DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11636#0151
AND LOWER EGYPT. I 23
to rne, but it was impossible for me to distinguish
any t hing, for t hey are almost entirely buried un-
der the sand ot the sea. I was farther informed,
that thos^ fragments of a statue were of the most
beautiful porphyry.
We have nothing beyond conjecture, more or
less supported by evidence, respecting the era, and
the motives which dictated the construction of the
column of Alexandria. The name Pompeys column,
by which it is generally designed, indicates the ori-
gin commonly ascribed to it. Cesar, we are told,
ordered it to be erected, to perpetuate the memory
of the victory which he had gained over Pompey,
in the celebrated battle of Pharsalia. Relying on
the testimony of an Arabian author, Savary pre-
tends that it was a monument of the gratitude of
the inhabitants of Alexandria to the Roman em-
peror, Alexander-Severus*. Finally, others ascribe
the elevation of the pillar to a king of Egypt, Ptole-
meus-Euergetes.
Mr. W. Montague, whom his extensive erudi-
tion and singular adventures have raised to cele-
brity, had formed, during his long residence in the
East, a new opinion on the same subject. He main-
tained that the column was the work of Adrian,
another Roman emperor, who had travelled in
* Letters on Egypt, vol. i. p. 37.
Egypt.
to rne, but it was impossible for me to distinguish
any t hing, for t hey are almost entirely buried un-
der the sand ot the sea. I was farther informed,
that thos^ fragments of a statue were of the most
beautiful porphyry.
We have nothing beyond conjecture, more or
less supported by evidence, respecting the era, and
the motives which dictated the construction of the
column of Alexandria. The name Pompeys column,
by which it is generally designed, indicates the ori-
gin commonly ascribed to it. Cesar, we are told,
ordered it to be erected, to perpetuate the memory
of the victory which he had gained over Pompey,
in the celebrated battle of Pharsalia. Relying on
the testimony of an Arabian author, Savary pre-
tends that it was a monument of the gratitude of
the inhabitants of Alexandria to the Roman em-
peror, Alexander-Severus*. Finally, others ascribe
the elevation of the pillar to a king of Egypt, Ptole-
meus-Euergetes.
Mr. W. Montague, whom his extensive erudi-
tion and singular adventures have raised to cele-
brity, had formed, during his long residence in the
East, a new opinion on the same subject. He main-
tained that the column was the work of Adrian,
another Roman emperor, who had travelled in
* Letters on Egypt, vol. i. p. 37.
Egypt.