Trajan's Mighty Column: The Emperor's Triumph in 155 Scenes in the War with the Dacians

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The story of the victory of Emperor Trajan over the mighty barbarian kingdom is not just a story from the pen. This event, whose glory is carved in 155 scenes on the spiral frieze of the mighty monumental column, is still mesmerizing to this day.

The Emperor's Triumph

Trajan's Column, with a statue of Saint Peter erected by the Pope during the Renaissance at its summit, dominates the ruins of Trajan's Forum, which once included two libraries and a large square for citizens and a spacious Basilica. The construction of the Forum was carried out at the expense of war trophies obtained from Dacia

Fighting side by side with his warriors in campaigns between 101 and 106 AD, Emperor Trajan rallied tens of thousands of Roman legionnaires to cross the Danube over two of the longest bridges the ancient world has ever seen. Trajan's victory demonstrated the visual power of Rome, at the peak of the principate: crushing the mighty barbarian kingdom on the soddy fields of their mountain home twice, methodically wiping it off the face of ancient Europe.

Trajan's war with the Dacians, whose country was located on the territory of present-day Romania, was the defining event of his 19-year reign. The wealth brought to Rome was overwhelming. One contemporary chronicler boasted that the conquest brought the state over 200 tons of gold and 450 tons of silver, not to mention a new fertile province.

Reconstruction of the exterior of the Trajan Bridge by engineer E. Duperrex (1907)

The mining literally changed the landscape of Rome. To commemorate the victory, Trajan ordered the construction of a new forum that would include a spacious square surrounded by colonnades, two libraries, a large public building known as the Basilica of Ulpia, and possibly even a temple. The Forum was an "open-air miracle," one early historian was delighted that no mortal description would suffice to describe it.

A 38-meter high stone column topped with a bronze statue of the conqueror towered over the forum. A strip of bas-relief rising in a spiral around the column, like a modern comic strip, is the story of the Dacian campaigns: thousands of artfully carved Romans and Dacians march, build, fight, sail, sneak, negotiate, plead and die in 155 scenes. Completed in 113, the column stood for over 1900 years.

The column is one of the most characteristic monumental sculptures that survived the fall of Rome. For centuries, classicists have treated carving as a visual history of warfare, with Trajan as a hero and Decebalus, the Dacian king, as his worthy opponent. Archaeologists have carefully studied the scenes to learn about the uniforms, weapons, equipment and tactics of the Roman army.

Relief sketch: Dacians surrendering to Trajan's mercy

Deceiving column. Heroic Chronicle of Conquest or Collection of Stories?

The column had a great influence and inspired later monuments in Rome and throughout the empire. Over the centuries, as the city's landmarks were destroyed, the column continued to fascinate and inspire awe. The Renaissance pope replaced the statue of Trajan with the statue of Saint Peter to consecrate the ancient artifact. Artists lowered themselves in baskets from above in order to study it in detail. It later became a favorite tourist attraction: the German poet Goethe climbed 185 internal steps in 1787 to "enjoy this incomparable view." Plaster casts of the column were made as early as the 16th century, and they retain details that have been erased by acid rain and pollution. Debate still rages over column construction, meaning and, above all, historical accuracy. Sometimes it seems that there are as many interpretations as the carvings, and there are 2,662 of them!

According to the archaeologist Filippo Coarelli, working under the guidance of the emperor, the sculptors followed a plan to create a colonnaded version of Trajan's scroll on 17 drums from the finest Carrara marble. The Emperor is the hero of this story. He appears 58 times and is portrayed as a cunning commander, an accomplished statesman, and a devout ruler. Here he delivers a speech to the troops; there he deliberately confers with his advisers; there he is present at sacrifices to the gods. "This is Trajan's attempt to show himself not only as a commander," says Coarelli, "but also as a cultural figure."

Of course, Coarelli is speculating. Whatever form they have, but Trajan's memories have long disappeared. In fact, evidence gleaned from the pillar and excavation at Sarmisegetuza, the Dacian capital, suggests that the carvings speak more of Roman prejudice than reality.

John Coleston, an expert on Roman iconography, weapons and equipment at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, studied the column up close for months from the scaffolding that surrounded it during restoration work in the 1980s and 90s. As the author of a dissertation on the monument, John warns against contemporary interpretations and interpretations when reading the monument. Coulston claims that no genius was behind the carvings. Small differences in style and obvious mistakes, such as windows that disrupt the scenes and the scenes themselves being at inconsistent heights, convinced him that the sculptors were creating the column on the fly, relying on what they had heard about the wars.

The work, in his opinion, was more “inspired” than “founded”. Most of the column does not depict much of the battles for the two wars. Less than a quarter of the frieze showcases battles or sieges, and Trajan himself is never shown in action. Meanwhile, the legionnaires - the well-trained backbone of the Roman war machine - are busy building forts and bridges, clearing roads, and even harvesting crops. The column portrays them as a force of order and civilization, not destruction and conquest.

