Rostral column

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title: "Rostral column" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["monumental-columns", "types-of-monuments-and-memorials", "stone-monuments-and-memorials"] topic_path: "general/monumental-columns" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rostral_column" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/MCR_-_colonna_rostrata_di_C_Duilio_1150130.JPG" caption="Reproduction of the ''Rostral Column of [[Gaius Duilius]]'' ({{circa}} 260 BC) at the [[Museum of Roman Civilization]], Rome"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Russland,_St._Petersburg,_Rostrasäulen.JPG" caption="Rostral columns in [[Saint Petersburg]], Russia"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Place_des_Quinconces_-_colonnes_rostrales.jpg" caption="Rostral columns of the [[Place des Quinconces]], [[Bordeaux]], France" alt="The two rostral columns of the place des Quinconces in Bordeaux, France."] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/S03_06_01_016_image_2165.jpg" caption="Rostral column, Grand Basin, [[World's Columbian Exposition]], [[Chicago]], Illinois, 1893"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Torre_de_Cristal_-Recife-PE(2)(cropped).jpg" caption="Torre de Cristal in [[Recife]], Brazil"] ::

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.

Rostral columns of the modern world include the Columbus Monument at Columbus Circle in New York City, and the paired Saint Petersburg Rostral Columns.

List of notable rostral columns

Ancient

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.

Modern

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)
Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange and Rostral Columns, Saint Petersburg, Russia (1810)
twin rostral columns in the Place des Quinconces, Bordeaux (1829)
Place de la Concorde, Paris (1836)
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)
Cunard War Memorial, Liverpool, England (1920)
Rostral Column, Vladivostok (:ru:Ростральная колонна (Владивосток) in Russian) (1960)
Rostral Columns, Union Station Plaza, Washington, DC

References

Other sources

"Greek architecture" Encyclopædia Britannica, 1965

References

(28 February 2013). "Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture". Courier Corporation.
"New York - Columbus Monument".
"Images of the Saint Petersburg Rostral Columns".
[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).
"Latin Honorary Inscriptions".
"Tripoli Monument at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland by Giovanni C Micali".
Grant Park Conservancy. "Grant Park History & Timeline from 1804 to 2014".
Robinson Iron. "Union Station Rostral Columns".

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