Roman triumph

Roman Triumph

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Roman triumph

A Roman triumph (, Old Latin

Old Latin

Old Latin refers to the Latin language in the period before the age of Classical Latin; that is, all Latin before 75 BC. The term prisca Latinitas distinguishes it in New Latin and Contemporary Latin from vetus Latina, in which "old" has another meaning....
, attested as the exclamation in the Carmen Arvale

Carmen Arvale

The Carmen Arvale is the preserved chant of the Arval priests or Fratres Arvales of ancient Rome.The Arval priests were devoted to the goddess Dea Dia, and offered sacrifices to her to ensure the fertility rite of ploughed fields ....
; via Etruscan

Etruscan language

The Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna , in Italy....
from the Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
) was a civil ceremony

Civil religion

The intended meaning of the term civil religion often varies according to whether one is a sociologist of religion or a professional political commentator....
and religious rite

Rite

A rite is a subsesquitent contemporary file of complaints that are sent to the secretary of taste and is a jeremiah was a bull frog.Rites fall into three major categories:...
of ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Roman triumph'

Start a new discussion about 'Roman triumph'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

A Roman triumph (, Old Latin

Old Latin

Carmen Arvale

Etruscan language

The Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna , in Italy....
from the Greek

Ancient Greek

Civil religion

The intended meaning of the term civil religion often varies according to whether one is a sociologist of religion or a professional political commentator....
and religious rite

Rite

A rite is a subsesquitent contemporary file of complaints that are sent to the secretary of taste and is a jeremiah was a bull frog.Rites fall into three major categories:...
of ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
, held to publically celebrate the achievements of an army commander who had won great military successes, originally and traditionally, who had successfully completed a war. The triumphing general was called vir triumphalis (not triumphator, a modern coinage), and retained the right to be described as such for the rest of his life. The triumph was the greatest and most sought-after honour among the hereditary nobility that built and governed the Roman Empire, whose ethics were essentially those of an agriculturalist and militant ruling class. After his death for as long as his family endured, he was represented at the funeral of every descendant by a hired actor wearing his death-mask (imago) and clad in the all-purple, gold-embroidered triumphal toga picta which symbolized the supreme achievement of his life.

Qualifications for a triumph

In order to receive a triumph, the dux
Dux

Dux is Latin for leader and for duke, and in Ancient Rome could refer to anyone who commanded troops, such as tribal leaders....
must:

Win a significant victory over a foreign enemy, killing at least 5,000 enemy troops, and earn the title imperator
Imperator

The Latin word Imperator was a title originally roughly equivalent to commander during the period of the Roman Republic. It later went on to become a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as part of their cognomen....
.
Be an elected magistrate with the power of imperium
Imperium

Imperium in a broad sense translates as 'Power '. In ancient Rome the concept applied to people and meant something like 'power status' or 'authority' or could be used with a geographical connotation and meant something like 'territory'....
, i.e. a dictator
Roman dictator

Dictator was a political office of the Roman Republic. The dictator was above the three branches of government in the constitution of the Roman Republic as no other body or officer could check his power....
, consul
Roman consul

Consul was the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire.During the time of ancient Rome as a Republic, the Consuls were the highest civil and military magistrates, serving as the head of government for the Republic....
, or a praetor
Praetor

Praetor was a Title#Titles_for_heads_of_state granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, either before it was mustered or more typically in the field, or an elected Magistratus assigned duties that varied depending on the historical period....
.
Bring the army home, signifying that the war was over and that the army was no longer needed. Of course this only applied to the Republican era when the army was a citizen army. By the imperial period, when the army was professional, the proper triumph was reserved for the emperor and his family. If a general was awarded a triumph by the emperor, he would march with a token number of his troops.
In the Republican period, the senate had to give approval for a triumph based on the above mentioned requirements.

