Rostral column
File:MCR - colonna rostrata di C Duilio 1150130.JPG ({{circa}} 260 BC) at the Museum of Roman Civilization]]
File:2007-03-30 - panoramio (6).jpg]]
File:Place des Quinconces - colonnes rostrales.jpg
File:S03 06 01 016 image 2165.jpg, Chicago, Illinois, 1893]]
File:Torre de Cristal - Recife-PE(2) (cropped).jpg.]]
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. Its defining characteristic is the integrated prows or rams of ships, representing captured or destroyed enemy ships. The name derives from the Latin rostrum meaning the bow of a naval vessel.{{cite book |editor-last1=Harris |editor-first1=Cyril M. |title=Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture |date=28 February 2013 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=9780486132112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kp_DAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT1241 |access-date=24 May 2021}}
Rostral columns of the modern world include the Columbus Monument at Columbus Circle in New York City,{{cite web|url=http://www.vanderkrogt.net/statues/object.php?webpage=CO&record=usny28|title=New York - Columbus Monument|author=|date=|website=www.Vanderkrogt.net|access-date=12 June 2017}} and the paired Saint Petersburg Rostral Columns.{{cite web|url=http://www.lhdigest.com/DATABASE/uniquelighthouse.cfm?value=4289|archive-url=https://archive.today/20071020001353/http://www.lhdigest.com/DATABASE/uniquelighthouse.cfm?value=4289|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 October 2007|title=Images of the Saint Petersburg Rostral Columns|website=LHDigest.com|access-date=12 June 2017}}
List of notable rostral columns
=Ancient=
{{Expand list|date=November 2011}}
- 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.[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Columna_Rostrata_C.Duilii.html Columna Rostrata C. Duilii] in Samuel Ball Platner and Thomas Ashby: A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (1929).{{cite web|url=http://www.attalus.org/docs/cil/honorary.html#351|title=Latin Honorary Inscriptions|author=|date=|website=www.Attalus.org|access-date=12 June 2017}}
=Modern=
{{Expand list|date=November 2011}}
- the Grenville Column, monument to Royal Navy officer Thomas Grenville, on the grounds of Stowe House, Buckinghamshire, England (1749)
- one element of the Tripoli Monument, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland (1808){{cite web|url=http://dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0003204.htm|title=Tripoli Monument at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland by Giovanni C Micali|author=|date=|website=DCMemorials.com|access-date=12 June 2017}}
- twin rostral columns in the Place des Quinconces, Bordeaux (1829)
- Place de la Concorde, Paris (1836)
- Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange and Rostral Columns, Saint Petersburg, Russia (1881)
- monument to Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, Praterstern, Vienna (1886)
- Columbus Monument, New York City (1892)
- in the Grand Basin of the World's Columbian Exposition (razed), Chicago, Illinois (1893)
- in Grant Park along the Metra Electric railroad line, Chicago, Illinois (1927-29){{cite web|url=https://www.grantparkconservancy.com/time-line|title=Grant Park History & Timeline from 1804 to 2014|author=Grant Park Conservancy|access-date=2 Feb 2021}}
- Cunard War Memorial, Liverpool, England (1920)
- Rostral Column, Vladivostok (:ru:Ростральная колонна (Владивосток) in Russian) (1960)
- Rostral Columns, Union Station Plaza, Washington, DC {{cite web|url=https://iron.cunninghamadv.com/portfolio-item/union-station-rostral-columns/|title=Union Station Rostral Columns|author=Robinson Iron|date=|website=|access-date=20 March 2021}}
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
{{reflist}}
=Other sources=
- "Greek architecture" Encyclopædia Britannica, 1965
External links
{{commons category|Rostral columns}}