IGEL
Germany.
The village of Igel with its
Roman funerary monument of a cloth-merchant family
of Celtic origin called the Secundinii lies on the left bank
of the Moselle some 8 km S of Trier. The family villa
has not yet been explored. It probably lay up river from
the monument, where the village church now is, or 400
m farther E on the Königsacht tributary. The monument
has survived because by the early Middle Ages it had
become associated with St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, and was regarded as a monument to the wedding of Helena and Constantius Chlorus. It has often
been reproduced in engravings.
The monument was erected about A.D. 250 by the two
brothers Lucius Secundinius Aventinus and Lucius Secundinus Securus for themselves and some seven or eight
relatives. On the main relief, which has a partially preserved inscription, are portrayed six individuals, three
full-length and three in medallions. The scene shows the
brothers taking leave of a son of the Secundinii. In the
medallions are three deceased family members. The remaining reliefs, which cover all four sides of the monument, are based on two themes: the religious-mythological, and the family's professional and daily life. The
mythological scenes deal with life after death: apotheosis
of Hercules and Ganymede (coronation), the death of
Rhea Silvia for the sake of love, and the death of
Hylas; Eros as a symbol of the omnipotence of love;
Achilles being dipped in the Styx; Perseus with the head
of Medusa. The scenes from daily life show the Secundinii at work: textile shop, textile factory, the transportation of the cloth by wagon and ship, are all shown,
along with the kitchen, and the family eating and drinking. Other reliefs show the social standing of the Secundinii. They were great property owners, who farmed
out some of their lands to tenants (coloni), and received
their rent in the form of money, produce, or manufactured goods (cloth). The monument was a memorial to
the dead of the family, but also served to document the
importance and prestige of the family and firm.
The name Igel does not come from the Latin aquila,
but from the mediaeval Latin agulia, which was used
in Rome in the Middle Ages to refer to ancient obelisks.
The word was brought N by the clergy, and became the
High German Igel in Trier, and Eigelstein in Cologne
and Mainz. The monument is 23 m high overall. It is
built of red and red-gray sandstone that was originally
painted.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
H. Dragendorff & E. Krüger,
Das Grabmal von Igel (1924) summary of older literature; F.
Drexel, “Die belgisch-germanischen Pfeilergrabmäler,”
RömMitt 25 (1920) 27ff; id., “Die Bilder der Igeler
Säule,” ibid. 83ff; J. Vannérus, “Le Mausolée d'Igel,”
Les Cahiers Luxembourgeois (1930) 457ff; H. Kähler,
“Die rheinischen Pfeilergrabmäler,”
BonnJbb 139 (1934)
145ff; E. Krüger, “Die Igeler Süule,”
Führungsheft des
Rhein. Landesmuseums Trier 9 (1934); id.,
Die Kunstdenkmäler den Rheinprovinz, Landkreis Trier (1936)
163ff; H. Eichler, “Zwei unbekannte Bilder des Grabmals
von Igel,”
TrZ 18 (1949) 235ff; F. Oelmann, “Die
Igeler Säule und die Eigelsteine als Problem der Nameskunde,”
BonnJbb 154 (1954) 162ff; E. Zahn, “Die
Igeler Säule bei Trier,”
Rheinische Kunststätten 6-7
(1968); (1970); id., “Die neue Rekonstruktionszeichnung
der Igeler Säule,”
TrZ 31 (1968) 227ff; H. Clippers,
“Arbeiten und Beobachtungen an der Igeler Säule,” ibid.
222ff.
E. ZAHN
