Dacians In Roman Sculpture And Where Can We See Them Today

The influence of the Column of Trajan, both in terms of its technical and artistic achievement, has occupied a significant place, it serving as a model for creating other commemorative columns, since antiquity to the present day :

Column of Antoninus Pius (Columna Antonini Pii) - in 161 AD Marcus Aurelius (Marcus Anninus Catilius Severus) (Marcus Aelius Aurelius Antoninus - after adoption by Antoninus Pius) and Lucius Verus (Lucius Ceionius Commodus Verus) (Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Verus - after adoption by Antoninus Pius) decide to carry out a column in memory of Antoninus Pius (Titus Arrius Antoninus Aurelius Fulvius Boionius) (Titus Aelius Antoninus Hadrianus - after adoption) and his wife Annia Galeria Faustina (called Faustina Maior); the monument was erected on the Campus Martius¹ in Rome in 161 AD in the proximity of the future Column (193 AD) of Marcus Aurelius.

The column spindle was carved in polished red granite (without carved reliefs), and in the top is the statue deified emperor. Of this monument only the base carved in white marble and a few fragments of granite columns have been preserved that currently are in the Vatican Museum. On this basis there are represented: an dedication inscription, the scene apotheosis of Antoninus Pius besides Faustina I and two identical reliefs representing a military parade.

The column diameter was 1.90 m and its height was of 14.75 m (approx.23 m with the pedestal and the emperor’s statue)².

Column of Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD) – a monument made of Luna marble (currently Carrara) raised in Rome in 193 AD.

Currently the Column is in the Colonna Square. Architecturally the Column of Marcus Aurelius was modeled after Trajan's Column, it having a height of 100 feet (about 29. 601 m). It was restored in the XVIth century by the architect Domenico Fontana who, by order of Pope Sixtus V (1585-1590), placed on top of the column the statue Apostle Paul; a statue representing Marcus Aurelius was placed on the column. The surface of the Column is carved in altorelief on a spindle without entasis (the thickened zone of a column curved in the middle)³. The history of the reliefs represent the emperor's military campaigns against the coalition of Germanic peoples united with the Dacians north of the Danube, narrated in 116 scenes conducted on 21 spirals. The Column pedestal height measures approx. 12 m⁴

Goths Column was made between 268 and 337 AD, dimensions: 15 m, in Constantinople, now Istanbul, Gülhane Park (Turkey);

Goths Column is a monument dedicated to the Roman victory in IIIrd or IVth century AD, against the Goths. Currently this Column is in Gülhane Park, Istanbul (Turkey).

It is one of the oldest columns coming from the Roman period, carved from a single block of proconnesium marble (the quaries in the island of Prokonnesos, Marmara) and is decorated with a Corinthian column head. Due to the inscriptions mentioning the celebration of victory over the Goths, this monument was called Goths Column. The Column is 15 m height and is placed on a small base.

Perhaps this monument was erected in honor of the victories of the emperors Claudius II Gothicus (268-270 AD) or Constantinus I (Constantine the Great, 306-337 AD) against the Goths.

A column called Pompey’s column (Pompeius Magnus, Cnaeus), Alexandria (Egypt), 26.85 m (in its entirety: the base, the column and the column head;

In reality, it is about a column of red Assouan granite, approx. 27 m high, erected at Alexandria in 297 AD in the honor of Emperor Diocletianus (284-305 AD), following the victory obtained in the year 296 AD against Achilleus Aurelius (a Roman usurper, 294-297 AD), after the siege of Alexandria.

In the top of the column a statue should have had to be found, since the Corinthian column head has a recess (groove).

Column of Constantinus I (Flavius Valerius Constantinus), Costantin the Great (306-337 AD;

This commemorative column was erected by Constantine I in 330 AD in his forum in Constantinople. Originally the monument was made of a base supporting a column of consisting of 8 porphyry reels. At the top of the column a socle-column head was placed, on which a statue of Constantine represented as Apollo-Helios was placed: the Emperor held in his right hand a spear and a globe in his left hand, and he has on his head a crown with seven rays; this image is represented on coins from the reign of this emperor.

The height of the column alone is of 23.40 m and the height of the entire monument, together with the contained statue, should have had approx. 37 m The base of the statue was provided with an inscription.

In 1106 the statue falls from the top of the column due to wind, and later the Emperor Manuel I Comnenos (1143-1180) will order the restoration of the monument which he will crown with a cross.

"Column" of Theodosius I (Flavius Theodosius) the Great (379-395 AD) made in Constantinople, is in fact an Egyptian obelisk of Thoutmôsis III, from the temple of Amon-Rê at Karnak, set on a base carved in the period of Theodosius I; the entire monument is located in the Hippodrome of Constantinople (now Istanbul). This obelisk was transported from Egypt to Italy during the reign of Emperor Constantius II (337 - 361 AD), together with another one that currently is placed in the Piazza di S. Giovanni in Laterano (Rome). During the reign of Theodosius I, one of the two obelisks was finally brought to Constantinople to be part of his monument, erected in 390 AD. The obelisk is made of reddish nuance granite that comes from the quarries in Aswan (in southern Egypt). The bottom of the obelisk is missing, it being broken, he currently has only 18.54 m (or 19.6 m) of its original height (about 30 m like the obelisk of the Laterano), and the whole monument with the pedestal is 25, 6 m height. The obelisk is separated, and at the same time attached to the pedestal with four bronze cubes of 0.45 m. The marble pedestal presents historical and iconographic scenes of a great interest. Various scenes can be seen: Emperor Theodosius I in the imperial box, surrounded by the members of his court, offering the laurel crown to the winner at the races, in a setting of arches and Corinthian columns. Many people are present at the ceremony accompanied by musicians and dancers. At the bottom (right) side of the scene the hydraulic organ of Ctesibios (IIIrd century BC - Alexandria) is noticed, and to the left, another instrument, more difficult to be identified, probably also a variant of this musical instrument; other scenes: races of chariots drawn by horses; the emperor assists surrounded by family and the military; various submissed, vassal peoples, bring gifts (tribute) to the emperor. Likewise, the obelisk base has two inscriptions (one in Latin and one in Byzantine Greek) that are very well preserved.

Iconographice issues: carefully considered these reliefs show some interesting aspects. The entourage of Theodosius, the many soldiers who closely protect the Roman emperor. Their faces show a close resemblance to the portraits of Geto-Dacians on Trajan's Column and the statues represented in the sculptures that were made for the Forum of Trajan in Rome, between 106 - 112 AD.

Column of Arcadius (Flavius Arcadius), 395-408 AD ;

The Column of Arcadius is a triumphal column erected in 401 AD in the Forum of Arcadius at Constantinople to commemorate the victory of this emperor against the party of the Goths of Gaïnas (a Gothic general), who died in the year 400 AD

Therefore, as the group of the Goths in Constantinople was disbanded, Arcadius celebrates this victory ordering this monument to be erected in forum that bears his name. The column reliefs represented the run and the defeat of the Goths of Gaïnas.

