 Pompey's Pillar | |
  Shown within Egypt | |
| Location | Alexandria,Egypt |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 31°10′57″N29°53′47.1″E / 31.18250°N 29.896417°E /31.18250; 29.896417 |
| Type | Roman triumphal column |
| Diameter | c. 2.7-2.8 m (column shaft) |
| Height | c. 33.85 m (total original with 7 m statue) 26.85 m (present total) |
| History | |
| Builder | Publiuspraefectus aegypti on behalf of emperorDiocletian |
| Material | granite, lost statue in porphyry |
| Founded | AD 298-303; 1722 years ago (303) (dedicated) |
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Pompey's Pillar (Arabic:عمود السواري,romanized: 'Amud El-Sawari) is aRoman triumphal column inAlexandria,Egypt. Despite its modern name, it was actually set up in honour of theRoman emperor Diocletian between 298–302 AD. The giantCorinthian column originally supported a colossalporphyry statue of the emperor in armour.[1] It stands at the eastern side of thetemenos of theSerapeum of Alexandria, which is now in ruins.
It is the only ancient monument in Alexandria that is still standing in its original location.[2]
The local name isArabic:عمود السواري,romanized: 'Amud El-Sawari, where the word 'Amud means "column". The name Sawari has been translated in many ways by scholars, including Severus (i.e. EmperorSeptimius Severus).[3]
The name of Pompey in relation to the pillar was used by many European writers in early modern times. The name is considered to stem from a historical misreading of theGreek dedicatoryinscription on the base;[4] the name ΠΟΥΠΛΙΟΣ (Πού̣π̣[λιος],Pouplios) was confused with ΠΟΜΠΗΙΟΣ (Ancient Greek:Πομπήιος,romanized: Pompeios).[4]
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In 297 Diocletian, Augustus since 284, campaigned in Egypt to suppress the revolt of the usurperDomitius Domitianus. After a long siege, Diocletian captured Alexandria and executed Domitianus's successorAurelius Achilleus in 298. In 302 the emperor returned to the city and inaugurated a state grain supply.[4] The dedication of the column monument and its statue of Diocletian, describes Diocletian aspolioúchos (Ancient Greek:πολιοῦχον Ἀλεξανδρείας,romanized: polioúchon Alexandreias,lit. 'city-guardian-godACC of Alexandria').[5][6] In the fourth century AD this designation also applied to Serapis, the male counterpart ofIsis in the pantheon instituted by theHellenistic rulers ofEgypt, thePtolemies.[7][8] The sanctuary complex dedicated to Serapis in which the column was originally erected, the Serapeum, was built under KingPtolemy III Euergetes in the third century BC and rebuilt under Roman rule, likely in the late 2nd to early 3rd century CE, being completed under EmperorCaracalla.[9] In the later fourth century AD it was considered byAmmianus Marcellinus a marvel rivalled only by Rome's sanctuary to JupiterOptimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill, theCapitolium.[10]
The monument stands some 26.85 m (88.1 ft) high, including its base andcapital, and originally would have supported a statue some 7 m (23 ft) tall.[1][4][11][12][a] The only knownmonolithic column inRoman Egypt (i.e., not composed ofdrums),[14] it is one of thelargest ancient monoliths and one of thelargest monolithic columns ever erected. The monolithic column shaft is 20.46 m (67.1 ft) in height with a diameter of 2.71 m (8 ft 11 in) at its base, and the socle itself is over 6 m (20 ft) tall.[4][11] Both are oflapis syenites, a pinkgranite cut from the ancient quarries at Syene (modernAswan), while the column capital of pseudo-Corinthian type is of grey granite.[4] The weight of the column shaft is estimated to be 285tonnes (314short tons).[11]
The surviving and readable four lines[6] of the inscription in Greek on the column'ssocle relate that aPraefectus Aegypti (Ancient Greek:ἔπαρχος Αἰγύπτου,romanized: eparchos Aigyptou,lit. 'Eparch of Egypt') called Publius dedicated the monument in Diocletian's honour.[15] Apraefectus aegypti named Publius is attested in twopapyri from Oxyrrhynchus; his governorship must have been held in between the prefectures ofAristius Optatus, who is named as governor on 16 March 297, and Clodius Culcianus, in office from 303 or even late 302.[15] Since Publius's name appears as the monument's dedicator, the column and stylite statue of Diocletian must have been completed between 297 and 303, while he was in post. The governor's name is largely erased in the damaged inscription; the Greek rendering of Publius as ΠΟΥΠΛΙΟΣ (Πού̣π̣[λιος],Pouplios)[16] was confused with the Greek spelling of theRepublican general of the first century BC Pompey, ΠΟΜΠΗΙΟΣ (Ancient Greek:Πομπήιος,romanized: Pompeios,Latin:Pompeius).[4]
The porphyry statue of Diocletian in armour is known from large fragments that existed at the column's foot in the eighteenth century AD. From the size of a 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) fragment representing the thighs of the honorand, the original height of theloricate statue has been calculated at approximately 7 m (23 ft).[1] While some fragments of the statue were known to be in European collections in the nineteenth century, their whereabouts were unknown by the 1930s and are presumed lost.[1][12]
It is possible that the large column supporting Diocletian's statue was accompanied by another column, or three smaller columns bearing statues of Diocletian's co-emperors, theAugustusMaximian and the twoCaesaresConstantius andGalerius. If so, the group of column-statues would have commemorated the college of emperors of theTetrarchy instituted in Diocletian's reign.[14]
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Muslim travellerIbn Battuta visited Alexandria in 1326 AD. He describes the pillar and recounts the tale of an archer who shot an arrow tied to a string over the column. This enabled him to pull a rope tied to the string over the pillar and secure it on the other side in order to climb to the top of the pillar.[17]
In early 1803, British naval officer CommanderJohn Shortland ofHMSPandour flew akite over Pompey's Pillar. This enabled him to get ropes over it, and then arope ladder. On February 2, he and John White,Pandour's Master, climbed it. When they got to the top they displayed theUnion Jack, drank atoast to KingGeorge III, and gavethree cheers. Four days later they climbed the pillar again, erected a staff, fixed aweather vane, ate abeef steak, and again toasted the king.[18] An etymology of the nickname "Pompey" for theRoyal Navy's home port ofPortsmouth and itsfootball team suggests these sailors became known as "Pompey's boys" after scaling the Pillar, and the moniker spread; other unrelated origins are also possible.[19]
This is the sole ancient monument still standing above water in that city today
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)His accedunt altis sufflata fastigiis templa, inter quae eminet Serapeum, quod licet minuatur exilitate verborum, atriis tamen columnatis amplissimus, et spirantibus signorum figmentis, et reliqua operum multitudine ita est exornatum, ut post Capitolium, quo se venerabilis Roma in aeternum attollit, nihil orbis terrarum ambitiosius cernat.
[There are besides in the city temples pompous with lofty roofs, conspicuous among them the Serapeum, which, though feeble words merely belittle it, yet is so adorned with extensive columned halls, with almost breathing statues, and a great number of other works of art, that next to the Capitolium, with which revered Rome elevates herself to eternity, the whole world beholds nothing more magnificent.]
The Pillar of Columns. Another of the marvels of this city is the awe-inspiring marble column outside it, called by them the Pillar of Columns. It is in the midst of a grove of date-palms, but it stands out from amongst its trees, over-topping them in height. It is a single block, skilfully hewn, erected on a plinth of square stones like enormous platforms, and no one knows how it was erected there, nor for certain who erected it.
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