TRAJAN'S FORUM
TRAJA
N'S COLUMN
BUILDING
TRAJAN'S
COLUMN
To ho
nor
the
Roman e
mperor
who
had co
nqu
ered
th
e Dacians,
the
se
nat
e
commissioned a novel
monum
ent.
Th
e 126-foot c
olumn
, dedicated
to
Traj
an
in
A.
D.11
3,
was
an
archit
ec
tural
feat.
Th
e carved frieze tells
th
e
stor
y
of
th
e
back
-to-
ba
ck wars, spiraling
23
tim
es from
bottom
to
top.
Construction
of
the Column
Wo
rk
ers
quar
r
ie
d m
arb
le in
mo
de
rn
-day
Ca
rr
ara, t
hen
t
ra
ns
port
e d it
abo
ut
2
50
m
ile
s
to
th
e
bui
lding
site
in Ro m
e.
Th
e
co
lumn
t
oo
k
l
ess
th
an
se
ven y
ea
rs to
build.
Th
e e
ng
in
eer·
ing is
so
pr
ec
i
se
th at it h
as
sto
od
for
n
early
tw
o m ille
nni
a.
Ap
oll
od
o
rus
of Dam
asc
us ( right) ,
th
e a r
chitect
of T
raj
a
ns
Fo
rum
, is
thou
ght
to
have
des
ign
ed t he
colum
n
too
.
MARBLE DRUMS
workers
hollowed
out th e
insi
d
es
of
17
drums
,
carvi
ng a
circu
l
ar
st
airc
a
se
a
nd
cutti
ng
wi
n
dows
,
then
stac
k
ed
t hem .
Each drum weighed
about 30 tons.
Metal d owels in
se
rt
ed
into morti
se
s held
th
e
d
ru
ms in place.
SE
CO
ND WAR
A.D. 105·
10
6
LIFTING TOWER
A
so
ph
isticated
sca
ffol
di
ng
a
nd
pull
ey
syst em,
s
et
up in a
tig
ht
sp
ace
wi
th
separ
at
e
liftin
g a
nd
low
er
ing
sh
af
ts, m i
gh
t h
av
e h oi
st
ed t
he
dr u
ms.
An image of
Vi
ct
ory
appears halfway up,
divid
in g the
tales
of
th
e
tw
o D
ac
ian W
ars.
LIBRARY
ill
~
~--
LIFTING
SHAFT
;;.!tl!,,,,::
- pLATFO
RM
A trundling device
allowed
th
e
drum
s to
be
mo
ved horizontally
from the li
ft
ing sha
ft
to
the
lowering
on e.
LIBR
ARY
circular machines called
ca
p
sta
n
s.
Using
seve
ral at
th
e same
ti
me, they could
gain enough leverage to
rai
se
and low
er
the dr ums.
Pedestal
Th
e
co
l
um
n r i
se
s f r
om
a
base
mad e o f ei
gh
t bl
ocks
o f m
ar
b
le
. Ov
er
t he d o
or
an insc r
iptio
n w
as
c hi
se
led ,
a
nd
on the
si
d
es
im
age
s
of
Dacia
n
armor
and
weapo
n
ry
- th e spo ils of war -
we
re
carved.
Inside
was
t
he
tomb
of
T
rajan
and
hi
s
wife
,
Pompeia
P
loti
na.
INSCR
IP
TION
Th
e
in
sc
r
ipti
on de d
ica
te
s t he
col
um n
to
Tr
aj an, a g i
ft
f
ro
m
th
e
se
n
at
e a
nd
th
e
peop
le
of
R
ome
. The en
gravi
ng is
co
nsi
de
r
ed
the
fin
est
e
xa
m ple o f
Rom
an
lette
r
ing
st
ill
in
exi
s
ten
ce .
1 The
lett
ers were
probably first pain
te
d
wi
th a flat,
sq
uare·
edged brus
h.
They were then
carved with chisels
to make d
ee
p,
V-shaped groove
s.
