Column of Phocas: Overall view, brick base visible

A Roman monumental column in the Roman Forum. Erected before the Rostra and dedicated or rededicated in honor of the Eastern Roman Emperor Phocas on August 1, 608, it was the last addition made to the Forum Romanum. The fluted Corinthian column stands 13.6 m (44 ft) tall on its cubical white marble socle and seems originally to have been made about the 2nd century. The column was recycled from its original earlier use supporting a statue dedicated to Diocletian (reigned 284-305): the former inscription was chiselled away.