Trajan was a Roman emperor who lived from 53-117 CE (or AD) and ruled from 98 CE until his death. He is credited for conquering so much of Europe that the Roman Empire reached its largest extent. (How large, you’d like to know? Click here to find out!)

Like Alex the Great, all Roman emperors cultivated a “look”  - a royal iconography – to distribute throughout their empire. Trajan’s look bears resemblance to the 5th Beatle, but his bowl cut and clean shaven face were meant to evoke his role as a military leader.

How does this “look” differ from that of Alex the Great, and what do you think the significance is?

In addition to conquering all that land and all those people for his empire, Trajan instituted a comprehensive building program for Rome which included what we now know as “Trajan’s Forum” (forum = city center, where courts and legislative activities take place). This Forum included a gigantic column commemorating his victories over the Dacians in the two Dacian wars he fought. Dacia was the region north of the Danube in what is now eastern Europe, around the Carpathian Mountains, roughly where the modern countries of Moldova and Romania are located. Don’t know where Moldova is? Look it up here Moldova in Google Maps).

To see how the column was built (to the best of our knowledge), watch this video and read the National Geographic article in the slideshow.