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View looking west at the base of the Column of Trajan. The relief on the base depicts piles of captured Dacian arms and armor—one of the major accomplishments of Trajan was defeating the Dacians.
Notice the door that leads into the base. Ultimately the ashes of Trajan and his wife Plotina were interred here. The Latin inscription above the door reads in part:
The Senate and people of Rome [give or dedicate this] to the emperor Caesar, son of the divine Nerva, Nerva Traianus Augustus Germanicus Dacicus . . . to demonstrate of what great height the hill [was] and place[that] was removed for such great works." Wikipedia
The column of Trajan is 125 ft. high and is composed of twenty-nine huge blocks of white marble: 8 for the base, 19 for the column, and 2 for the pedestal on top. It is now crowned with a statue of Saint Peter—installed 1588—but it once supported a 16 ft. bronze statue of Trajan. There is an interior spiral staircase that leads to the top—with 40 narrow windows that "illuminate" the interior. On the top, there was, and is, a platform upon which about 15 people can stand.
