Phocas column

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The Phocas column in the Roman Forum; in the background: Tabularium (left) and Arch of Septimius Severus (right).
The Phocas column in front of the Rostra ; in the background the temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina .
The capital of the Phocas column
Roman Forum, red: Phocas column

The Phocas column (Italian: Colonna di Foca ) is a late Roman honorary column on the Roman Forum in Rome and was built in 608 at the behest of the exarch of Ravenna , Smaragdus , in honor of the emperor Phocas . The column is believed to be the last public structure erected on the Roman forum during ancient times. It was originally crowned by a gilded statue of the emperor. The Corinthian column made of Carrara marble is 13.60 m high and probably originates from a building from the 3rd century. Nearby are the remains of seven other pillars along the Via Sacra .

During the excavations in 1813, an inscription came to light at the foot of the base:

Optimo clementiss [imo piissi] moque / principi domino n (ostro) / F [ocae imperat] ori / perpetuo ad (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) and (icesima) / p (ost) c (onsulatum) pietatis eius anno quinto

German translation:

“ Smaragdus, former praepositus of the Holy Palace, Patricius and Exarch of Italy, gave His leniency to the best, mildest and most pious princeps , our Lord Phocas, the permanent, God-crowned emperor, the triumphant and everlasting Augustus , as thanks for the countless people Benefit of His piety and for the peace and freedom that Italy received, this statue of His Majesty, glittering with the splendor of gold, placed here on the highest pillar for His eternal glory and consecrated to Him on the first day of August, the eleventh Indication in the fifth year after the Consulate of His Piety. "

When the Phocas Column was erected, not much was left of the former glory of the Forum and the Eternal City; The decisive blow was the Gothic War of Emperor Justinian , which devastated Rome and Italy around 550 and largely destroyed the structures of late antiquity . Nevertheless, the erection of this column illustrates that Rome still had considerable ideological importance for the Eastern Roman emperors in the 7th century - for example, Emperor Constans II was still playing around 662 with the plan to move his residence to the city. And the forum, the ancient center of the city, was obviously still in use at that time and was considered a suitable place to erect such an important monument. Only in the following decades was it to lose its importance completely and finally to serve as a pasture (temporarily called Campo Vaccino ("cow pasture")).

See also

Web links

Commons : Phocas Pillar  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. CIL 6, 1200 .

Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 32.9 "  N , 12 ° 29 ′ 5.4"  E