two successful military campaigns against the Dacians. The lower part shows the first campaign, and the top part shows the second. The column focuses more on soldiers doing ceremonies and building rather than battles. It shows the Roman army in a gentle way, perhaps to show Trajan as a fair leader. Important events include the Roman army crossing the Danube River and the Dacians surrendering. The column carefully shows different people from both sides and includes details about Roman weapons and tools.

Setting

Purpose

It is not fully known if the column was built to remember Trajan’s victories, to show his power, or both. Some think it was meant to make Trajan look like a great leader. However, recent studies show that the two libraries next to it would have blocked most views of the column. Also, it would have been hard to see all the pictures on the column by walking around it.

Battle scene between the Roman and Dacian armies

But some believe you could still see the pictures if you stood on the top floors of the libraries. Even though the column was hard to see from the ground, it was very difficult to build, so it was unlikely placed there to be hidden.

The column also served as a symbol for Trajan. After his death, Trajan’s remains were placed in a chamber at the base of the column, and a statue of him stood on top. The pictures on the column tell the story of Trajan’s victories in the Dacian wars, ending with his statue above the forum. This may have been a way to show Trajan’s achievements and honor him.

After Trajan died in 117, the Roman Senate decided to bury his ashes in the base of the column, which is decorated with arms and armor taken from the Dacian people. His ashes and those of his wife, Plotina, were placed inside in golden urns. Some think Trajan may have wanted the column to be his resting place from the start, as its design is similar to other tombs of the time.

Inscription

The inscription at the base of Trajan's Column tells a story. It says:

Location of the inscription plate, above the entrance to the interior (upper image)

The Senate and People of Rome, to the Divine Emperor Caesar Nerva Trajan, son of Nerva, High Priest, conqueror of Germany and Dacia, with the power of the tribune 17 times, imperator 6 times, consul 6 times, father of the nation, for showing that a mountain and a place of such height were dug out for such works.

People once thought the column stood where Trajan dug between the Capitoline and Quirinal Hills, but digging showed this was not true. The space between those hills is where Trajan's Forum and Trajan's Market are. So the writing talks about all of Trajan's building work in that area.

This writing is a famous example of Roman square capitals, a way of writing used on stone monuments. The letters at the bottom are a tiny bit smaller so they look right from far away. Some words have dots between them, and many words, especially titles, are shortened. Numbers in the writing have a line above the letters. A small piece of the writing at the bottom is missing.

The typeface called Trajan, made in 1989 by Carol Twombly, uses shapes from this writing, based on research by Edward Catich. Other designers like Frederic Goudy and Warren Chappell also made typefaces inspired by this writing.

Spiral stair

Construction

Reproduction

The plaster casts laid out at eye level in the Museum of Roman Civilization in Rome

Copies of the pictures on the column were made in the 1800s and 1900s. Because of pollution over time, some of these copies show the pictures more clearly than the actual column. Students can study these copies up close at several places:

Museum of Roman Civilization in Rome, where each scene is shown in separate pieces laid out side by side
National Museum of Romanian History in Bucharest, Romania, where the pictures are shown in order in pieces
Cast Courts at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where the column is shown in two halves
Archaeological Collection of the University of Zürich, University of Zürich

You can also see individual pictures from the column in museums such as the Museum for Ancient Navigation in Mainz. A full set of pictures was published by a German archaeologist between 1896 and 1900, and this work helps people today study the column better.

Dimensions

Trajan's Column is very tall! The base is about 1.7 meters high, and the main part of the column stands about 29.8 meters above that. If you add the pedestal, the whole structure reaches about 35 meters from the ground up to the top. The column's wide shaft is almost 4 meters around.