3 The grooves
we
re
designed
to
create shadows
FIRST
WAR
A.D
.10H 02
and l
ik
e
ly
were
----
-------
~~
~~
painted.
SIMILAR MONUMENTS
The
un
i
qu
e d
esig
n o f
Tr
aja
n
·s
Co
lumn
in
f
lu
en
ced
co
lumn
s b uilt to h
ono
r
Ma
rc us
Au
reli
u
s,
Ar
ca dlu s, and
ot
h
ers
.
Ma
rc us
Aur
eli
us·s
co
lumn
s
till
sta
nd
s,
but
Ar
cad iu s·s
wa
s la r
ge
ly d
es
troyed
in
th
e 1
8t
h c
ent
u
ry
.
TraJ
an
's
Column
(
Ro
me)
126 ft
A.0.
11
3
NATIONAL
GEOGRAPHIC
Column
of
Marcus
Aureliu
s
(Rome)
151 ft
A.D.193
C
OPYR
IGH
T
C>
20
15
R
EP
RO
D
UCE
D WITH P
ER
MI
SS
IO
N
FOR
ED
UCAT
IONAL ON
LY
Column
of
Arcadiu
s
(Istanbul)
height
unkn
own
A.D.421
STATUES
The bronze statue
of
Traj
an
had disappeared by the ti me
a
po
pe in
st
alled
St.
Pe
t
er
a
to
p
the
column in 1588.
Th
is re·
creation is based
on
Roman
coins and s
cu
lptures. Trajan
probably
fac
ed his forum;
St.
Pe
ter faces the Vatican.
SP
I
RA
L
FR
I
EZE
O nce t
he
d rums were in
pla
c
e,
cr
aft
s
me
n
began
work
on
t he
656
-f
oot
-lo ng
fr
ie
ze.
Some
experts
sa y
th ey
wo
rk
ed
fro
m a
mas
t
er
pla n;
ot
he rs s
ay
mi
st
akes
and
In
co
nsi
stencies
in
sce
ne
h
eig
h
ts
sh ow
they
ca
rve
d
th
e st
ory
on
the
fly .
Middle rows
Top
rows
Scenes are separated by elemen
ts
such
as
tr
ee
s,
structures,
or
figures
fa
ci
ng
opposite d
irec
tions.
PROCESS
4
Painting
4 The frieze was probably paint
ed
in brig
ht
co
lors
to
highlight
Trajan's presen
ce
in scenes
and make
de
tails easier
to
see.
No evidence remains
on
the
column
1o
indicate what the
co
lors may
have
been.
3
Drilling
Ho
les
were
bo
red into the hands
of many figur
es
and fitted
wi
th
metal w eapons and tools.
2 Carving
Six to eight sculptors carve d
simultaneously, experts say,
using a variety
of
tools.
~
~Chisels
~
;;&-"
\?"'"7
~
as
p
Preparing
Workers smoothed the surface
w
it
h
ch
isels, creating a blank
canvas for the frieze.
A staircase with
185 steps led
1-
---------
to a
ba
lcony.
The diamete r
a1
the base
of
the
,-
---------
column is 12 fee
t.
Eagles-symbols
of Jupiter and, by
extensi
on
, victory
in war-were often
featured
in
Rom
an
triumphal artworks.
After
Tra
j
an
and
his wife died,
their
as
h
es
were
pu
r
po
rt
edly
placed in
matc
h-
Ing
golden urns.
F
ERNA"-0
0 G.
BAPTIST
A,
OANI
B..A
SANTAWARINA.
AN
D
EMILY
M.
ENG
,
NGM ST,\FF.
SAMANTHA
WELK
ER
; AMAN
DA
HOBBS
.
TEXT
: JE
RE
"1
Y
BE
RUN, NGM
ST
A
FF
SO
URCES
: JON
COULSTO
N, UNIV
ERSITY
OF ST. ANDREW
S,
SCOT
L.A.
NO:
LY
NNE
LAN
CASTER,
OHIO UNI
VE
RSI
TY
