My Hotel Rome Blog

All throughout [tag]Rome’s history[/tag] as a kingdom, a republic and finally an empire, many wars have been fought to quell revolts expand her borders and to seize power. There are numerous [tag]monuments[/tag] all glorifying these achievements and attributing them to the individuals responsible for the successes.

These monuments were most commonly constructed as arches or columns incorporating great amounts of material, lots of detail and decoration and are right in the city centre close by our hotel Yes Hotel Rome. They were literally open air books telling a story of a great battle or event most commonly in the form of  sculptures. Great deals of money were spent on these monuments and feasts and games were also held upon their completion.

 The arch of Constantine was built in 315 by the senate and people of Rome for his victory of Maxentius, in 312, a rival for the control of the empire. The arch is made up of a main larger arch and two smaller ones on either side and is located a short distance away from the Colosseum. However not all the statues or carvings are original to this arch. A lot of the carvings were taken from several other monuments belonging to [tag]Marcus Aurelias[/tag], [tag]Trajan and Hadrian[/tag]. This also explains the different styles and quality of carvings. The pieces that were carved for the arch tell the story of the life of Constantine. These reliefs run right around the arch in a band. The quality of these particular carvings are extremely poor, which can be attributed to the civil wars which occurred previously.

Another fantastic monument which is a few minutes walk away from the [tag]Coliseum[/tag] is Trajan’s Column.  This column was built because there was no more space in the [tag]Mausoleum of Augustus[/tag]. Trajan then decided to use the base of the monument as a burial place for him and his wife. The reliefs on this column tell of the two wars Trajan fought against the Dacians in what is now today Romania. The column which stands 30 metres tall is made up of eighteen  segments one and a half metres high. The column is also hollow and has 183 stairs inside.

This column also has 2500 figures carved on it. Trajan can also be seen in numerous scenes on the column. The column has also weathered extremely well for being built in 113. It is also extremely useful as a tool for historical reasons. It shows how the army operated and shows river crossings and numerous everyday scenes from Roman life.

The top of the column previously had a carving of the emperor but was replaced with the present statue of St Peter which now adorns it.