Trajan’s column, a column that currently sits in Rome, was originally erected in 113 A.D. to celebrate Roman Emperor Trajan’s victory in the Dacian Wars. Depicted engraved in the shaft of the column are images of Trajan’s victory, characterized by brutal images of battle. Historians are still uncertain about whether the column was built purely for celebratory reasons or if it was built for propaganda, but, regardless, it was still torn down by King Theoderic of the Gothic invaders four centuries later. When the Roman Empire was invaded by the Germanic invaders of the 5th century and consequentially collapsed, the leader of the invasions (King Theoderic) became the king of Italy as well. When the Germanics invaded, however, a part of Italian culture penetrated their own. The Goths became Christian shortly after taking over the Roman empire, which was believed to be the primary motivation for King Theoderic to knock down the original Trajan’s Column. It is believed that Theoderic knocked down the column because he believed it was an example of Roman narcissism and because he wanted to remind Rome of where all their attention should be focused; exalting God in all his glory. In the place of Trajan’s column, the column seen in these images was built. It is believed to be one of the first instances of the rare Italian Gothic style, which was prominent between 600 and 1200 A.D. and influenced true French Gothic, which is what we typically think of when we think about Gothic architecture. Italian Gothic as a style is described as the crossroads between the delicate fragility and ornamental qualities of Gothic architecture and the masculine, monolithic qualities of Romanesque architecture. These qualities can be seen in Theoderic’s column, as the column wavers between being extremely solid and bulky at the pedestal and the crown and being delicate at the center, making the upper half of the column seem balanced on the bottom half rather than being attached. This hierarchy of thicknesses in the cross-section are complimented by delicate ornamentation lacing the outside, which also takes on the Romanesque quality of delicate semi-circular arches as a primary feature. The fact that this column influenced French gothic architecture is supported by the fact that a miniature iteration of this column exists in one of the earliest examples of the style in Brussels, Belgium, as can be seen here.

Looking forward many centuries, Theoderic’s column persisted until just before Italy entered WWII in 1940. The column collapsed under its own weight from the dilapidation seen in the middle of the column, as this was the thinnest and most delicate part of the column. The bulk of the capital final became too much, and the column collapsed in 1939. Benito Mussolini, who had taken power in 1922, saw this as an opportunity to stoke Italian spirits, as Italy was under great enough internal strain during this time to make the country’s entry into WWII an even bigger deal than if it were under normal conditions. Mussolini decided to attempt to rebuild Trajan’s column in its original place, as the column had originally been used simultaneously as propaganda and as a celebration of Italian victory, inspiring Mussolini to bring back that token of Italian victory to inspire the people. This was made possible because images of the column had been used on coins at the time, and while not everything on the column is depicted as it was originally as far as the battle depictions go, it still served its purpose to inspire the Italian people. This version of the column is what can be seen sitting on the site today.

Just because Theoderic’s original column collapsed does not mean that it can’t still be studied. Various smaller reproductions have been discovered in Roman ruins and have survived because of careful handling and restoration of the structurally delicate portions of the column. One of these reproductions can be seen in this image here. All the features of have been confirmed to be mostly true to the original Theoderic’s column, as images do exist of the column before it collapsed.