VIII TRAJAN'S COLUMN
(figs 8.ó and Sruoms or Rou¡N ARCHITECTUnn often overlook ¡he tribes piled up like a mountaln of loot Column of Trajan, regarding it as the province of spe- more than a vehicle for cialists in sculpture, history or military matters. Every- Yet the Column is much column one's altention is mesmerized by the extraordinary sculpture. The simple formula of an honoriflc is of some 2oo metre long relief that winds around the shaft' A' masks a building - for that is what it - door, a vesúbule, document of exceptional artistic and historical impor- complexiry incorporating an entrance and a balcony in the form tance, it narrates the story of the Dacian .wars via a a chanber, a stair, windows succession of minutely detailed scenes' embracing not ofa capital. just the military action but a wide spectrum of related right, it has events.l Depictions of the horror of a mass Dacian Marcus Aur mimicked the archi- suicide are contrasted with legionaries tending crops or largely by the reließ, but others 'Works this theme include constructing buildings (fig. 8'¡); thus the propaganda of ,..t,rr. alone. related to London, dozens of war proclaimed the benefìts of a Roman peace' The Wren's Monument to the Fire of paper projects by such archi- pedestal too is covered by sculptural reließ, this time lighthouses, and reams of showing armorial trophies won from the opposing tects as Ledoux and Boullée'2
of the Forum of Trajan' showing che 8.r Forum of Trajan, Rome (ao ro5), view of Trajant Column 8.2 (aboue) Reconslruction to the Basilica Ulpia when seen from looking through the re-erected columns of the Basilica Lllpia ,.htìo.rrh'ip of the Column far end of the main court. façade. ¡he
t6t Pacis or che Temple of Peace even though it was pred_ -t ¡- icated on lìome'.s military prowess just like rhe àther fora), with its rnain axis again parallel ro Caesar,s. Then Domitian transforrned the ancient thoroughfare in the space between the two preceding complexes into the Forum Tiansitorir_rm, a project concluded by Nerva. Although Domitian may have pianned \ ,o^._ a -E thing similar, ir was finally Trajan who complered rhe I 4 sequence with a grandiose conlplex not much smaller - -ii a than all the rest pLrt together. The new forum extended $ the axis of the Temple of peace, while the sense.of tr ÒJi{ r-rnity with the other fora was reinforced by a series _-L of - = ú compositional devices (most notably the exedrae on i Èi the cross-axis), and che reprise of certain key diruen_ i sions like jo, r jo and (fig. 8.+).u È fÌ.3 Scene Â'orrr the shaft of Trajan! Colunn shor,vrng Ronran 4oofr Continuiry is soldiers at work on a building site. also manifest in tenls of the repertoire of prestigious nrarbles strch as giallo antico, africano and pauonazetto (cf. trg. 5.r), and in particular the paving rnotif of large squares framed by relatively narrow bands. 7 Trajant Colun-rn nlerits an ârchitectural / exploration What was che role of the Column in this contexr? \i ri for many reasons. It is the principal remnant ofTiajant Most visitors to Trajan's Forum must have encered !ì0 150 Forum (figs U.r,8.2,8.+,8.S), by 200 all accounrs one of the main porticoed space at che south-east end, lhe most rlagnifìcent places in ancient Rome, if having arrived from the other irnperial fora or Trajant not, in the words of Ammianus Marcellinus,,the most Markecs. Ahead, the Basilica Ulpia presented its iong exquisile strLrcture nnder the canopy of heaven, and side to the viewer, an unnsnal transverse orientation r-rnanimously admired even by che deities themselves,.3 which was possibly derived from the iayout of military It is one of the best preserved of all ancient nlonu_ encampments or Principía.s Such an organization could ments, thanks in part to the technical excellence of its only provide a relatively muted emphasis on the main construction (earthquakes down the years have but axis, and paradoxically - for mosr of ir was out of sighr shifted it half a degree ouc plumb), of in parr ro assid_ - the Column added reinforcement. It heid alofc the uous