Detail

Building type

Honourific Column

Date

AD 450-452

Location

Istanbul (Asia Minor)

Patron

Tatianus

Period of use

mid-5th century to present day

Dimensions

The total height of the monument above modern street level (as measured by P. Schazmann in 1934) is 16.52 m. 

Description

This honourific column commemorates the reign of Emperor Marcian and would have once stood in his forum. Although no literary sources mention this monument, archaeological evidence suggests that it was situated on the northwest branch of the Mese. The north face of the monument's pedestal bears an inscription, which provides a its date. The monument, including socle, pedestal, base, column, capital, and impost, survives in-situ in fairly good condition, though the statue that once surmounted it no longer survives. Some have argued that the Barletta statue originally belonged to this monument (e.g. Delbrueck 1933, 219-226; Breckenridge 1979), while others have rightly pointed out that the scale of the colossus is too large for the column (LSA-441(Y. Marano)).

Bibliography

Breckenridge, J.D. 1979. “Colossal Statue of Marcian,” in Age of Spirituality, ed. K. Weitzmann. New York: Metropolitan Museum of New York. 

Delbrueck, R. 1933. Spätantike Kaiserporträts. Von Constantinus Magnus bis zum Ende des Westreichs. Leipzig: De Gruyter.

Janin, R. 1964. Constantinople byzantine: développement urbain et répertoire topographique, Paris: Institut français d'études byzantines, 84-85 no. 10.

Jordan-Ruwe, M. 1995. Das Säulenmonument. Zur Geschichte der erhöhten Aufstellung antiker Porträtstatuen. Asia Minor Studien, Band 19 Bonn.