A Jupiter Column ( or ) is a monument belonging to a type widespread in Roman

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

Description

Jupiter Column pillars express the religious beliefs of their time. They were erected in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, mostly near Roman settlements or villas in the Germanic provinces. Some examples also occur in

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

and Britain. The base of the monuments was normally formed by a ''Viergötterstein'' (four gods stone), in itself a common monument type, usually depicting Juno,

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

, Mercury, and

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

. This would support a ''Wochengötterstein'' (a carving depicting the personifications of the seven days of the week), which, in turn, supported a column or pillar, normally decorated with a scale pattern. The column was crowned with a statue of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, usually on horseback, trampling a

Giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

(usually depicted as a snake). In some cases, such as at Walheim, the column capital is decorated with four heads, usually interpreted as depictions of the four times of day (morning, midday, evening, night). The total height of a Jupiter Column is normally around 4 meters, but some examples are taller, including a famous example at

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

with a height of more than 9 meters. The columns in Upper Germany normally depict Jupiter defeating a Giant, as described above, and are thus known as ''Jupitergigantensäulen'' ("Jupiter-Giant-Columns"). In Lower Germany, Jupiter is normally depicted enthroned without the Giant; those monuments are commonly described simply as ''Jupitersäulen'' ("Jupiter Columns"). The pillars were often placed within a walled enclosure and accompanied by an

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

. No such monument has survived intact. They are known from excavated finds or from secondary use as spolia used in the construction of Christian churches. Recently, reconstructions of some Jupiter Columns have been erected at or near where they were found, such as at Ladenburg, Obernburg,

Benningen am Neckar Benningen am Neckar (Swabian German, Swabian: ''Bẽnnenge'') is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg (district), Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. History By 85 AD, the Neckar-Odenwald line ...

, Sinsheim,

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, and near the Saalburg. According to the historian Greg Woolf, the pillars depict the victory of Jupiter Optimus Maximus over the forces of Chaos, the god himself being raised high above the other gods and humankind, but closely linked with them. Woolf sees most such monuments as dedications by individuals.Woolf, pp. 121-126.

References

Bibliography

* ''Die Iupitersäulen in den germanischen Provinzen''. Rheinland-Verlag, Köln 1981. (Bonner Jahrbücher, Beihefte 41) Includes: Gerhard Bauchhenß: ''Die Jupitergigantensäulen in der römischen Provinz Germania superior''; Peter Noelke: ''Die Jupitersäulen und -pfeiler in der römischen Provinz Germania inferior''. *Gerhard Bauchhenß: ''Jupitergigantensäulen''. Stuttgart 1976. ( Kleine Schriften zur Kenntnis der römischen Besetzungsgeschichte Südwestdeutschlands, 14) * Greg Woolf:
Representation as Cult: the Case of the Jupiter Columns
'. In: Wolfgang Spickermann ''et al.'' (eds.): ''Religion in den germanischen Provinzen Roms''. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2001, S.117ff.,

External links

{{commons

Types of monuments and memorials Ancient Roman religion Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Germany 2nd-century Roman sculptures 3rd-century Roman sculptures Sculptures of Jupiter (mythology) 2nd-century establishments in the Roman Empire