Trajan's Forum, Markets, and Column: The Ultimate Propganda

I. Introduction
A historical introduction to the emperor Trajan and his military career is necessary in order to fully grasp the impact and messages of his famous building program.
Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, more commonly known as Trajan ruled the Roman Empire from AD 98 until 117 when he died unexpectedly of a stroke while on his way home to Rome after his last military campaign. He rose to prominence and popularity under the emperor Domitian as a military commander in the German provinces of the empire. The governor of the region revolted against Domitian because of a personal grudge and it was the Roman army under Trajan’s command who successfully put down the rebellion and maintained peace. Domitian was succeeded by the emperor Nerva who ruled somewhat unstably for less than a year. Due to his immense popularity, Nerva decided to adopt Trajan as his heir, co-ruler and intended successor in 97 A.D. When Nerva died in 98, Trajan had a smooth transition to power as he had already possessed many ruling powers. His reign would carry the empire to its greatest extent and would last for the next three quarters of a century.
a. Historical Background:
Trajan’s column, markets and forum were created as a celebration of the Roman victories over the Dacian kingdom, which was a series of wars fought between the years 101-106 A.D. In 86 A.D., Trajan’s predecessor Domitian had previously tried to conquer the region which is known today as Romania. This region had been the object of Roman desire for quite some time. While there may have been a few minimal political reasons for war with the area the factor that was most crucial to the Romans was the enormous wealth in the form of gold mines and other treasures which were under Dacian control. Unfortunately for Domitian, the conquest did not go as well as he had hoped and it was the Dacian king who got to negotiate many of the terms of peace between the two powers at the end of the conflict. This did not sit well with many of the Roman citizens and was seen by many as shameful. Trajan, in an effort to restore this bitter treaty and to gain the wealth that had been previously sought reentered Dacia, but his campaigns were much more successful. In 101, he launched his first attack across the northern bank of the Danube River and was triumphant. The Dacian army was defeated in a mountain pass but Trajan’s army was depleted and badly wounded. He took a year’s reprieve to mend and rest his troops. The next year it was actually the Dacians who launched a counter attack on the Roman army. Trajan responded forcefully and sacked the Dacian capital, returning to Rome as a victor.
The Dacian wars began again in 105 when the Dacian king advanced his troops into Roman territory. Trajan was determined to stop the conflict once and for all. He and his lead architect, Apollodorus of Damascus, built a half-mile long bridge across the Danube River and crossed into Dacian territory once again. Trajan and his troops had fully conquered Dacia by the year 106 A.D. With a victory under his belt and the newly acquired riches from the conflict, Trajan needed to send a message to the citizens of Rome, who were traditionally opposed to war. Much of his forum and especially the column were dedicated to convincing Romans that the war was not only a victory, but that it was also necessary in order to advance the empire and to bring prosperity to the people.

II. Description
a. Physical Description
As previously mentioned, Trajan’s forum was intended to celebrate the Roman victory during the Dacian wars. The first constructions on the forum began in 106 immediately after Trajan’s return and lasted for about the next six years. The forum was the largest imperial forum at the time that it was built with a total area of 432,000 square feet: 600 feet wide and 720 feet in length. It was placed in between the Capitoline and Quirinal Hills, which are believed to have once been connected by a low ridge. A discussion of the possible meanings of this massive leveling will be discussed in more detail during a description of Trajan’s column. While it is possible that clearing in this area was initially begun by the emperor Domitian, the entire undertaking is credited to Trajan and his architect Apollodorus.

The people of Rome would have entered the forum from the south and would have first passed through a large rectangular courtyard which was lined with porticoes on each side. The courtyard was closed off at the north end by the Basilica Ulpia, which shares Trajan’s family name. The basilica would have been used as a public meeting space and a place of law. After exiting the basilica, a visitor would have come across Trajan’s column flanked on both sides with libraries, one Greek and one Latin. Just beyond the column stood Trajan’s temple which was built by Hadrian and dedicated to Trajan in 128. The plan of Trajan’s forum was intended to mimic that of Augustus. In using similar building materials and design, Trajan hoped to align himself with Augustus, the emperor of the golden age who had already been deified.
In addition to the grand forum, Trajan also built public markets which essentially functioned as outdoor shopping areas where people of all social statuses within Rome would have been able to interact. The markets were on the east side of the forum and consisted of three stories. On the first level there was a public square which was used for merchants to sell various goods to the people. Various types of vegetables, fruits, grains and other products would have been sold to the people. The top levels were used for offices such as lawyers and other public officials. It was a gift from the emperor directly to the people in order to make life more convenient and increase the standard of living.
b. The Column:
The column itself is quite remarkable. It is 124 feet tall, made out of marble and set on top of a massive base. It was intended to be a monument which both commemorated the victory over the Dacians and the emperor Trajan himself. There are about 2,500 figures included on the column, all at 2/3 life-size. The style and positioning of the frieze has caused much debate about its original intended use and purpose which will be discussed in a following section of this paper.
Today there is a statue of St. Peter on top of the column which was placed there in 1588 by Pope Sixtus V. Originally the column was topped with a bronze eagle and was replaced by a statue of Trajan after his death. The emperor and his wife were actually buried inside the monument which makes Trajan the first and only emperor to be laid to rest inside the center of the city. Below is a picture of the column as it stands today in modern Rome.