restorations under Popes Paul III and Sixtus V huge bronze statue ofTiajan, grasping a warrior,s spear (it was the later who claimed it fbr Christianity by and orb, synbol of his inrperíurn, thus giving a theatri- placing a statue Peter of St on the summit, where one cal vertical filiip to the axial progression and signalling of Trajan had originally stood). Another reason for the extension of the complex beyond. This, admittedly, studying Tiajant Column @\rMNt N@Hsrrçoû¡ l-:=ilJ-:- is the opportunity of com_ is a matter of opinion, since rnany reconstructions of paring it wirh Marcus Aurelius'full-size g.rz copy (figs the basilica put its roof high enough eflecrively to and 8.r3).The value of this comparison lies in rhe fact occlude a view of the Column from the main court.6 chat the latter is not a straight reproduction, but a To -y mind a lower level, as proposed byJames packer around fifteen years after the inauguration of the main U.+ (r,rp) Plan of the Forum of Trajan r'r,ith principal dir-uensions thor-rghtful reinterpretarion. The second architect kept and Kevin Sarrinen (figs g.5), ovellaicl. 8.2 and feels more con- complex in trz, a fact that has led many scholars co only what he admired most, changing whar he did nor vincing. At any rate, once inside the basilica the visitor judge it entirely an addition of Hadrian's as opposeci - thus leaving behind a unique cricique by a practis- would fÌ.5 Sectior-ral elevatior-t through the basilica on tlte long axis of have been beckoned by rhe light from the open to just being con-rpleted by hir-n. This supposes thât ing Roman architect. court the Fornn-r of Trajan. around che base of che Column. â temple cannot have been planned for Tì'ajan while Before iooking at rhe Colun-rn in derail, ir rs well According to most reconstruccions, lhis court he was still alive, since emperors were not deified to understand the background of Tiajant Forum as a doubled as a vestibule to the temenos of che Temple uncil after cheir death, and then only upon ratification A related question is che function of the Column whole.This was the culminarion of the so-called impe_ Deified of Trajan and Plotina which concluded the by the Senate.s But others regard it as a logical con- itself when it was dedicated in May rI3. It was to rial fora, the grand sequence of urban set-pieces that north-western end of the project (figs r.6 and g.4), but clusion to the fornm, given chat a temple is the prin- becone Trajan's tomb after his death in tt7, with the took their cue fiom Caesar'.s Forum (fig. r.ó), the orig_ recent investigations have failed to find substructures cipai focus of all the olher imperial fora. According to golden cinerary urn hotlsed stú colururta, probably in inal 'overflow' from the congested republican forum. massive enough to take the temple, leading to the chis line of thinking it must have been planned fi'orn the chamber concealed within the pedestal (figt First came Âugustus', wich its long axis running north_ hypothesis thac this was really at the other end of rhe the outset, on the premise that lhe deifìcation of the 8.ó-9)."' But was this the original intention when east, at right angles to Caesar's, ending in the impos_ forum.i Quite apart from this uncertainty over. its princeps oplinrus, the best of emperors by popr-rlar the forum was initiated?rr Again there is a school of ing Temple of Mars Ulror (fig. 2.4). Sixry or so years location, controversy also surrounds the very concep- consent, was a for:egone conclusion even in the prime thought that holds that the Senatei r-rnprecedented later followed Vespasian's Forum (known as Templum tion of the Traianeum. Ir was not completed until of life.e decision to concede Tiajan burial inside the ciry t6z r63 bounclarics c:ìllllot havc bcclr trikcn cir-rring his lrfòtirtrc. not stâllcl clircctll, ott this spot; instc¡cl it r¡isht bc as r-cpository So clicl thc clranlbcr-st:u't lifc a f
(.t¡ftrrrrrr . ol,sclvt'tl. tlre pll¡crl ;r rrr:¡ol l'ole rn (()nrpo Ìcvcl rvlts arc>uucl 4 lnctlcs lorvcr, :urcl r,vhcn lhc victv sitir>n:rl tcrìirì, r-ciilhr:-cint lhÇ ¡:
