criticaldebatesindesign: TRAJAN

History behind the trajan type face:

1. The ancient history:

Trajan, the lettered inscription on the base of Trajan's Column in Rome, is often regarded asone of the best models of the Imperial Roman alphabet.

Trajan’s Column was erected by theSenate and People of Rome as a memorial the Emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus’ wars, whichslightly extended the Empire’s frontiers even further into “barbarian” territory than it hadalready been.Contrary to the belif of some,the lettering on the base of Trajan’s Column was neither the debut of the Roman Alphabet, nor the first time that it had used serifs.

It is, however, probably the most famous example of both. The letters on Trajan’s Column represent one of the best examples left to us from antiquity. Trajan’s Column, and samples like it, would go on to influence the development of the Roman alphabet, and later typeface design, for the next 2,000 years.

The lettering inscribed on the base of the column is termed scriptura monumentalis or capitalis monumentalis, a form of majuscular (capitals) used for larger architectural inscriptions. Like all capital letters in the Latin alphabet since the second century BC, it is shaded, the vertical strokes twice as thick as the horizontal ones. Here, too, the height of the letter is approximately eight and one-half to nine times the width of the vertical stroke, an ideal ratio for the letter type.

The othe example of "Trajan," a typeface developed by Carol Twombly for Adobe Systems. Modified for printing on paper, the font has stronger serifs than the original, with different stem and bowl weights, the letter "N" being narrower and "S" wider.