Editing Trajan's Column (section)

{{Short description|Ancient Roman victory column, a landmark of Rome, Italy}}
{{infobox ancient site
|name=Trajan's Column
|image=Trajan's Column HD.jpg
|image_size=250px
|caption=Trajan's Column, north of the Roman Forum
|location=[[Trajan's Forum]]
|built=AD 107~{{start date and age|113}}
|builder=[[Trajan]]
|type=Roman [[triumphal column]]
|coordinates={{WikidataCoord|display=it}}
|map dot label=Trajan's Column
|map_label_position=top
|map_type=Italy Rome Antiquity
|map_overlay=Roma Plan.jpg
|map_size=270
|mapframe-frame-width=270
|mapframe=yes
|mapframe-caption=Click on the map for a fullscreen view
|mapframe-zoom=13
|mapframe-marker=monument
|mapframe-wikidata=yes
}}
'''Trajan's Column''' ({{langx|it|Colonna Traiana}}, {{langx|la|Columna Traiani}}) is a [[Roman triumphal column]] in [[Rome]], [[Italy]], that commemorates [[Roman emperor]] [[Trajan]]'s victory in the [[Trajan's Dacian Wars|Dacian Wars]]. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect [[Apollodorus of Damascus]] at the order of the [[Roman Senate]]. It is located in [[Trajan's Forum]], north of the [[Roman Forum]]. Completed in [[Anno Domini|AD]] 113, the freestanding column is most famous for its spiral [[bas relief]], which depicts the [[Trajan's Dacian Wars|wars between the Romans and Dacians]] (101–102 and 105–106). Its design has inspired numerous [[victory column]]s, both ancient and modern.

The structure is about {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=off}} in height, {{convert|35|m|ft|abbr=off}} including its large [[pedestal]]. The shaft is made from a series of 20 colossal [[Carrara marble]]{{efn|In ancient times, Carrara marble bore the name of ''Luna marble'' after the port of [[Luna (Etruria)|Luna]], [[Etruria]] on the harbor of [[Luni, Italy|Luni]] from which it was shipped after being quarried in the mountains of [[Carrara]].<ref>{{cite AV media | url=https://class.coursera.org/romanarchitecture-001/lecture/99 | title=The Ascent of Augustus and Access to Italian Marble | publisher=Yale University | people=Diana E. E. Kleiner | medium=Multimedia presentation | access-date=2015-02-22 | archive-date=2022-08-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809235651/https://class.coursera.org/romanarchitecture-001/lecture/99 | url-status=dead }}</ref>}} [[Drum (architecture)|drums]], each weighing about 32 tons,<ref name="Jones 1993, 32"/> with a diameter of {{convert|3.7|m|ft|1|abbr=off}}. The {{convert|190|m|ft|abbr=off|adj=mid}} [[frieze]] winds around the shaft 23 times. Inside the shaft, a spiral staircase of 185 steps provides access to a viewing deck at the top. The [[Capital (architecture)|capital]] block of Trajan's Column weighs 53.3 tons, and had to be lifted to a height of about {{convert|34|m|ft|abbr=off}}.<ref name="Lancaster 426-428"/> Ancient coins indicate preliminary plans to top the column with a statue of a bird, probably an eagle.<ref name="Platner">{{harvnb|Platner|1929}}</ref> After construction, a statue of Trajan was put in place; this disappeared in the [[Middle Ages]]. On December 4, 1587, the top was crowned with a bronze figure of [[Saint Peter|Saint Peter the Apostle]] by [[Pope Sixtus V]], which remains to this day.<ref>{{harvnb|Paoletti|Radke|2005|p=541}}</ref>

Trajan's Column was originally flanked by two sections of the [[Ulpian Library]], a Greek chamber and a Latin chamber, which faced each other and had walls lined with niches and wooden bookcases for scrolls.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McGeough|first=Kevin M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ahci6YuvP54C&dq=trajans%20column%20greek%20roman%20libraries&pg=PA269|title=The Romans: New Perspectives|date=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-583-4|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Yegül|first1=Fikret|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G8CkDwAAQBAJ|title=Roman Architecture and Urbanism: From the Origins to Late Antiquity|last2=Favro|first2=Diane|date=2019-09-05|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-47071-1|pages=341|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Sear|first=Frank|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NiaEAgAAQBAJ&dq=trajans+column+greek+roman+libraries&pg=PA159|title=Roman Architecture|date=2002-01-04|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-63578-8|language=en}}</ref> The Latin chamber likely contained Trajan's commentary on the Roman-Dacian Wars, the ''[[Dacica]]'', which most scholars agree was intended to be echoed in the spiralling, sculpted narrative design of Trajan's Column.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Marasco|first=Gabriele|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4HvsLEBgcV8C|title=Political Autobiographies and Memoirs in Antiquity: A Brill Companion|date=2011-09-23|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-18299-8|pages=368|language=en}}</ref>