Jupiter Column

A Jupiter Column (German: Jupitergigantensäule or Jupitersäule) is a monument belonging to a type widespread in Roman Germania.

[2] The column was crowned with a statue of Jupiter, usually on horseback, trampling a Giant (usually depicted as a snake).

In some cases, such as at Walheim, the column capital is decorated with four heads, usually interpreted as depictions of the four times of day (morning, midday, evening, night).

The columns in Upper Germany normally depict Jupiter defeating a Giant, as described above, and are thus known as Jupitergigantensäulen ("Jupiter-Giant-Columns").

Recently, reconstructions of some Jupiter Columns have been erected at or near where they were found, such as at Ladenburg, Obernburg, Benningen am Neckar, Sinsheim, Stuttgart, Mainz, and near the Saalburg.