The last requirement sometimes led to deserving men being denied triumphs, or triumphs being granted on dubious grounds. It should also be noted that the enemy had to be foreign. Internal conflicts, in theory, did not merit triumphs. The enemy also had to be of equal status. Defeating a slave revolt was not a cause for triumph. Often an ovation

Ovation

The ovation was a less-honored form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted, when war was not declared between enemies on the level of states, when an enemy was considered basely inferior , and when the general conflict was resolved with little to no bloodshed or danger to the army itself....
was granted for a successful campaign which did not meet the requirements of a full triumph. After the establishment of the Principate

Principate

The Principate is the first period of the Roman Empire, extending from the beginning of the reign of Caesar Augustus to the Crisis of the Third Century, after which it was replaced with the Dominate....
, only members of the Imperial family were awarded with triumphs. Other citizens were awarded with Ornamenta triumphalia (triumphal regalia), so that the Imperial family could better keep hold on avenues to power and advancement.

Triumphal progression

The normal order of the triumphal parade was:

The Senate
Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
, headed by the magistrates without their lictor
Lictor

The lictor, derived from the Latin ligare , was a member of a special class of Rome civil servant, with special tasks of attending and guarding magistrates of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire who held imperium; essentially, a bodyguard....
s.
Trumpeters
Carts with the spoils of war to demonstrate the concrete benefits of the victory
White bulls for sacrifice
The arms and insignia of the leaders of the conquered enemy
The enemy leaders themselves, with their relatives and other captives
The lictor
Lictor

The lictor, derived from the Latin ligare , was a member of a special class of Rome civil servant, with special tasks of attending and guarding magistrates of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire who held imperium; essentially, a bodyguard....
s of the imperator
Imperator

The Latin word Imperator was a title originally roughly equivalent to commander during the period of the Roman Republic. It later went on to become a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as part of their cognomen....
, their fasces
Fasces

Fasces symbolize summary power and jurisdiction, and/or "strength through unity".The traditional ancient Rome fasces consisted of a bundle of white birch rods, tied together with a red leather ribbon into a cylinder, and often including a bronze axe amongst the rods, with the blade on the side, projecting from the bundle....
wreathed with laurel
The imperator
Imperator

The Latin word Imperator was a title originally roughly equivalent to commander during the period of the Roman Republic. It later went on to become a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as part of their cognomen....
himself, in a chariot drawn by two (later four) horses
The adult sons and officers of the imperator
The army without weapons or armour (since the procession would take them inside the pomerium
Pomerium

The pomerium , from post + moerium>murum , was the sacred boundary of the city of Rome. In legal terms, Rome existed only within the pomerium; everything beyond it was simply land belonging to Rome....
), but clad in toga
Toga

The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a cloth of perhaps twenty feet in length which was wrapped around the body and generally was worn over a tunic....
s and wearing wreaths. During the later periods, only a selected company of soldiers would follow the commander in the triumph.

The imperator may possibly have had his face painted red and wore a corona triumphalis, a tunica palmata and a toga picta

Toga

The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a cloth of perhaps twenty feet in length which was wrapped around the body and generally was worn over a tunic....
. Traditionally it has been believed that was accompanied in his chariot by a slave holding a golden wreath above his head and constantly reminding the commander of his mortality by whispering into his ear. However, this is based on slender and disputed evidence.

The words that the slave is said to have used are not known, but traditional suggestions include "Respica te, hominem te memento" ("Look behind you, remember you are only a man") and "Memento mori
Memento mori

Memento mori is a list of Latin phrases meaning "Be mindful of death" and may be translated as "Remember that you are mortal," "Remember you will die," "Remember that you must die," or "Remember your death"....
" ("Remember (that you are) mortal").

Often the order of triumphal progression was varied by the triumphator by adding exotic animals, musicians and slaves carrying pictures of conquered cities and signs with names of conquered peoples.

Due to the many stages of a triumph listed above, Suetonius

Suetonius

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was an equestrian and a historian during the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies on the battles of twelve successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar until Domitian, entitled On the Life of the Caesars....
claims that the emperor Vespasian

Vespasian

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 A.D. until his death in 79 A.D. Vespasian was the founder of the short lived Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 A.D....
regretted his own triumph, because its vast length and slow movement bored him.

