Trajan's Column

This guide to Trajan's Column in Rome follows the spiral frieze wrapping the shaft, carved to commemorate Trajan's conquest of Dacia in the early second century, with thousands of figures narrating the campaign scene by scene. It traces how the column came to hold Trajan's own ashes, an exception to Rome's ban on burial within the city walls, and introduces the Dacian king depicted near the top of the frieze. Look up as you walk around the base to follow the story from bottom to top.