Walks in Rome (Est. 2001)
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  • Ancient Monuments
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  • Obelisks
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Walking Tours of Rome

Column of Trajan


Map
Trajan's Column, Rome
Trajan's Column

Trajan's Column commemorates the victories of the emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus (r. 98-117) in the two Dacian wars (102-3; 105-6). The Dacians were the inhabitants of what is now Romania. The column, which was completed in 113, is almost all that is left standing of Trajan's Forum, the last of the great imperial fora to be built in ancient Rome.

An inscription on the base states that the column was erected in honour of the emperor Trajan (r. 98-117) by the Senate and People of Rome (SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS), ‘to show how high a hill - and the site for such great works - had been cleared away’ (AD DECLARANDVM QUANTAE ALTITVDINIS MONS ET LOCVS TANTIS OPERIBVS SIT EGESTVS). This has been taken to indicate that the top of the column marks the original ground level, thus giving an idea of the extent of the excavations undertaken for the construction of the forum, which was funded by the spoils of war from the two Dacian campaigns.

​The height of the column is 100 Roman feet (29.78 m). It stands on a 5.29 m high pedestal, which makes the overall height 35 m. Both the column and the pedestal are made of Carrara marble (marmor Lunensium). 

The shaft of the column is made up of 17 blocks of marble, which have been cut away on the inside to create 185 steps. The steps lead up the platform, where stand two more cylindrical blocks. The column was once crowned with a bronze statue (thought to have been in the region of 5 metres high) of the emperor Trajan in military dress, but this disappeared centuries ago. In 1587 a bronze statue of St Peter, the work of Tommaso della Porta and Leonardo Sormani, was erected in its place.

Around the shaft winds a helical frieze, 200 m long and carved in low relief. The reliefs, which would originally have been painted, illustrate the story of the two Dacian campaigns in a continuous sequence of 155 scenes, with over 2,500 figures (Trajan appears a total of 59 times). 


The reliefs on the base of the column depict captured Dacian arms and armour. This is where the ashes of Trajan and his wife Plotina were placed. Trajan was given special dispensation to be interred in the centre of Rome; he was probably the first and last emperor to be so favoured. 

Gallery
The base of Trajan's Column, Rome
A detail of Trajan's Column, Rome
Bronze statue of St Peter atop Trajan's Column, Rome
Trajan's Column and the scant remains of Trajan's Forum, Rome