While there are many important aspects of the carvings themselves, there are a few highlights that should be mentioned. The base of the column depicts all of the riches and spoils of war that the Romans gained after conquering Dacia. The story begins at the bottom of the column with a small drop of water which gradually turns into a river. As it curves around, boats and supplies are slowly added until eventually the viewer is introduced to the Roman soldiers who are preparing for a long journey. On the south side of the first band, the river god appears to bless the journey. On the second band, there are depictions of the soldiers building roads and bridges to extend their empire and make their travels less treacherous. On the south side of the third band there is a depiction of Trajan’s massive bridge across the northern bank of the Danube which is seen as a rectangle with three criss-crosses in the middle. The viewer sees Trajan himself for the first time on the column in the depictions on the fourth band. He is dressed in his military skirt and has a toga draped over his arm as he is mounting a podium in order to address his troops. Trajan is depicted 59 times in total on the column and each carving depicts him in a different way. Most likely the sculptor, under direction from Trajan, was trying to show the many sides of the emperor’s personality. The fifth band shows a picture of a typical Roman ship going off to war. The column has been a source of a lot of information for historians about the Roman methods and tools of warfare. The Roman army finally meets the Dacian soldiers on the eighth band of the column which can clearly be seen through depictions of tall trees and men engaged in battle. The column is divided by winged Victory at the twelfth layer and at the very top is a carving of Trajan and his army sacrificing in order to give thanks for their overall victory. These aspects of the column do not even make up half of the carvings that can be seen in exquisite detail.

In addition to the intricate frieze, the base of the column includes an inscription which faces south towards the Basilica Ulpia. It starts out with a statement of dedication from the people of Rome to the emperor Trajan and gives a list of his qualifications and honors. The interesting part of the inscription does not come until the last line which reads, that the column was erected in order to demonstrate how high was the mountain, the site for great works that was cleared away. This statement has typically been interpreted to mean the height of the ridge that Trajan and Apollodorous cleared away in order to build the forum but recent interpretations suggest that it could have been referring to the empire itself as the mountain that had been cleared away instead of simply the ground directly under the column.
c. Innovation:
While monuments like the column of Trajan were not uncommon in previous Roman building programs, Trajan’s column has a few unique aspects. First of all, it is hollow and has a spiral staircase inside which allows the visitor to climb up to a viewing platform on the top. In addition, the frieze which spirals up towards the sky was the first of its kind. As previously mentioned, the frieze was created as a scroll which winds up the column and makes it quite difficult to follow the story being told. The column was positioned directly between two libraries so standing at a distance in order to get a better view of the frieze would have been almost impossible. While some of the detail would have been visible from the taller buildings around the forum or possibly from the windows in the libraries, many historians see this problem as contradictory. One explanation could be that the people of the empire were so familiar with the story of the Dacian victory that they would not have needed to see all of the details in order to be reminded. Recent interpretations of the column as a funerary monument provide a different explanation for the paradoxical carvings and positioning. Penelope Davies, in her article titled “The Dynamics of Form”, asserts that Trajan’s column was created as a funerary monument which was actually meant to manipulate the viewer into circumambulating it in order to pay tribute to Trajan who was buried inside. Davies summarizes her argument in the following excerpt:

When the Column is considered only as an object to be viewed, it demands nothing more from a beholder than the respect due to high-quality engineering and sculpture. When, on the other hand, it is considered as a dynamic force, it becomes an active work of architecture, encouraging and requiring the visitor’s participation.[1]

Davies furthers her argument with her interpretation of the inscription. As briefly mentioned above, the inscription’s last line referring to the mountain that had been cleared away has recently been thought to refer to more than the ground directly under the column itself. Davies sites Amanda Claridge’s observation about the possible intended purpose of the column as a belvedere:

