The city of Rome harbours thirteen ancient obelisks, the most in the world. There are eight ancient Egyptian and five ancient Roman obelisks in Rome, together with a number of more modern obelisks (more than 30), most notably that which was dedicated to Marconi, and one dedicated to Mussolini. There was also an ancient Ethiopian obeliskTechnically, a stele, but commonly referred to as the "Obelisk of Axum" in Rome, which was taken by Italy in the 1930s but was restored, and repatriated to Ethiopia in the early 2000's. The Egyptian obelisks were ordered to be brought to the city by Roman Emperors in antiquity.
It is unknown exactly how many obelisks once stood in Ancient Rome as there were no inventories made of them before the fall of Rome. What is known is that many were brought to Rome (either taken from Temples by various Emperors, or commissioned and quarried in Egypt by wealthy Romans) for public or private purposes. The Romans used special heavy cargo carriers called obelisk ships to transport the monuments they took from Egyptian temples down the Nile to Alexandria and from there across the Mediterranean Sea to Rome. On site, large Roman cranes were employed to erect the monoliths. According to a traditional estimate, as many as 48 obelisks may have once stood in Rome, though this number is not attested in any single ancient source and is likely a modern guess.
Ancient Egyptian obelisks
At least eight obelisks created in antiquity by the Egyptians were taken from Egypt after the Roman conquest and brought to Rome.
+ Ancient Egyptian obelisks in Rome Name Original Commissioner Location Height (with base shaft) Description Image Lateranense Tuthmosis III / Tuthmosis IV Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano 45.70 m 32.18 m Tallest obelisk in Rome, and the largest standing ancient Egyptian obelisk in the world, originally weighing around 455 tons. From the temple of Amun in Karnak, and brought to Alexandria with another obelisk by Constantius II, and brought on its own from there to Rome in 357 to decorate the spina of the Circus Maximus. Found in three pieces in 1587, restored approximately 4 m shorter by Pope Sixtus V, and erected near the Lateran Palace and Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in 1588 in the place of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which was moved to the Capitoline Hill. Current version weighs around 330 tons. Vaticano Unknown St. Peter's Square 41 m 25.5 mSupported on bronze lions and surmounted by the Chigi arms in bronze, in all 41 m to the cross on its top Originally raised in the Forum Iulium in Alexandria by the prefect Cornelius Gallus on Augustus' orders around 30–28 BC. No hieroglyphs. Brought to Rome by Caligula in 40 for the spina of the Vatican Circus. Relocated by Pope Sixtus V in 1586 using a method devised by Domenico Fontana; the first monumental obelisk raised in the modern period, it is the only obelisk in Rome that has not toppled since Roman times. During the Middle Ages, the gilt ball on top of the obelisk was believed to contain the ashes of Julius Caesar.Touring Club Italiano, Roma e Dintorni.Travels and Adventures, Chapter 3, Pero Tafur, digitized from The Broadway Travellers series, edited by Sir E. Denison Ross and Eileen Power, translated and edited with an introduction by Malcolm Letts (New York, London: Harper & brothers 1926): Fontana later removed the ancient metal ball, now in a Rome museum, that stood atop the obelisk and found only dust. Pedro Tafur in his AndançasPedro Tafur's Andanças (1874 edition) referenced in the Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, Joan Corominas, José Antonio Pascual, 1987, Editorial Gredos, Tome I, , entry carnicol, page 880. () mentions that many passed between the ground and the "tower" base "thinking it a saintly thing". Flaminio Seti I / Ramses II Piazza del Popolo 36.50 m 24 m Originally from Heliopolis. Brought to Rome by Augustus in 10 BC with the Solare obelisk and erected on the spina of the Circus Maximus. Found with the Lateranense obelisk in 1587 in two pieces and erected by Pope Sixtus V in 1589. Sculptures with lion fountains were added to the base in 1818. Weighs around 235 tons. Solare Psammetichus II Piazza di Montecitorio 33.97 m 21.79 m Originally from Heliopolis. Brought to Rome by Augustus in 10 BC with the Flaminio obelisk to form the gnomon of the Solarium Augusti in the Campus Martius. Found in the 16th century but reburied. Rediscovered and erected by Pope Pius VI in front of the Palazzo Montecitorio in 1792. Macuteo Ramses II Piazza della Rotonda 14.52 m 6.34 m Originally one of a pair at the Temple of Ra in Heliopolis, the other being the now much shorter Matteiano. Moved to the Temple of Isis near Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Found in 1373 near San Macuto and erected in Piazza Macuta. Moved to the front of the Pantheon by Pope Clement XI in 1711 over a fountain by Filippo Barigioni. Minerveo Apries Piazza della Minerva 12.69 m 5.47 m Originally one of a pair from Sais. Brought to Rome by Diocletian for the nearby Temple of Isis. Found in 1655 and erected in 1667 by Pope Alexander VII on an Elephant base by Bernini, behind the Pantheon in Piazza della Minerva. The other of the pair is in Urbino. This is the smallest obelisk in Rome, with a height of 5.47 meters.L'Italia. Roma (guida rossa), Touring Club Italiano, Milano 2004 Dogali Ramses II Baths of Diocletian 6.34 m ? Originally one of a pair from Heliopolis, the other now in the Boboli Gardens in Florence. Moved to the Temple of Isis in Rome. Found in 1883 by Rodolfo Lanciani near Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Now commemorates the Battle of Dogali, originally in front of Near Termini Station and moved to its present site in 1924. Matteiano Ramses II Villa Celimontana 12.23 m 2.68 m Originally one of a pair at the Temple of Ra in Heliopolis, the other being the Macuteo which retains much more of its original height. Moved to the Temple of Isis near Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Found in the 14th century and erected east of Santa Maria in Aracoeli on the Capitoline. Moved to Villa Celimontana after Michelangelo redesigned the square in the late 16th century. Lost again; fragments rediscovered and re-erected in 1820. Smallest obelisk in Rome. Further details
Ancient Roman obelisks
At least five obelisks were manufactured in Egypt in the Roman period at the request of the wealthy Romans, or made in Rome as copies of ancient Egyptian originals.
