page_title: Trajan's Column
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Trajan's Column / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: Text on the banner: Dispositione e veduta generale delle machine che servirono per alzare l'obelisco Vaticano (translation: Positioning and overview of the machines that will erect the Vatican obelisk). In 1586, Domenico Fontana erected an Obelisk on Peter's Square in Rome. It took a concerted effort of 900 men and 75 horses and countless pulleys to erect this monument. Deutsch: Text im Banner: Dispositione e veduta generale delle machine che servirono per alzare l'obelisco Vaticano (deutsch: Aufstellung und allgemeiner Überblick der Maschinen, die verwendet werden, um den vatikanischen Obelisken aufzurichten).1586 richtete Domenico Fontana den Obelisk auf dem Peterplatz in Rom auf. Es bedurfte der Zusammenarbeit von 900 Männern, 75 Pferden und unzähliger Flaschenzüge um das Monument aufzurichten.
context_page_description: Trajan's Column is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate. It is located in Trajan's Forum, built near the Quirinal Hill, north of the Roman Forum. Completed in AD 113, the freestanding column is most famous for its spiral bas relief, which artistically represents the wars between the Romans and Dacians. Its design has inspired numerous victory columns, both ancient and modern.
  The structure is about 30 metres in height, 35 metres including its large pedestal. The shaft is made from a series of 20 colossal Carrara marble drums, each weighing about 32 tons, with a diameter of 3.7 metres. The 190-metre frieze winds around the shaft 23 times. Inside the shaft, a spiral staircase of 185 steps provides access to a viewing platform at the top. The capital block of Trajan's Column weighs 53.3 tons, which had to be lifted to a height of c. 34 metres.
context_section_description: It is assumed that the column drums were lifted by cranes into their place. Ancient sources, as well as a substantial body of archaeological evidence, show that Roman engineers were capable of raising large weights clear off the ground. The typical drum of Trajan's Column weighs c. 32 t, while the capital, the heaviest block above the base and pedestal, is even at 53.3 t, which had to be lifted 34 m high. To save weight, the treads had probably been carved out before either at the quarry or in situ.
  Even so, for such loads, the typical Roman treadwheel crane, which could only reach a maximum height of 15 to 18 metres (49–59 feet) in any event, was clearly inadequate. Instead, a tower-like wooden construction was erected around the building site, in the midst of which the marble blocks were raised by a system of pulleys, ropes and capstans; these were powered by a large workforce of men and possibly also draught animals, spread out on the ground. According to modern calculations, eight capstans were needed to hoist the 55 t base block, while the length of rope required for the highest drums measured some 210 metres (690 feet) assuming two-block pulleys.
  Such a lifting tower was later also used to great effect by the Renaissance architect Domenico Fontana to relocate obelisks in Rome. From his report, it becomes obvious that the coordination of the lift between the various pulling teams required a considerable amount of concentration and discipline, since, if the force was not applied evenly, the excessive stress on the ropes would make them rupture. In case of Trajan's Column, the difficulties were exacerbated even further by the simultaneous work on the neighbouring Basilica Ulpia, which limited the available space so that the capstan crews had proper access only from one side.
caption: Erection of the Vatican obelisk in 1586 by means of a lifting tower. A similar arrangement was presumably used for the construction of Trajan's Column, but with less available space and thus manpower.
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2004:04:07 16:40:53", "Image ExifOffset": "156", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "294", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7584", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "842"}