General description: "The Lateran obelisk takes his name from the nearby basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano: this obelisk was ordered by Ramses, son of Sothis, king od Egypt...when they hoisted it on, it riscked falling down, beacuse of the weight of such a huge mass. Therefore, the king ordered that his son the tied on top of it, so that the need to safe the royal child might make the architect more careful. It was later raised in Tebe, in the temple of the Sun, to which is was devoted until 334 b.c.,at the time of the Emperor Costanzo, son of Costantine the Great... who took it away and sent it to Alexandria: however, fate disappointed the Emperor's wishes. Indeed, after the death of Costantine, the obelisk stayed for a long time on Alexandria, ignored by everybody. Later on Costanzo, heir of his father's glory, ordered to take it to Rome and hoist it in the middle of the Circo Massimo , where it stayed for a long time, until the Goths invaded Rome. At that point, it collpased and layed down on the ground until Pope Sixtus, once he recognised its value, had it unearthed, and raised once again in the Piazza del Laterano (1588), where we can still admire it now." [G. de Sepi, 1678, " Obeliscus Pamphilius, hoc est, interpretatio Nova..." translated by Roberto Buonanno op.: The stars of Galileo Galilei and the Universal Knowledge of Athanasius Kircher.]
