AustLit

Can the frieze on Trajan’s Column be regarded as a reliable historical account of the emperor’s campaigns in Dacia?

Modern scholarship has conflictingly argued whether the frieze on Trajan’s Column can be regarded as a reliable historical account of the Dacian Wars. The aim of this essay is to present the arguments for both cases while illustrating that the frieze on Trajan’s Column is just as reliable as any other historical account. Representation choices, omissions, and motivations are not uncommon in historiography; therefore, historical accounts should be scrutinized in the same regard whether the mode be literature or art.

Trajan's Column: Rome.

Image Source: Cezar Suceveanu, Wikimedia Commons