DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.71133#0470
376
FORUM OF TRAJAN
Trajan’s most illustrious actions ; “the balustrades and cornices
of the whole mass of buildings flamed with gilded images of
arms and horses.” 1
Ammianus Marcellinus (xvi. io) tells us that the Emperor
Constantius “ was struck with admiration at this most marvel-
lous invention of human genius, and looked round with
amazement, without being able to utter a word, wondering at
the gigantic structures, which no pen can describe, and which
mankind can create and see only once in the course of
centuries.”
The beautiful Column of Trajan, erected by the senate and
people of Rome A.D. 114, is composed of thirty-four blocks of
marble, and is covered with a spiral band of high reliefs
describing the fortunes of the Dacian wars. It was formerly
crowned by a statue of Trajan, holding a gilt globe—which had
long fallen from its pedestal before Sixtus V replaced it by the
existing figure of St. Peter. There is a current belief that
Trajan’s ashes were deposited underneath the column in an urn
of solid gold.2
Trajan, the greatest military commander of his age, is
praised by historians as the best of Roman princes, as one of
the greatest men that paganism produced, remarkable both for
his ability and for his goodness. It is sufficient to say here
that his goodness extended not to the Christians. His answer
to the younger Pliny, Governor of Bithynia, that “the Christians
must not be sought out, but if denounced, they must abjure
faith in Christ or be prosecuted,” left the poor Christians at the
mercy of provincial governors, and of the Jewish and pagan
populace. From the ninth year of his reign he became a fierce
persecutor; his maxim concerning the Christians was, either
sacrifice or die. In this, the third great Persecution of the
Church, three Popes suffered martyrdom, viz. : St. Clement,
St. Evaristus, and St. Alexander. St. Ignatius, the great
Bishop of Antioch, was torn to pieces by lions in the
Colosseum ; St. Simeon of Jerusalem, a relative of our Blessed
Ford and a descendant of the royal house of David, was
crucified.
Leo XIII, when a student at the Roman College, lived with
his uncle, Antonio Pecci, in the Foro Trajano.
The north end of the Forum, where once stood the temple
of Trajan, is now occupied by two octagonal churches, dedi-
cated the one to the Holy Name of Mary, the other to Our
Lady of Loreto.
1 Merivale, History of Rome.
2 On Trajan’s column see The Month, 1867 (vol. i.), p. 153.
FORUM OF TRAJAN
Trajan’s most illustrious actions ; “the balustrades and cornices
of the whole mass of buildings flamed with gilded images of
arms and horses.” 1
Ammianus Marcellinus (xvi. io) tells us that the Emperor
Constantius “ was struck with admiration at this most marvel-
lous invention of human genius, and looked round with
amazement, without being able to utter a word, wondering at
the gigantic structures, which no pen can describe, and which
mankind can create and see only once in the course of
centuries.”
The beautiful Column of Trajan, erected by the senate and
people of Rome A.D. 114, is composed of thirty-four blocks of
marble, and is covered with a spiral band of high reliefs
describing the fortunes of the Dacian wars. It was formerly
crowned by a statue of Trajan, holding a gilt globe—which had
long fallen from its pedestal before Sixtus V replaced it by the
existing figure of St. Peter. There is a current belief that
Trajan’s ashes were deposited underneath the column in an urn
of solid gold.2
Trajan, the greatest military commander of his age, is
praised by historians as the best of Roman princes, as one of
the greatest men that paganism produced, remarkable both for
his ability and for his goodness. It is sufficient to say here
that his goodness extended not to the Christians. His answer
to the younger Pliny, Governor of Bithynia, that “the Christians
must not be sought out, but if denounced, they must abjure
faith in Christ or be prosecuted,” left the poor Christians at the
mercy of provincial governors, and of the Jewish and pagan
populace. From the ninth year of his reign he became a fierce
persecutor; his maxim concerning the Christians was, either
sacrifice or die. In this, the third great Persecution of the
Church, three Popes suffered martyrdom, viz. : St. Clement,
St. Evaristus, and St. Alexander. St. Ignatius, the great
Bishop of Antioch, was torn to pieces by lions in the
Colosseum ; St. Simeon of Jerusalem, a relative of our Blessed
Ford and a descendant of the royal house of David, was
crucified.
Leo XIII, when a student at the Roman College, lived with
his uncle, Antonio Pecci, in the Foro Trajano.
The north end of the Forum, where once stood the temple
of Trajan, is now occupied by two octagonal churches, dedi-
cated the one to the Holy Name of Mary, the other to Our
Lady of Loreto.
1 Merivale, History of Rome.
2 On Trajan’s column see The Month, 1867 (vol. i.), p. 153.