The scenes of the reliefs were only completed in 421 AD, long after the death of Arcadius in 408 AD, and the monument was therefore dedicated to the new emperor, his son, Theodosius II Flavius (408-450 AD).

Very much inspired by these, the Column of Arcadius continues the tradition of triumphal columns of Rome, after Trajan's Column and the column of Marcus Aurelius.

The column was destroyed in the XVIth century and only the base of the monument exists. The detail of the reliefs of the spindle of the Column was however preserved due to a series of drawings made in 1575. It was carved out in serpentine, and the socle in red granite.

Column of Marcianus (450-457 AD), Constantinople;

The column of Marcianus is a monument made (between 450 - 457 AD) in Constantinople by the prefect of the city of Tatianus and dedicated to the Byzantine Emperor Marcianus.

The spindle of the column is in red-gray granite from Egypt. The square base, consisting of four slabs of white marble of Corinthia (Korinthos, Greece), is adorned with the sign of the Greek cross in medallions on three sides, and two representations of geniuses who bear a globe on the fourth side. At the top of the column is a Corinthian head (Corinthia marble) which is placed on a pedestal which very probably supported the statue of Marcianus.

The metallic circles for supporting and strengthening the column are recent. The entire monument has a total height of about 14-15 m

The inscription carved on the northern side of the base, which initially were bronze letters inlaid in the marble block indicates:

[Pr]INCIPIS HANC STATVAM MARCIANI

CERNE TORVMQVE

[Praef]ECTVS VOVIT QVOD TATI[anus]

... OPVS

"Look at this statue of Emperor Marcianus and at the column: it is the work that was dedicated to him by prefect Tatianus".

The topography of the streets and squares of Istanbul has changed more or less because of frequent fires, but this column has remained for centuries in the garden of a large building. In 1908, after the great destruction caused by a huge fire, the topographic plan of the borough where the column is currently placed was changed so that the monument to remain in the midst of a square.

Column of Iustinianus (Flavius Petrus Iustinianus Sabbatius), or Iustinianus the Great, emperor between 527-565;

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Overthrown by the Ottomans in the sixteenth century;

The Column of Iustinianus was a monument in Constantinople, dating from the VIth century, which was destroyed by the Ottomans after the conquest of the city. Built between 543-545 in Constantinople in the closed market called Augustaion in the honor of the emperor's victory against the "barbarians", the column highlighted at its top the equestrian statue of the Byzantine Emperor Iustinianus; it was destroyed by soldiers of Mehmet II, the statue was melted and the column was demolished around 1515.

This monument has been described in detail by the Byzantine historian Procopius of Cesarea (Prokopios Kaisareús) in De Ædificiis (1.2.11-12).

Column of Phocas (Columna Phocatis); year 608;

Columna Phocatis is a column memorial located in the Forum in Rome, of the Corinthian order, with a height of about 13.6 m. It bears the name of the Byzantine Emperor Phocas (Flavius Phocas Augustus, emperor between 602-610). The Column of Phocas is built on rosta⁵ in 608 by the exarch (governor) of Ravenna, Smaragdus (602-611), in order to support a statue of the emperor; the Column of Phocas is the last monument built in the Forum Romanum.

Saint Bernward column; at Hildesheim (a city in Germany);

The Christ's Column (in bronze, evocations of the life of Christ after the example of the marble columns of Rome). Hildesheim is a city in Germany where the basilica of Saint-Michael is located, who is part of the monastery founded in 996 by Saint Bernward (about 960-1022). He was a great admirer of art and created a workshop in the monastery specialized in works of bronze, where high quality works were created. Among the most representative pieces, that can be still admired today, are the Christ's column, and the doors of the basilica of St.-Michael, ordered by Bernward in 1015 to decorate his church.

Médicis Column; Paris 1574;

The Médicis Column is a monument in Paris cleaved to the building of the Commerce Exchange in Paris, in the south-east side of the building, towards the “Halles” gardens. This Doric column, hollow, attributed to architect Jean Bullant was built in 1574 by the order of Catherine de Medicis in the courtyard of the queen’s building that has been built by her. If this building was demolished during the XVIIIth century, the column is the only vestige left.

Being the first isolated column built in Paris, the function of the monument has never been established although many authors believe that it served the astrological observatory. 31 m high, 3 m wide, it contains an interior staircase of 147 steps leading to a platform "dressed" with a metallic structure.

It had, probably, also a commemorative vocation, because of the wreathed initials H and C, the monograms of King Henry II and Queen Catherine de Médicis. M. Bachaumont, a historian of the XVIIIth century, saved the column from destruction in 1748, buying separately the monument and offering then the column to the city of Paris.

In 1764, the column was equipped with a sundial (now disappeared) created by the astronomer Alexandre Guy Pingré and with a fountain in 1812, of which only the ornament remained.

Monument to Great Fire, in London, 1671-1677;

The Monument of the Great Fire, in London, generally known under the name "The Monument", is a Roman-Doric style column made of Portland stone, 61 m high with a cup mounted on the top representing a fireball, erected in London , close to the London Bridge, 61 meters from the place where a terrible fire broke out in 1666.

This column was built between 1671 and 1677 in order to commemorate the Great Fire of 1666 and the subsequent reconstruction of the city. It is the highest isolated column in the world, built in the Doric style according to the plans prepared by Sir Christopher Wren and his colleague, Dr Robert Hooke. The Monument is located at the junction of Monument Street and Fisher Street Hill.

In 1669, the first law given to rebuild the city provide that, "in order to preserve the memory of this terrible event," a column of stone or bronze had to be erected on Fish Street Hill, not far from where the fire started, at the royal bakery of Thomas Farynor (or Farriner), in Pudding Lane.

One can reach on the top of the monument going up the spiral staircase of 311 steps.

Two columns of the church Karlskirche, Vienna (Austria), 1716-1737;

The Karlskirche church in Vienna is the work of Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (1656-1723), a major figure of the Austrian Baroque, who professionally formed himself in Italy beside Bernini.

The building of the church continued from 1716 until 1737. The building is a votive church, commissioned in 1713 by Emperor Karl VI (emperor of Germany, 1711-1740) following an outbreak of plague, and it was dedicated to Saint Carlo Borromeo, the saint patron of the persons contamined of plague.

To achieve this impressive Baroque monument, the style of this church combines the elements inspired by the monuments in Rome, visible in the façade composition, having a portico supported by six Corinthian columns and framed by two large columns that evokes the Pantheon, Trajan's Colum and the column of Marcus Aurelius and the dome of San Pietro in Vaticano; an incomparable work of the golden age of Baroque architecture in Vienna.

