#CLST6 #RR17 Trajan’s Column makes the triumph of civilization over barbarism one of its major themes. Obviously, the emphasis here is that Romans are civilized and Dacians are barbarians.
Initially we see this in the way that Roman and Dacian men are physically presented. Romans are clean shaven and uniformly dressed. Dacians, on the other hand, are portrayed as hairy and unkempt.
Basically everything the "civilized" Romans do in the reliefs is portrayed as more organized, strategic, and refined.

Take, for example, the quality of the Dacian fort on the left and compare it to the Roman fort on the right. Clearly, one of these things is not like the other.
You'll never struggle to parse out the Roman soldiers from the Dacian soldiers in the battle ground scenes. Romans are the ones with superior weapons, protective equipment, and a displayable military strategy (peep the Roman defense formation on the right!).
The Romans certainly did have an ego! Perhaps it was not entirely unwarranted militarily speaking, but the othering of all non-Romans is pretty grossly evident in Trajan's Column.
The Romans certainly did have an ego! Perhaps it was not entirely unwarranted militarily speaking, but the "othering" of all non-Romans is pretty grossly evident in Trajan's Column.
CORRECTION*** this was the pic of the Roman fort I meant to include in tweet 3 of this thread!!!!
You can follow @KennedyCLST6.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: