Sphinx of Serapeum and Pompey`s Pillar. Pompey`s Pillar or Serapeum pillar is the name given to a Roman triumphal column in Alexandria, Egypt. Set up in honour of the augustus Diocletian between 298-302 AD, the giant Corinthian column originally supported a colossal porphyry statue of the emperor in armour. It stands at the eastern side of the temenos of the Serapeum of Alexandria, beside the ruins of the temple of Serapis itself. The erroneous name and association with Pompey stems from historical misreading of the Greek dedicatory inscription on the base