Trajan's Column

Trajan's Column is a Roman monument erected in Rome in 113 CE. Its continuous spiral relief depicts campaigns in the Dacian Wars under Emperor Trajan.

Roman triumphal column: A freestanding column erected in ancient Rome to commemorate military victory or imperial achievement. Trajan's Column established a prominent model for commemorative columns.
Dacian Wars: Two Roman campaigns against Dacia, fought under Emperor Trajan from 101 to 106 CE. The relief narrates episodes from these campaigns.
Trajan's Forum: A monumental public complex in Rome built by Emperor Trajan and dedicated in 112 CE. The column stood within this larger imperial complex.
Column of Marcus Aurelius: A Roman victory column in Rome whose spiral relief depicts the Marcomannic Wars under Marcus Aurelius. It adapts the spiral narrative form to a later emperor's wars.
Spiral frieze: A continuous decorative band that winds around a column or other curved surface. Its winding narrative is the column's defining sculptural feature.
Dacia: An ancient kingdom north of the lower Danube, conquered by Rome in the early second century CE. The column depicts Rome's campaigns to conquer this kingdom.
Trajan's Market: A large brick-built complex on Rome's Quirinal Hill, associated with Trajan's Forum. Its surviving structures help situate the column within the urban setting of Trajan's building program.
Napoleon's Column: A monumental column in Place Vendôme, Paris, erected to commemorate Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz. Its design drew on the precedent of Trajan's Column.
Roman relief sculpture: Sculpture in which figures project from a background, widely used in Roman public monuments. The column's narrative is carved in low relief.
Decebalus: The last king of Dacia, who fought Trajan's campaigns before his defeat in 106 CE. The relief includes the Dacian king central to the wars it depicts.

Linked from 16 pages