Ancient Tuesday: The Column of Trajan

It is amazing that the Column of Trajan still stands! Trajan was emperor, for simplicity's sake, in the year 100, and he is considered one of the "five good emperors". (His actual dates of reign are 98 - 117 AD.) The column is intricately carved with his military exploits in a spiral the length of the column. How would these have been viewed? At the time of the construction, this was part of a large complex, and, among other buildings, this would have stood between two libraries - one Greek and one Latin. You would have seen the scenes as you walked through these buildings that surrounded the column. (Casts of the column are displayed at eye level in the Museum of Roman Civilization, but that museum has been "under renovation" since 2014.)

The column has a staircase in the center, and, although closed to the general public, it is large enough to enter and climb to the top.

And, despite being a heavily touristed area, there are several reasonable places to grab a bite to eat.

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Are you interested in seeing this?

• Yes!
• If there is time.
• It doesn't really call to me.