Roman sculpture from Augustus to Constantine . et the enemy in. Probably they belongto a party among the Dacians that was always friendly tothe Romans. Further on (316-318) the Romans hastilycxvii cut down trees to construct fortifications. Next, a chief kneels before Trajan* (319), who seems by his gestureto receive him with favour. If this be so, the man belongsto the • Roman party. who had marked with disapprovalthe violation by Decebalus of the treaty concluded afterthe first campaign. cxix In the next scene, despairing Dacians are seen settingfire (323-325) to a quarter of Sar
Roman sculpture from Augustus to Constantine . et the enemy in. Probably they belongto a party among the Dacians that was always friendly tothe Romans. Further on (316-318) the Romans hastilycxvii cut down trees to construct fortifications. Next, a chief kneels before Trajan* (319), who seems by his gestureto receive him with favour. If this be so, the man belongsto the • Roman party. who had marked with disapprovalthe violation by Decebalus of the treaty concluded afterthe first campaign. cxix In the next scene, despairing Dacians are seen settingfire (323-325) to a quarter of Sarmizegetusa, and to the cxx right of this is (326-329) the tremendous scene of the self-poisoning of the Dacian chiefs, who prefer death to dis-honour. The episode is dej)icted with the utmost originality * According to Petersen (, ii., p. 99), the Emperor him-self had been superintending the preceding operations, but turnsto receive the Dacian, though one member at least of his staffstill looks to the left in the direction of the THE TRAJAN COLUMN 199 and force, as if in Rome some captive Dacian who hadwitnessed it, had described it fresh from his memory to theartist of the column. In the centre two splendid Daciansstand by a great cauldron or mixing bowl (328). The oneladles out the poison into the cup which his comrade holds,and towards which the others stretch forth eager hands asthough towaids a coveted treasure. No words can conveythe pathos and tragedy of this composition; the piteoussight of strong men in their prime, bent on deliverancethrough death—^the tenderness with which men, themselvesabout to drink the fatal poison, support and help thosealready dying. For death, even when courted, is hard tomeet. Thus a man above, on the left, clasps his hand to hisforehead as if in intolerable anguish (326). Another, lowerdown, already dead, is cai-ried out to burial. The weight ofthe head, which the strong neck is now powerless tobear, and the arm thrown forwar
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