il to a semicircle roo feet in radius.2(' Evidently the Colurln was intended to maintain this ther-ne in the il vertical scnse. Most significant of all, Marcus Aurelir-rs' Colnrrrn was known colutrtrta centenariae virtr-re e ts by of its height.27 l)oes r-iot the fact chat it lleasures rooft exactly (z9.6zt'n) suggest that the modei it irritated
Iù should h¡ve been the sall1e, even if in practice it is not? I f, Might tl-rere be a link between the failure to achieve î/t rooft and the inforn-ral character of the scrolled frieze BÀ winding aronnd the shaft, with its ragged borders and lì. ro Colunrn oFTrajan, junction of shaft and toms, cvidence of inprovisation?28 The potential problems r,vith the first r,vindorv (atrthor). The lelative plonri- nence of tlre construction joint ebove is due to the that mighc have incerfered wich the smooth running of effect of spalling ne¡r the surface. the project include the inherenc conflicc of br-rilding
â tor-nb for tajan when he was still alive;2e vacillation lJ. I I Colurrn of TL'ajan, dctail of windor,v erlbra- on che part of a senacorial planning cor.nmittee;3" and surc sccr'r lrorrr inside the steircrrse. two phases of work.3] llut such things are hard to pin down. Could it be that Tì'ajan's builders were simply not worried about exactitude? Inaccui'acies wor-rld r-rultiply if work were rushed - and haste is another explanation sometimes offered for che character of the relief. There is, however, nothing casual or ir-nprovised about the architecture of the Column. The 'feel' of che tlonument is reminiscent of the crisply executed pyramid-tomb of Gaius Cestius, r,vhere the rooft wiclth varies by only z cm in spite of the remarkably shorc colltract period (33o days is citecl in an inscriprion on one side). The carving of the mouldings is of tl-re l-righest quality; the entasis follows a quite definite clesign (fig. 632); the jointing of the blocks is razor sharp (figs 8.ro and 8.rr).The staircase is also a urarvel of precision cngir-icering ancl a quantr,rrl leap in spatial quality cor-npared with earlier examples like those in Tbn-rple A at Selinunce, or later ones like chose in the ìlaths of Diocletian. Its soffit fon.ns a continrlorls sttrûtce, a perfcct helix cornparable witl-r Archin-recles' tl.9 Colurnn of Tlajan, t : t5o and r : loo: (a) Screw.3' of shalt; elevrtion; (b) section; (c) typical plan Tì'ajan',s Coh-rmn, chen, was a highly tuned work of (cl) plan r.ìeìr top of pèdestal; (e) plan rreat a highly gtouncl level proficienc architecc - a nlascer of cor.nposition,
t67 story about Apollodorus' quarrel with Hadrian (chapter a Tuscan column rooft tall (not rooTrft) a square scair for the peclestal, a helical stair for the column (laking the latter rooft tall as well) a slendertress of 8:r, giving a diameter of tzt/rft or zoo digits (as at present) (not I a normal course height of 5 ft 5'ur) a zoft (not zI) exceptionally high qualiry of the stair and Apollodorus' a pedestal zoft wide and tall stair lread ro digits tall (and not ro'¿). I origins in the Levant - assutning to be correct the a rypical I single source that cites Damascus as his native city' In detailed desigr-r, the stair called for Baalbek,Jerash and other nearby siles, scairs consistently Upon embarking on this was the most innova- attained high standards, and ic is notable how rnuch careful attention, given that the project.The sqLlare part care was lavished on lhe staircase in the Niha model tive and complex aspect of particularly hxing, che main requirerllent (fìg. 3.ro).3s In particular,.the monumentai tower- was not matched the height of che altar al Baalbek, with its staircase giving access to the being that the total rise part was Ínore constrained, since -t 1õo- - n+llt ceremonial roof platform (fìg' 8.r8), could have pro- pedestal. The helical ,i øa -lÁa integrity. The vided the inspiration for at least che pedestal part of the shaft had to maintain its scructural by two factors, che the Column. detailed solution was decermined staircase and the number of steps per I The stair