Trajan’s column: all you need to know about one of the most important monuments in Rome
The scenes of the great Trajan’s Column in Rome can be considered a cartoon of antiquity that tells and celebrates in a very pompous way the conquest of Dacia by Rome.
On top is a statue of St. Peter, which took the place of a statue of Emperor Trajan in the 1600s.
“Hominem mortuum in urbe ne sepelito neve urito” means “no dead person can be cremated or buried in the city.”
So read the tenth part of the well-known Laws of the Twelve Tables.
The Laws of the XII Tables, which were written in the 5th century BC, are one of the oldest written examples of a legislative body. These laws were the basis for all Roman law.
So, building tombs was against the law in Rome. This was so bad that the first emperor, Octavian Augustus, had an impressive mausoleum built on the edge of the city near the Tiber, where it can still be seen even though it is not in great shape.
One person broke the rule, and it was one of the smartest and most stubborn emperors in history, Marco Ulpio Nerva, better known as Trajan.
After he had grown the empire to its fullest extent, brought the economy back to life, regulated many parts of public and private life, changed the layout of the city, and built the newest and grandest of the Imperial Forums as well as Trajan’s Markets, he decided to have a unique coclide column built.
In the year 113 AD, the column was built next to the huge Basilica Ulpia. It was part of a big building project that also included the Forum, Trajan’s Markets, and other buildings.
It is 100 Roman feet tall, which is 29.78 meters. With the base, it is almost 40 meters tall, which is the highest point reached by a small hill between the Quirinale and the Campidoglio, which Domitian had already dug up at the end of the first century.
A lot of steps
The observation platform at the very top of the column can be reached through a winding staircase of 185 steps. The sculptural helical spiral has a length of 190 meters, which is approximately 625 feet, and it is wrapped around the column 23 times
The four-sided base is decorated with reliefs of arms and eagles. On the south-east side, there is a door that leads directly to the burial chamber and to a spiral staircase carved into the marble that goes all the way to the top of the building, where light comes in through a series of openings.
On the other hand, the column is made up of 18 Luni marble drums that are stacked on top of each other. It has a shaft with a laurel wreath at the bottom and a capital that used to hold a statue of the emperor but now holds a statue of the apostle Peter.
The column is 4 meters in diameter and has 155 bas-relief scenes with a total of about 2,500 figures. The spirals are repeated at least 23 times, and if we “unrolled” the whole frieze, it would be about 200 meters long.
But what is the point of this “historical comic”?
The main things that happened in the famous war that the Romans, led by Trajan, fought twice against the Dacians between 102 and 106. The Dacians were a brave people who lived in what is now Romania and had a lot of gold and silver.
So, the story tells the most important events in order. It is clear that the author wants to emphasize the importance of the Roman conquest and the role of the emperor, who shows up 60 times but is never alone; he is always with someone else. This is to show how good he was at planning and fighting as a general.
In addition to the war story, there are also scenes that seem to be real and are meant to show the universal values that are implied.
This is why there are so many scenes of sacrificing to the gods, cutting down trees, or building. All of these were meant to show how dedicated the emperor was and how much better the Roman civilization was than the barbarian one.
But it’s interesting to see how the Dacians were portrayed as brave and proud, almost unbeatable enemies. This was obviously very clever propaganda, because showing a strong and brave enemy did nothing but make the winners look even stronger.
Among all the important people, the Dacian king Decebalus should be mentioned. He ends his resistance by killing himself, which makes him and his people even more valuable to the Romans and adds to their glory.
There are many violent scenes with torture and severed heads, and the main characters’ weapons and clothes are described in great detail.
The number of female figures is small, and they only show up in rare situations, like when angry women beat up naked Roman men or when a girl on a ship leaving a port looks sad.
There has been a lot of talk about how hard it is to read the friezes on the column. Those that are higher up are almost impossible to read today.
In fact, it seems that in the past, there were two libraries, one in Latin and one in Greek, next to the Basilica Ulpia. The two libraries were linked by a passage that made it possible to read the whole work.
So, Trajan’s column is a one-of-a-kind piece of Roman architecture because it combines the long traditions of honorary and funeral columns into a single building.
Useful Information
The Trajan column is located near to Piazza Venezia, in the Altare della Patria region.
You can get there by taking lines 51, 85, 87, 118, or B60 from the Fori Imperiali-Campidoglio bus stop.
The Colosseum and Barberini are the two Metro stops that are closest.
