Trajan's Column

In contrast, Trajan’s Column offers a long continuous spiral of pictures in order to convey a similar message (Figure 23.15). The first of several columns carved with narrative bands that were erected in Rome and Constantinople, this column commemorates the emperor Trajan not only with the sculpted images of his victorious campaigns in Dacia (modern Romania) but also with a bronze statue of him on top; in addition, his ashes were kept in a golden urn in the

Figure 23.13 Emperor in Triumphal Procession, relief sculpture, Arch of Titus

Base. The column, made of Luna marble from the Carrara quarries, measures 29.78m in height, 3.83m in diameter at its base, 3.66m at the top; it sits on a rectangular block 5.37m high. Its seventeen drums contained an internal staircase of 185 steps, in rectilinear flights in the base but spiral inside the column proper. Forty-three window slits cut into the column provide air and light to the stairs. Today, other elements of the Forum of Trajan (see below) — the flanking libraries, the adjacent Basilica Ulpia, and the nearby Temple to the divine Trajan — survive only in foundations, and the statue of Trajan was replaced in 1588 by one of St. Peter, but the sculpted scenes, one of the major monuments of Roman art, are still in place.

Figure 23.15 Trajan's Column, Rome

The sculpture shows Trajan’s two Dacian campaigns of 101—102 and 105—106. The narrative is arranged on a continuous band that begins at the bottom and winds in a spiral to the top of the column, for a total length of 200m. Battles, preparations, marching, transporting, the rivers and hills, the camps — with over 2,500 figures in 155 scenes, the sculpture gives us a pictorial record of a military campaign unparalleled in ancient art (Figure 23.16). The source may have been paintings done by artists on the campaigns, both on panels and on scrolls, as attested by ancient authors. Although some concession was made for viewing the sculptures — the bands become taller as the column gets higher: 0.89m at the bottom vs 1.25m at the top — these pictures would have been difficult to see even for the viewer with perfect eyesight willing to climb up in both libraries. The monument must have commanded respect more for its artistic concept than

For its ability to impart information to the passer-by.