If a viewer visited the Column properly, was willing to climb the spiral staircase inside the shaft and look out from its upper platform over the Forum and the place where once the Quadrinal had protruded, he would, as the inscription promises, see how high a mountain had been cleared away adjacent to (but not underneath) the Column, and for what great works.[2]

The key argument here is that the column could have been intended not only as something to be viewed but also an instrument from which to view the entire empire and from which to admire its wealth and beauty. Had this been its true intended purpose, which historians will never fully know, the column would have been very innovative. Either way, the column was definitely a feat of architectural and political genius.
d. Pictures and Diagrams:
Below are some images of the forum and the column which will hopefully shed some light into what they might have looked like at the time they were built. The first image is the diagram of Trajan’s forum. The entrance is on the right-hand side, marked by the four hash marks. This leads into a grand courtyard which is closed off by the Basilica Ulpia. The basilica is visible in the middle of the diagram. The column is just beyond the basilica and is marked with the dot. The libraries can be seen on the right and left of the column and then Trajan’s temple is at the far left-hand side of the diagram. Trajan’s markets can also be seen at the top of the diagram and would have been three stories tall.

Here is a drawing of what historians believe the forum would have looked like. This view is from the north end, looking down. Trajan’s markets are visible in the top left of the drawing.

The drawing seen below is what the forum would have most likely looked like from the courtyard. In this reconstruction, the beautiful building materials and spoils of war can be seen and there is great attention given to every detail. Trajan’s column stands above all and can be seen even from behind the basilica.

III. Function
a. Intended Impact and Audience:
There were three key messages Trajan was trying to send with his building program, the first of which was that war did not need to be viewed in such a negative light. While the column sought to portray the Roman victories over the Dacian kingdom, there are very few depictions of actual battle scenes. This was almost certainly part of Trajan’s political agenda. As a part of his propaganda, Trajan wanted to convince the Romans that war and conflict could have a positive impact. With many economic problems in the empire, Trajan saw war as an answer to these difficulties while most of the Roman citizenship believed it to be a costly mess. Domitian’s unsuccessful campaigns had further contributed to the peoples’ negative attitude towards engaging in full fledged warfare and Trajan saw it as his duty to prove otherwise. In an effort to validate the wars that he had just completed and to make it possible to engage in future campaigns, the forum was designed to show the people that war could be profitable and could create prosperity.

The second message that Trajan sought to deliver to his people was that he cared about their well-being. This is most clearly seen in the markets, which were built solely for the use of the people. Because the markets were a place that could be used for public business and interaction, they would have been seen as the emperor’s demonstration of concern for his people. One story tells of how the marketplace was used as a place where free crops and food would be handed out to the people as a direct gift from the emperor. With the inclusion of the markets in his grand forum, Trajan was subtly telling the people that he had a servant’s heart and that they mattered to him as much as the expansion of the empire.

The last major idea that Trajan was trying to communicate through the construction of his grand forum was that the empire was rich and that good times were upon the people. It was almost certainly an effort to reach back to the time of Augustus and the ‘golden ages’ which were remembered so fondly by the people. The riches that the Dacian war had awarded them were tremendous and Trajan was eager to show that off to the people. In displaying the empire’s wealth, Trajan was also showing his own power. One of the main goals of any Roman emperor would have been to be remembered. In building this forum of unmatched size and splendor, Trajan was making his place in history. While it was for the good of the empire, the forum was built just as much for Trajan’s self-adoration.

IV. Concerns/Goals of the Patron
a. Trajan’s Personal Goals:
Many of Trajan’s overall messages and goals in building his forum have already been discussed in detail but it is also important to mention the ways in which the emperor himself was portrayed throughout the forum because this definitely played into the propaganda he was trying to spread to the Roman people. James Packer discusses the ways in which Trajan was deified throughout the forum. With a series of different statues, Trajan wanted to highlight the appealing and diverse aspects of his personality. He was seen as the victorious commander-in-chief, the omnipotent victor, the wise administrator and high priest of the Roman religion, the military general and lastly the sanctified deity. Packer sums up these observations with a thought-evoking statement:

Having made the pilgrimage through the forum to the temple stair, flanked by statues of Victory and Peace, perceptive visitors would finally have understood that the entire forum was a biography in stone, revealing one after another the stages I the life of the heroic Trajan as he progressed from mortality to divinity.[3]

It is clear from the summary provided above that Trajan’s building project had both political and personal motivations. He was deified after his death in 117 by the emperor Hadrian and it seems as though he got his deepest wish: to be remembered forever in the history of the Roman empire. After all, Trajan is commonly known as one of the five good emperors and it is said that after his death, the Roman senate brought each new emperor into power with a prayer which said, “May he be luckier than Hadrian and better than Trajan”.