certainly merics further scrutiny' It is made width of the I a set of convenient tnea- up of a square part corresponding to the pedestal gyration. Apollodorus chose the core, the stairway and the casing s and thereafter a spiral or, to be more âccurate, a helix surenlents, with zt/, and zft wide (fìgs s.9 and 8.rz). It so happens lhat this helix does starling out at the boctom as 3lr, the other hand, he rejected measure accurately rooft tall, which can hardly be a respectively (fìg. 8.rz). On radial geometries, those with cwelve or I coincidence in che light of all the foregoing observa- the simplest (schemes that can be produced by cions.What is curious here is the fact that the Column, sixteen divisions an equilateral criangle or a square externally, is not the same. While the top of the capital successively bisecting steps were impracticable for the does align with che cop of the stair, che base starts about respeccively). Twelve a person had insufficient head- half a foot below the start of the helix. Moreover, this simple reason chat tail while I uncomfortably tall, is only one of a number of peculiarities' The division room unless the risers were take sixteen would have tnade the stair unnecessarily steep' L between the pedestal and the column does not l was preferred, in spite of piace at a structural joint, breaking the unwritlen rule So a fourteen-part geometry pro- lh"t ,to,l.*ork joints should reflect limits of architec- the fact that it called for a relatively painstaking is impossible lo construct using ruler conic importance. Nor does a joint coincide with che cedr.rre; indeed it result is certainly much transilion between the lwo major components of the and conpasses alone.3t' The ancienc stairways, and slair; that this should occur in the middle of a block more comfortable than mosl modern building codes' is decidedly perverse. As for small-scale dimensions, the conforms well with good. But a fundamental question had yet typical course height is S%ft, nol 5, while that of each So far, so precise relationship of the stair step is consistently roTu digits, not ro. Since everything to be confro.tted, the the rnonument' Detailed exal11- abåur Roman architects' work implies that they had to lhe exterior skin of a serious dilemma little interest in complexity for its own sake, it is ination would have thrown up - at one critical point ín tlte legitimate to wonder if the actual project had its there was irtadequate headroom helical part, since lhe origins in a simpler initial conception, rather as stair.This was not an issue in the with the treads, maintaining e*plor.d in chapter 3. Can a urental autopsy of the soffìt turns automatically passage. Nor was it in the pedestal' månument reveal che original intentions, and why they a constant 7ft tall could be carved out' as it were' were r-nodifìed? where the headroom ÓXI&TÉ ORL{INÂ! IÀVEMINf LEVÉ of from its great mass. The problem arose at che point start transition, or rather at che landing just before the down of the helix. Here the hypothetical prqect broke stereometry and construction. There is no reason to 8.tz (aboue laJt) Coltturtl of Trajan, ctlt sectiotl on elltrance axrs' THE INI'|IAL DESIGN r: too. doubt its traditional attribution to Apollodorus, as part If dimensional simpliciry was indeed Apollodorus' orig- of his responsibiliry for the whole forutn,33 although inal goal, then his sketch design rnight have included chere is no evidence to say that he doubled as master (aboue right) Coluurr of Marcus Aurelius, ctrt section (west- 8.t3 the following characteristics (fìg. 8.r5a): sculptor too.34 If there is any truth in it, Dio Cassius' east), t: too. 169 t ó,S 6'/4 It2
327
il 247 3% tr ¡l z z J J 90+T 61/4 Ít J¡ (.) o O 557 I z o É l F ú Ø Diagonal sect10t.ì pedestal J F 8.r4 chrough the of Trajan's Colun'rn, This last point the understanding the Ø is key to É r :5o: (a) as rmplied by hypothetical initial schen.re; (b) as sr-rbsequenc course che design. ò J executed. of Uncil the r98os,3e few J É scholars paid much attention to the construction of the É Column; the cast in the Victoria and Albert Museum,
