Urbanism and the Enemy: Dacian Architecture on the Column of Trajan

Abstract

Within the corpus of extant public monuments in Rome, the depictions of architecture found through-out the Column of Trajan frieze are unique, not only for their sheer quantity (over 300 different illustrated buildings), but because they include dozens of detailed representations of architecture associated with the barbarian enemy. Rather than following the stereotypical huts that typically define enemy architecture in Roman art, the 88 Dacian architectural structures form a distinct and well developed architectural typology. They are, furthermore, a critical component of the portrayal of Romans and barbarians on the frieze. Nevertheless, these intriguing depictions have been examined in scholarship primarily as a means of reconstructing architectural practice in Dacia. In this article, I take a new approach to explore the significance of these depictions: their inspiration, how they contribute to the characterization of Dacian culture on the frieze, and what they can tell us about official visions of identity and architecture in the Trajanic period.