The two big triumphal columns are topped by spiral reliefs illustrating the life of Saint Carlo Barromeo; on one of them is evoked the perseverance of the wise and on the other column his courage.

Column of Louis XVI, in Nantes (France), 1790;

The Louis XVI Column is a monument of the French city of Nantes, installed in the middle of Maréchal-Foch Square; the Nantes natives often call it "Place Louis XVI" for reasons of convenience. It was built in 1790, in white stone in the Doric style. It is 28 m height, its diameter is about 2 m, it is placed on a cubic pedestal, and on the top of the column a statue is placed of the king of France, Louis XVI, represented in Roman costume, bearing in one hand a commander scepter, and in the other hand his will, as a roll. The statue was created by Dominique Molknecht in 1823.

According to inscriptions on the pedestal, the monument has several dedications: to the Blessed French Revolution, for Louis XVI, the King of the Frenchmen, the restorer of Freedom, for the National Assembly, to the citizens of Nantes.

Column of "Trajan" in Méréville, Essonne (91), France, 1791-1792;

Marquis Jean-Joseph de Laborde (1724-1794) built this impressive "Trajan’s column" between 1791 and 1792, in order to adorn the romantic park of his castle, at Méréville (Essonne Department, France). About 33-35 m high, it recalls the general architectural aspect of Trajan's Column in Rome, but does not include any decorative carvings. Like that of Rome, the column of Méréville contains a spiral staircase of 199 steps that leads to the top of the monument, on a small platform-terrace, where you can admire the park, the castle, the Méréville village and the nearby landscape of the region "la Beauce".

The column was built by J.B. Pailhet (sculptor) after a drawing by Hubert Robert (painter) inspired by Trajan's Column of Rome.

The column "de la Grande Armée", 1804-1823;

The Grand Army Column or the Napoleon’s Column is a memorial column raised in Wimille (Pas-de-Calais), close to Boulogne-sur-Mer (France), between 1804 and 1823. An work of the architect Éloi Labarre, it is 50 m height and was built for the glory of the French Army, in 1810, by order of His Imperial and Royal Majesty, Napoleon the Great.

The Column "de la Grande Armée" is executed on the model of Trajan's Column in Rome.

The text of the inscription accompanying the monument can be translated as follows: “Napoléon empereur auguste, a consacré à la gloire de la grande-armée, cette colonne, monument formé de l'airain conquis sur l'ennemi pendant la guerre d'Allemagne en 1805, guerre qui, sous son commandement, fut terminée dans l'espace de trois mois".

“Napoleon Emperor Augustus, has consecrated to the glory of the grand army, this column, monument formed of bronze taken from the enemy during the war with Germany in 1805, which war, under his command, was completed in within three months”.

Nelson's Column (Montreal - Canada): construction date 1809, dimensions: 19 m;

A Monument in the memory Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805), called Nelson's Column.

The Nelson's Column is placed in the north side of the Jacques-Cartier Square of Montreal, centered on the axis of the square, and it was raised in memory of Admiral Horatio Nelson, the British admiral who defeated Napoleon's fleet at the famous naval battle of Trafalgar in southern Spain, near the Strait of Gibraltar in 1805. Inspired by the model of Trajan's Column, the monument was erected in 1809 by the will of notables of British origin. It was created by architect Robert Mitchell. It is raised earlier than the Nelson's Column in London that dominates the Trafalgar Square, which will be raised later in 1840s.

The column of Doric inspiration is placed on a pedestal and on top bears the statue measuring 2.6 m and it represents the Admiral standing dressed in his uniform, holding his lunette in his left hand. The pedestal is decorated with reliefs depicting Nelson's battles and on the cornice a crocodile is represented, symbolizing the famous battle that took place on the Nile. The Column is full and it has a diameter of 1.5 m

Nelson's Column is one of the oldest historical monuments in Quebec.

Vendôme Column, 1810, Place Vendôme - Paris;

The Vendôme column is inspired by Trajan's marble Column of the Forum of Trajan in Rome and it is located in the middle of the square with the same name in Paris. It was made by order of Napoleon to commemorate the Battle of Austerlitz. Over the time, the monument has had several names, Austerlitz Column, then Victory Column Column before becoming the Great Army Column. Currently it is known as the Vendôme Column.

It is a column in bronze, 44.3 m high and about 3.60 m in diameter, placed on a pedestal and at the top a statue of Napoleon I is placed. The column consists of 98 stone cylinders, covered by a layer of bronze obtained by melting of 1200 cannons taken from the Russian and Austrian army and is decorated in antique style, with reliefs representing trophies and battle scenes. The entire frieze unfolds continuously to the top of the column, 280 m long, and consists of 425 bronze plates, being drawn by Pierre Bergeret and executed by a team composed of sculptors Jean Joseph Foucou, Louis Boizot, Bosio, Bartolini, Claude Ramey, Francois Rude, Edmee de Gaulle, Corbet, et Clodion Ruxthiel. An interior staircase allows the top of the column to be reached, where a platform-terrace stands below the statue that crowns the whole monument. The statue we see today dates from the period of the "Second Empire" (1852-1870), made by sculptor Auguste Dumont and it represents Napoleon I, as "Caesar Imperator", wearing a short robe and his glorious attributes, the sword, the winged victory and imperial laurel crown.

The base of the column is in porfyroid granite (like the porphyre) from Corsica (Algajola).

The inscription, written in ancient manner, is as follows: “Napoléon imperator auguste, a consacré à la gloire de la Grande Armée, cette colonne, monument formé de l'airain conquis sur l'ennemi pendant la guerre d'Allemagne en 1805, guerre qui, sous son commandement, fut terminée dans l'espace de trois mois"

Nelson's Column in Dublin, 1811;

Nelson's Column (Nelson pillar) of Dublin was made in 1811 in honor of Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) and to commemorate the naval victory at Trafalgar against Napoleon in 1805.

The Column was composed of a granite column about 37 m and on the top a 4 m high statue representing the British Admiral was placed.

This monument was unpopular even since the rise both among the population and among the local authorities, and it was proposed several times to be destroyed or the statue of Nelson to be replaced, and finally in 1966, an explosive charge, made by members of the IRA (Irish Republican Army), destroyed the top of the column, and the rest became dangerous for the population, and will be removed afterwards. Only the head of the statue is now kept at the city museum. In 2003, a needle-shaped sculpture, called "Monument of Light", 120 meters high, has replaced the monument to Nelson.

