Military COLUMN, among the Romans, a column on which was engraven a list of the forces in the Roman army, ranged by legions in their proper order, with the design of preserving the memory of the number of soldiers, and of the order observed in any military expedition. They had another kind of military column, which they called columna bellica, standing before the temple of Janus, at the foot of which the consul declared war by throwing a javelin towards the enemy's country.