MONUMENT

(Lat.) A memorial for perpetuathig the remembrance of an event; also a cenotaph in memory of the dead. The productions of architecture ahd sculpture intended to transmit to posterity the memory of individuals and events are most generally called monuments. Among those in honour of individuals are tombs and sepulchral edifices or columns. The most ancient are the obelisks and pyramids of Egypt; and perhaps, contemporary with these, the tombs of the Persian kings, still visible in the ruins of Perse polis. Greece abounded with monuments of this nature. Buildings in that country were frequently raised in commemoration of distinguished persons or events; and of this cla were the Choragic monuments, in honour of those who had received the prize as choragi in the theatrical and musical games. Of these the most splendid is the choragic monument of Lysicrates, vulgarly caHed the Lantern of Demosthenes. Among tlie monuments of this cla of the Romans, the triumphal arches are in the first rank. The column called the Monument of London, and the Duke of York's monument, illustrate respectively the definition above given. [s. 781]