Departure across the Danube
Column for Trajan, detail of Roman army departing across Danube River in lower relief of column. 1
One important scene on Trajan’s column is located in the spiral immediately above the base. It grants passersby the unusual ability to observe the tableau from the ground. The scene depicts Roman legions crossing a pontoon bridge over the Danube River during the First Dacian War. As was typical of Roman reliefs, there is no true scale, but the main focus is set on the River Danube personified looking upon the army somberly. He is bearded with wild hair and stands in mythical size. Romans often mixed the supernatural and reality in sculptures like this, especially when portraying conquered lands.
The bridge creates a division between Roman and Dacian territories. The wooden architecture and pegged houses of the Dacian side are a stark comparison to the Romans’ sturdy stone buildings. 2 The distinction implies that the Dacians were a primitive people and that architecture held importance and status in the Roman view of the world. This scene works to greaten the sense of victory and superiority felt within the Roman community under Trajan’s leadership and rule.
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1. “Column for Trajan Danube departure,” Piranesi in Rome, accessed October 6, 2016, http://omeka.wellesley.edu/piranesi-rome/admin/items/show/36.
2. Thill, Elizabeth Wolfram. "Civilization Under Construction: Depictions of Architecture on the Column of Trajan." AJA American Journal of Archaeology 114, no. 1 (2010): 27-43.