Tabula Traiana is a Latin inscription dedicated to the Roman Emperor Traian and was placed on a carved rock that is above the Iron Gates. This panel is part of the ensemble of so called Roman monuments which belong to the Roman road and the remains of the bridge built by Trajan over the Danube. It is located in the National Park Djerdap, 30 km from Kladovo in Serbia.

As part of the operation against the Dacians (the territory of present-day Romania), Roman emperor Traian constructed a road from Belgrade through the Iron Gates Gorge, up to the point where he constructed a bridge over the Danube (Traian’s Bridge). He finished the road in 103, and the entire construction period was completed on a board. The board is now known as Traian’s Board (Tabula Triana) The board has the following words engraved in Latin :

CAESAR, THE EMPEROR, THE SON OF GODDESS NERVA, TRAIAN AUGUSTUS GERMANICUS, THE SUPREME PRIEST, THE REPRESENTATIVE OF PEOPLE FOR THE FORTH TIME, HAVING CONQUERED THE ROCKS OF THE MOUNTAINS AND THE DANUBE, IS NOW CONSTRUCTING THIS ROAD.

After the Iron Gates Hydroelectric Power Plant had been constructed (1969), the Roman road was flooded, and in order to preserve Traian’s board, it was decided that it should be cut and placed 50 m higher. It can be seen only from the Danube.