Ulpian Library
The Bibliotheca Ulpia, known as the Ulpian Library, stood in the Forum of Trajan in ancient Rome. It is the only Roman library known to have survived until the Fall of Rome in the mid-fifth century. Every other library in the city disappeared long before that. The Emperor Trajan founded it in AD 114, and it became one of the most prominent and famous libraries of antiquity. When the Library of Alexandria was destroyed in the 3rd century, the Ulpian Library rose to become a major library of the Western World. What let a single building in Rome outlast so many others? What filled its shelves, how was it built, and what traces of it remain today?
In 112 AD, Trajan commissioned a library for his forum, positioned due north of the Roman Forum, at the heart of the empire he ruled.
According to one record, "this library was also the Public Record Office of Rome," holding over 20,000 scrolls of information about the city's population.
The library was also equipped with presses for storing both scrolls and books, and during excavation, archaeologists found traces of these presses still standing.
Apart from the public records, the rest of the collection is thought to trace back to the private library of Epaphrodites of Cheronea. That collection alone held more than 30,000 books and scrolls.
Early in the 4th century, the library's contents were moved to the Baths of Diocletian, possibly because the building needed repairs. They were eventually returned.
Records also note that in 455 AD, the Emperor Avitus ordered a bust of Didonius Appollinarius to be placed there. That order stands among the last specific traces of the library's use before its story fades from the record.
Latin and Greek collections filled two separate halls in the Ulpian Library, continuing a pattern already used in other Roman imperial libraries. The two halls faced each other across a small colonnaded courtyard, which enclosed the Column of Trajan at its center.
Each hall rose two levels beneath high vaulted ceilings.
Columns set opposite pilasters framed the niches that held the books and scrolls, dividing the interior walls into bays. Three steps ran between the columns, giving access to a walkway in front of the bookcases.
At the far end of the hall, recesses held a statue on each level, presumably one of Trajan and possibly one of Minerva.
Seven niches lined each wall on both levels, holding recessed wooden bookcases, and four more ran across the back wall to store additional scrolls.
Estimates put the total holdings at approximately ten thousand scrolls across both the Latin and Greek libraries.
Archival materials filled part of that collection too, including praetorian edicts, senatorial decrees, Caesar's autobiography, and Trajan's own commentaries on the Dacian Wars. Only a few words of those commentaries survive today.
Reading desks called plutei stood out in the open while the books themselves stayed hidden on shelves. That design was built purely for the books already on hand, with no room to grow with whatever the library still had to collect.
Physical and digital reconstructions now recreate both the exterior and interior of the Ulpian Library, built from what still survives on site.
The digital reconstruction places the viewer inside the west, or Greek, library. Looking out through what would have been bronze screens into the portico, the base of the Column of Trajan is visible from there.
The library faces east, following what Vitruvius recommends for libraries. Its bronze screens restricted access whenever the building stood closed, and its high vaulted ceiling was built to take advantage of the morning light.
Portions of the floor and the podium of one wall have survived, and that physical evidence shaped the digital reconstruction of the library's interior. Those fragments amount to little more than a stretch of floor and part of a single wall. They are what is left to explain a library that once held tens of thousands of scrolls.
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Common questions
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.
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.
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5 references cited across the entry
- 1BookDahl's History of the BookWilliam A. Katz — Scarecrow Press — 1995-01-01
- 5BookHistory of Libraries in the Western World 4th ed.Harris — 1999