Trajan’s triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan’s victory in the Dacian Wars. Completed in AD 113, the freestanding column is most famous for its spiral bas relief, which artistically describes the epic wars between the Romans and Dacians. The shaft is made from a series of 20 colossal Carrara marble drums, each weighing about 32 tons. The structure is about 30 metres in height, 35 metres including its large pedestal. The interior of Trajan’s Column is hollow: a spiral stair of 185 steps gives access to the platform above, having offered the visitor in antiquity a view over the surrounding Trajan’s forum; 43 window slits illuminate the ascent. After the statue of Trajan disappeared in the Middle Ages, in 1587, the top was crowned by Pope Sixtus V with a bronze figure of St. Peter. Photo shot is the morning sunlight; vertical format. Copy space. © Mano Chandra Dhas