Alexander’s Column: Petrograd (Russia), 1830-1834;

Alexander’s Column (in Russian: Aleksandrovskaïa Kolonna) is the focal point of Palace Square in Petrograd. It was built to commemorate the victory of Russian troops against Napoleon. Alexander’s Column was designed by French architect Auguste de Montferrand. The construction began in 1830 and was completed on August 30, 1834. The Column culminates at 47.5 m above the ground, and supports the statue of an angel holding a Christian cross. The statue was designed by the Russian sculptor Boris Orlovski. The Column consists of a single piece of red granite, 25.45 m long and 3.5 m in diameter. The red granite comes from the quarries of Virolahti in Finland and it was transported to Petrograd in 1832, in a boat specially adapted to this unique piece. The column was erected without the machines, in just two hours. More than 3000 people were necessary to raise the column, which weights 661 tons. No fixing was needed; the column stands perfectly in the middle of the socket.

Duke of York Column in London, 1830-1834;

A column is dedicated in 1834 to Frederick Augustus (1763-1827), Duke of York, in London, close to Buckingham Palace, designed by Benjamin Dean Wyatt and built by Nowell of Pimlico. He was the youngest son of King George III of England and Queen Charlotte. The column is carved in Tuscan order in granite from Aberdeenshire region (north-east Scotland). A wide open gray variety was employed for the monument pedestal, a gray and blue variety for the column support and a variety of red granite of Peterhead (a city England) for the column. On the top of the Column, on a pedestal, the bronze statue of the Duke, 4.11 m high, was fixed on April 8, 1834. The total height of the monument is of 41.99 m. Inside the column a spiral staircase of 168 steps lighted by openings made in the exterior wall, leads to the panoramic platform around the base of the statue.

Column "de Juillet"⁶, in Paris, 1835-1840 construction date, dimension 50.52 m;

The Column "de Juillet" is a column built in the "Bastille" square in Paris, to commemorate the "Trois Glorieuses"⁷.

On an information on a plate in the bottom of the column, is written:

" À la gloire des citoyens français qui s'armèrent et combattirent pour la défense des libertés publiques dans les mémorables journées des 27, 28, 29 juillet 1830."

On the column the names of the victims of revolutionary days in July 1830 are listed and on the top a gilt bronze sculpture is placed, "le Genie de la Liberté", made by the artist Auguste Dumont. On July 27, 1831 the new king Louis-Philippe put the first stone of the Column. Like many other column made before in various periods and countries, this monument was also designed according to the reference (incomparable) model of the Column of Trajan in Rome; it was designed by architect Jean-Antoine Alavoine, and the works only started in 1835, when the column is cast in bronze. The decoration was made in 1839 by architect Joseph-Louis Duc and the monument was completely finished in 1840 to celebrate ten years of the revolution. For its inauguration, on July 28, 1840, the French government wanted to celebrate with a great glitter the transfer of the revolutionaries’ bodies of 1830.

The first foundation-elevation of the monument (circular) was done in red marble; the second circular elevation is in white marble, 3 m high. At the cornice level, all around, 24 heads of lions are carved through whose open mouths rain water flows.

On the square base supporting the column, made in white marble, 24circular medallions are carved representing: the "Juillet" Cross, a head of Medusa, the Constitution of 1830 and the scale of justice. The base of the column is made in bronze, and is decorated on top with 4 Gallic cock, placed at the corners. The spindle of the column is made of bronze, with a height of 23 m and consists of 21 cylindrical drums. Four circles separate the column in 3 parts symbolizing the 3 glorious days of the Revolution, and where the names of 504 victims of the revolutionary days of July 1930are engraved. In these circles-collars 16 heads of lions are represented, their open mouths allowing the light to penetrate inside the column.

The composite column head supports the statue of the little Genius, which in its turn is placed on a sphere-shaped support. The statue "le Genie de la Liberté" means: " la Liberté qui s’envole en brisant des fers et semant la lumière".He is represented naked, with his left foot put on the sphere, the right leg is rised, with unfolded wings, he holds a star on his forehead, a chain broke in his left arm and torch of civilization in his right arm. This gilt bronze sculpture was created by Auguste Dumont.

Nelson's Column, London, date of construction, 1840-1843;

In central London, the statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson put on top of a column dominates the Trafalgar Square. This column was carried out in granite and bronze, in the Corinthian style, between the years 1840 and 1843, and measures 44 m in height.

The column and memorial statue of Admiral Nelson was designed by William Railton and sculpture was made by Edward Hodges Baily.

The base column is composed of a platform adorned with four lions in bronze with symbolic destination to protect the monument. They were carved in 1867 by Sir Edwin Landseer.

Congress Column, Brussels, construction date 1850-1859, dimensions 47 m, to commemorate the "National Congress" of 1830, in Belgium;

Inspired by the model of the Trajan's Column, the monument commemorates the 1830 National Congress in Brussels, who drafted the Constitution of Belgium, and was built at the initiative of Charles Rogier (Belgian politician) between 1850-1859 according the plans of architect Joseph Poelaert.

The monument, with the total height of 47 m, has a helical staircase of 193 steps. A statue 4.70 m height is placed on the top of the column, representing the first king of Belgium, Leopold I (1831-1865), a work of sculptor Guillaume Geefs.

Astoria Column, Oregon⁸ – USA; completion date 1926;

The Column is located on Coxcomb Hill above the city of Astoria, a concrete monument built in 1926, after Trajan's Column appearance, giving visitors (on the top) spectacular panoramas. This monument was created with financial support from the "Great Northern Railway"⁹ and Vincent Astor¹⁰, the grand grandson of the American billionaire John Jacob Astor (1763-1848)¹¹ to commemorate the city's role in the history of the family business.

The monument is 38 m high, including a spiral staircase of 164 steps leading to the top of the column. In the exterior the column provides on a painted spiral frieze a series of scenes about the events that marked the history of the region, representing a remarkable interpretation of the local history (http://www.astoriacolumn.org/pages/history2.htm); it has a length of approx. 160 m and was painted by Electus D. Litchfield and Pusterla Attilio.

This brief list of commemorative columns inspired after the model of Trajan's Column (Rome), described above, is not complete, of course; there were only given a few examples of commemorative columns that are in many cities around the world, they are certainly more . It is particularly interesting that most of these monuments were designed and sculpted after the reference incomparable model, i.e. the well known Trajan's Column, which is in the Forum of Trajan in Rome, a monument made in the zenith of the Roman art, i.e. during the reign of Emperor Trajan (98-117 AD).

Impact of Trajan's Column on art (II):

in Renaissance, Baroque, Roccoco, Neoclassicism, Realism, and artistic trends that followed etc.

The most impressive triumphal monument ever built, the Trajan's Column is one of the most complete works carved in stone (marble that ) the antiquity has left to us, a fruitful source of study for historians, archaeologists and artists worldwide. The Trajan's Column is forever one of the most famous monuments in Rome. Staring in Quattrocento (the Italian fifteenth century), Trajan's Column attracted the artists’ attention: before Bernini the column was studied by Raffaello Sanzio and Giulio Romano and by all the great masters and it was indeed the source where all the great artists have found the force and the creative greatness for their works¹².

