Trajan\'\'s Column idea

[P. Clodius Secundus]

While reading Pollen's "A Description of the Trajan Column I came across a passage that mentions in one of the backgrounds ..."a mule with a Spanish saddle, with a broad ledge hung from it, on which the rider sits sideways and can support both feet so as to enable him to study papers or plans on his knees while riding. The mule is held by a slave." It is on spiral #3 panel B. In Pollen's text it corresponds with section X .
Does anyone know of any image available that covers the area in question? I have a theory (actually more of a wild supposition) that this could be evidence that Trajan was accompanied on his campaign by the first known combat artist. Why else would there be a need for some one who could read and write from the saddle? If he were a scribe for the Emperor why is his mule depicted on a hill in the distance overlooking the action instead of at his place next to the Command Group? Curiously, in spiral 2 B/C there is a slave seen fallling from his mule when the trumpets sound to break camp. Could this be that same slave and mule belonging to the aformentioned Artist/Histriographer? First off, why would a slave be riding when even the Emperor walked on the march? Second how could such a comical vignette make it onto an otherwise serious composition? To me it indicates that the overall design (presumably a scroll) was originally produced by someone who was actually present. How else would a simple sculptor in Rome have the knowledge or testicular fortitude to include this inside joke on the Emperor's pet project. Even if there is no connection between the background image and the comical falling slave, why was the former included? Unlike the other scenes and figures it apparently does nothing to move the story along. It is not unheard of for artists to include their own image in their master works. Philopoiteaux's Gettysburg Cyclorama and Hitchcock's cameos are modern corrolaries. It would not be to much of a stretch to imagine someone including his mule and faithful slave (I call him Waldo :wink: ) in his work. Comments anyone?

[jvrjenivs]

I couldn't find this on panel 3B
[url:16yjpjx6]http://cheiron.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~trajan/buildcartoon.cgi?3b#[/url]

[Marcus Julius]

Does anyone know of any image available that covers the area in question? I have a theory (actually more of a wild supposition) that this could be evidence that Trajan was accompanied on his campaign by the first known combat artist. Why else would there be a need for some one who could read and write from the saddle? If he were a scribe for the Emperor why is his mule depicted on a hill in the distance overlooking the action instead of at his place next to the Command Group?
.....
Comments anyone?

A historian, perhaps? While I do like your idea and your arguments do make sense. Unless something is in one of the literary histories we will never know for sure. Another odd possibility: a military tactician who could later comment on the effectiveness of certain units, manouvers, etc. so that the army would be able to fight better in the next battle? Kind of like a modern American football team watching review tapes, or a modern military's debriefing.

[P. Clodius Secundus]

I couldn't find this on panel 3B
[url:2bdonyl4]http://cheiron.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~trajan/buildcartoon.cgi?3b#[/url]

Sorry, it's right on the border between 3A & 3B at the very top/back. Unfortunately I haven't found a clear image of this part. I'm waiting patiently for Coulston's new book on the Column to be published. My copy is already reserved. I've annotated the margins of my copy of Pollen's with the corresponding scenes I, II, III, IV ... etc. from the STOA site to make comparisons and cross reference easier. If anyone want's it I can transcribe it here. Reading Pollen's account and follwing along with the visual cartoons and images in the McMaster's database left me with the feeling that the whole story was just recorded in "real time" on a continuous scroll and later transcribed onto stone instead of laid out in metered fashinon. Draw what you just witnessed, and sketch in a tree to separate it from the next scene. Some events such as battles, which we would consider momentous rate only half a panel, while a sacrifice or building one of many forts earns a whole panel or more. It just feels more stream-of-consciousness than edited and structured.