The Physical Monument
It is one of the most unusal of Rome’s triumphal monuments in that it takes a strange form. The isolated and decorated column once marked the focal point of Trajan’s forum. It marks the top of a hill that had to be cut away to house it. In addition to commemorating Trajan’s achievements the column also provided a grand view of the forum. The shaft was hollow and concealed a spiral staircase that was lit by small windows that were cut into the shafts before the relief sculpture was executed. The column was viewed originally from the balconies and roofs of two adjacent libraries, which have not survived. The monument was originally crowned by a statue of Trajan.
The Column
It is composed of hollow drums made of Carrara marble; each weighing 10-15 tons. The column stands at 100ft (40m) and is famous for it comic strip relief running in a spiral all the way up the column. The relief strip measures 200m long. There are 23 spiral rings that vary in width depending on where they are on the column. Those at the top are broader at 1.2m wide (so they are easier to see from the ground) whilst those at the bottom are 92cm. The spiral relief commemorates Trajan’s two campaigns in Dacia (Romania):
AD101-102 & 105-106. Since there is limited written evidence for these two campaigns. Trajan’s column is the main historical source. These two campaigns represent the moment when the Roman Empire had reached its vastest extent.
The Spiral Relief
The relief is not carved in a true continuous style (it doesn’t tell a continuous story) but rather a pseudocontinuous style (stock scenes or genre scenes convey meaning). Few scenes actually represent an actual historical event. The stock scenes or genre scenes consist of, for example, the Roman army setting out from a city led by the emperor, the emperor addressing the troops adlocatio (on location before the battle), the emperor offering sacrifice, the emperor tearing his own cloak to staunch the blood of a wounded soldier, the army storming a fortress. In the scenes Trajan is everywhere
– as commander, administrator, diplomat, interrogator etc. He has been carved slightly larger than the other figures to make him stand out. He would also have been spotted easily in the painted scenes (because Roman reliefs were painted too) because of his purple toga – the mark of the Emperor. Trajan also appears in heroic isolation in the scenes which stands in sharp contrast to the figure of Decabulus, the Dacian chieftain. The armour and weaponry however of the
Romans and Dacians is historically in accurate. It is Hellenistic. Wheeler says (p.178) it is history scribed around the presence of one great man – the apotheosis of the individual .
The scheme of carving is also of interest. Vertical correspondence is used in order to link scenes of a particular genre along the length of the column. For example scenes of violence like battles and sieges can be viewed in a vertical line from bottom to top. The carving is shallow – 2cm – so as not to break the contour of the shaft. Perspective was sacrificed for the drama of the scenes. Angled perspective is used. Figures in each spiral grow in size the farther up the column the get. The smaller figures are t be found at the bottom and the larger ones at the top of the spiral. The Emperor however is always carved proportionately larger than the figures around him. The higher figures are also carved in slightly higher relief to make them stand out more.
The figures also punctuate a varied and dramatic landscape: hills, rivers, trees, mountain, cities, fields etc. In all there are some 2,500-2,700 figures in the spiral relief. The two campaigns are separated by a Winged
Victory. Trajan himself was responsible for this unrelenting theme.
The pedestal of the column also served as a tomb for Trajan who died unexpectedly in AD117. There is a dedication above the doorway.

ARA PACIS AUGUSTAE
(The Altar of Augustan Peace)
Roman relief sculpture is to be found mainly, but not exclusively, on public monuments – altars, arches, columns – erected to commemorate real historical events , unlike Greek sculpture which depicted scenes from mythology .
In many respects the ARA PACIS AUGUSTAE is the noblest of all Roman public monuments that were adorned with relief sculptures.
The altar was commissioned by the senate to celebrate Augustus’ safe return in 13 BC from a tour of inspection to Spain and Gaul. The foundation ceremony took place on July 4, 13BC and the completed altar was formally dedicated by the senate on January 30, 9 BC.
The altar was originally erected in the Campus Martius (Fields of Mars), an open park north west of the city.
Today it stands on a different site (largely reconstructed by Mussolini), under cover, near the Tiber.
The relief
The exterior walls are divided into two tiers separated by bands of swastikas : symbols of peace. Each wall is bordered by pilasters and framed by an architrave at the top and a stylobate at the bottom. The lower tiers are decorated by relief acanthus leaves and rosette motifs (similar to those on the entablature of the Maison Carée at Nimes). The upper tiers are decorated by relief sculpture.
The altar is accessed by steps leading up to a doorway in the centre of the west wall . This doorway is flanked by two relief panels. To the left of the doorway the poorly preserved Luprecal scene depicts the moment
Romulus and Remus were discovered by the shepherd Faustulus. The right panel depicts an old priest sacrificing a pig with two attendants. The Romans sacrificed a pig for Peace.
The east wall once boasted a relief of Roman sitting on a pile of captured enemy weapons symbolising
Roman military supremacy: the cause of the Pax Augusta (Augustan Peace or Pax Romana – Roman Peace) that the altar commemorates. Little of this relief survives.
The long walls to the north and south however present us with better preserved friezes. The friezes depict a solemn procession from east to west, presumably to the entrance to the altar. The procession is peopled by four sets of Roman dignitaries: Lictors (bearing the fasces rods), priests, senators and statesmen and finally
Augustus’ family.
Wheeler notes the inherent humanity of these people. Despite the solemnity of the scene there is humour mixed in. A child tugs at his father’s toga to be lifted up, whilst senators turn to each other and chat and one women (tentatively identified as Augustus’ sister Octavia) shushes a courting couple behind her. The figures are carved in vivid realism and the folds of their robes are naturalistic.
In a subtle way, the Ara Pacis ties the dynastic claims of the Julio-Claudian clan, to which Augustus and
Caesar belonged, to the ideal of Peace and Roman State religion.