walking Tours of Rome

Copyright © David Lown 2001-2022. All Rights Reserved. 
  • Home
  • Personalised Tours
  • Vatican Tours
  • Contact
  • Rome
  • Images
  • St Peter's Basilica
    • Altars >
      • Altar of St Joseph
      • Altar of St Gregory the Great
      • Altar of the Madonna of Succour
      • Altar of St Sebastian
      • Altar of the Lie
      • Altar of the Presentation of the Virgin
      • Altar of St Jerome
      • Altar of the Transfiguration
      • Altar of Pope Leo the Great
    • Monuments >
      • Countess Matilda of Canossa
      • Maria Clementina Sobieska
      • Queen Christina of Sweden
      • Pope Innocent VIII
      • Pope Paul III
      • Pope Gregory XIII
      • Pope Gregory XIV
      • Pope Leo XI
      • Pope Urban VIII
      • Pope Alexander VII
      • Pope Clement X
      • Pope Innocent XI
      • Pope Alexander VIII
      • Pope Innocent XII
      • Pope Benedict XIV
      • Pope Clement XIII
      • Pope Pius VII
      • Pope Leo XII
      • Pope Pius VIII
      • Pope Gregory XVI
      • Pope Pius X
      • Pope Benedict XV
      • Pope Pius XI
      • Pope Pius XII
      • Pope John XXIII
      • The Stuarts
    • Portico >
      • Door of Death
      • Door of Good and Evil
      • Central Door
      • Door of the Sacraments
      • Holy Door
    • Pieta
    • Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
    • Cathedra Petri
    • Crossing >
      • Baldacchino
      • Confessio
      • Dome
      • St Longinus
      • St Helena
      • St Veronica
      • St Andrew
    • St Peter
    • Chapel of the Choir
    • Chapel of the Baptistery
    • Nave
  • Sistine Chapel
    • North Wall
    • South Wall
    • East Wall
    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
      • Ceiling: Part Three
    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Bees
    • Fountain of Moses
    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Fountain of the Four Lions
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of the Goddess Roma
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Venice Marries the Sea
    • Fountains of St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
  • Churches
    • Chiesa del Gesù >
      • Cappella di Sant' Ignazio
    • Chiesa Nuova
    • Lateran Baptistery
    • San Bartolomeo all' Isola
    • San Carlo ai Catinari
    • San Carlo al Corso
    • San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
    • San Clemente >
      • Cappella Castiglione
    • San Crisogono
    • San Francesco a Ripa >
      • Cappella Altieri
      • Cappella Rospigliosi-Pallavicini
    • San Giorgio in Velabro
    • San Giovanni a Porta Latina
    • San Giovanni dei Fiorentini
    • San Giovanni in Laterano >
      • Cappella Corsini
    • San Girolamo della Carità >
      • Cappella Antamoro
      • Cappella Spada
    • San Gregorio Magno
    • San Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • San Lorenzo in Damaso
    • San Lorenzo in Lucina
    • San Luigi dei Francesi >
      • Cappella Contarelli
    • San Marco
    • San Pancrazio
    • San Paolo fuori le Mura
    • San Pietro in Montorio
    • San Pietro in Vincoli
    • San Saba
    • San Sebastiano fuori le Mura >
      • Cappella Albani
    • San Silvestro in Capite
    • San Vitale
    • Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura
    • Sant' Agnese in Agone
    • Sant' Agostino
    • Sant' Anastasia
    • Sant' Andrea del Quirinale
    • Sant' Andrea della Valle
    • Sant' Andrea delle Fratte
    • Sant' Antonio dei Portoghesi
    • Sant' Ignazio di Loyola
    • Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza
    • Santa Caterina dei Funari
    • Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
    • Santa Costanza
    • Santa Croce in Gerusalemme >
      • Chapel of St Helen
    • Santa Francesca Romana
    • Santa Maria degli Angeli
    • Santa Maria del Popolo >
      • Cappella Cerasi
      • Cappella Chigi
    • Santa Maria della Pace >
      • Chigi Chapel
    • Santa Maria della Vittoria >
      • Cappella Cornaro
    • Santa Maria dell' Anima
    • Santa Maria dell' Orazione e Morte
    • Santa Maria dell' Orto
    • Santa Maria di Loreto
    • Santa Maria in Aracoeli >