for example, faithfully reproduces the sculpted surface I the projecc had reached an advanced stage. He may but edits out the joints. Both Tiajan's Column and its v well have drawn out sections through the Column on Aurelian successor are in fact wonders of heavy engi- the main axes, but in projections like this rhe critical neering. They stand apart from their modern irnitators 'Wren's landing does not appear. In facc the headroom problem chiefly by cheir monolithic character; whereas emerges only in a diagonal section (fig. 8.ra), rhat is Monument in London is made of some five hundred to say in a rype of drawing that no archicect nor- blocks, Trajan's comprises just twenty-nine. Structural mally uses.38 The whole issue probably surfaced when integriry was possibly one consideration in keeping the detailed specifications were compiled for the indi- number of joints to a minimum, but it was no doubt vidual blocks, or even when work was put in hand in also important to bolscer the sense of mass (discussed ø 4. the Carrara quarries themselves. further in chapter ro) and to provide as seamless as a In any event, at sone stage Apollodorus was forced possible a surface for the relief. Accordingly the stair is d to modif' his design. The answer was to increase the hollowed out of drums traversing the entire cross- f height availabie over the critical landing (fig. S.r5b), a section rather than being assembled from separate ele- solucion that dernanded a base at least ófc tall. Once ments for the core, treads and outer ring (fig. S.S). Each A E this decision had been made, it was in rheory possible block comprises half a turn of the stair, a choice that, to keep co che 5 ft modular courses, buc this would have together with the standardization of heighc, facilirated created a joint in the middle of the torus - an unheard serial productioll al lhe quarries.u" For such an enter- Apollodorus' initial idea was surely that the base also of detail (fig. 8.r5c). An alternative would have been prise lo sncceed, one of Apollodorus' most pressing be a single piece of stone - as, significantly, is the case to depart from the module, making che base a'special', casks would have been to evaluate ways of dividing up in Marcus Aurelius' Cohrmn. But che finished weight that is to say a taller block than the rest. This amend- the blocks so chat their weights remained within the of a rrronolichic base 6t/4ft t^lI (this particular dimen- rnent might seell1 a valid alternative, but it accually bounds of feasibility. A 5 ft module generated weights sion matches a whole number of ro digit risers) would raised a difficulty of a diflerent narllre: rhat of tackling that are impressive and yet realistic: about 3z tons be some 9o-9j tons, and subslantially n-rore in its rough the great weight implied. for the drums of the shafc and 55 tons for the capital. state. It seems qnite simply that such monstrolls loads longer aligns with the start of the helical stair. r70 17r lvhile the surviving corner elenrent weighs aronnd roo than or-tc piece. A joirrl was cluly intr-odr"rcccl bctween he ¿lso advised that 'dinrinutions or additions, be tons (fig. tl.r7).uu plintl-r and torus, â position in rvhich it hacl the virtuc ll'iaclc in such a way as t<¡ r'ninin-rize the disruption of With the benefit of the Hellenistic discovely of rhe of being practically invisiblc.At che s¿ìl1tc tirl1e it r-rcatly proportiorlal harn-rony (v,6,1; vr,z,r). The r-noclifiecl nrechanical advantage of pr-rlleys and winches,tt con',- separ-ated the circular monolithic conrscs fi-or¡ che peclcstal respects this doctrinc, for its cubic fornr was bined with their own formidable practicâl expc'rience square bipaltice ones (fig. tl.r5d). retained, albeit with sidcs now nreasr_rring zr ft (includ_ ancl organizational skills, the lìòrlans carre to hanclle ing the plintl-r of the colur-nn base). Other dirrensions giant architravcs, capitals ancl cohrnrn shafts as a lll:ìtter were l'evisccl ir-r syntpathy, so that the reslrlt hacl a certain schizophrenic quality: somc of course. lly chc end of Trajan's rcign 5o toll r1ìono- THE MODIFIEI) I)ESIGN dinrensions fol- lithic shafts were qtrite conllnon, while ones r,veighing lorve c1 thc logic of the original design (being facrors of 'I'hc roo tol-rs were used on r¿ìre occasions (cl-raptcr to, nroclifìcation to che base inevitably callec1 for tl-rc rooft) while others followed rhat of rhc modified one