+ Ancient Roman obelisks in Rome Name Commissioner Location Height (with base shaft) Description Image Agonalis (Pamphilius) Domitian (c. 81–96 AD) Piazza Navona 30+ m 16.53 m A copy erected at the Temple of Serapis. Moved to the Circus of Maxentius by Maxentius. The Earl of Arundel paid a deposit and attempted to ship the four pieces to London in the late 1630s but Urban VIII disallowed its export.Edward Chaney, "Roma Britannica and the Cultural Memory of Egypt: Lord Arundel and the Obelisk of Domitian", in Roma Britannica: Art Patronage and Cultural Exchange in Eighteenth-Century Rome, eds. D. Marshall, K. Wolfe and S. Russell, British School at Rome, 2011, pp. 147-70. Erected on top of the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi by Bernini in 1651. Quirinale Augustus (c. 10 BC) Piazza del Quirinale 28.94 m 14.63 m Originally erected on the eastern flank of the Mausoleum of Augustus, paired with the Esquiline obelisk. Found in 1527. Erected by Pope Pius VI in 1786 on the Quirinal Hill next to statues of the Dioscuri (called the 'Horse Tamers') from the Baths of Constantine. Esquiline Augustus (c. 10 BC) Piazza dell'Esquilino 25.53 m 14.75 m Originally erected on the western flank of the Mausoleum of Augustus, paired with the Quirinale obelisk. Found in 1527 and erected in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V behind Santa Maria Maggiore. Sallustiano Aurelian (c. 270–275 AD) Trinità dei Monti 30.45 m 13.91 m Above the Spanish Steps. An Aurelian copy, although smaller, of the Flaminio obelisk of Ramses II in the Piazza del Popolo, for the Gardens of Sallust. Found by the Ludovisi and moved to the Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano in 1734, but kept horizontal. Erected in 1789 by Pope Pius VI. Pinciano Hadrian (c. 130 AD) Pincian Hill 17.26 m 9.24 m Commissioned for the tomb of Antinous in Tivoli. Moved to Rome by Elagabalus to decorate the spina of the Circus Varianus. Found in the 16th century near the Porta Maggiore. Moved to the Palazzo Barberini, then moved to the Vatican by Pope Clement XIV; finally erected on the Pincian by Pope Pius VII in 1822.
Obelisks which previously stood in Rome A number of obelisks were erected in Rome over the course of its long history. The following table lists the known obelisks (and one stele) which have been re-erected elsewhere.
+ Obelisks that once stood in Rome and are now located elsewhere Name Commissioner Location Height Description Image Urbino Wahibre (Apries) (6th century BC) Via Aurelio Saffi, Urbino ~3 m Originally erected at Sais by Pharaoh Wahibre (Apries). Transported to Rome in the late 1st century AD and erected at the Iseum Campense (Temple of Isis). The present obelisk is made up of fragments of two identical obelisks and some of a third. Moved to Urbino in 1737 to celebrate Pope Clement XI. Stands on a small street beside the Palazzo Ducale. Boboli(Mediceo) Ramesses II (13th century BC) Boboli Gardens, Florence ~6 m Originally erected in Heliopolis by Ramesses II. Moved to Rome by Domitian in the 1st century AD and placed in the Iseum Campense. Purchased by Cardinal Ferdinando I de' Medici in the 16th century and placed in the gardens of the Villa Medici. Moved to Florence in 1788 by Grand Duke Peter Leopold of Lorraine and erected in the Boboli Gardens in 1790. Surmounted by a gilded orb. Munich Titus Sextius Africanus (c. 98–117 AD) State Museum of Egyptian Art, Munich Unknown Bears an inscription with the name of the Roman official Titus Sextius Africanus, presumably responsible for its creation. Its original location in Rome is uncertain, but it is believed strongly to have once stood at the Iseum Campnese. Later part of Cardinal Albani's collection, stolen by Napoleon and taken to Paris. Acquired by the Bavarian Crown Prince (later King Ludwig I) in 1815. Axum(Rome Stele) Unknown (Kingdom of Aksum, c. 4th century AD) Axum, Ethiopia 30+ m 24 m (with base) A 1,700-year-old, 24-metre (78-foot) tall phonolite stele from the ancient Kingdom of Aksum in modern-day Ethiopia. It collapsed and broke in antiquity. Found by Italian soldiers in 1935 and transported to Rome during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in 1937. Reassembled and erected in Piazza di Porta Capena near the Circus Maximus. It was struck by lightning in May 2002; after restoration, it was repatriated to Ethiopia in 2005 and re-erected at its original site in 2008.
Modern obelisks Modern Rome has continued with the theme of erecting obelisks. The following are some of the many obelisks which stand in the modern city: