525 Videos

256 Essays

6 mil.Visits

– 400 C.E.
Ancient Cultures

Prehistoric More
Paleolithic Introduction Nude Woman (Venus of Willendorf) Neolithic Neolithic Revolution Jericho Çatal Höyük Stonehenge
Ancient Near East More
Introduction Sumerian Art It all begins at Uruk The Invention of Writing Standard of Ur Great Lyre from the "Kings Grave" at Ur Perforated Relief of Ur-Nanshe Ziggurat of Ur Art of Akkad and Ur Victory Stele of Naram-Sin Babylonian Art Law Code Stele of King Hammurabi Unfinished Kudurru Assyrian Art Relief Sculpture Human-Headed Winged Lion and Bull (Lamassu) Neo-Babylonian Art Ishtar Gate and Processional Way (reconstruction) Art of the Persian Empire Relief Scupture from Persepolis
Ancient Egypt More
Introduction Egyptian Art Materials & Techniques Old Kingdom Seated Scribe The Great Pyramids of Giza (Introduction) Pyramid of Khufu Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Sphinx Pyramid of Menkaure New Kingdom House Altar with Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Three Daughters Portrait Head of Queen Tiye with a Crown of Two Feathers Bust of Nefertiti Ramesses II Ptolemaic Period Rosetta Stone
Ancient Greece More
Introduction The Classical Orders Geometric Krater Archaic Exekias, Attic Black Figure Amphora Exekias, Dionysos Kylix Odysseus Mixing Vessel Euphronios, Attic Red Figure Calyx-Krater New York Kouros Classical Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) Temples at Paestum Pediments, Temple of Aphaia, Aegina Myron, Discobolus (Discus Thrower) Parthenon Parthenon: East Pediment Parthenon: Frieze Parthenon: Metopes Erechtheion: Caryatid and Column Late Classical (4th Century) Lysippos, Farnese Hercules Praxiteles, Venus The Hellenistic World Barberini Faun Dying Gaul Nike of Samothrace Pergamon Altar Apollonius, Boxer at Rest Alexander Mosaic Laocoön and his Sons Eros Sleeping and Old Market Woman Petra: Introduction Petra: Rock-cut Façades Petra: Urban Metropolis
Etruscan More
Introduction "Sarcophagus of the Spouses"
Ancient Rome More
Introduction Digging through Time Roman Republic Temple of Portunus Veristic Male Portrait Roman Empire Pantheon (virtual tour) Augustus of Primaporta Painted Garden, Villa of Livia Head of Augustus Ara Pacis Villa of Mysteries, Pompeii Colosseum Arch of Titus Hadrian's Villa Maritime Theatre, Hadrian's Villa Centaurs Fighting Cats of Prey, Hadrian's Villa Column of Trajan Medea Sarcophagus Equestrian Sculpture of Marcus Aurelius Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus Tetrarchs Arch of Constantine Colossus of Constantine
Buddhist Art More
The Historical Buddha Introduction to Buddhism Four Buddhas at the American Museum of Natural History India Caves at Ajanta China Dunhuang Cave-temples Bodhisattva, probably Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin) Buddha of Medicine Bhaishajyaguru (Yaoshi fo) Japan Negoro ware ewer

Column of Trajan

Column of Trajan, Carrara marble, completed 113 C.E., Rome

Dedicated to Emperor Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus b. 53 , d. 117 C.E.) in honor of his victory over Dacia (now Romania) 101-02 and 105-06 C.E.

The inscription on the base is the source of the typeface Trajan and reads (with abbreviations spelled out):

SENATUS POPULUSQUE ROMANUS
IMPERATORI CAESARI DIVI NERVAE FILIO NERVAE
TRAIANO AUGUSTO GERMANICO DACICO PONTIFICI
MAXIMO TRIBUNICIA POTESTATE XVII IMPERATORI VI CONSULI VI PATRI PATRIAE
AD DECLARANDUM QUANTAE ALTITUDINIS
MONS ET LOCUS TAN[TIS OPER]IBUS SIT EGESTUS

The Senate and the People of Rome
To Emperor Caesar Nerva Trajan Augustus, son of the divine Nerva
Conqueror of Germany and Dacia, high priest, with the office of the tribune 17 times
Proclaimed Imperator 6 times, elected consul 6 times, father of the Empire
Here shows the height which this hill once stood
Now removed for such great works as these

Speakers: Valentina Follo (courtesy of Context Travel), Dr. Beth Harris, Dr. Steven Zucker