rOMTEY’^S pillar. 
6<)G 
it by Strabo, Dioflorns Siculus, or any other ancient writers, Mr. Mon- 
tagu concludes that it was not known before the time of Ves})asiaii, 
and that it was erected to his honour. In proof of this opinion, 
he found within the circumference of the pillar a medal of Vespasian 
in fine order. 
Savary, on the authority of Abulfeda, who calls it “ the pillar of 
Severus,” ascribes it to this emperor ; alleging that he visited 
Egypt, gave a senate to Alexandria, and deserved well of its inhabi- 
tants. Accordingly, it is said that this column was a mark of their 
gratitude. The Greek inscription, half effaced, which is visible on 
the west side when the sun shines upon it, was legible, without 
doubt, in the time of Abulfeda, and preserved the name of Severus. 
Nor is this the only monument erected to him by the gratitude of the 
Alexandrians. In the midst of the ruins of Antinoe, built by Adrian, 
is seen a magnificent pillar, the inscription on which is still remaining, 
dedicated to Alexander Severus. 
Denon has given a drawing of this pillar, with the marked dimen- 
sions of its various parts ; he makes its whole height a fraction more 
than 92 feet, and the height of the shaft, which is of a single piece, 
C3 feet 1.3. It acquired, as this author says, the name of Pompey’s 
pillar, in the fifteenth century. A monument, as he supposes, had 
been raised by Pompey at Alexandria, but it had disappeared, and 
was thought to be recovered in this pillar or column, which has since 
been converted into a trophy erected to the memory of Septimius 
Severus. It is, however, placed on the ruins of the ancient city ; 
and in the time of Septimius Severus, the city of the Ptolemies was 
not in a ruinous state. To support this column by a solid foundation, 
an obelisk has been sunk in the earth, on which is placed a very 
clumsy pedestal, having a fine shaft, and surmounted by a Corinthian 
capital of had workmanship. If the shaft of this column, continues 
Denon, separating it from the pedestal and the capital, once belonged 
to an ancient edifice, it is an evidence of its magnificence, and of the 
skill with which it was executed. It ought therefore to be said that 
what is called Pompey’s pillar is a fine column, and not a fine monu- 
ment ; and that a column is not a monument. The earth about the 
foundation of this pillar having been cleared away by time, two frag- 
ments of an obelisk of white marble, the only monument of that 
substance seen by Denon in Egypt, have been added to the original 
base, to render it more solid. After having observed that the column 
entitled Pompey’s pillar, is very chaste both in style and execution ; 
that the pedestal and capital are not formed of the same granite as the 
shaft; that their workmanship is heavy, and appears to be merely a 
rough draught ; and that the foundations, made up of fragments, indi- 
cate a modern construction ; it may be concluded, says our author, that 
this monument is not antique ; and that it may have been erected 
either in the time of the Greek emperors, or of the caliphs ; since if the 
capital and pedestal are w^ell enough wrought to belong to the former 
of these periods, they are not so perfect but that art may have 
reached so far in the latter. See Pocock’s Descr, of the East, vol. i. 
p. 8. and Phil. Trans, vol. Ivii. art. 42. Savary’s Letters on Egypt, 
vol. i. Denon’s Travels in Egypt, vol. i. 
