Died 130 AD | ||
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Structures Similar Trajan, Decebalus, Hadrian, Apollodorus of Athens, Raphael |
Apollodorus of damascus
Apollodorus of Damascus (Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ Δαμασκηνός) was a Syrian-Greek engineer, architect, designer and sculptor from Damascus, Roman Syria, who flourished during the 2nd century AD.
Contents
![Apollodorus of Damascus 1000 images about Apollodorus of Damascus on Pinterest](https://alchetron.com/cdn/apollodorus-of-damascus-5dffbf85-8130-4e74-b97c-9b31738810b-resize-750.jpg)
Work
![Apollodorus of Damascus Apollodorus of Damascus New at LacusCurtius amp Livius](https://alchetron.com/cdn/apollodorus-of-damascus-aad71095-a507-4d83-a26c-645e8e894d8-resize-750.jpeg)
Apollodorus was a favourite of Trajan, for whom he constructed Trajan's Bridge over the Danube, for the 105–106 campaign in Dacia.
![Apollodorus of Damascus Apollodorus of Damascus Architect of Empire ROMA INVICTA](https://alchetron.com/cdn/apollodorus-of-damascus-9b2fe95d-5c31-4b19-8b99-dc6bc0c278a-resize-750.jpeg)
He also designed the Forum Trajanum and Trajan's Column within the city of Rome, beside several smaller projects. Apollodorus also designed the triumphal arches of Trajan at Beneventum and Ancona. He is widely credited as the architect of the third iteration of the Pantheon, and cited as the builder of the Alconétar Bridge in Spain. In 106 he also completed or restored the odeon begun in the Campus Martius under Domitian.
![Apollodorus of Damascus Apollodorus of Damascus Livius](https://alchetron.com/cdn/apollodorus-of-damascus-e6b297ff-bc0c-4873-95b6-b9e79641761-resize-750.jpeg)
Trajan's Column, in the centre of the Forum, is celebrated as being the first triumphal monument of its kind. On the accession of Hadrian, whom he had offended by ridiculing his performances as architect and artist, Apollodorus was banished and, shortly afterwards, being charged with imaginary crimes, put to death. He also wrote a treatise on Siege Engines (Πολιορκητικά), addressed to an unnamed emperor, likely Trajan.
![Apollodorus of Damascus Apollodorus of Damascus](https://alchetron.com/cdn/apollodorus-of-damascus-e873fc8c-b063-40ad-8cbd-8ab24c75246-resize-750.jpeg)
The story about Apollodorus' death demonstrates the persistent hostility felt towards Hadrian in senatorial circles long after his reign, for if Cassius Dio included it in his history, he must have believed it. Many since have taken Dio's anecdote at face value, but there is much in this story that does not add up and many scholars dismiss its historicity altogether.
![Apollodorus of Damascus Apollodorus of Damascus Greek architect and engineer Britannicacom](https://alchetron.com/cdn/apollodorus-of-damascus-4a385cb9-4e68-47da-83cc-22cbebee0ff-resize-750.jpeg)