Trajan’s Column Rome: Interesting Facts and Inscriptions
During the walking tour of Rome we stumbled on historic monuments some of them free for all to see. One among them is the Trajan’s Column Rome. It was in a big enclosure with no access to get close to it. Even from that distance its magnificence shone! Why is Trajan’s Column important? What are the interesting facts about Trajan’s Column? How many figures are there on Trajan’s column relief? Read on to know more about this monument.
Trajan’s Column, you can view it for free in Rome, no tickets required. The column was erected in honor of Trajan. The statue at the top of trajans column is of St. Peter’s; it was installed there in 16th century.
Trajans column material used is marble. Construction of this column depicts the significant stories of Emperor Trajan’s victory over Dacians. It is a hollow column and there is a spiral stair of 185 steps that gives access to the platform above. Entrance to this was not possible even with a fees when I visited in April 2010.
Trajan’s Column Rome
Story of Trajan’s war on the Dacians
Dacian civilization existed in what is now Romania. The war and victory on them was the defining event of Trajan’s 19 year rule. It is said the loot he brought back after the conquest was staggering.
Records mention the haul yielded a half million pounds of gold and a million pounds of silver, and of course the fertile new province. This went into the making of Trajan’s Forum.
Trajan ruled the Roman Empire from 98AD to 117AD, when he died due to some illness.
Trajan’s Column in Trajan Forum
Location of Trajan’s Column in Rome
It is located in north of the Roman Forum. The forum in which the column is located is named after it – The Forum of Trajan. It is at a walking distance from Colosseum and Roman Forum.
Construction of Trajan’s Column Rome
This famous column of Rome was constructed near Quirinal Hill and construction completed in 113 AD.
Most of the monuments and landmarks around it has crumbled but this column has stood the test of time and is more than 1900 years old. Some construction dimensions are:
- The column is made from Carrara marble.
- Trajan Column Height – 38.4 meters
- The shaft of the column is composed of 19 drums of marble
- Diameter of 3.7 meters
- Weighs a total of 1,110 tons
- A spiral staircase of 185 steps leads to the viewing platform atop the column.
- The helical sculptural frieze measures 190 meters in length and wraps around the column 23 times.
The Column of Trajan: Interesting Facts
The most eye catching feature of Trajan Column is the spiral bas relief. Trajan Column relief is intricately carved. Inscriptions on the column speak volumes of the artistic skills that existed in that era.
The story of Emperor Trajan’s victory over a mighty barbarian empire is told in 155 scenes carved in a spiral frieze on this monumental column.
The scenes of war that took place between Romans and Dacians in the years 101 to 102 AD and between the years 105 to 106 AD are depicted on this.
Figures in the frieze depict thousands of intricately carved Romans and Dacians march in to the battlefields. Zooming into the figures I could see the sculpted images show different actions and emotions involved the war.
Can you believe there are 2662 figures on this relief! Trajan himself featured in 58 of these!
In early 16th century plaster casts of the column were made. These have helped preserve the details that acid rain and pollution have worn away since then.
Trajan’s Forum
Trajan’s Forum, much smaller than Roman Forum, once included 2 libraries, a spacious plaza surrounded by colonnades, the Basilica Ulpia – a grand civic space, and has this Trajan’s column which towers all.
Conclusion
The sight of Trajan’s Column is mighty impressive. I saw the replica of this column in The Parisian Macao Hotel in Macau.
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Beautiful column with magnificent bas-reliefs.
Love your poppies . . . and Rome.
Wonder why those tiny slots are there in the pillar.
The Trajan's Column is so interesting. Beautiful pictures, Indrani!
Intricate work on the column @ Lovely shots, thx for sharing!
Fantastic. The pictures on the column looked so interesting.
ciao . Indrani
Sto commentando dall'ITALIA
Complimenti per il tuo BLOG , anche io ho viaggiato molto e in passato sono stato nella citta di Bombay solo per un giorno .
Guarderò con calma il tuo Blog in futuro .
un Saluto dall'ITALIA
I wonder how I would handle going up those spiral staircase, 185 of them!
Nice art work.
Just amazing. I think people who created such things had a different sense of time. Less of a rush!
How beautiful! And the cloudless blue sky is the perfect backdrop!
I love the way the column looks against the blue sky. Interesting and beautiful post.
Gorgeous!
Please come and see my Sky Watch, have a nice weekend!
awesome shots
🙂 beautiful place…
Interesting. The carvings are beautiful.
Interesting piece of history and fine art.
Thanks for sharing
This is a fascinating piece of architecture. Thanks for sharing it with us.
That must be a long story!
Fantastic captures as always, Indrani! And what a beautiful structure it is! Would love to visit there! Hope you have a lovely weekend!
Sylvia
Beautiful columns…Rome is quite stunning.
Thanks for sharing the details. So elaborate.
awesome art… great structure.. thanks for sharing…
My Skywatch here
Hi Indrani
beautiful monument….
thanks for sharing
So pretty!
Would you come and see my Sky Watch entry? Thanks a lot!
Nice Shot! I want to visit rome in the future!!!
My SkyWatchFriday#49:Sunset
such a beautiful structure. I'd love the challenge of climbing the 185 steps!
Fantastic shots 🙂
And you had luck with the weather in Europe (BEAUTIFUL bleu sky 🙂
(It is now at the moment also lovely springweather here its 20C 🙂
Nice and interesting.
greetings, Joop