145
Wonderful ‘Trajan’s Column’ Denarius
3150
Trajan. Silver Denarius (3.31 g), AD 98-117.
Rome, ca. AD 113/4. IM[P TR]AIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P,
laureate and draped bust of Trajan right.
Reverse:
S P Q R OPTI-MO PRINCIPI, Trajan’s Column: tall column with diagonal
bands representing friezes surmounted by statue of Trajan holding patera and long scepter; base with entrance and two eagles,
one on either side of column. RIC 292; Woytek 425a; BMC 452; RSC 558. Well struck and well centered. Luster still present and
delicately toned. An exceptional example of this popular and scarce type.
Nearly Mint State.
Trajan’s column, completed during his sixth consulate about eight years after his final conquests over the Dacian’s under
their king Decebalus in AD 106, was an inspiring monument located in Trajan’s forum in Rome. A flank of the Quirinal
Hill had to be excavated to a height of 120 feet to make room for the forum, and it appears that originally the col-
umn was simply a marker of the depth of excavation that was required, the notable frieze being a mere afterthought.
The column itself consists of seventeen marble drums, each over four feet tall, overlaid with a frieze approximately three feet
wide and 656 feet long spiraling diagonally twenty-three times around the shaft from its base to its summit. The action of the
frieze, which is continuous and is divided by conventional uprights such as a tree, a wall or a standing figure, shows 165
episodes of the campaign, and includes more than 2500 human figures. It chronicles Trajan’s campaigns in Dacia, and is
divided in half, the first representing the First Dacian War of AD 101-102, the latter the Second Dacian War of AD 105-106.
Surmounting the whole structure was a statue of the emperor, which disappeared during the Middle Ages but which was re-
placed in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V with a bronze statue of St. Peter. In addition to providing entrance to the column, which con-
tains an internal helical stairway to its summit, the base served as sepulcher housing the remains of Trajan and his wife, Plotina.
Estimated Value .............................................................................................................................................................$3,000 - 3,500
Ex NAC 40 (16 May 2007), 699.
