Trajan's Column
Ancient coins show plans to put a statue of an eagle on top of the column. However it was built with a statue of Trajan. This statue disappeared in the Middle Ages. On December 4, 1587, the top was crowned by Pope Sixtus V with a bronze figure of St. Peter. When it was built the column was next to two libraries, which perhaps held the soldier-emperor's account of the Roman-Dacian Wars.