Reading an Ancient Comic Strip

7 days ago

Trajan’s Column is a 126-foot marble pillar in Rome depicting the Roman emperor Trajan's victories over the Dacians in a spiral frieze.
The column features 2,662 figures in 155 scenes, with Trajan appearing in 58 of them. Viewers were meant to follow the story from bottom to top.
Key scenes could be observed from two main vantage points (A and B in the graphic).
The frieze breakdown includes marches (29%), battles (21%), construction (12%), negotiations (9%), sacrifices (7%), Trajan’s speeches (6%), and events recorded by historians (4%).
Trajan’s army consisted of professional soldiers, auxiliaries, conscripts, and mercenaries from across the empire.
Dacians are depicted wearing trousers, tunics, and cloaks, while their allies, the Sarmatians, are shown in armor.
Sculptors scaled down shields and cut away Roman helmets to reveal more warriors. Dacian helmets appear only as spoils of war.
The article includes contributions from various authors, researchers, and designers, with sources from Jon Coulston and Lynne Lancaster.

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