List of ancient Greek and Roman monoliths


This is a list of ancient monoliths found in all types of Greek and Roman buildings.
It contains monoliths
  • quarried, but not moved
  • quarried and moved
  • quarried, moved and lifted clear off the ground into their position
  • quarried, moved and erected in an upright position
Transporting was done by land or water, in the later case often by special-built ships such as obelisk carriers. For lifting operations, ancient cranes were employed since ca. 515 BC, such as in the construction of Trajan's Column.
It should be stressed that all numbers are estimations since only in the rarest cases have monoliths been actually weighed. Rather, weight is calculated by multiplying volume by density. The main source, J. J. Coulton, assumes 2.75 t/m3 for marble and 2.25 t/m3 for other stone. For an explanation of the large margin of error, which often leads to widely differing numbers, see these introductory remarks.

Greek monoliths

Below a selection of Greek monoliths sorted by their date.

Roman monoliths

Below a selection of Roman monoliths sorted by their date; the list also includes work on Greek temples which was continued into the Roman era.
DateBuilding / ObjectLocationMonolithWeight
Comment
Apollo statueVitr. 10.2.13Base
Flaminian ObeliskRome, ItaliaObeliskFrom Roman Egypt by obelisk ship
Campensis ObeliskRome, ItaliaObeliskFrom Roman Egypt by obelisk ship
Vatican ObeliskRome, ItaliaObeliskFrom Roman Egypt by obelisk ship
Temple of JupiterBaalbek, Roman LebanonColumn drum, lower
Temple of JupiterBaalbek, Roman LebanonArchitrave-frieze block, centralLifted by cranes to height of 19 m
Temple of JupiterBaalbek, Roman LebanonCornice block, cornerLifted by cranes to height of 19 m
Granite columnMons Claudianus, Roman EgyptColumn shaft in quarry
Trajan's ColumnRome, ItaliaPedestal
Trajan's ColumnRome, ItaliaBase
Trajan's ColumnRome, ItaliaColumn drum, typical
Trajan's ColumnRome, ItaliaCapitalLifted by cranes to height of 34 m
Temple of ApolloDidyma, Asia MinorArchitrave block
Pompey's PillarAlexandria, Roman EgyptColumn shaft
Basilica NovaRome, ItaliaColumn shaft
Lateran ObeliskRome, ItaliaObeliskFrom Roman Egypt by obelisk ship
Mausoleum of TheodoricRavenna, ItaliaRoof slabConstructed under Ostrogoths

Greek monoliths

Roman monoliths