V. Conclusion
a. Influence on Future Architecture:
According to historical research, there were many similar monuments that mimicked Trajan’s column but none of them were quite able to measure up. It is clear the in many ways, the column of Marcus Aurelius was intended to mimic Trajan’s monument. The style of sculpture on the Aurelian column is slightly different in the fact that the heads of the figures depicted are shown at a slightly larger scale than their bodies which is believed to have the purpose of allowing the viewers to see the emotion on the soldiers’ faces. Despite this slight difference, there are far more similarities between the two columns. Marcus Aurelius’ monument, like the column it is imitating, is also made of marble and contains a stairway which is lit from the outside. It tells the story of Marcus Aurelius’ wars in Danube, which is depicted in the form of an upward spiral. The picture below shows the copy-cat, but scrolling up to the picture in the beginning of this paper reveals the uncanny resemblance between these two monuments.

VI. Personal Reflection
Researching and presenting about the emperor Trajan and his building program was a very rewarding experience. Going into the project, I expected to write some facts on note cards and then simply relay them to the class. The project definitely became much more than that. In the beginnings of my research I discovered the stories of the emperor Trajan and his campaign against the Dacians which was a story that I had never come across in my years of studying Roman history. While this interested me, I was even more intrigued by the way in which these battles were commemorated. The forum and column of Trajan were not ordinary monuments. Although I had seen and heard of them before, I never fully understood that they were meant to be used as a means of relaying a message to the Roman Empire. This idea of propaganda and the fact that it was pre-conceived by Trajan and Apollodorous was fascinating. Until this point, I had always considered propaganda to be a fairly recent phenomenon that was only used by the fascist rulers during the time of World War II. The reality of what Trajan had created with his grand forum slowly sunk into my head and made the subject interesting enough for me to try to do more than simply give a presentation. I enjoyed reading the modern historians’ theories about the complexities of the column and what it really could have been intended to do. My favorite argument came from Penelope Davies in her discussions of the column as a funerary monument. Out of all the sources I read, Davies’ argument was the only one of its kind and she used some hard facts that made it quite interesting. Through this experience I have not only learned about Trajan and the Roman way of keeping record, but I have also been reminded about one of my favorite basic elements of history. No matter how old something is, there are always new ways to understand it and to interpret it. The thing that is most intriguing to me is that even with the most cutting-edge theories, which are usually based on hours upon hours of research and study, there is no real way to truly know the intent of the people who built these monuments.

VII. Bibliography
Brouse, Michael and Sari Gilbert, The National Geographic Traveler: Rome, National
Geographic Society: WA D.C., 2000, p 84.

Davies, Penelope, “The Dynamics of Form,” chapter 5 in Death and the Emperor: Roman funerary Monuments from Augustus to Marcus Aurelius, Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Davies, Penelope, “The Politics of Perpetuation: Trajan’s Column and the Art of
Commemoration,” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 101, The Journal of the Archaeological Institute of America: 1997, p 41-65.

Florescu, Radu, “Trajan’s Columna,” Study and Archeological Commentary, Publishing House:
New York, 1971.

Gallico, Sonia, Guide to the For a and the Coliseum, ATS Italica Editrice: Rome, 2000, p 65.

Lancaster, Lynne, “Building Trajan’s Column,” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 103, The
Journal of the Archaeological Institute of America: 1999, p 419-439.

MacKendric, Paul, “The Roman Conquest: A Column and a Trophy,” The Dacian Stones Speak,
University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, 1975, p 71-80.

Miclea, Ion. “The Column,” Study and Archeological Commentary, Publishing House: New
York, 1971

Morris, A.E.J, History of Urban Form: Prehistory to the Renaissance, John Wiley and Sons:
NY, 1974, p 50.

Packer, James, “Trajan’s Glorious Forum,” Archaeology, Jan – Feb. 1998.

Rossi, Lino, “Introduction,” Trajan’s Column and the Dacian Wars, Cornell University Press:
Ithaca, NY, 1971, p 13-19.

Footnotes (from above)
[1] Davies, Penelope, “The Dynamics of Form,” chapter 5 in Death and the Emperor: Roman funerary Monuments from Augustus to Marcus Aurelius, Cambridge University Press, 2000.
[2] Ibid
[3] Packer, James, “Trajan’s Glorious Forum,” Archaeology, Jan – Feb. 1998.