Traces of colouring have been found in the crevices of the carving, from which has been deduced this coloured reconstruction (seen in displays at Lunt Fort, whose reconstructed fort is based on the column's reliefs).
The structure is about 30 meters (98 ft) in height, 38 including its large pedestal. The shaft is made from a series of 18 colossal Carrara marble drums, each weighing about 40 tons, with a diameter of about 4 metres (13 ft). The 200 meter (656 ft) frieze winds around the shaft 23 times. Inside the shaft, a spiral staircase of 185 stairs provides access to a viewing platform at the top.
According to coins depicting the column, it was originally topped with a statue of a bird, possibly an eagle,·IMP··COS··P·P AD·DECLARANDVM·QVANTAE·ALTITVDINIS MONS·ET·LOCVS·TANTIBVS·SIT·EGESTVSTranslated, the inscription reads:
The Senate and people of Rome [give or dedicate this] to the emperor Caesar, son of the divine Nerva, Nerva Traianus Augustus Germanicus Dacicus, pontifex maximus, in his 17th year in the office of tribune, having been acclaimed 6 times as imperator, 6 times consul, pater patriae, to demonstrate of what great height the hill [was] and place [that] was removed for such great works.
It was believed that the column was supposed to stand where the saddle between the Capitoline and Quirinal Hills used to be, having been excavated by Trajan, but excavation has revealed that this is not the case. The saddle was where Trajan's Forum and Trajan's Market stood. Hence, the inscription refers to the Trajan's entire building project in the area of the Imperial fora.
Base of Trajan's Column around 1860
This is perhaps the most famous example of Roman square capitals, a script often used for stone monuments, and less often for manuscript writing. As it was meant to be read from below, the bottom letters are slightly smaller than the top letters, to give proper perspective. Some, but not all, word divisions are marked with a dot, and many of the words, especially the titles, are abbreviated. In the inscription, numerals are marked with a titulus, a bar across the top of the letters. A small piece at the bottom of the inscription has been lost.
The modern computer typeface "Trajan," designed in 1989 by Carol Twombly (who worked for Adobe Systems and for Bigelow & Holmes), uses letterforms based on this inscription.
It was traditionally thought that the Column was a propagandistic monument, glorifying the emperor's military exploits. However, the structure would have been generally invisible and surrounded by other buildings in Trajan's Forum, and because of the difficulty involved in following the frieze from end to end, it is now considered to have had much less propaganda value. Based on the inscription, the column may have been a measuring guide for the construction of the forum.
After Trajan's death in 117, the Roman Senate voted to have Trajan's ashes buried in the Column's base in a golden urn. (The ashes no longer lie there.)
Image:Traj col exhibit 1.jpg|Plaster casts of Trajan's Column displayed at National Museum of Romanian HistoryImage:Trajan's Column V&A casts 001.jpg|V&A cast courtImage:Cast Court from upper walkway.JPG|Cast court from upper galleryImage:Inside the cast of Trajan's column.JPG|Inside the cast at the V&APlaster casts of the relief were taken in the 19th and 20th centuries. Ironically, after a century of acid pollution, they are now more legible in some details than the original and , even when not, offer students a closer look at the reliefs because of the way they are displayed. Examples can be seen at: *Museum of the Roman Civilization, where each 'frame' of the narrative has been cut into a separate section and the sections are then displayed horizontally in order *National Museum of Romanian History, Bucharest, Romania; displayed horizontally in segments[1]. *the Cast Courts at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Displayed in column form and including the base, the column is chopped into two halves
