| Statue of Trajan | |
|---|---|
 The statue in 2010 | |
 | |
| Year | 1980 (erected) |
| Medium | Bronze sculpture |
| Subject | Trajan |
| Location | London, United Kingdom |
| 51°30′36″N0°04′34″W / 51.509875°N 0.076174°W | |
The statue of Trajan is an outdoor twentieth-century bronze sculpture depicting the Roman Emperor Trajan, located in front of a section of the London Wall built by Romans, at Tower Hill in London, United Kingdom. [1]
Trajan is shown bareheaded and wearing a tunic, [1] holding a scroll in his left hand while gesturing with his right hand raised. [2] A plaque at its base contains the inscription:
STATUE BELIEVED TO BE OF THE ROMAN EMPEROR TRAJAN/ A.D. 98–117/ IMPERATOR CAESAR NERVA TRAJANUS AUGUSTUS/ PRESENTED BY THE TOWER HILL IMPROVEMENT TRUST AT THE/ REQUEST OF THE REVEREND P. B. CLAYTON, CH, MC, DD, /FOUNDER PADRE OF TOC H. [2] [3]
The statue was installed in 1980 as a bequest from P. B. "Tubby" Clayton, the vicar of All Hallows-by-the-Tower. [1] [4] The Museum of London believes the figure to have been recovered from a scrapyard in Southampton in the 1920s, and notes that its head does not match its body. [5] There is no information presented at the site about the sculptor. [2]
It is a cast of a late 1st century statue found in Minturno, which is on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. [6] The upper part of the head is the result of restoration; [7] [ original research? ] other casts are in Rome (at the via dei Fori Imperiali and Museum of Roman Civilization), Ancona and Benevento.
Trajan presided over the second-greatest military expansion in Roman history, after Augustus, leading the empire to attain its maximum territorial extent by the time of his death. He never himself visited Britain. [4]
Decebalus, sometimes referred to as Diurpaneus, was the last Dacian king. He is famous for fighting three wars, with varying success, against the Roman Empire under two emperors. After raiding south across the Danube, he defeated a Roman invasion in the reign of Domitian, securing a period of independence during which Decebalus consolidated his rule.
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Trajan's Column is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate. It is located in Trajan's Forum, north of the Roman Forum. Completed in AD 113, the freestanding column is most famous for its spiral bas relief, which depicts the wars between the Romans and Dacians. Its design has inspired numerous victory columns, both ancient and modern.
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