Trajan’s Column is one of the major attraction sites of the city of Rome.It is an enormous column made of marble that stands in the center of the historic Trajan’s Forum, which is a public square located amidst the ruins of ancient Rome. Trajan’s Column was constructed in honor of Emperor Trajan, who ruled over the Roman Empire from 98-117 AD.Under Trajan’s rule, the Roman Empire achieved its greatest territorial extent. That made Trajan a conquering hero back in Rome. This column was constructed to celebrate the emperor’s achievements. Trajan’s Forum was the most extensive of all imperial forums in ancient Rome. The column was flanked on two sides by two gigantic libraries that the emperor had commissioned. Opposite the forum, there existed a market named Trajan’s Market that served the needs of the million-plus inhabitants of the city of Rome.Ancient Rome was most often involved in a series of wars with its neighbors all through its history. When Trajan became the Emperor of Rome in 98 AD, the empire’s finances were crumbling, and frontiers were not manned properly. A few of the bordering tribes were causing problems as well. Under these circumstances, the emperor decided to wage war upon the Dacians, who were becoming hard to control. Thus began Trajan’s famous campaigns of Eastern Europe in 101-102 AD. It took him more than four years and two separate expeditions to finally bring the Dacians under the umbrella of the empire. Once the military conquest was over in 106 AD, it was time for the emperor to cement his legacy once and for all. The result was one of the greatest commemorative triumphal columns of all time, Trajan’s Column.The History Of The Column Of TrajanTrajan’s Column was constructed in the year 106-113 AD. It was built at the height of the Roman Empire. During the rule of Emperor Trajan, ancient Rome reached its greatest territorial extent, reaching as far as the Red Sea on the Arabian Peninsula. Trajan’s Column was part of the once-magnificent Trajan’s Forum.The primary motive behind the erection of Trajan’s Column was to showcase Roman power and might in front of the Roman people. Trajan’s Column stands as a testimony to the love that almost all Roman rulers in ancient Rome had for grand structures and monuments.When Emperor Trajan sat on the throne of Rome in 98 AD, there were disturbances across the Danube River in the empire’s northeast frontiers. This was also a time when the empire’s finances were not doing well. This allowed Trajan to wage war against people who lived in the region of Dacia.The area of Dacia is roughly modern Romania and Moldova.Trajan’s Column was designed by the emperor’s favorite architect, Apollodorus of Damascus. He is credited as being the man behind several other Roman architectural feats, such as Trajan’s Forum, Trajan’s Market, and the first bridge over the Danube River. These engineering marvels were built during the lifetime of Trajan.After the passing of Trajan, Apollodorus remained involved in imperial projects. His later works include the Stadium of Domitian, an enormous public entertainment zone constructed during the reign of Emperor Domitian.The Column had a gilded statue of Emperor Trajan standing at the topmost part. However, the statue of Trajan was brought down under the order of Pope Sixtus V in 1587.The original statue of Trajan was replaced by a bronze statue of Saint Peter on December 4, the same year. Although the bronze statue of Saint Peter can still be seen on top of the column, the original statue of Emperor Trajan was never seen after the middle ages and is now lost.The Architectural Style Of The Column Of TrajanThe column of Trajan has a distinct architectural approach. Let’s delve deeper into this matter:Trajan’s Column can be divided into main parts. The idea behind the construction of the Trajan Column was to commemorate the emperor’s triumphs in the two Dacian Wars.In the lower half of the column, we get to see iconography depicting storylines from the First Dacian War, which lasted from 101-102 AD.On the other hand, the top half of the column shows anecdotes from the Second Dacian War, which began around 105 AD and lasted until 106 AD.If you follow the narrative from the lowest panel, it will show the Roman Army heading out from Rome to distant Dacia, with the emperor leading the men into war.In between the first and the last frieze, there are brilliant depictions of day-to-day life during the two campaigns. We get to see Roman soldiers toiling to build a bridge, cutting wood, or crossing the Danube River on a temporary bridge.In all of the depictions, the emperor is shown to be larger than life and a demigod-like figure.The final frieze contains the representation of the Dacian leader Decebalus taking his own life after the defeat of the Dacian forces. The detailing on the wall of the column is masterful, to say the least, and is one of the best examples of Roman art from this era.All friezes had been carved on the surface of the marble, which was then fixed onto the marble wall of the column.The series of bas-reliefs that portray various scenes from the Dacian Campaigns of Trajan begins from the base of the column and spirals 23 times up to the culmination point. The cumulative length of these scenes is around 620 ft (188 m).Since Trajan’s Column was primarily constructed to keep the memory of Emperor Trajan alive, he had been given a central role in the column’s frieze.Emperor Trajan figures prominently in the column frieze, and at all times when he is featured in the frieze, he stands out from the other people close to him. Roman architects who were