      • Cappella Bufalini
    • Santa Maria in Campitelli
    • Santa Maria in Cosmedin
    • Santa Maria in Domnica
    • Santa Maria in Trastevere >
      • Cappella Altemps
    • Santa Maria in Via
    • Santa Maria Maddalena
    • Santa Maria Maggiore >
      • Cappella Paolina
      • Cappella Sistina
    • Santa Maria sopra Minerva >
      • Cappella Carafa
      • Cappella dell' Annunziata
    • Santa Prassede
    • Santa Sabina >
      • Chapel of St Catherine
      • Chapel of St Hyacinth
    • Santa Susanna
    • Santi Apostoli
    • Santi Cosma e Damiano
    • Santi Domenico e Sisto
    • Santi Giovanni e Paolo
    • Santi Luca e Martina
    • Santi Nereo e Achilleo
    • Santi Quattro Coronati
    • Santissima Trinità degli Spagnoli
    • Santissima Trinità di Monti
    • Santissimo Nome di Maria
  • Forum
    • Arch of Septimius Severus
    • Arch of Titus
    • Basilica of Maxentius
    • Curia Julia
    • Temple of Antoninus Pius
    • Temple of Castor and Pollux
    • Temple of Saturn
    • Temple of Venus and Rome
    • Temple of Vesta
  • Ancient Monuments
    • Ara Pacis
    • Arch of Constantine
    • Arch of the Money-Changers
    • Arch of Janus
    • Aurelian Walls
    • Baths of Caracalla
    • Castel Sant' Angelo
    • Catacombs of Domitilla
    • Circus Maxentius
    • Circus Maximus
    • Colosseum
    • Column of Marcus Aurelius
    • Column of Trajan
    • Forum of Trajan
    • Mausoleum of Augustus
    • Pantheon
    • Ponte Fabricio
    • Ponte Sant' Angelo
    • Porta Maggiore
    • Porta San Paolo
    • Porta San Sebastiano
    • Portico of Octavia
    • Pyramid of Cestius
    • Temple of Hadrian
    • Temple of Hercules
    • Temple of Mars Ultor
    • Temple of Portunus
    • Theatre of Marcellus
    • Tomb of Caecilia Metella
    • Via Appia
  • Obelisks
    • 'Minerveo' Obelisk
    • 'Flaminio' Obelisk
    • 'Matteiano' Obelisk
    • 'Lateran' Obelisk
    • 'Dogali' Obelisk
    • 'Macuteo' Obelisk
    • 'Solare' Obelisk
    • 'Vatican' Obelisk
    • 'Agonalis' Obelisk
    • 'Sallustiano' Obelisk
    • 'Quirinale' Obelisk
    • 'Esquiline' Obelisk
    • 'Pinciano' Obelisk
    • 'Mediceo' Obelisk
    • 'Torlonia' Obelisks
    • 'Mussolini' Obelisk
    • 'Marconi' Obelisk
  • Mosaics
    • S. Agnese fuori le Mura
    • S. Cecilia in Trastevere
    • S. Clemente
    • S. Francesca Romana
    • S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • S. Marco
    • S. Maria in Domnica
    • S. Maria in Trastevere
    • S. Maria Maggiore
    • S. Prassede
    • S. Pudenziana
    • S. Venanzio
    • S. Zenone
    • Ss. Cosma e Damiano
    • Ss. Nereo e Achilleo
  • Gallery
    • Ancient Rome
    • Churches
    • Domes
    • Fountains
    • Old Photographs
    • Palaces
    • Papal Coats of Arms
    • Street Shrines
  • Vatican Museums
    • Borgia Apartment
    • Cappella Niccolina
    • Gallery of the Candelabras
    • Gallery of the Maps
    • Gallery of the Tapestries
    • 'Raphael' Tapestries
    • Stanza della Segnatura
    • Stanza di Eliodoro
    • Stanza dell' Incendio
  • Palazzi
    • Palazzo Barberini
    • Palazzo del Quirinale
    • Palazzo della Cancelleria
    • Palazzo della Consulta
    • Palazzo delle Esposizioni
    • Palazzo Farnese
    • Palazzo Madama
    • Palazzo Venezia
    • Villa Farnesina
    • Villa Medici
  • Galleries & Museums
    • Galleria Borghese
    • Galleria Colonna
    • Galleria Doria-Pamphilj
    • Musei Capitolini
  • Piazzas
    • Campo de' Fiori
    • Piazza del Campidglio
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Piazza del Quirinale
    • Piazza Navona
    • Piazza San Pietro
  • Miscellaneous
    • A Calendar of Saints
    • Borromini & the Baroque
    • Cloisters
    • Domes
    • EUR
    • House of the Owls
    • Knights of Malta
    • 'Protestant' Cemetery
    • Quartiere Coppedè
    • Spanish Steps
    • 'Talking' Statues
    • Villa Borghese
    • Vittoriano
  • Rioni
    • Rione-Monti
    • Rione-Trevi
    • Rione-Colonna
    • Rione-Campo Marzio
    • Rione-Ponte
    • Rione-Parione
    • Rione-Regola
    • Rione-Sant' Eustachio
    • Rione-Pigna
    • Rione-Campitelli
    • Rione-Sant' Angelo
    • Rione-Ripa
    • Rione-Trastevere
    • Rione-Borgo