Trajan's Column

Trajan’s Column is a monument in Rome built to commemorate the victory of emperor Trajan over the Dacians, who lived in a territory that approximately overlaps today’s Romania. It was inaugurated in the year 113 of our era in Trajan’s Forum.

It is 100 roman feet tall (nearly 98 ft, or 30 meters ) and is made of marble from Luni near Carrara. The total length of the bas-relief frieze, which spirals upwards, is of about 656 ft (200 meters). The base of the column was designed to contain the funeral urns of Trajan and his wife Plotina.

It was a very imposing and ambitious project at the time and much more so than any other commemorative column that had been raised to that date. Its design was very influential inspiring many other monuments, among which are the column of Theodosius in Constantinople, Karlskirche in Vienna, and the Vendôme column in Paris.

The caption reads in the original French: La colonne Trajane, à Rome.