The Plutei of Trajan (Latin ''Plutei Traiani''; often called the ''Anaglypha Traiani'') are carved stone balustrades built for the Roman emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

. They are on display inside the

Curia Julia The Curia Julia () is the third named ''curia'', or senate house, in the ancient city of Rome. It was built in 44 BC, when Julius Caesar replaced Faustus Cornelius Sulla's reconstructed Curia Cornelia, which itself had replaced the Curia Hostil ...

in the

Roman Forum A forum (Latin: ''forum'', "public place outdoors", : ''fora''; English : either ''fora'' or ''forums'') was a public square in a municipium, or any civitas, of Ancient Rome reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, alon ...

today, but are not part of the original structure. It is unknown exactly where Trajan erected them. They are believed to have been built either on the edge of the

Rostra The Rostra () was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods. Speakers would stand on the rostra and face the north side of the Comitium towards the senate house and deliver orations to t ...

or on the sides of the

Lapis Niger The Lapis Niger (Latin, "Black Stone") is an ancient shrine in the Roman Forum. Together with the associated Vulcanal (a sanctuary to Vulcan) it constitutes the only surviving remnants of the old Comitium, an early assembly area that preceded ...

marking the underground "Tomb of Romulus". In spite of this uncertainty, they are of great historical value because the carvings show the full length of both sides of the Forum at the time they were erected.

Description

Foreground carvings

The relief on the right side shows Trajan in the Forum Romanum, where he institutes a charitable organisation for orphans (known as the ''

alimenta The alimenta was a Roman welfare program that existed from around 98 AD to 272 AD. It was probably introduced by Nerva and was later expanded by Trajan. It was designed to subsidise orphans and poor children throughout Italy, but nowhere else, w ...

''). Trajan is seated on a podium in the middle of the Forum, together with a personification of

Italia Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

carrying a child on her arm. The left relief shows the destruction of tax records in the presence of the emperor, probably Hadrian in 118, to the tune of 900 million sesterces. The wooden tablets with the tax records are carried forth and burned in the presence of the emperor, who is standing in front of the

. The practice of "fiscal pardon" had been carried out previously under Trajan following his victory in the

First Dacian War Trajan's First Dacian War took place from 101 to 102. The Kingdom of Dacia, under King Decebalus, had become a threat to the Roman Empire, and defeated several of Rome's armies during Domitian's reign (81–96). Despite the peace treaty est ...

in 102.

Background carvings

The backgrounds of both the right and left sides depict buildings on the Forum Romanum. On the right relief, depicted left to right, the buildings are: The

Ficus Ruminalis The ''Ficus Ruminalis'' was a wild fig tree that had religious and mythological significance in ancient Rome. It stood near the small cave known as the Lupercal at the foot of the Palatine Hill and was the spot where according to tradition the f ...

and the statue of

Marsyas In Greek mythology, the satyr Marsyas (; ) is a central figure in two stories involving music: in one, he picked up the double oboe (''aulos'') that had been abandoned by Athena and played it; in the other, he challenged Apollo to a contest of ...

; the

Basilica Julia The Basilica Julia () was a structure that once stood in the Roman Forum. It was a large, ornate, public building used for meetings and other official business during the Roman Empire. Its ruins have been excavated. What is left from its classica ...

; the

Temple of Saturn The Temple of Saturn (Latin: ''Templum Saturni'' or '' Aedes Saturni''; ) was an ancient Roman temple to the god Saturn, in what is now Rome, Italy. Its ruins stand at the foot of the Capitoline Hill at the western end of the Roman Forum. Th ...

; the

Temple of Vespasian and Titus The Temple of Vespasian and Titus (,Platner, Samuel B., and Ashby, Thomas. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome''. London: Oxford UP, 1929; p. 556. ) is located in Rome at the western end of the Roman Forum between the Temple of Concordi ...

; and the Rostra (only one of which is visible). A part of the relief is missing, where the

Temple of Concord The Temple of Concord () in the ancient city of Rome refers to a series of shrines or temples dedicated to the Roman goddess Concordia, and erected at the western end of the Roman Forum. The earliest temple is believed to have been vowed by ...

should have been. On the left, again from left to right: the speakers' platform in front of the

Temple of Divus Julius The Temple of Caesar or Temple of Divus Iulius (; ), also known as Temple of the Deified Julius Caesar, ''delubrum'', '' heroon'' or Temple of the Comet Star,Pliny the Elder, ''Naturalis Historia'', 2.93–94 was an ancient structure in the Roma ...

; the Arch of Augustus; the

Temple of Castor and Pollux The Temple of Castor and Pollux () was an ancient Roman temple, temple in the Roman Forum, Rome, Central Italy. It was originally built in gratitude for victory at the Battle of Lake Regillus (495 BC). Castor and Pollux (Greek Polydeuces) were th ...

; the

Vicus Tuscus Vicus Tuscus ("Etruscan Street" or "Tuscan Street") was an ancient street in the city of Rome, running southwest out of the Roman Forum between the Basilica Julia and the Temple of Castor and Pollux towards the Forum Boarium and Circus Maximus v ...

; the Basilica Julia; the Ficus Ruminalis and the statue of Marsyas.

References

sights.seindal.dk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plutei Of Trajan Buildings and structures completed in the 2nd century Roman Forum Trajan Rome R. X Campitelli Architectural sculpture

Description

Foreground carvings

Background carvings

Further reading

References