The Column of Arcadius was a Roman triumphal column in the forum of Arcadius in Constantinople built in the early 5th century AD. The marble column was historiated with a spiralling frieze of reliefs on its shaft and supported a colossal statue of the emperor, probably made of bronze, which fell down in 740. Its summit was accessible by an internal spiral staircase. Only its massive masonry base survives.
Reconstruction of the column of Arcadius
Arcadius Column in 2022
Multiple views of the Column of Arcadius, from the Freshfield Album.
Image: Cambridge, Trinity College, ms. O.17.2 (11)
A victory column, or monumental column or triumphal column, is a monument in the form of a column, erected in memory of a victorious battle, war, or revolution. The column typically stands on a base and is crowned with a victory symbol, such as a statue. The statue may represent the goddess Victoria; in Germany, the female embodiment of the nation, Germania; in the United States either the female embodiment of the nation Liberty or Columbia; in the United Kingdom, the female embodiment Britannia, an eagle, or a war hero.
19th-century comparison between the Alexander Column, the Column of the Grande Armée, Trajan's Column, the Column of Marcus Aurelius, and "Pompey's Pillar"
Image: Snake column Hippodrome Constantinople 2007
Image: Heliodorus pillar Vidsha
Image: Jupitersaeule
