List of ancient spiral stairs

Section view of the interior stairway and the pedestal of Trajan's Column (click on interactive image)

Plan of ground floor of the Greek Temple A at Selinunte. The remains of the two spiral stairs between the pronaos and the cella are the oldest known to date (c. 480 BC).^[1]

The list of ancient spiral stairs contains a selection of Greco-Roman spiral stairs constructed during classical antiquity. The spiral stair is a type of stairway which, due to its complex helical structure, has been introduced relatively late into architecture. Although the oldest example dates back to the 5th century BC,^[1] it was only in the wake of the influential design of the Trajan's Column that this space-saving new type permanently caught hold in Roman architecture.^[2]

Apart from the triumphal columns in the imperial cities of Rome and Constantinople, other types of buildings such as temples, thermae, basilicas and tombs were also fitted with spiral stairways.^[2] Their notable absence in the towers of the Aurelian Wall indicates that they, unlike in medieval castles, did not yet figure prominently in Roman military engineering.^[2] By late antiquity, separate stair towers were constructed adjacent to the main buildings, like in the Basilica of San Vitale.

The construction of spiral stairs passed on both to Christian and Islamic architecture.

Spiral stairs

Column of Marcus Aurelius. An almost 30 m high spiral staircase winds up inside, with 14 steps per full turn.

Monument	Location	Country	Date of construction	Height	Number of stairways	Comment
Temple A [1]	Selinunte	Italy	c. 480 BC		2
Temple of Bel [3]	Palmyra	Syria	1st century
Trajan's Column [4]	Rome	Italy	113	29.68 m	1	14 steps per turn
Column of Marcus Aurelius [5]	Rome	Italy	Late 2nd century	29.62 m	1	14 steps per turn
Baths of Caracalla [6]	Rome	Italy	212–216		2
Baths of Diocletian [6]	Rome	Italy	298–305		4
Round Temple at Ostia [6]	Rome	Italy	3rd century		1
Santa Costanza [6]	Rome	Italy	c. 350		1
Tomb of Galerius [6]	Thessaloniki	Greece	Early 4th century		2
Imperial Baths [6]	Trier	Germany	Early 4th century		8
Column of Theodosius [7]	Constantinople	Turkey	Late 4th century		1
St. Gereon's Basilica [8]	Cologne	Germany	Late 4th century	16.50 m [A 1]	1
Column of Arcadius [7]	Constantinople	Turkey	401–421		1
Basilica of San Vitale [9]	Ravenna	Italy	527–548		2	A pair of stair towers
Gate of the Great Palace [10]	Constantinople	Turkey	532 [A 2]	?	?	Procopius (Pers. 1.24.43) refers to sorty down a spiral stairway
Sangarius Bridge [11]	Adapazarı	Turkey	559–562	10.37 m [A 3]	1	Located in pier of triumphal arch at entrance of bridge

Footnotes

1. Ancient staircase preserved to this height
2. Date of evidence
3. Height of arched doorway

See also

• Greek architecture
• Greek technology
• Roman architecture
• Roman technology
• Roman engineering

References

1. Beckmann 2002, p. 354; Ruggeri 2006, p. 77
2. Beckmann 2002, pp. 353–356
3. Beckmann 2002, p. 355
4. Jones 1993, pp. 28, 31
5. Jones 1993, pp. 28, 38
6. Beckmann 2002, p. 354
7. Beckmann 2002, p. 352
8. Schäfke 1984, p. 102
9. Rasch 1985, p. 123, fn. 27
10. Beckmann 2002, p. 349
11. Whitby 1985, p. 129

Bibliography

• Beckmann, Martin (2002), "The 'Columnae Coc(h)lides' of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius", Phoenix, 56 (3/4): 348–357, doi:10.2307/1192605, JSTOR 1192605
• Jones, Mark Wilson (1993), "One Hundred Feet and a Spiral Stair: The Problem of Designing Trajan's Column", Journal of Roman Archaeology, 6: 23–38
• Rasch, Jürgen (1985), "Die Kuppel in der römischen Architektur. Entwicklung, Formgebung, Konstruktion", Architectura, 15, pp. 117–139
• Ruggeri, Stefania (2006), Selinunt, Messina: Edizioni Affinità Elettive, ISBN 88-8405-079-0
• Schäfke, Werner (1984), Kölns romanische Kirchen. Architektur, Ausstattung, Geschichte, Köln, ISBN 3-7701-1360-8
• Whitby, Michael (1985), "Justinian's Bridge over the Sangarius and the Date of Procopius' de Aedificiis", The Journal of Hellenic Studies, The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, 105: 129–148, doi:10.2307/631526, JSTOR 631526

Further reading

• Lancaster, Lynne (1999), "Building Trajan's Column", American Journal of Archaeology, 103 (3): 419–439, doi:10.2307/506969, JSTOR 506969

External links

Media related to Roman stairs at Wikimedia Commons

• Traianus – Technical investigation of Roman public works