Rostral column

A rostral column is a type of victory column originating in ancient Greece and Rome, where they were erected to commemorate a naval military victory. Traditionally, rostra – the prows or rams of captured ships – were mounted on the columns. Rostral columns of the modern world include the Columbus Monument at Columbus Circle in New York City,[1] and the paired Saint Petersburg Rostral Columns.[2]

Reproduction of the Rostral Column of Gaius Duilius (c. 260 BC) at the Museum of Roman Civilization

Rostral columns in Saint Petersburg

Rostral columns of the place des Quinconces, Bordeaux, France

List of notable rostral columns

Ancient

• Columna Rostrata C. Duilii ("Rostral Column of Gaius Duilius"), celebrating the naval Battle of Mylae (260 BC); formerly in the Roman Forum, some remnants of the inscription are now in the Capitoline Museum.[3][4]

Modern

• Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange and Rostral Columns (1811), Saint Petersburg, Russia
• Tripoli Monument First Barbary War[5]
• Columbus Monument (New York City)
• Rostral Column (Vladivostok) (ru:Ростральная колонна (Владивосток) in Russian)

See also

• Rostra, the raised platforms in ancient Rome, also adorned with the beaks of captured warships, from which orations and pleadings were delivered

References

1. "New York - Columbus Monument". www.Vanderkrogt.net. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
2. "Images of the Saint Petersburg Rostral Columns". LHDigest.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
3. Columna Rostrata C. Duilii in Samuel Ball Platner and Thomas Ashby: A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (1929).
4. "Latin Honorary Inscriptions". www.Attalus.org. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
5. "Tripoli Monument at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland by Giovanni C Micali". DCMemorials.com. Retrieved 12 June 2017.

Other sources

• "Greek architecture" Encyclopædia Britannica, 1965

External links