In the early sixteenth century, among the first artists of the Italian Renaissance who studied the column was painter Jacopo da Bologna, who even before the year 1506, show a great interest in her reliefs. Then, this monument of antiquity exercised more and more a lively interest and an important influence on the greatest artists of the Renaissance, on the frescoes of Raffaello Sanzio, the famous stanze and the ones of his pupil Giulio Romano from the Vatican; it is known that Michelangelo himself admired the scenes of the Trajan's Column, in front of which he would have exclaimed: "There is only one Trajan's Column! ". Later, in the next century, the style in which reliefs of Trajan's Column were carved by the ancient artists will influence powerful compositions of Caravaggio. The great works of Renaissance becoming more and more under the "influence" of the art of the Column, these reliefs have aroused increasing interest and large-scale studies have been started; even casts were made after these "paintings" of Carara marble. In 1541, the French king, François I, sent the painter Primaticcio to Rome, with the recommendation to make molds after the most beautiful sculptures in marble, and after Trajan's Column. This titanic job was started and led by architect Vignola, he quickly found himself obliged to recognize that this project was too extensive and too costly, and he limited himself to send only a few fragments to satisfy the King’s curiosity. Brought to Fontainbleau, the gypsum disappeared without leaving a trace (nobody knows if they still exist). Likewise, the casts made under the order of King Louis XIV have experienced the same fate; whole the column was molded. The first director of the French Academy, founded under the auspices of Colbert, Ch Errard, supervised the operations, which lasted until 1640. But not all these gypsum casts arrived in France. Some are at Villa Médicis, others have long been kept in the Antiquities Deposit, then in one of the departments of antiquities of the Louvre; a third part is in the Museum of Leyde University (the Netherlands). Parallel to this work of reproduction, a book on Trajan's Column, printed in Rome, will appear for the first time in 1576 (reissued in 1585, 1616): 130 plates engraved by F. Villamena after the drawings (the whole frieze) of Girolamo Muziano (1530-1590), director of the Vatican works, together with a "Commentarium", written by the Spanish scholar Alfonso Chacon (Ciaccone), Historia utriusque belli Dacici a Traiano Caesare gesti, ex simulacris quae in Columna eiusdem Romae visunteur collecta. In 1667 engraver Pietro Santi Bartoli (1635-1700), a pupil of Nicolas Poussin, performed other copper engravings after Trajan's Column, which have been published, accompanied by Chacon's comment, corrected and completed by Peter Bellori: Colonna Traiana eretta dal Senato e Popolo Romano all’ Imperatore Traiano Augusto nel suo Foro in Roma ... We note also the work of Rafaello Fabretti, De Columna Traiana Syntagma, Rome, 1683-1690, and the splendid engravings of Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778), Trofeo o sia magnifica colonna coclide di marmo composta di grossi macigni ove si veggono scolpite le due guerre daciche fatte da Traiano,, Rome, 1776, see also: Vedute delle colonne Antoniana et Trajana, Rome, 1965¹³.

Copies and molds after Trajan's Column preserved and exhibited in varied museums:

- Museo della Civiltà Romana (Room LI: La Colonna Traiana), in Rome, has one of the three sets of copies made in 1861 by Napoleon III, who donated these copies to the Pope Pie IX (there are in total 125 molds made in plaster). The metopes are currently exposed on four lines (which takes place on approx. 200 meters), and allow for a perfect and close (at the eyes level) observation of all reliefs of Trajan's Column;

- The National Museum of Archeology Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France), has a reproduction made by the method galvanoplasty in the 19th century (1865), only the scenes of the bottom of Column, and which are displayed on a wooden drum in the defense ditch of the castle (Saint-Germain-en-Laye);

- Louvre Museum preserves in its collection of casts, which is at Versailles (Petites Écuries de Versailles), approximately one third of all the Column frieze and all the base;

- A complete mold is shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London;

- The National Museum of History in Bucharest, presents a complete cast after Column, made during the WWII¹⁴.

The representations of Trajan's Column (overview, architectural study of the column, artistic studies after its historical scenes etc.) in the works of the artistic trends, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicism, Realism, Naturalism etc.., at great artists of a worldwide fame, are very numerous

Pietro Santi Bartoli

Pietro Santi (Santo, Sante) BARTOLI (1635-1700) is an Italian engraver, illustrator and painter, born about the year 1635 in Perugia (Ombria) and deceased in Rome on November 7, 1700. Early Bartoli will leave his hometown and will live in Rome, where he will early start his future artistic career, first by studying painting, becoming a pupil of P. Lemaire and Nicolas Poussin, from whom he learned to draw with taste the ancient monuments. Then he will study the secrets of the engraving art consecrating himself almost exclusively to this art. Also in this period he will work as "antiquarian" in the service of Pope and of Queen Christina of Sweden.

Through the engraving art Bartoli intended to reproduce a series of ancient Greek and Roman monuments in Rome in order to make them more known to the general public. He realized during his artistic life around 12 works (albums), containing nearly 900 drawings, these drawings being remarkable by their accuracy and purity of design. Almost most of these prints were published in Rome, and were generally accompanied by a text written by the scholar Giovan-Peter Belli (1613-1696 – an Italian writer, archaeologist, conservator of antiquities of Rome, historian, art critic, and biographer).

The main publications of Pietro Santi Bartoli are :

• Admiranda Romanarum antiquitatum ac veteris sculpturae vestigia, Roma, 1693, in-folio, 84 pl. ;
• Romanae magnitudinis monumenta (138 pl.) ;
• Veteres arcus Augustorum triumphi insignes, Roma, 1690, in-folio, 40 pl.;
• Gli antichi sepolcri, avvero mausolei romani ed etruschi trovati in Roma (Tombeaux antiques ou mausolées romains et étrusques trouvés à Rome), 1697, in-folio, 110 pl. ;
• Le Pitture antiche delle grotte di Roma e del sepolcro de’Nasoni (Peintures antiques des grottes de Rome et du tombeau des Nasons), 1706, in-folio, 75 pl. ;
• Le antiche lucerne sepolcrati…(Lampes sépulcrale antiques…), in-folio, 110 pl. ;
• Colonna Traiana eretta dal Senato, e Popolo Romano all'Imperatore Traiano Augusto nel suo foro in Roma, Roma, Gio. Giacomo de Rossi, 1673, in-folio oblong, 127 pl. (outside of the dedication, which was engraved after a work by Charles Errard) ;
• Colonna Antonina, Gli antichi sepolcri, 1697, in-folio (75 pl.) ;
• Nummophilacium Reginae Christinae…(Médailler de la reine Christine…), 1742, 63 pl. ;
• Museum Odescalchum, sive Thesaurus antiquarum gemmarum…(Musée Odescalchi ou Recueil de pierres gravées antiques faisant partie de la collection de la reine Christine), 1747 şi 1751, in-folio, 102 pl. ;
• Between 1758-1783 un Recueil de peintures antiques was published in Paris, containing copies of Bartoli's colorful drawings, with a description made by P. Mariette şi Comte de Caylus. These drawings, in number of 33, are stored in "Cabinet des estampes», in Paris. Bartoli also made a series of engravings after many modern painters : Raphaël (la Vatican), Lanfranc, Ann. Carrache, Jules Romain, Albane, Fr. Mola,, Cortone, Pietro Testa, etc.

We notice in the Bartoli's engravings, made after many scenes of Trajan's Column, high precision of line and accuracy of details.

Giovanni Paolo Panini

Giovanni Paolo PANINI (or PANNINI) (1691-1765) is an Italian baroque painter; in the first phase of his artistic career Giovanni Paolo Panini will study in the workshops of the major specialists in perspective, working with great artists of the great family Bibiena (Galli da Bibbiena, Italian artists born in the town of Bibbiena, in the province of Arezzo), and begins to concentrate on decorating the palaces in the style of "trompe-l'œil". But he is particularly famous for the paintings "vedute" and "capricci", views that imaginary comprise many real monuments and ruins of ancient Roman.

His style will influence the Venetian artist Canaletto (1697-1768) and artists that followed, adherents of this "artistic movement", and later Hubert Robert (1733-1808) who becomes his student.

In his works, Giovanni Paolo Panini made a series of "vedute ideale", assembling in an imaginary manner several real ancient Roman monuments, as Trajan's Column, Column of Marcus Aurelius, the Arch of Constantine, "Colosseum" ("Amphitheatrum Flavium"), the Pantheon, the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius etc. Style of execution is precise and detailed, the high quality of the detail and of the artistic image is to be appreciated and admired.

Giovanni Battista PIRANESI

Giovanni Battista Piranesi(1720-1778), born on April 10, 1720 at Mogliano Veneto, near Treviso, who died in Rome on November 9, 1778, is an Italian engraver and architect. Known for its beautiful engraved plates wherein he has immortalized the art of Roman antiquity - monuments, sculptural representations of Roman ruins etc. His style is characterized by precision and firmness of drawing, by highlighting the monumental aspect of the works of ancient Roman civilization.

In 1735 Piranesi starts his artistic career by studying architecture with his uncle, Matteo Lucchesi, engineer with "Magistrato Delle Acque of Venise", and the painter Giovanni Antonio Scalfarotto, then he attends a school in Venice where he starts to study the engraving art with Carlo Zucchi.

In 1740 he went to Rome to finish his training as engraver with Fellice Polanzoni and especially with Giuseppe Vasi, who teaches him acuaforte process (acid-chemical process) on metal plate. During this period Piranesi starts achieving the first series of plates with various images of ancient Roman ruins and monuments of Rome and other cities in Italy. Artist of a great talent, Piranesi led his art on the highest rungs of artistic perfection, his style not being equaled ever.

In 1773-75 the engravings with the representations of the Column of Trajan and the Column of Marcus Aurelius are published. This great Italian artist had a rich artistic activity, he creating approximately 1,700 large-format drawings gathered in several series of books.

Pierre-Adrien PÂRIS

Pierre-Adrien PÂRIS (1745-1819), was born and died in the town of Besancon in eastern France. He is a French artist who had a long and prestigious career: architect, member of the Royal Academy of Architecture, specialist in "architectural" landscape , collector of antiquities, a designer endowed with much talent, a very enlightened man and with varied passions for Roman antiquity, literature, history, geography, astronomy, botany etc. The first period of its formation takes place between 1750 and 1760 in the scope of his father’s work, who was geometrician, architect and site coordinator. In 1760, Pâris goes to his uncle Jean-Baptiste Lefaivre (master-builder and antrepreneur) in Paris, then he enters in the studio of the architect Louis-François Trouard, who proposed him for the Academy’s competitions. He becomes a student of the Royal Academy of Architecture in 1764 where he will attend the Jacques-François Blondel. From 1765 until 1769, Pâris appears in the Grand Prize of architecture without he to ever win it. With all his attempts, he only get a mention in 1768 for a theater project. But he was remarked by "le premier gentilhomme de la Chambre du roi", Duke of Aumont, who asked for a scholarship in Italy for Pâris. This protection and this trip are the key factors of the extraordinary career of Pâris, who will remain for five years in Rome, from 1769 until 1773. In the capital of the ancient Roman art, the French artist becomes one of the greatest connoisseurs of antiquities of this city and its neighborhoods. Pâris draws not only various ancient monuments, but he also carries out real studies based on these. In Rome he also had occasion to teach architecture to Francesco Piranesi, the son of the great artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and to travel in southern Italy where he visits Cadoue, Paestum, Pompeii and Herculanum. Creating close friendship relations with the abbot of Saint-Non he will cooperate to his work, Voyage pittoresque ou Description des royaumes de Naples et de Sicile, which will be printed in Paris in several volumes.

Back in France (1774), haloed by a rare prestige for a young artist, Pierre-Adrien Pâris finds the protection of Duke of Aumont and decorated the suites of his hotel (now the prestigious Hotel Crillon in Place Concorde, in Paris). In 1778 Pâris is appointed, replacing M.-A. Challe, as drawer of the King’s room and office; these important positions bring on him the responsibility to make most of the decors for holidays, funeral processions, theaters etc.

By the end of his life Pâris travels again to Italy, in 1806, where he would see the famous ancient towns in southern of the peninsula.

During the period when he led the French Academy in Rome, appointed by order of Napoleon, he will oversee the transfer of the ancient works of Borghese (Rome) collection to Paris. Effectively, between 1808 and 1809 he will deal with organizing the transport of the antiquities from Villa Borghese for Napoleon who bought this famous collection, one of the most important in Italy, and who desired to carry it to Paris.

Among the many vestiges studied and drawn by Pâris in Rome is also the Trajan's Column, who carried out both overviews and reliefs. The style of Pierre-Adrien Pâris is characterized by an accurate as possible rendering of detail, by precision of line, which is very close to the ancient art style of the period during the reign of Trajan (98-117 AD). His drawings represent true restoration of initial ancient works.

Eugene Emmanuel VIOLLET-LE-DUC

Eugene Emmanuel VIOLLET-LE-DUC (1814-1879), born on January 27, 1814 in Paris and deceased on September 17, 1879 in Lausanne, is a famous French architect best known to the public for his restorations of many famous medieval buildings and he came from a "noble" bourgeois family (his father was a senior official, after 1830, chief conservator of the royal residences of Louis-Philippe). A good self-educated person, he trained himself during his travels in France and Italy made between 1835 and 1839. At the same time he learned the bases of his craft from architect Achille Leclere.

