In 113 CE, the Roman Emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus had a 40-metre victory column erected on his magnificent Forum. The column is still standing in its original position today. Its frieze, which ascends as a spiral through 23 turns and reaches a total length of 200 m, depicts scenes from Trajan’s successful wars against the Dacians. The cube-shaped plinth contains several inscriptions, whose capital letters are considered the finest examples of Roman Capitalis Monumentalis lettering.  



In 1989, Carol Twombly’s interpretation of the chiselled Roman inscriptions was released by Adobe, with additional figures and punctuation marks. She christened the typeface Trajan, after the famous column in Rome.