 The Column of Phocas, against the backdrop of theArch of Septimius Severus | |
   Column of Phocas Shown within Rome | |
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| Coordinates | 41°53′33″N12°29′5″E / 41.89250°N 12.48472°E /41.89250; 12.48472 |
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TheColumn of Phocas (Italian:Colonna di Foca) is aRoman monumental column in theRoman Forum ofRome, Italy, built when Rome was part of theEastern Roman Empire after its reconquest from theKingdom of the Ostrogoths.
Erected in front of theRostra and dedicated or rededicated in honour of theEastern Roman EmperorPhocas on August 1, 608 AD, it was the last architectural addition made to theForum Romanum, after over 1,300 years of construction. The flutedCorinthian column stands 13.6 m (44 ft) tall on its cubical white marblesocle. On stylistic grounds, the column seems to have been made in the 2nd century for an unknown structure, and then recycled for the present monument. Likewise, the socle was recycled from its original use supporting a statue dedicated toDiocletian; the former inscription was chiselled away to provide a space for the later text.
The base of the column was uncovered in 1813, and the inscription on it reads, inLatin:[1]
Optimo clementiss[imo piissi]moque / principi domino n[ostro] / F[ocae imperat]ori / perpetuo a d[e]o coronato, [t]riumphatori / semper Augusto / Smaragdus ex praepos[ito] sacri palatii / ac patricius et exarchus Italiae / devotus eius clementiae / pro innumerabilibus pietatis eius beneficiis et pro quiete / procurata Ital[iae] ac conservata libertate / hanc sta(tuam maiesta)tis eius / auri splend(ore fulge)ntem huic / sublimi colu(m)na(e ad) perennem / ipsius gloriam imposuit ac dedicavit / die prima mensis Augusti, indict[ione] und[icesima] / p[ost] c[onsulatum] pietatis eius anno quinto
The English translation is as follows:
To the best, most clement and pious ruler, our lord Phocas the perpetual emperor, crowned by God, the foreveraugusttriumphator, didSmaragdus, formerpraepositus sacri palatii andpatricius andExarch of Italy, devoted to His Clemency for the innumerable benefactions of His Piousness and for the peace acquired for Italy and its freedom preserved, this statue of His Majesty, blinking from the splendor of gold here on this tallest column for his eternal glory erect and dedicate, on the first day of the month of August, in the eleventhindiction in the fifth year after theconsulate of His Piousness.
The precise occasion for this signal honour is unknown, though Phocas had formally donated thePantheon toPope Boniface IV, who rededicated it to all the martyrs andMary (Sancta Maria ad Martyres). Atop the column's capital was erected bySmaragdus, theExarch of Ravenna, a "dazzling" gilded statue of Phocas (which probably only briefly stood there). Rather than a demonstration to mark papal gratitude as it is sometimes casually declared to be, the gilded statue on its column was more likely an emblem of the imperial sovereignty over Rome, which was rapidly fading under pressure from theLombards, and a personal mark of gratitude from Smaragdus, who had been recalled by Phocas from a long exile and was indebted to the Emperor for retrieving his position of power atRavenna.
In October 610, Phocas was overthrown and killed; his statueseverywhere were overthrown.
The monument remains today in its original location (in situ). Its isolated, free-standing position among the ruins has always made it a landmark in the Forum, and it often appears invedute and engravings. The rise in ground level due to silt and debris had completely buried the socle by the timeGiuseppe Vasi andGiambattista Piranesi made engravings and etchings of the column in the mid-18th century. The square foundation of brick was not originally visible, the present level of the Forum not having been excavated down to its earlierAugustan paving until the 19th century.
Media related toColumn of Phocas at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Column of Marcus Aurelius | Landmarks of Rome Column of Phocas | Succeeded by Trajan's Column |