In 1840 Prosper Mérimée, the "General Inspector of Historic Monuments" entrusts on him the restoration of the basilica Sainte-Madeleine Vezelay; he is only 26 years old and this is the beginning of a huge career. Also in 1840, Viollet-le-Duc undertakes with the aid of Jean-Baptiste Lassus the restoration of the cathedral Saint Chapelle, in Paris. In 1844 Lassus et Viollet-le-Duc are the appointed as architects of the cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris. Then, in 1847, he obtains the permission to restore the cathedrals of Saint-Denis (north of Paris) and Saint-Sernin in Toulouse. The monuments that have been restored by Viollet-le-Duc were numerous, such as: the defense walls of medieval town of Carcassonne, the cathedrals of Amiens, Chartres, Clermont-Ferrand, the close to full reconstruction of the castle of Pierrefonds, etc. etc. But all thesemajor works (these large construction sites) did not prevent him to also build new works much so important and complex: the creation of many religious buildings, private houses in Paris, designing of stained glass windows, funeral monuments etc.

He collected all his research and architectural studies and published them in a comprehensive work entitled, Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française du siecle Xie au XVIe, comprising 10 volumes (published between 1854 and 1868), which will add the 6 volumes of Dictionnaire raisonné furniture du français (1858-1875).

In addition to his basic concerns as theoretician and restorer of medieval monuments, Viollet-le-Duc is also a gifted designer with a special talent, author of numerous studies, drawings and watercolors made during his travels. He also went to Rome where he studied ancient Roman monuments, and among these monuments drawn by him was also the Trajan's Column, he reproducing details of this famous monument of a great artistic importance. We notice in these works of art the great quality of his drawings and accuracy and realism of his artistic line; Viollet-le-Duc is a complex self-educated person, with an exceptional physical and mental capacity.

Colors (polychrome) of Trajan's Column: scene XXXII (Dacians attack the Romans, refugees in a city);

In Roman Antiquity the architectural monuments as well as the sculptures (reliefs and statues) were represented in painting, i.e., they were colored with bright colors. This mode of visual perception in the Roman society was a "legacy" possible coming from the Greek art that used the same way to color their architectural and artistic monuments. Today, in the Western world, such a vision of architecture and sculptural art is not accepted any more, of course, as during the Egyptian, Greek, Roman etc. civilizations, and in the western religious middle ages.

Italian archaeologist and art historian Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli (1900-1975) proposed in a TV show in 1972¹⁵, by the aid of a painter, to directly reconstruct on plaster mold (natural size) the scene XXXII - The Dacians attack the Romans refugees in a citadel, the likely original colors of Trajan's Column.

The X-ray fluorescence method showed that the whole Trajan's Column was painted. This was previously assumed, but no one knew exactly which the colors of the "paintings" in stone of the Columns were. The X fluorescence spectrometry ability to determine the presence, even infinitesimal, of the elements with atomic weight corresponding to a scale of values, after which the colored substances of the marble skin can be recognized, resulting in the photographic reconstitution of the "scenes" Column in their original appearance, i.e. colored. The iomage, the scene XXXII - Dacian assault against a Roman fortress, was exposed at the XLIIth Biennial of the Academy of Art in Venice, in 1986¹⁶, in a thematic exhibition etitled Arte e Scienza (art and science), it being one of the elements of great interest of this exhibition¹⁷.

Importance of Trajan's Column for Romania - cultural projects to reproduce and raise this monument in Bucharest:

As seen in the lines above, Trajan's Column in terms of artistic interested in not only the West, but also the Romanian society.

The idea of the origin of the projects to have a complete copy of the precious monument for Romania dates back to the 19th century.

For this, we could say that a "step" was made by the famous Badea Cartan (Gheorghe Cartan, 1848-1911), a Dacian "descended from the Column", a patriot, lover of books and history, and fighting for the unity of the Romanian people. The strong love for his nation makes him leave in 1896 on foot from his home village Cârţişoara (Sibiu), in a the "documentary" journey to Rome, to see with his eyes the Dacians on theTrajan's Column, traveling for 45 days, breaking the five pairs of shoes. The legend says and the written testimony confirms that Badea Cartan, after spreading on the steps of the Column the Romanian wheat and ground brought by him, tired as he was, he fell asleep with his head on his bags and at dawn the guards confused the traveler with a Dacian soldier descended off the monument of Emperor Trajan, so striking was the likeness.

This deeply impressed the Italians, who have headlined in all the newspapers of the time, on the first page: "A Dacian dropped from Column: with the hair, the shirt and the cap, with pants and sandals." His photography was published and he was interviewed. He was introduced to the Romanian Ambassador in Rome, to Italian personalities and tied close friendship with the mayor of Rome. Badea Cartan caused a sensation in Rome, was invited in the political, cultural, journalistic media in Italy, he being received with sympathy and friendship¹⁸.

We could say that the first proposal for reconstruction of Trajan's Column in Bucharest belongs to Mihail Kogălniceanu. In 1867 in the press of that time propaganda is made to obtain funds to achieve a copy of "that immortal document of our history," as reported by the newspaper " Românul " of February 9, 1867. In the second half of the 19th century, painter Nicolae Popescu (1835-1877) of Banat advocates from Rome, in his correspondence with Iosif Vulcan, for a copy of the Column, "it being interesting and useful for our nation ... it would show every Romanian his origin, who were our glorious ancestors". He undertook the copy of the reliefs on Trajan's Column to be lithographed and spread among the people. Also, Alexandru Odobescu, in 1874-1875, at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bucharest, in his archeology courses he said: "after the moulds made by the order of the emperor (Napoleon III) we could obtain, with minor sacrifices, a reproduction in bronze of the whole Trajan's Column, which would raise with pride, right in front of this building (University) ... ". These desires of the Romanian intellectual class were becoming increasingly serious and about to be accoplished, in 1887 a project was done by architects Schmieden, Weltzien and Speer v. to raise a monumental buildings in neo-classical style, which was to house the National Museum, the National Library and Academy, and it was to be placed on the quay of Dambovita, and in front of the building it was planned the reconstituted Column to be raised. V.A. Urechia proposes on November 12, 1882 in the Deputies’ Assembly a bill according to which in Bucharest an exact reproduction of Trajan's Column will be located. The copy followed to be made of galvanic copper in the plant in Oudry in Auteuil (France), against the sum of 678,000 lei. The marble and bronze base was designed to include data on important events in Romanian history (unification, independence), but the project has not come to be realized. In 1912, Al. Tzigara-Samurcaş arrange with the conservative of the museum of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France), archaeologist Salomon Reinach, that, in exchange for copies of the metopes of Adamclisi, to obtain cast of the Column. Although arrangements were made, the project did not materialize. In the years 1934-1939 a decisive merit had archaeologist Emil Panaitescu, then the director of the Romanian School in Rome, who made a series of memoranda addressed to the Academy, Ministry of Public Instruction, Ministry of Finance, Parliament, winning in 1939 the Romanian state to order a copy of Trajan's Column to some craftsmen from the Vatican, led by Francesco Mercatalli. In the beginning only the spindle of the column was commissioned, and then the base. The cast works were made in time of war, the spindle of the column was completed in 1940 and the base in 1943. The Copy of the Column costed the Romanian state 4 million lei, which was paid in full. Making the casts was supervised by Emil Panaitescu, and their quality was checked by a committee represented by Guido Galli, technical director of pontifical museums, Italo Gismondi, arhelog and architect, Giuseppe Lugli, archaeologist, Virgil Vătăşianu, art historian, and Emil Panaitescun, archaeologist.

