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Forum, Markets and Column of Trajan |
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written
by mcwilson / 09.05.2004 |
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Description |
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| Forum Floorplan |
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| Column Interior |
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| Trajan's Markets |
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| Diagram of Interior Spiraling Staircase |
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In the time before Trajan’s rule, the center of Roman politics, business, and ceremony had been the Forum Romanum. Located at the base of the Palatine hill just south of the capital, the Forum Romanum was the first of many fora erected for the use of Roman Citizens. Caesar, Augustus, and Nerva each built new fora to the north east of the Forum Romanum to accommodate the ever growing empire. The empire was growing so quickly that the undertaking of voting, a very important function of the original Forum, was moved to new facilities constructed on the Campus Martius. The Emperor preceding Nerva, Domitian, is believed to have excavated for a fourth forum, which was left as an empty plot upon his death in AD 96. It was within this previous excavation that Trajan built his Forum, which would dwarf those preceding it in size and in grandeur.
Trajan’s Forum took on the tasks of the traditional Forum, but on a much larger scale. This forum, like many before it, exhibited tributes to great Romans. As one might have thought, the greatest honor went to Trajan himself, who was commemorated by an enormous equestrian statue, cast in bronze, gilded, and placed atop a platform in the centre of the Forum’s piazza. This statue was so large that it was never rivaled by succeeding emperors. The base of the statue has recently been discovered in the center of the Forum’s piazza, the size of which indicated that the statue may have been as much as 40 feet tall.
Beyond the piazza to the east was a multi-level market where articles were bought and sold by merchants and Roman citizens. The brickwork comprising this structure has proven quite enduring, and is the best preserved component of the forum with the exception of the Column. The basilica, measuring 395 by 180 feet, dominated the north end of the piazza. This building, which exhibited marble tiling on its ceiling and floors, was roofed by thickly gilded bronze tiles. The interior space would have accommodated a large amount of business, especially that of important Roman trials. The dual apses at each end of the basilica, unusual for such a building, were most likely added for expansion of space available for important business affairs. To the north of the basilica was a much different atmosphere where a small courtyard exists, flanked to the east and west by two libraries (one for Greek, and one for Latin texts), and most likely bordered by an additional temple commemorating Trajan to the north. In this courtyard stands the column of Trajan, a monument standing 150ft tall and consisting of a marble column set upon a massive rectangular base. The column is topped by a gilded statue of the emperor, and accommodates a viewing platform which can be accessed via a spiraling staircase within the column itself.
Columnar monuments were not new to the Romans, but Trajan’s column, which incorporated an interior spiral staircase to provide access to its top, a funerary tomb and a continuous spiraling frieze depicting the Dacian wars to decorate its exterior, was altogether innovative. The use of mythological figures, larger than the others, to break up scenes depicted throughout the spiraling frieze was quite innovative, and aided in the continuity of the frieze. Trajan’s Forum was never rivaled by emperors succeeding him, and stands today as a marvel even in ruins. Much investigation has gone into how the Forum was originally arranged through numerous excavations on the site.
The forum stands in ruins today, but through excavations, archaeologists have deciphered how even the most accessory of statues must have been arranged throughout the structures. The forum was built with several varieties of marble, each with a distinct color and origin. This display of color would have added to the Forum’s ability to showcase the wealth of the Roman people, and more specifically the wealth gained from the Dacian Wars. The marble statues which once stood in the many doorways and arches were sculpted of Dacian soldiers, each with solemn expressions in the recognition of their defeat and servitude to the Roman people. These statues, in addition to the figures sculpted into the many marble faces of the Forum’s structures and column, were once colorfully painted, and would have been appropriate symbols of Roman wealth. The faces of these statues and friezes have been worn with time, and are maybe more emblematic in their current monochromatic tone. The stories illustrated in the marble carvings on the column, and throughout the marble faces of the structures in the Forum can still be deciphered, telling of Roman successes and war travels, as well as incorporating figures of funerary implications. These figures hint at one of the more ambiguous qualities of the Forum, its function as Trajan’s resting place.
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