The Trajan Column, Forum And Markets Private Guided Tours And Rome Information

The Trajan Column, Forum And Markets Private Guided Tours Tickets, And Rome Information

THE TRAJAN COLUMN

In 113 A.D., raised Trajan’s Column between the two libraries.

A little less than 40 meters high, it was formed by a tall square base, by 18 large overlapping drums in Carrara marble, by a Doric capital, and, on the top, by the statue of Trajan. Between the plinth and the frame, the base was decorated, with reliefs representing Dacian weapons and, at the edges, festooned regent eagles; inside was placed the golden urn with the emperor’s ashes.

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The column, in the mass of which a narrow spiral staircase was obtained that goes up to the “terrace,” is completely decorated with a frieze that runs in a spiral for about 200 meters. The relief tells, through different scenes, the salient phases of the two Dacian wars won by Trajan, separated from each other by a Victory. It is a celebratory and documentary work, which initially could also be admired up close from the terraces of the adjacent buildings. However, it was impossible to even in ancient times to completely follow the unfolding of the narrative (as in a sort of massive volume, placed between the two libraries), which assumed an almost absolute, symbolic, and independent value from any hypothetical spectator. The author, probably the only one considering the unitary conception of the work, known as the “Master of Trajan’s exploits,” was able to admirably combine the

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Roman narrative tradition (characterized by the continuity of exposition and the repetition of right moments), with elements coming from tradition Hellenistic (such as the depictions of landscapes and the superimposition of various planes). The statue of Trajan, which dominated from the top of the column, was replaced in the sixteenth century by the will of Pope Sixtus V with the current figure of St. Peter. At the end of the Trajan’s Forum, Hadrian had it built around 121 AD., a temple dedicated to the deified predecessor and his wife, Plotina.
The original project probably already involved the construction of the temple, never built due to the death of Trajan. Only a few fragments of the building remain, which, however, give an idea of ​​the grandeur of the monument, whose columns reached 20 meters in height. The recent excavations suggest that the front of the temple was oriented to the north.

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THE FORUM OF TRAJAN

Built between 107 (the year of the victorious conclusion of the Dacian wars) and 113 AD, the fabulous Forum of Trajan was the last of the majestic squares of the imperial era, designed to expand the civic and political center of the city of Rome. Thanks to the famous architect Apollodorus of Damascus’s design, the Forum aroused visitors’ admiration over the centuries. The work’s grandeur and skillful compositional balance gave the architectural complex an extraordinary and harmonious homogeneity. Apollodorus made the colossal cut of the saddle that connected the Capitol to the Quirinal, without which it would not have been possible to use any space, given the dense thickening of the buildings in that area. The Trajan’s Column remains today as an extraordinary testimony of the original height of the saddle. As a whole, the complex was articulated on terraces slightly raised from each other, on which the various structural elements stood. About 300 meters long, the square was accessible from the side of the Forum of Augustus through an arch with a single arch surmounted by an attic and flanked by walls marked by semi-columns. On the two long sides ran a colonnaded portico preceded by two steps and embellished with statues of various characters. On the high attic, sculptures of captive Dacians alternated with shields with heads.

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The equestrian statue of the emperor dominated the square. At the bottom, the view was closed by the imposing facade of the Basilica Ulpia. Behind the side arcades, two large semicircular exedras opened, one in front of the other. Trajan had taken the Augustan Forum as a model, thus presenting himself as the continuer of the political enterprises of Augustus. However, the Basilica Ulpia was a sort of innovation compared to previous models. The scheme adopted, in fact, closely recalled the emperor’s militarist policy: the arrangement of the buildings recalled the structure of the military camps, which had a square in the center (the open space of the Forum), a basilica (the Basilica Ulpia) next to the sanctuary of the legionary insignia (the Trajan’s Column) and the building for the military archives (the two libraries). We know from various sources that the functions of the Forum were manifold: here laws were promulgated, the emperors bestowed the so-called congiaria, donations of money to the people, here finally there were schools and places for reading.

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THE TRAJAN MARKETS

Apollodorus built a series of brick buildings to the Forum’s east, lying on terraces at different heights, the so-called Traianei Markets. They had the purely utilitarian function of warehouses for foodstuffs and places of retail and wholesale. The complex, which shortly preceded the construction of the actual Forum, also had the purpose of masking and, at the same time, supporting the Quirinal’s cut. To make the most of the available spaces and, at the same time, to create a certain homogeneity, was built a single monumental facade lower, semicircular exedra. On the third floor, other Tabernae were facing the ancient via Biberatica (whose name perhaps derives from the fact that there were Thermopolia, the bars of the time). Beyond the street, a crucial rectangular room was distinguished, covered with a vault with six crosses supported by travertine piers.

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Several shops overlooked, on each of the long sides, even on the upper floor, a series of Tabernae opened onto a long aisle. It was probably a large warehouse for foodstuffs, perhaps connected to the rooms to the south, which could house the management of the entire complex of the Traianei Markets. It was preceded by a colonnade that separated it from the Portico of the square in front. On the sides, two smaller exedras, covered with a half-dome and illuminated by large windows on two floors (eight on the left and three on the right), were perhaps used as auditoriums or classrooms for school lessons. Beyond the exedra, there were eleven covered vaulted Tabernae, leaning directly against the hillside. In some of them, traces of graffiti have been preserved. Above the rooms, on the ground floor, a corridor runs, covered with a vault and illuminated by a series of windows, onto which another Tabernae opened. To the north was another exedra, located above the one on the floor’s left. (Column of Trajan)

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