Forum of Trajan Italy

Legendary

A grand Roman imperial forum built by Emperor Trajan.

Photo by Michael Gaylard

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To build this forum, workers removed an entire hillside. They cut away a ridge of land connecting two of Rome's hills and hauled off roughly 300,000 cubic meters of earth.

That's enough soil to fill more than a hundred Olympic swimming pools. All of it was moved by hand, using picks, baskets, and carts.

Emperor Trajan paid for the whole thing with treasure captured in war. His armies had just conquered Dacia, a kingdom covering much of what is now Romania.

The Dacian Wars were fought in two campaigns, from 101 to 102 and again from 105 to 106. Trajan won both, and the forum was built to celebrate it.

His architect was a man named Apollodorus of Damascus. He designed the largest and last of Rome's imperial forums, covering about 25 acres.

The most famous thing standing here is Trajan's Column, dedicated in 113 AD. It rises roughly 35 meters, about as tall as a 12-story building.

Look closely and you'll see the whole surface is covered in carvings. A single band of stone pictures spirals around the column 23 times from bottom to top.

Laid flat, that carved strip would stretch about 190 meters. It contains more than 2,500 human figures and tells the story of the Dacian Wars scene by scene.

There's a catch, though. From the ground you can only see the lowest few loops clearly, and even ancient Romans couldn't follow the story all the way around.

The column was originally painted in bright colors, with real metal weapons fitted into some carvings. Inside, it's hollow, with a spiral staircase of 185 steps climbing to the top.

A statue of Trajan once stood up there. Centuries later it was replaced with a statue of Saint Peter, which is still there today.

Look up at the lowest carvings, where soldiers cross a river on a bridge of boats. Read the inscription on the base, whose letter shapes are still copied by designers making fonts today. Walk over to Trajan's Markets next door, a multi-level complex of brick halls that survives far better than the forum itself.