Obelisk base of Theodosius
Type:
Obelisks
Date:
390
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Turkey
Medium:
Marble
Dimensions:
7 × 7 m
Description:
Theodosius I (r. 379–95) erected an ancient Egyptian obelisk (from ca. 1479–25 BCE) in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. It had a new marble base created for it, with bas-relief carvings of the emperor in the hippodrome's imperial box, presiding over the games with his attendants and family; spectators, musicians, and dancers; vanquished tribute-bearing enemies kneeling to the emperor; images of chariot racing; and images of the complicated engineering required to set up the obelisk in its new location. The obelisk "speaks" in the first person in a Latin inscription on the plinth (lower part of the base), and it tells readers that "everything gives way to Theodosius and his eternal offspring" and that it was "conquered and mastered in three times ten days." A different inscription in Greek claims that it was "put up in thirty-two suns" and that "only Emperor Theodosius dared to erect the four-sided column which had lain heavy on the earth for a long time."
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
2
Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons
