3 - Pompey's Pillar

Pompey's Pillar
An approximately 25m red Aswan granite column with a circumference of 9m,

was constructed in honor of the Emperor Diocletain. Originally from the temple of
the Serapis, it was once a magnificent structure rivaling the Soma and the
Caesareum. Nearby are subterranean galleries where sacred Apis bulls were
buried, and three sphinxes. After his defeat by Julius Caesar in the civil war,
Pompey fled to Egypt where he was murdered in 48 BC; mediaeval travelers later
believed he must be buried here, and that the capital atop the corner served as a
container for his head. In fact, the pillar was raised in honor of Diocletain at the
very end of the 4th century. Diocletain captured Alexandria after it had been under
siege. The Arabs called it "Amoud el-Sawari", Column of the Horsemen. The
Pillar is the tallest ancient monument in Alexandria.
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, its total height is about 28 m with a diameter at the
base of 2.7 m, and towards the capital at the top it tapers to 2.3 m.
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, the Prefect of Egypt (has erected this monument)".
The Roman ruler of Egypt, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian,
erected this memorial column between 284-305A.D in honour of the Roman
Emperor, as a sign of gratitude. 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. As a result of the siege, there was famine in
the city; therefore the Emperor ordered that a portion of the corn, which was sent
to Rome annually, be given to the people of Alexandria. He exempted them from
paying taxes during these hard times. For that they erected, in his honour, this
memorial column. In the middle ages the Crusaders believed, mistakenly, that the
ashes, or the remains, of the great Roman general Pompey were in a pot at the top
of the column. Thus today it is called "Pompey's Pillar".
Around the commemorative Column of Diocletian there are some monuments that
can be seen. On the backside, there is 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 the revolts of the Jewish population in
Alexandria, during the reign of the 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 mainly of a high platform
accessed by a staircase of 100 steps.
At the side of the platform there was a basin, which was used for purification.
There were 2 galleries at the back of the temple, cut completely into the rock.
In the 1st gallery a black statue of basalt, dating back to the reign of Hadrian, was
discovered. 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 Anubis, which was considered until the a reign of
Ptolemy IV, a member of the Pantheon of Alexandria.
Egyptian Kings - Diocletian
Diocletian
245 - 313 AD
In 245 AD
the wily, subtle Diocletian had become ruler of the whole empire. His
reorganization of its government was so extensive that historians call the period
from 245 AD onward the Late Roman Empire. Essentially, Diocletian consolidated
the tremendous alterations which had been required to cope with the stress of the
3rd century. Politically his subjects had to yield their local self-government and
individual freedom to the demands of an all-powerful central administration and its
agents. In order to protect his Empire from its external dangers, the emperor had
created a mobile field army which made more use of cavalry than had been true in
the days of Augustus and Hadrian.
To secure the funds for this elaborate and expensive structure of government,
Diocletian reorganized the tax system of the empire and restored order to the
currency. Diocletian was present at the fall of Alexandria after a siege of eight
months. After the capitulation, Diocletian is alleged to have vowed to continue the
slaughter of the populace until the blood reached his horse's knees. After the siege
of Alexandria, Diocletian traveled up-river to the southern frontier.
The trip to the border appears to have had a serious military and political aim for
Diocletian as he re-established and refortified the island of Philae as a frontier post
and came to an accommodation with the tribes which inhabited the border region.
Years later, Diocletian was in Alexandria again, just before the beginning of the
"Great Persecution" of the Christians. He was so detested by Egyptian Christians
for this that the Church later dated its "Era of Martyrs" retrospectively from the
first year of his reign. Diocletian also ordered against the practice of the Persian
religion in the Roman Empire at this time and this may well be another aspect of a
general desire to re-establish the strength of the traditional Roman religion.
Diocletian was the last reigning Roman emperor to visit Egypt.

3 - Pompey's Pillar

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3 - Pompey's Pillar

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Pompey's Pillar

An approximately 25m red Aswan granite column with a circumference of 9m,

The so-called "Pompey Pillar" is the biggest memorial column in Egypt. It is a

Egyptian Kings - Diocletian

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