The ceremony

The ceremony of the triumph began with the triumphator waiting outside the Servian Walls in the Campus Martius

Campus Martius

The Campus Martius , was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about 2 km? in extent. In the Middle Ages it was the most populous area of Rome....
, on the western bank of the Tiber

Tiber

The Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy, rising in the Apennine mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing 406 kilometres through Umbria and Lazio to the Tyrrhenian Sea....
. He would then enter city in his chariot through the Porta Triumphalis, only opened for these occasions. Simultaneously he entered the pomerium

Pomerium

The pomerium , from post + moerium>murum , was the sacred boundary of the city of Rome. In legal terms, Rome existed only within the pomerium; everything beyond it was simply land belonging to Rome....
and technically surrendered his command. At the gate the triumphator was met by the senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
and the magistrates, who would then accompany him.

The parade then proceeded through the streets of Rome along a strict route. From the Porta Triumphalis the progression went along the Via Triumphalis (which centuries later was reopened as the current Via dei Fori Imperiali
Via dei Fori Imperiali

The Via dei Fori Imperiali is a road in the centre of the city of Rome that runs in a straight line from the Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum, which is itself situated in the Piazza Colosseo....
) to Circus Flaminius

Circus Flaminius

The Circus Flaminius was a large, circular area of land in Rome that contained a small race-track reserved for mysterious games, and various other buildings and monuments....
and Circus Maximus

Circus Maximus

The Circus Maximus is an ancient hippodrome and mass entertainment venue located in Rome. Situated in the valley between the Aventine Hill and Palatine Hill hills, it was the first and largest circus in ancient Rome....
. Frequently, but not always, the captured enemy ruler or general was taken to the Tullianum and there strangled (this was the fate of Jugurtha

Jugurtha

Jugurtha or Jugurthen was a Berber Ancient Libya King of Numidia, born in Cirta. The name Jugurthen pronounced in Berber Yugur tn or Yugr tn is actually a Berber name and phrase meaning: is greater than them....
and Vercingetorix

Vercingetorix

Vercingetorix , born around 82 BC, died 46 BC, was tribal chief of the Arverni, originating from the Arvernian city of Gergovia and known as the man who led the Gauls in their ultimately unsuccessful war against Roman republic rule under Julius Caesar....
, though some enemy leaders, such as Zenobia

Zenobia

Zenobia was a Roman Syrian queen who lived in the 3rd century. She was a Queen regnant of the Palmyrene Empire and the second wife of King Septimius Odaenathus....
of Palmyra

Palmyra

Palmyra was in ancient times an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 120 km southwest of the Euphrates....
, were spared). Then the triumphator rode to the Forum

Forum (Roman)

The Forum was the public space in the middle of a Ancient Rome city.A gathering place of great social significance, it was often the scene of diverse activities, including political discussions, meetings, et cetera....
along the Via Sacra

Via Sacra

The Via Sacra is the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Roman Forum , to the Colosseum....
and ascended the Capitoline Hill

Capitoline Hill

The Capitoline Hill , between the Roman Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome of Rome. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Campidoglio in the Romanesco....
to the Temple of Iuppiter Capitolinus, the final destination. The route would be lined with cheering crowds who would shower the triumphator with flowers.

At the Capitoline Hill the triumphator sacrificed white bulls to Jupiter

Jupiter (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Jupiter or Jove was the king of the gods,and the god of sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
. He then entered the temple to offer his wreath to the god as a sign that he had no intentions of becoming the king of Rome

Roman Kingdom

The Roman Kingdom was the monarchy government of the city of Rome and its territories. Little is certain about the history of the Roman Kingdom, as no written records from that time survive, and the histories about it were written during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire and are largely based on legend....
. After this, the official part of the ceremony was over. However, unofficial festivities continued, temples were kept open and incense

Incense

Incense is composed of aromatic Biotic material materials. It releases fragrant smoke when burned. The term incense refers to the substance itself, rather than to the odor that it produces....
burned at the altars. The soldiers would disperse to the city to celebrate. Often a banquet was served for the citizens in the evening.

