Who founded the Ulpian Library?
The Emperor Trajan founded the Ulpian Library, commissioning it in 112 AD and completing construction in AD 114 in the Forum of Trajan in Rome.
Questions about Ulpian Library
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What was kept inside the Ulpian Library?
The Ulpian Library held Latin and Greek scrolls, estimated at approximately ten thousand across both collections, as well as public records, praetorian edicts, senatorial decrees, Caesar's autobiography, and Trajan's commentaries on the Dacian Wars. It also served as the Public Record Office of Rome, holding over 20,000 scrolls of population records.
How long did the Ulpian Library survive in Rome?
The Ulpian Library is the only Roman library known to have survived until the Fall of Rome in the mid-fifth century. Records show it was still in use in 455 AD, when the Emperor Avitus ordered a bust of Didonius Appollinarius placed there.
Where was the Ulpian Library located?
The Ulpian Library stood in the Forum of Trajan in ancient Rome, positioned due north of the Roman Forum, at the heart of the Roman Empire.
Why was the Ulpian Library significant to the Western World?
The Ulpian Library became a major library of the Western World after the Library of Alexandria was destroyed in the 3rd century. It was also considered one of the most prominent and famous libraries of antiquity.
How was the Ulpian Library laid out?
The Ulpian Library was a two-level structure with high vaulted ceilings, containing separate Latin and Greek halls that faced each other across a colonnaded courtyard enclosing the Column of Trajan. Each hall had seven niches per wall holding recessed wooden bookcases, plus four more along the back wall.