Trajan's Forum: A Historical Report on Roman Architecture and Design

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Trajan's Forum, a significant architectural achievement of the Roman civilization located in Rome, Italy. The report begins with an executive summary and table of contents, followed by an introduction that establishes the forum as a historical artifact representing a specific time period. The discussion section details the physical description of the forum, including its dimensions, construction, and key features such as the piazza, markets, temples, and libraries. It also explores the role of the artifact, explaining its construction under Emperor Trajan after the Dacian wars and the extensive excavations required. Furthermore, the report highlights the significance of the forum, including its association with Apollodorus of Damascus, the preservation of Trajan's ashes, and the changes in its archaeological significance over time. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the forum's importance as a testament to Trajan's conquests and architectural prowess. The report includes references to scholarly sources to support its findings.

Running head: TRAJAN’S FORUM
Trajan’s Forum
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1TRAJAN’S FORUM
Executive summary
The following report discusses about the classical monument Trajan’s Forum. The chosen
country is Rome. In addition, this report includes various parameters to describe the artifact like
its physical architecture and location. In addition, its significance and the reason for its
development is also depicted in this report.

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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Discussion:.......................................................................................................................................3
1. Physical description:................................................................................................................3
2. Role of the artifact:..................................................................................................................4
3. Significance:............................................................................................................................6
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................7
References:......................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction:
An artifact or monument is used to represent a unique piece of collection that signifies
history pertaining to a certain time period. Most artifacts have a deep meaning while most others
are used to represent history itself. This report thus discusses about the Trajan’s Forum
architecture of the Roman civilization. This report is also used to discuss about the physical
architecture and the role of it in the modern century. In addition, it also shows the physical
significance it made.
Discussion:
This section discusses about the main sections of the report.
1. Physical description:
The dimension of the architecture is 980 feet in length and 607 feet in breadth. The
building was made in the 110 AD. The current location of the architecture is in Rome, Italy. The
structure of the architecture consists of a piazza that is portico-lined1. The entrance to the main
gate of the Forum is present at the north end side which was made with white marble blocks of
rectangular shape. It was also supposedly constructed with a large statue of Trajan. In addition,
markets surround the Forum on either side of it.
In the northern side of the piazza, a temple is situated facing the inside direction made for
Trajan. However, the presence and the location of the temple is a matter of debate among the
1 Bakshi, A., 2014. Urban form and memory discourses: Spatial practices in contested cities. Journal of Urban
Design, 19(2), pp.189-210.

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archaeologists and the scholars. In addition, there were two libraries on the both side of the
Forum in the north of the Basilica Ulpa. In between these libraries, the structure includes the
famous Trajan’s Column which is supposed to be 125 foot.
Figure 1: Physical description
(Source: Bakshi 2014, pp. 199)
2. Role of the artifact:
The Trajan’s Forum was built due to the order given by the emperor Trajan. This was
mainly done after the conclusion of the war of Dacia. The conclusion was made in 106.
However, the Fasti Ostienses supposedly claimed that the inauguration of the Forum was made

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in the year 112. This was followed with the development of the Trajan’s Column which. The
Column of Trajan was made in the year 113.
The Trajan’s Forum building demanded a great site evaluation to build a monument of
that scale. This made a pre-requisite for extensive excavations 2. The workers who were
responsible for the Trajan’s Forum made the sides of the area to be reduced by considering the
hills of Quirinal and the hills of Capitoline. This was the sole reason for the valley to be closed.
Along with this, the Imperial forums were responsible for occupying the Campus Martius.
Figure 2: Role of Trajan’s Forum
2 Chenault, Robert. "Statues of senators in the Forum of Trajan and the Roman Forum in late antiquity." The Journal
of Roman Studies102 (2012): 103-132.

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(Source: Demetrescu 2015, pp. 45)
3. Significance:
The main architecture of the Trajan’s forum was made by the Trajan emperor. The
excavations of the site were made by Emperor Domitian. The project of architecture of such
massive scale was completely made by the Apollodorus of Damascus. He was considered a great
architect of that time. The Apollodorus of Damascus was also associated with the Emperor
Trajan as the emperor was associated with him. Their main war campaign was the Dacian
Campaign which was completed by Trajan.
The main significance of the Trajan’s Forum includes the death of the Trajan Emperor.
After the death of the Trajan Emperor and being deified by the Senate of Rome, the ashes of the
Emperor was saved inside an urn made of gold3. The urn was then entombed in the base of the
Column. This is the major significance of the Trajan’s Forum which still shows the history of the
Trajan Emperor.
The 9th century signified the change in the archaeological significance. The marble from
the blocks of the piazza was taken for being re-used in the commercial area. This was mainly
done as the material that was used for building was of high quality in nature 4. After this, the
3 Demetrescu, Emanuel. "Archaeological stratigraphy as a formal language for virtual reconstruction. Theory and
practice." Journal of Archaeological Science 57 (2015): 42-55.
4 Marra, F., E. d'Ambrosio, M. Gaeta, and M. Mattei. "Petrochemical identification and insights on chronological
employment of the volcanic aggregates used in ancient roman mortars." Archaeometry 58, no. 2 (2016): 177-200.

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pavement of the piazza was supposedly made in wrought iron. This was done to use the piazza as
a historical significance which can be used for public uses.
Conclusion:
Thus, it can be concluded from the report that the Trajan’s Forum was considered a great
piece of architecture. It was done to signify the conquest of the Trajan Emperor. The war which
led to the development of this foundation was the war of Dacia. Along with this, the architect
responsible for the designing of this infrastructure, Apollodorus of Damascus, was also
associated to the war of Dacia and emerged victorious.

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References:
Bakshi, A., 2014. Urban form and memory discourses: Spatial practices in contested
cities. Journal of Urban Design, 19(2), pp.189-210.
Chenault, Robert. "Statues of senators in the Forum of Trajan and the Roman Forum in late
antiquity." The Journal of Roman Studies102 (2012): 103-132.
Demetrescu, Emanuel. "Archaeological stratigraphy as a formal language for virtual
reconstruction. Theory and practice." Journal of Archaeological Science 57 (2015): 42-55.
Hekster, Olivier. "Son of two fathers? Trajan and the adoption of emperorship in the Roman
Empire." The History of the Family 19, no. 3 (2014): 380-392.
Marra, F., E. d'Ambrosio, M. Gaeta, and M. Mattei. "Petrochemical identification and insights on
chronological employment of the volcanic aggregates used in ancient roman
mortars." Archaeometry 58, no. 2 (2016): 177-200.
Stephenson, John W. "The Column of Trajan in the light of ancient cartography and
geography." Journal of Historical Geography 40 (2013): 79-93.