ABSTRACT
At the beginning of the second century AD Rome was at the height of her power and prestige. Under Trajan the Empire reached its greatest geographical extent and the Dacian campaign brought with it the biggest influx of wealth that Rome had ever seen. The years of experimental architecture were over. Concrete was the universal material for buildings, whether designed for utility or pleasure. Mastery of concrete and seemingly limitless wealth resulted in buildings of a scale never dreamed of in earlier centuries. The new forum complex laid out by Trajan covered over three times the area of the Forum of Augustus. Trajan's new baths dwarfed the Baths of Titus. A huge new harbour was built at Portus (see p. 124) and Ostia was practically rebuilt during the first half of the second century AD (see p. 125). Trajan's Column seemed to epitomize the new age. Its cool, factual reporting of Trajan's Dacian campaigns proclaimed calm assurance of Roman superiority and security. It was a victory column in the heart of Rome. The style of its reliefs too was significant; their spirit was classical, in keeping with the high promise of the new age. How these noble, self-confident figures contrast with the anxious, dumpy little men that swarm around the column of Marcus Aurelius! They are the soldiers of Rome at the height of her power and glory.
