material culture exercise 5b
Now, look at the following scenes from the column and answer the questions below:
The four scenes show (with apologies to The Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt):
Trajan addressing his troops!
Trajan giving rewards to a soldier!
Trajan receiving the severed heads of Dacian kings!
Trajan makes a religious sacrifice!
Again, spend at least five minutes on each slide. Look at the images very carefully, taking notes on what information they convey.
How is Trajan portrayed as a leader in these four scenes?
Is he easily recognizable?
Why is that important?
How are other men portrayed – do you see distinctions in dress, hairstyles, etc? Do you think these represent individual portraits or generic soldiers? Why or why not?
What messages about his leadership do the scenes on the columns convey?
What kind of information do the slides give you about architecture, war machinery, and the natural environment? Why do you think this information was included?
Final question: The Romans in the Forum would not have been able to view the reliefs at all, really, because the column was set on a gigantic base that contained Trajan’s tomb, and the stairs were on the inside of the column. In your mind, is this monument still an effective display of Trajan’s military leadership if you can’t actually “read” the images? Why or why not? Get back into your small groups to discuss.