To better celebrate the triumph, a monument was sometimes erected. This is the origin of the Arch of Titus

Arch of Titus

The Arch of Titus is a Pentelic marble triumphal arch with a single arched opening, located on the Via Sacra just to the south-east of the Roman Forum in Rome....
and the Arch of Constantine

Arch of Constantine

The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was erected to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312....
, not far from the Colosseum

Colosseum

The Colosseum or Roman Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre , is an elliptical amphitheatre in the center of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire....
, or perhaps near a battle site as is the case for the Tropaeum Traiani

Tropaeum Traiani

The Tropaeum Traiani is a monument in Roman Civitas Tropaensium , built in 109 in then Moesia Inferior, to commemorate Roman Emperor's Trajan victory over the Dacians, in 102, in the Battle of Tapae....
. Also, the monumental Meta Sudans

Meta Sudans

The Meta Sudans was a large monumental conical fountain in ancient Rome.The Meta Sudans was built some time between 89 and 96 under the Flavian dynasty emperors, a few years after the completion of the nearby Colosseum....
was erected by the Flavians

Flavian dynasty

The Flavian dynasty was a Ancient Rome imperial dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96 AD, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian , and his two sons Titus and Domitian ....
to mark the point where the triumph route turned from the Via Triumphalis into the Via Sacra and the Forum.

History of triumphs

The origin of the triumphal ceremony is shrouded by antiquity, but perhaps derives from earlier Etruscan rituals. Traditionally, the first triumphator was Romulus

Romulus

Romulus may refer to any of these articles:...
. During the approximately 1900 years of the history from the beginnings of the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
to the final disappearance of the Eastern Roman Empire

Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire and Eastern Roman Empire are conventional names used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople....
about 500 triumphs were celebrated. During the history of the rite it became more and more elaborate. The Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
s could grant themselves triumphs at a whim, and therefore the real meaning and importance faded.

Due to changes in the ritual it is difficult to determine what is a "real" Roman triumph in the late period. Therefore it is also impossible to say who was the last triumphator. The candidates include Emperor Honorius (403

403

| in?=| cp=4th century| c=5th century| cf=6th century| yp1=400| yp2=401| yp3=402| year=403| ya1=404| ya2=405| ya3=406| dp3=370s...
) and Flavius Belisarius

Belisarius

Flavius Belisarius is often described as one of the greatest generals of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Byzantine Emperor Justinian I's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Western Roman Empire, which had been lost just under a century previously....
(ostensibly "sitting in" for Emperor Justinian I

Justinian I

Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus , AD 482 or 483 ? 13 or 14 November 565, was the second member of the Justinian Dynasty and List of Roman Emperors from 527 until his death....
), in recognition for his victory over the Vandals

Vandals

The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Goths Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and regent of the Visigoths, was allied by marriage with the Vandals as well as with the Burgundians and the Franks under Clovis I....
. It was held in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the empire capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire . Strategically located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara at the point where Europe meets Asia, Byzantine Constantinople had been the capital of a Christendom empire, successor to ancient ancient Greece...
in 534

534

Events...
.

External links

: an article in the by William Fitzgerald, December 5, 2007

Ancient sources

The Triumphal fasti of the fasti Capitolini

Modern works

Abbreviations.
RE. Real-Encyclopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft, edited by Pauly, Wissowa, Kroll
OCD². The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd edition (Oxford University Press, 1970)
JRS. Journal of Roman Studies

Major studies.

Versnel, H S: Triumphus: An Inquiry into the Origin, Development and Meaning of the Roman Triumph (Leiden, 1970)

Shorter articles.

Badian, Ernst: s. v. Triumph (p.1095) in OCD²
Ward-Perkins, John Bryan: s. v. Triumphal Arch (pp.1095-6) in OCD²
Warren, L Bonfante: "Roman Triumphs and Etruscan Kings: The Changing Face of the Triumph", JRS 60 (1970), 49-66

Roman triumph

Qualifications for a triumph

Triumphal progression

The ceremony

History of triumphs

See also

External links

Ancient sources

Modern works