Trajan\'s Column V Adamklissi

[Tarbicus]

There is a more recent example of labourers being able to amply and proficiently sculpt, which demonstrates that soldiers could well have been responsible for the sculptures we're discussing. If anyone ever finds themselves near Krakow in Poland you must get to Katowice and see the Wieliczka salt mine.



It's full of sculptures made by the miners in their spare time underground, and the full sized cathedral they carved, complete with frescoes, etc, is awe-inspiring.

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My point being that miners, although highly skilled, are not usually associated with being highly skilled artists. Therefore, why not soldiers who often did similar hard labour tasks and would also have been untrained in 'art'?

But, I think the reliefs and sculptures being discussed are being looked at too much in isolation, probably because the subjects are military. As pointed out, someone must also have created the grave stelae, etc, for civilians. The point I'm trying to make about the salt miners and Roman soldiers could just as easily be applied to the provincial locals.