p. 2og). The largest cornice block known in llomc-, a rvhole colun'rn to bc redesigned (fig. tì.r5e).Thc arith- (beirig, likc zrft, nrultiples of 7fr).'2 The problenl was vestige of the enormolrs Quirinal ter.nple, also r,veighs Dretic that lecl to tlre fina1 oLllcorllc nray bc rccon- harclly an easy one. Apolloclorns had to rcconcilc the not far short of roo tons,4r'a fact that confirl'ns this struclecl ¿rs follorvs: dentands of fornr, theory ancl practicality, dcrnar-ids tl-rat as the notional top limit for'nonlal' I\onran blrilclins happened here to contradict thenrselvcs. Thc hclicai stair cor-rlcl still be rooft tall, but it now operacions. heavier r-rnfinished block known Why clicl Apollodorus only tinker with rhe inirial A is ilr conrprisccl lrillctccr.l blocks of eight risc'rs, plus Proconnesos cluarries, orle thât was probably des- project r:rther than optir-rg for a radic:rl rcdesign? the all extra portioll of the block whlch incluclccl thc Eurperor Theodosius' honorific colulnn.aT l)erhaps he sinrply :igreed with Vitruvir-rs, :rnd rvas tined for A plintl-r ancl thc top of thc peclcstal. nretres (r cli¿rnlctcr and lr:ippy to ¿lcccpt ¿ì collrprollìisct1 sy¡¡¡¡¡y¡¡ia rvl'rcrc cir- sinrplc cyiincicr' 4.45 5 ft) in 3.3 Four steps nrade an appropriatc choicc for this cLllllstallccs clcl'lrancled. lluc ic is also possible that rvot'k nletres tal1, it now wcighs aronncl r4o tonncs, indi- cxtra, bcing ecluivalent to half a regnlar block. cating a final figure in thc rcgion of to5-zo, once rvas alrcady in hand in Carrara beforc he cxlue to This rrakcs a total of r5ó steps (r9 X tì plus 4) for allowance n-rade trirnming exterior and nnderstancl the cricky geolì1etry near the start of thc is for the the helix, rather than tl're róo of thc initial scher.lte. cr-rtting or-rt the stair. The fact that it was abandoncd - l)ivrcling r5ó into the target of tooft yields toZ, ostensibly clr-re to a crack that becalre visrblc during digits for each step, and hence 5'z*ft for each of fabrication ilhlstrates the risks associatecl wich such - the nineteen blocks of the shaft. gargântllen ventLlres. (iu) This schcr.r.rc produccd a 97'/.{t tall colurrn, tÌ. r 6 Dctail of thc sarcophagus of tl're Hater:ii lirr-nily (letc r st The rlaximum capacity of individural sets of heavy centlrry rro), shorving lr cagc r,r,inch in operation.Vatican Museulns. excluding the plinth. 3 ft was an appropriate heighc clury gear (tread-wheel plr"rs plus pulleys lifting winch for the latter (any less rvoulcl havc nracle ic look plus jib) Heavier wâs in the order of 8 tons o. so.ut too flimsy), so the total for ll-re completc cohrmn weights have been nur.nbcr would liftecl by linking a worked oLlt as abor-rt rooZft. were rulecl out for this parcicular project, a decisior-r of sets together, perhaps ir.r conjr-rnclion with collnter- lhat was to brinq ir-ì ìts tlain a whole series of weights. As at any nroclern urban constrr-rctior sitr', At this point it is appropliate to takc note of che little ranrifications. the nrain problen-r here rvas one of logislics. l)orlenico cr-rlved flarc, about half a foot in heighc, at thc botorl A r,veight of this r-nagnitudc uright r.roc at first sight Fontana's treatisc of L59o on the raising of theVatican of the plinth (fig. 8.rz). An nnnsnal featnre, it w¿rs secm lo represent an ir-rsnrmonntable obstacle, bearing obelisk shows jr-rst how vast a surrounding area w¿ìs sr-rrely irrvented so as to elil.ninale thc urain flarv of in mind the scaggering capabilities of the Egypcians and reqr-rired.ae llut the site of Tïajan's Colun-rn was the final schenre. If one mentally exchrdes it, accept- che Phoenicians, and that fact chat the l\orlans ther-n- confined on three sides by the llasilica Ulpia and the ing only the vcrtical face of tl-re plinth as part of the selves shipped several obelisks ofzoo tons or nrore back library wings, so fi'ee space was available on one sidr: colnnrn proper, its height retlrrns to the rooft ideal.5l home, and re-erectecl thenr.al Howevcr, weights like only, towards the Car-r-rpr-rs Martius.Where were nrnlti- That architects shor,rld have botherecl ther.r-rselves wich lhese were never actllai,ly llfted, bnt llan t73 t72 ll. rti Conrel' cornicc block fì'onr the Tertrplc ofJtrpitcr ¡t lla¡lbck. tl.r9 Cut-âwrìy pc'r'spectivc of thc ¡'rronunrcnt:rl altal in fì'ont of Its origìnal \\¡eight \',,1ìs ilr thc rcsion of 97 tons. the Te nrple of Jupiter', lla¡l[¡ck. helix. In fact the charlgc of height fi-onr 5ft to 57rft for as it were, the contortecl jr"rnction between the pcdestal the drr-rms of che shaft was so slight as not to hâve and tlre colun-rr-i 6ese: tlte ltase tuas tnade ottf of one piece. necessitatecl a fi-esh order for aÍìy of these, because he As a rcsr-rh, a joint could now fal1 in its natr-rral posi- would have been able to exploit the practice by which tion, at the jr-rnction between the colurnrn and the large qr-rarry blocks normally hacl a sr-rrph-rs l-nântle of pedestal, and there was uo lor.rgcr any obstacle in the scone, a device which provided both a degree of pro- way of achieving the desired roofi height. This was leclion and a rlargin of tolerallce. On the othc'r hand, rnade possible by carrying che helical scair down to the blocks for the base ancl the upper part of the che ground, a decision that eliminated che headroom peclestal would have been ordered afresh, offering a probleri encoLlntered in,\pollodorus' prqect. potential reason why the Cohrr.nn was inar-rgurated The combined effect of keeping the base block co sonlc sixteen r-nonths later chan the rest of Trajan's the norrlal modr-rle, and carving tl-re flare of the shaft Forurl. frolr the same block, r-nade the base itself reiacively In conclusion, it is interesting co see how the archi- squat. Its widch too w¿rs made less than its equivalent tect of the Aurelian Cohrmn jr-rdged Apollodorus' at Tì-ajan's Colurrn, helping to keep the weight of rvork. If illitation is the besc forrr of flattery, then the the block within feasible bounds (around 7o cons).The new project was flattery indced. It repeats the main visual eflect may be less satisfactory, buc it is hardly cat- elelnents of Trajant Colurr.nn: the square pedestal, the astrophic; the architect lllust have considered this a Tlrscan column, [he narrative scroll ancì the helical stair price worth paying for the realization of one of the rising to a capital-clrln-balcony at the top. The proto- fundarnental airls of che whole enterprise, the coluntna type was reproc|-rced wich che same cross-seclion, the centenariae. Perhaps Apollodorr-rs wor-rlci have disagreed, sane fourteen steps per tLrrr], ancl the sal-ne block jr-rdging, in syn-rpathy rvith Vitruvius' ideas, that it rvas height (fig 8. r3), constitLrring perhaps the 1r1ost r-nore impor-tant for s)Ìrttnletrid to bend to urility and r-rnashar.ned instancc of copying in the tvhole hiscory beauty ancl not tire other way around. History has of Roman architecture. come dolvn on the side of Apollodorus; when later Horvever, some changes were introduced. The archicects canle to imitate the concept of the colurnn- sculptecl scroll was giver-r fer,ver tnrns ancl greater deptl-r cum-stair-tower, it was always lo Trajan's Column - in relief, making its contents ruore legible fronr a dis- and not its lrore predictablc successor - that they tance; the pedestal (and so the lronnment as a whole) lookc'd for inspiration. r,vas made tallcr; the capital was rvider.recl so as to creatc a rnore substar-rcial vier'ving platforrr, reaching the forrrridable weight of ton (fig. 8.r7).sr An apparently 7z 8.zo (.1àdn2 pagc) Flank of thc Tenrple of Jupiter at Uaalbek r-ninor and yet very sigr-rificauc modification corrected, (begun early fiL'st century ,ru). t74