involved in this work wanted the focus of the viewer to stay on the emperor.Even in the battle scenes that are depicted on the column frieze, we find Emperor Trajan occupying the most prominent position in the frame. The emperor has been featured in the frieze a total of 58 times.When the emperor died in 117 AD, he was anointed as a god as per Roman traditions. Consequently, Trajan’s ashes were entombed inside the chamber that is present at the pedestal of the column.The Purpose Of The Column Of TrajanThe idea of the ’triumph’ was integral to the cultural heritage of the Roman world. Ancient Romans valued the ritualistic manner in which the military conquests of generals and statesmen were celebrated in the form of a mass carnival in the capital, Rome.It is important to note here that Roman civilization thrived on warfare and territorial expansion. With the herculean task of administering a diverse population over millions of acres of land, the powerful men of the empire needed to display their power and glory in front of the masses.It was no less than a spectacle when the victorious Roman army marched through the Roman Forum with the winning general or emperor at the head of the procession.Trajan’s Column was one such example when the emperor wanted to leave his memory in the minds of the common people and posterity in general.Trajan’s Column stands in the middle of the imperial Roman Forum in Rome. The imperial Forum consists of the Forum of Caesar, the Forum of Augustus, and the Forum of Nerva, among others.Trajan’s Column falls within the ancient Roman tradition of building Roman victory monuments to commemorate conquests and triumphs.This tradition in Rome can be traced back to 260 BC when General Caius Duilius celebrated his victory in the Battle of Mylae by commissioning the construction of the Rostrate Column in Rome.The tradition developed during Rome’s Republican Period (509-27 BC) and several more honorific and triumphal arches were built in Rome one after the other.Trajan’s Column directly or indirectly influenced many other triumphal columns not only in Rome but in other parts of Europe as well.Some years after Trajan’s Column became the focal point of Trajan’s Forum, Emperor Marcus Aurelius became the Emperor of Rome, and he also erected a monumental column in his name at Rome’s Piazza Colonna.Later, Roman Emperors like Arcadius and Justinian also had columns erected in their honor.Features Of The Column Of TrajanEmperor Trajan’s Forum was the grandest and most extensive of all imperial Roman forums. Trajan’s Column was built to celebrate Emperor Trajan’s victory in the military campaigns against the Dacians. Trajan’s Forum, along with the other imperial forums, formed the core of the Roman Empire. It was here that the most influential people of Rome gathered and discussed affairs of the state. It is no wonder that emperors chose the Roman Forum as the perfect site to erect their triumphal monuments and columns.Trajan’s Column is one of the finest examples of Roman architecture. It has a height of 125 ft (38 m), from the base to the top of the statue. The column is about 98 ft (30 m) excluding its large pedestal.The construction of this massive monument was a gargantuan task for the Roman architects. A total of 20 Carrara marble blocks were used to build the structure.What is astonishing is that each block of Carrara marble weighs around 64000 lb (29029 kg). It was surely a great engineering feat.Another interesting feature of the column is that it has a hollow shaft with a diameter of 12 ft (3.7 m). Architects kept the inside of the shaft hollow to keep a place for a spiral staircase, which could serve to provide a way for people to reach the topmost section of the column.There are 185 steps in the spiral staircase. The spiral stair was the only way a person could go to the viewing platform.Perhaps the fascinating feature of the column is how Roman builders were able to lift the topmost marble block, which weighs a staggering 106,600 lb (48,352 kg), to its proper position.We have to understand that this structure was built at a time when there was no modern machinery like cranes available. So, lifting a marble block that heavy to a height of about 125 ft (38 m) was truly a sensational achievement.We are well aware that pollution is a threat to many great monuments of the world. Air pollution can cause erosion of the surface of marble structures.Keeping these concerns in mind, authorities from Italy, in collaboration with officials from renowned museums such as; the Museum of Roman Civilization in Rome, Italy, the National Museum of Romanian History in Bucharest, Romania, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, United Kingdom, came together in the 19th and 20th centuries to preserve the fantastic frieze reliefs on the Trajan’s Column.As a precautionary measure, authorities made plaster casts of the entire series of bas-relief friezes of the column. They made several copies of these plaster casts and then displayed them in their collections. If you visit any of these museums today, you will find the plaster casts of Trajan’s Column being displayed in the museum’s Roman collections.It is easy for someone who has a great interest in the column to go and study these plaster casts rather than going to Rome since these replicas provide a close-up view of the sceneries portrayed in the original column.Similarities between the Column of Trajan and the Ara Pacis Augustae include the fact that they have certain anecdotes detailed in them.
Trajan’s Column is one of the major attraction sites of the city of Rome.
