Trajan

Examples of Trajan in the following topics:

• Victory Columns under the Nervan-Antonines

  • Trajan established large building programs both in Rome and throughout the empire.
  • Standing between the libraries of the Forum of Trajan is a 128 foot tall victory column, known as the Column of Trajan.
  • The pedestal later served as a tomb for Trajan's ashes upon his death and deification.
  • Trajan's victory column was originally topped by an eagle and later with a statue of Trajan.
  • Detail of five registers or bands from the Column of Trajan.

• Architecture under the Nervan-Antonines

  • Trajan's Forum was the last of the imperial fora to be built in the city.
  • Trajan built his forum with the spoils from his conquest of Dacia.
  • The markets follow the shape of the Trajan's forum.
  • He designed Trajan's forums and markets, the Arch of Trajan at Benevento, and an important bridge across the Danube during the campaigns against the Dacians.
  • Discuss Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Markets, Hadrian's Pantheon, and Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli.

• Military Successes of the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

  • After Nerva's short rule, his adoptive heir Trajan, a popular military leader, ruled as emperor from 98 to 117 AD.
  • With Trajan's troops pressing towards the Dacian capital Sarmizegetusa Regia, Decebalus once more sought truce terms.
  • In response Trajan again marched into Dacia, besieging the Dacian capital in the Siege of Sarmizegetusa, and razing it.
  • Trajan announced 123 days of celebrations throughout the Empire.
  • Hadrian had already surrendered Trajan's conquests in Mesopotamia, considering them to be indefensible.

• The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

  • These emperors are Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, and Commodus.
  • The rulers commonly known as the "Five Good Emperors" were Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.
  • After some deliberation, Nerva chose Trajan, a young and popular general, as his successor.
  • After barely fifteen months in office, Nerva died of natural causes on in 98, and upon his death, he was succeeded and deified by Trajan.
  • Trajan was Roman emperor from 98 CE until his death in 117 CE.

• Architecture under Hadrian

  • Like Trajan before him, the emperor Hadrian had a long and successful career as an emperor of Rome, reigning from 117 to 138 CE.
  • The Arch of Trajan in Benevento draws visual cues from the Arch of Titus at Rome.
  • Like the Arch of Titus, the Arch of Trajan is ornately decorated with scenes of conquest and the deeds completed by Trajan.
  • The two interior relief panels depict the religious activity of Trajan.
  • The other panel depicts Trajan being welcomed after his apotheosis by the Capitoline Triad.

• Imperial Sculpture under the Nervan-Antonines

  • Since he had no natural sons of his own, Nerva adopted a young and popular general, Trajan, to be his successor.
  • The portraiture of Nerva and later Trajan display an increasing militaristic look.
  • Nerva's successor and adopted son Trajan was a much more successful emperor who was well liked by both the Senate and the people of Rome.
  • Hadrian, Trajan's adopted son and heir, peacefully became emperor in 117 CE.
  • Trajan's wife Pompeia Plotina and his niece Matidia established a new style that was almost an abstraction of the Flavian style.

• The Antonines

  • This is modeled on Trajan's column and was originally erected on the Campus Martius between the Temple of Divine Hadrian and the Temple of Divine Marcus Aurelius.
  • Despite the similar military scenes, the artistic style of the Column of Marcus Aurelius differs greatly from the Column of Trajan.
  • The extra-large heads and deep relief carving were utilized so that the figures were easier to see from the ground than those on Trajan's column.
  • The military strength of the empire is emphasized more so than on the Column of Trajan where the majority of the scenes depict the preparation for battle, instead of the battles themselves.

• Art and Culture Under the Nerva-Antonines

  • Trajan was known for his philanthropic rule, overseeing extensive public building programs and implementing social welfare policies, which earned him his enduring reputation as the second of the Five Good Emperors who presided over an era of peace and prosperity in the Mediterranean world.
  • The care bestowed by Trajan on the managing of such public spectacles led the orator Fronto to state approvingly that Trajan had paid equal attention to entertainments as well as to serious issues.

• The Empire Style

  • It was modeled after Trajan's Column, to celebrate the victory of Austerlitz.
  • However, while Trajan's Column was sculpted from marble, the veneer the Vendôme Column consists of of 425 spiraling bas-relief bronze plates was made from cannons taken from the combined armies of Europe, according to his propaganda.

• Ostia

  • Trajan enlarged a second harbor, known as Portus, just to the north of Ostia.
  • When Trajan expanded Portus, he had a canal constructed between the harbor and the river Tiber that turned the area of the necropolis into an island.