War never changes

The column underlines the immense scale of the empire. Trajan's army included African cavalry, Iberian slingers, Levantine archers in pointed helmets, and chest-thumping Germans in trousers that would have seemed barbaric to Romans in togas. They all fight the Dacians, anticipating that anyone, regardless of origin, can become a Roman citizen. Curiously, Trajan himself hails from Roman Spain.

Some scenes remain ambiguous, and their interpretations are contradictory. Are the besieged Dacians reaching for the cup to commit suicide by drinking poison instead of facing humiliation at the hands of the conquering Romans? Or are they just thirsty? Noble Dacians gathered around Trajan for surrender or negotiations? What about depicting women torturing shirtless, bound Roman prisoners with flaming torches? Ernest Oberländer-Turnovianu, head of the National Museum of Romanian History, disagrees: "These are definitely Dacian prisoners who are being tortured by the enraged widows of slain Roman soldiers." Like much of the column, what you see usually depends on what you think of the Romans and Dacians.

Among Roman politicians, "Dacian" was synonymous with duplicity. The historian Tacitus called them "a people who can never be trusted." They were known for demanding money for protection from Rome, and they themselves sent soldiers on raids in its border cities. In 101 AD Trajan moved to punish the restless Dacians. In the first major battle, Trajan defeated the Dacians in Battle of Tapai … The storm indicated to the Romans that the god Jupiter was on their side. This event is clearly reflected on the Column.

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Jupiter throwing lightning and modern art battle

After almost two years of battle, the Dacian king Decebalus made a treaty with Trajan and then quickly tore it up.

Rome has been betrayed too many times. During the second invasion, Trajan did not bother. It is enough to look at the scenes that show the plundering of Sarmisegetuza or the village on fire. But when the Dacians were defeated, they became a favorite subject for Roman sculptors. At Trajan's Forum were dozens of statues of handsome, bearded Dacian warriors, a proud marble army in the heart of Rome. Of course, such a message was intended for the Romans, not for the surviving Dacians, most of whom were sold into slavery. None of the Dacians could come and see the column. It was created for Roman citizens to demonstrate the power of an imperial machine to conquer such a noble and ferocious people.

In a visual narrative that stretches from the base of the column to its top, Trajan and his soldiers triumph over the Dacians. In this scene of plaster and marble dust cast between 1939 and 1943, Trajan (left) watches the battle while two Roman auxilaria hold out the severed heads of an enemy

For two bloody wars, literally all of Dacia was devastated, Rome did not leave a stone unturned from the capital. One of his contemporaries claimed that Trajan took 500,000 prisoners, bringing about 10,000 to Rome to participate in the gladiatorial games, which were held for 123 days. Truly a new Carthage. The proud ruler of Dacia spared himself the humiliation of surrender. Its end is carved into the column with this scene. Kneeling under the oak tree, he raises a long, curved blade to his own neck.

Death of Decebalus

“Decebalus, when his capital and his entire kingdom were occupied and he himself was in danger of being captured, committed suicide; and his head was brought to Rome,”wrote the Roman historian Cassius Dion a century later.

Barbarously civilized

Trajan's Column may be propaganda, but archaeologists say there is some truth in it. Excavations at Dacian sites, including Sarmisegetusa, continue to reveal traces of a civilization far more sophisticated than the "barbaric", derogatory term of the Romans implied. The Dacians did not have a written language, so what we know about their culture is filtered through Roman sources. Overwhelming evidence suggests that they dominated the region for centuries, raiding and demanding tribute from their neighbors. The Dacians were skilled metalworkers who mined and smelted iron and gold to create magnificent jewelry and weapons.

Sarmizegetuza was their political and spiritual capital. The ruined city is now located high in the mountains of central Romania. In Trajan's time, the 1600 km journey from Rome would have taken at least a month. Tall beech trees, casting a cold shade even on a warm day down a wide stone road leading from the thick, half-buried walls of the fortress down to a wide, flat meadow. This green space-terrace, carved into the side of the mountain, was the religious heart of the Dacian world.

Romans loading pack transport with trophies from the city

The latest archaeological data confirm the art of architecture that is impressive for such an unfriendly people; some trends were even brought here by the influence of Rome and Hellas. There are a large number of artificial terraces on more than 280 hectares of the city's area and there is no indication that the Dacians were growing food here. There are no cultivated fields. Instead, archaeologists have found the remains of dense clusters of workshops and houses, as well as furnaces for processing iron ore, tons of ready-to-use iron pieces and dozens of anvils. The city appears to have been a center for metal production, supplying other Dacians with weapons and tools in exchange for gold and grain.

The Dacians converted precious metals into jewelry. These gold coins with Roman images and bracelets are from the ruins of Sarmisegetusa, and have been restored in recent years.

After the fall of Sarmisegetuza, the most holy temples and altars of Dacia were destroyed. Everything was dismantled by the Romans. The rest of Dacia was also devastated. At the top of the column, you can see the denouement: a village set on fire, Dacians fleeing, a province empty of everyone except cows and goats.

Devastated Dacia at the very end of history

On this note, perhaps, it is possible to complete the story about the interests of this impressive, without exaggeration, influential and generally very beautiful building at one time.