Jupiter Column

A Jupiter column is a specific type of archaeological monuments from the time of the Roman Empire, testimonies of the then widespread syncretic Roman- Germanic gods cult. Most giants Jupiter columns were erected AD in Roman settlements and estates ( villae rustica ) in the province of Upper Germany in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Observations of Jupiter giant pillars and the similarly shaped pillars Jupiter is also available in Lower Germany, the northern Gaul and Britain.

Iconography

The base of the pillar is a four gods stone with varying combinations of the gods depicted. It follows one weeks gods of stone and a most decorated shed with stone column which is surmounted by a ( riding in the majority of cases ) Jupiter, the low riding a (mostly serpentine ) giants. The most capital heads shown ( Jupiter column of Walheim ) are either interpreted as the four seasons or the four times of day ( morning, noon, evening, night). The height of this column is usually four meters, the Great Mainz Jupiter column measures about nine meters. The low- Germanic Jupiter columns usually show a contrast enthroned Jupiter - they are therefore referred to as Jupiter columns. Often altars were erected in front of or next to the column and placed in a walled area. ( Source? )

As part of the gradual rediscovery of the original paints of ancient monuments ( cf. replica of the Igel Column in the Landesmuseum Trier) a reconstruction of the original painting was tried in the Saarland diggings and Roman Museum Schwarzenacker (see image ).

This column type interprets the historian Greg Woolf in that they represent the victory of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the chaos, exalted above the other gods and men, but the latter still closely associated. Most dedications presented by him also personal acts of worship dar.

Upright monuments are not preserved in Germany - they are known only from archaeological finds or spolia ( reused sculptures, such as four gods stones in Christian churches). Sometimes one has built reconstructions of Jupiter giant pillars at their localities or in the vicinity in recent years (such as in Ladenburg near Mannheim, Upper Castle on Main, Benningen am Neckar, Hausen an der Zaber, Steinsfurt, Stuttgart, Koengen and the Saalburg ). The only overground obtained Jupiter column Gaul located in Cussy- la- Colonne in the Côte-d'Or department in Burgundy.