Is the name given to a Roman triumphal column in Alexandria, Egypt. Set up in honour of the augustus Diocletian between 298-302 AD, the giant Corinthian column originally supported a colossal porphyry statue of the emperor in armour. It stands at the eastern side of the temenos of the Serapeum of Alexandria, beside the ruins of the temple of Serapis itself. The erroneous name and association with Pompey stems from historical misreading of the Greek dedicatory inscription on the base.
Construction
In 297 Diocletian, augustus since 284, campaigned in Egypt to suppress the revolt of the usurper Domitius Domitianus. After a long siege, Diocletian captured Alexandria and executed Domitianus's successor Aurelius Achilleus in 298. In 302 the emperor returned to the city and inaugurated a state grain supply. The dedication of the column monument and its statue of Diocletian, describes Diocletian as polioúchos (Ancient Greek: πολιοῦχον Ἀλεξανδρείας, romanized: polioúchon Alexandreias, lit. 'city-guardian-god ACC of Alexandria'). In the fourth century AD this designation also applied to Serapis, the male counterpart of Isis in the pantheon instituted by the Hellenistic rulers of Egypt, the Ptolemies. The sanctuary complex dedicated to Serapis in which the column was originally erected, the Serapeum, was built under King Ptolemy III Euergetes in the third century BC and probably rebuilt in the era of the second century AD emperor Hadrian after sustaining damage in the Kitos Wars; in the later fourth century AD it was considered by Ammianus Marcellinus a marvel rivalled only by Rome's sanctuary to Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill, the Capitolium.
The column was the largest of its type constructed outside the imperial capitals of Rome and Constantinople. The monument stands some 26.85 m (almost 90 ft) high, and originally would have supported a statue some 7 m (23 ft) tall. The only known free-standing column in Roman Egypt which was not composed of drums, it is one of the largest ancient monoliths and one of the largest monolithic columns ever erected. The monolithic column shaft measures 20.46 m in height with a diameter of 2.71 m at its base, the socle itself is over 6 m tall. The column and socle are of lapis syenites, a pink granite cut from the ancient quarries at Syene (modern Aswan), while the column capital of pseudo-Corinthian type is of grey granite. The weight of the column shaft, a single piece of red granite, is estimated to be 285 tonnes. The column is 26.85 m high including its base and capital. Other authors give slightly deviating dimensions.
The surviving and readable four lines of the inscription in Greek on the column's socle called Publius dedicated the monument in Diocletian's honour. The monument commemorated the victories of the augustus on one of his visits to Egypt, commemorating either the institution of the Alexandrian state grain supply, or the victory over Domitius Domitianus. name Publius is attested in two papyri from Oxyrrhynchus; his governorship must have been held in between the prefectures of Aristius Optatus, who is named as governor on 16 March 297, and Clodius Culcianus, in office from 303 or even late 302. 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 remaining rendering of Publius was confused with the Greek spelling of the Republican general of the first century BC Pompey.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 fragment representing the thighs of the honorand, the original size of the loricate statue has been calculated at approximately 7 m tall. 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.
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, the augustus Maximian and the two caesares Constantius and Galerius. If so, the group of column-statues would have commemorated the college of emperors of the Tetrarchy instituted in Diocletian's reign.
The Memorial of Diocletian (Pompey's Pillar)
The so-called "Pompey Pillar" is the biggest memorial column in Egypt. It is a huge column of red granite, with a total height of about 28 meters and a base diameter of 2.7m. On the upper part at the western side is an inscription in Greek, which reads: "to the most just Emperor, tutelary of Alexandria Diocletian, the invincible, Postumus, and the Prefect of Egypt (who erected this monument)."
The Roman ruler of Egypt erected this memorial column between 284-305 A.D. in honor of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. A serious revolt in the city took place and Diocletian came himself, ordering the city to be besieged. After 8 months of resistance, the city finally surrendered and returned to Roman rule. As a result of the siege, there was famine in the city and therefore the Emperor ordered that a portion of the corn which was sent to Rome annually be given to the people of Alexandria instead. He exempted them from paying taxes during these hard times as well. This memorial column was erected in gratitude for what Diocletian did for them during these hard times. In the middle Ages the Crusaders believed mistakenly that the ashes or remains of the great Roman general Pompey were in a pot at the top of the column. This is how it got the nickname "Pompey's Pillar."
Various monuments are also located around the column. At the back are the remains of a Serapium or a temple of the God Serapis, now badly damaged. It was built during the reigns of Ptolemy II and Ptolemy III, but was damaged due to revolts of the Jewish population in Alexandria during the reign of Emperor Trajan (89-118 A.D). It was rebuilt again during the reign of Hadrian (117-137 A.D). It was likely was destroyed, once more, after the appearance of Christianity. It consisted of a high platform accessed by a staircase of 100 steps.
At the side of the platform there was also a basin, which was used for purification. There were two galleries at the back of the temple as well cut completely from the rock. In the 1st gallery a black statue of basalt was discovered that dates back to the reign of Hadrian. It represents the God Serapis, in a shape of a bull, and it is now exhibited in the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria. The 2nd gallery is known mistakenly as the Daughter Library, but it seems that it was an Anubidiun, or a burial for the mummies of the god Anubis.
Ascents
Muslim traveller Ibn 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 over to the top of the pillar.
In early 1803, British naval officer Commander John Shortland of HMS Pandour flew a kite over Pompey's Pillar. This enabled him to get ropes over it, and then a rope ladder. On February 2, he and John White, Pandour's Master, climbed it. When they got to the top they displayed the Union Jack, drank a toast to King George III, and gave three cheers. Four days later they climbed the pillar again, erected a staff, fixed a weather vane, ate a beef steak, and again toasted the king. An etymology of the nickname "Pompey" for the Royal Navy's home port of Portsmouth and its football team suggests these sailors became known as "Pompey's boys" after scaling the Pillar, and the moniker spread; other unrelated origins are also possible.[