Because of the war the casts have not come to Romania immediately after their execution. Meanwhile they were housed in the basement of the Lateran Museum, the Forum of Trajan and in deposits of the Exhibition Palace. Finally the Column casts come to Bucharest in June, 1967. The Column reproduction is of a high quality: the material that was used, reinforced white cement mixed with marble dust, closer in appearance to the original, and the base perfectly mimics the original, respecting the proportions of the monument. All metopes are exposed at the National History Museum of Romania (Bucharest) in a large room specially arranged¹⁹.

Thus, the projects started in the 19th century to fully reproduce the column were finally materialized after many difficulties, but what about the project to raise the monument in Bucharest, in a special place? This will for the famous monument to be built to scale 1/1, and erected in Bucharest has not disappeared: present Romanian personalities are convinced that the "old" projects of the 19th century will be re-launched again.

1. Campus Martius – was a place, a plain located near Rome, between river Tiber, Capitol, Quirinal and Pincius.
2. Dumitru Tudor, Enciclopedia civilizaţiei romane, p. 210 («column of Antoninus Pius», Bucureşti, Editura ştiinţifică şi enciclopedică, 1982.
3. The profile of the spindle of the column will decrease to peak according to a curve that gives the illusion that is slim, slender and straight.
4. Dumitru Tudor, Enc. Civ. romane, p. 210-211 («column of Marcus Aurelius), Bucureşti 1982; John Scheid şi Valérie Huet, Autour de la Colonne Aurélienne. Geste et image sur la Colonne de Marc Aurèle à Rome, Turnhout, Brepols, 2002 (Belgium).
5. Rostra, orum (lat.); rostru, rostruri (ro.) – 1.(ant. rom.) spur (spurs) at the bow of ships of war that shattered the shell of enemy ships. 2. the speakers tribune in the Roman forum, adorned with metal beaks wrested from the bow and stern of the ships captured in war. Rostra (stands) were in the Forum Romanum, between the Arch of Tiberius and the Column of Phocas. But there were in the forum two other stands which also had rostra, one in front of the temple of Dioscuri, the other before the temple of Cesar.
6. Proclaimed on August 9, 1830 after the riots called "Trois Glorieuses" (which lasted for three days: 27th, 28th and 29th of July 1830), the monarchy "de Juillet" (1830-1848) succeeded in France "à la Restauration" (1814 to 1830).
7. Revolution of July 1930, a French Revolution after which a new regime, the monarchy of "Juillet", succeeded to the "Second Restauration", and it took place on 27, 28 and 29 of July 1830, called the "Trois Glorieuses". These three days of the revolution of July 1830 determined the removal of King Charles X and of the absolute monarchy and the establishing of the constitutional monarchy, under the reign of Louis-Philippe I, Duke of Orleans, who became king of the Frenchmen (1830-1848).
8. Oregon is a state in North-West region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, bordering to the North with Washington State, to the South with California, to the Southeast with Nevada, and Idaho to the east. Oregon is the 33rd State of the Union, admitted on February 14, 1859.
9. "Great Northern Railway" is an old railway network linking the towns of St. Paul (Minnesota) to Seattle (Washington), in the United States, led by railway magnate James J. Hill (1838-1916).
10. William Vincent Astor (1891-1959) is a member of the rich family Astor, a businessman and philanthropist.
11. An American businessman, who became the first billionaire in the history of the United States. He founded the Astor dynasty
12. See Salvatore Settis, "La Colonne Trajan: l'Empereur et son public", in RA, 1991, 1, pp. 186-188 and note 2.
13. Alain Malissard, La Colonne Trajane, images et récit », în Caesarodunum, supliment nr. 19, 1975; Aurel Decei, « Adevăratul chip al regelui Decebal », în Sargeţia, XIV, 1979, p. 71-72 ; Raymond Chevallier, Alain Malissard, « Dix-neuf siècles de découverte de la Colonne Trajane », in Les dossiers de l’archéologie, no. 17, July-August 1976, p. 91 (old reproductions) ; Filippo Coarelli, La Colonna Traiana, 1999, Editore Colombo, Roma, p. VII-VIII ; Radu Vulpe, Columna lui Traian (Trajan’s Column), Bucureşti, CIMEC, 2002, p. 14-15, 108-109
14. See also Alain Malissard, « Où peut-on voir la Colonne Trajane », în Les dossiers de l’archéologie, nr. 17, July-August 1976, p. 126.
15. See the link of the TV program « Bianchi Bandinelli e la Colonna traiana »: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQKOsAd0gUM
16. XLII Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte la Biennale di Venezia. Arte e Scienza, General catalogue 1986, Edizioni La Biennale, Realizzazione Electa Editrice, p. 209 şi 231-232.
17. For more information and the colored image of the scene XXXII (Columna Traiană) see also : Ion Dumitriu-Snagov, « Culorile Columnei », in Magazin istoric, year XXI, nr. 6 (243), June 1987, p. 17-18 and the 4 images on the cover page of the review; scene XXXII restituted in colors (acc. S. Settis, A. La Regina, G. Agosti, V. Farinella, La Colonna Traiana, 1988, p. 597, fig. 92) ; Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli, Il maestro delle imprese di Traiano, Electa, Milano 2003.
18. Note that in Cartisoara is the Ethnographic and Memorial Museum bearing the name of the most representative son of the village, Badea Cartan, including all kinds of objects that belonged to him. Likewise, in the Park "Astra" of Sibiu is a bust of the famous peasant (bronze, 1.20 m high), made in 1974 by sculptor Kurtfritz Handel of Sibiu.
19. Radu Vulpe, Columna lui Traian (Trajan’s Column), Bucureşti, CIMEC, 2002, p. 109-112