View Page: Trajan's Column and Forum: Immortality and Memory

	Trajan's Column and Forum: Immortality and Memory
	written by shivali / 09.06.2005

Section Five

5 of 7

Conclusion

Trajan's Column and Forum

The Forum lies mostly in ruins, while much of the Column is well-preserved.

Despite its splendor, only weathered ruins of Trajan's Forum have survived centuries of destruction. The Forum was pillaged for the building of the Arch of Constantine in the 4th Century. Then, a series of earthquakes caused further destruction. In the Middle Ages, much of the marble of the Basilica and the Piazza was removed. However, in 1162, a decree was issued that preserved only the Column; punishment for destroying it was death. Major excavations were conducted by Napoleon from 1811-1814 and Mussolini in 1932. Although Mussolini covered half the Forum with the Via dell Impero, some of the ruins are now visible. The original statue of Trajan which surmounted the top of the column was replaced by Pope Sixtus V in 1588 with a statue of Saint Peter. The column was so unquie that it served as the prototype for a similar column erected for Antoninus Pius and for Marcus Aurelius. Also, the Vendome Column built by Napoleon in Paris to memorialize the Grand Army of France uses the Column of Trajan as a model. The column of Trajan is considered to be one of the most outstanding works of Roman art and historical documentation of military history.

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