"And he set up in the Forum an enormous column, to serve at once as a monument to himself and as a memorial of his work in the Forum. For that entire section had been hilly and he had cut it down for a distance equal to the height of the column, thus making the Forum level." (Cass.Dio 68.16.3)
With these words Cassius Dio describes more than a century later the building of the Forum Traiani and the erection of the Column of Trajan at that Forum. Since unlike other monuments of Ancient Rome the Column survived to our days as one of the most significant symbols of Rome.
Although it seems today that the column of Trajan is a single monument, it is important to consider that it wasn’t planned to be a single standing monument in Ancient times. On the contrary the Column must be seen initially as part of a much greater whole, which served important practical purposes in the city of Rome, and that is exactly about what the paper is going to be.
Table of Contents
Prolog
1. The political and military background of Trajan’s reign
2. The Forum Traiani
3. The Column in the context of the Forum
4. The inscription at the Column
5. The frieze of the Dacian wars
6. The significance of the Column
Research Objectives and Themes
This paper examines the Column of Trajan as a complex architectural and historical monument, analyzing its multi-layered functions as an imperial memorial, a votive site, a funerary marker, and a visual narrative of the Dacian wars within the larger context of the Forum Traiani.
- The historical and political context of Emperor Trajan's reign and the Dacian campaigns.
- The architectural integration of the Column within the Forum Traiani complex.
- The physical composition and symbolic interpretation of the Column’s base and frieze.
- The function of the inscription in contextualizing the monumental scale of the Forum.
- The role of the monument as a communicative bridge between the Emperor and the Roman people.
Excerpt from the Book
3. The Column in the context of the Forum
One of the features of the Forum Traiani, which was then built near the Quirinal hill, north of the Roman Forum and north-west of Augustus's Forum, was the Column. The enormous complex of the Forum consisted basically of a large open place, entered through a triumphal archway, in which the equestrian statue of the emperor stood in the center. Also part of the Forum was a great hall – the so-called Basilica Ulpia - , two library buildings which flanked the Column and the temple of the deified Trajan, built beyond the Column and libraries by his successor Hadrian.
When an ancient visitor of the Forum Traiani exited through the north side of the basilica, he could enter a rather unusual environment. Walking out through a line of impressing columns, the visitor would come out into a small courtyard on the north side of the basilica. This courtyard was flanked to the west and east by two libraries, one for Latin and one for Greek texts. Hadrian later on finished the temple for the divine Trajan at the north of this location, but if the temple was suggested at the time of the erection of the Forum is not for sure. Nonetheless, the visitor’s attention would be immediately drawn to the extraordinary monument which stood in the center of the courtyard: the column of Trajan.
The column of Trajan surely was a unique monument. Completed and opened in 113 AD, it was originally located in the middle of the courtyard described above. The base of the column, 6.15 meters high, was collected of 8 large blocks of Carreran or Luna marble in four courses. It’s outside decorations shows relief representations of mostly Dacian weapons and armor. Four eagles in the round are seated on the upper cornice, holding long curved garlands. Unfortunately the eagles are only partly preserved.
Summary of Chapters
Prolog: Introduces the construction of the Forum Traiani and the Column as described by Cassius Dio, highlighting the monument's historical survival and its initial role within a larger architectural whole.
1. The political and military background of Trajan’s reign: Details Trajan’s rise to power, his noble background, and the strategic importance of the two difficult military campaigns against the Dacian kingdom led by King Decebalus.
2. The Forum Traiani: Explores the necessity of building new Imperial Fora to accommodate the business and administrative needs of Rome, positioning Trajan’s Forum as both a practical expansion and a monument to imperial glory.
3. The Column in the context of the Forum: Describes the physical placement of the Column within a courtyard flanked by libraries and a basilica, emphasizing its unique environment and the composition of its base.
4. The inscription at the Column: Analyzes the commemorative inscription on the base, debating whether it refers specifically to the excavation of the Quirinal hill or the broader architectural transformation of the area.
5. The frieze of the Dacian wars: Discusses the technical construction of the column shaft and interprets the continuous 200-meter spiral frieze as a narrative sequence depicting the specific events of the Dacian campaigns.
6. The significance of the Column: Synthesizes the various functions of the monument, characterizing it as a figurative record of the emperor's actions and a communicative tool that justified Trajan’s leadership to the Roman citizenry.
Keywords
Trajan, Forum Traiani, Column of Trajan, Dacia, Decebalus, Rome, Roman Empire, Architecture, Frieze, Archaeology, Imperial Propaganda, Basilica Ulpia, Quirinal Hill, Ancient History, Monumentality
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this research paper?
The paper focuses on the Column of Trajan, analyzing its historical origin, architectural context within the Forum Traiani, and its multifaceted function as a monument to imperial victory and administrative achievement.
What are the primary themes explored?
The central themes include the military history of the Dacian wars, the engineering and design of the Column, the significance of the sculptural frieze, and the role of the monument as a political report from the emperor to the Roman people.
What is the main objective of the work?
The objective is to move beyond viewing the Column as a singular, isolated monument and to demonstrate its original, intended role as part of a larger, integrated architectural complex serving political and funerary functions.
Which scientific methods were used?
The author employs a historical-archaeological approach, analyzing ancient primary sources (such as Cassius Dio and epigraphic evidence) alongside contemporary scholarly interpretations to reconstruct the monument's intended use and meaning.
What is covered in the main body of the paper?
The main body covers the biographical and military context of Trajan's reign, the evolution of the Roman Fora, the specific structural features of the Column, the debate surrounding the dedicatory inscription, and the narrative interpretation of the relief frieze.
Which keywords characterize this paper?
Key terms include Trajan, Forum Traiani, Dacian wars, Roman archaeology, architectural history, and the Column of Trajan.
What is the significance of the base of the Column?
The base is analyzed as a complex structure that served as a funerary tomb for Trajan's ashes, a pedestal for a statue of the emperor, and a visual display of spoils, bridging the gap between triumphal and funerary monumentality.
How does the author interpret the spiral frieze?
The author interprets the frieze as a visual, unrolled "book" or commentary on the wars, which mirrored written accounts held in nearby libraries, serving to report the emperor's victories and the army's daily activities to the Roman public.
- Citar trabajo
- M.A. Diana Beuster (Autor), 2007, The column of Trajan - a symbol of the ancient Rome, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/77509
