Roman triumph
A
Roman Triumph was a
civil ceremony and religious
rite of
ancient Rome, held to publicly honour the
military commander (
dux) of a notably successful foreign
war or campaign and to display the glories of Roman victory. Only men of senatorial rank could perform a triumph and be a
triumphator.
In order to receive a triumph, the
dux must:# Win a significant victory over a foreign enemy, killing at least 5,000 enemy troops. # Be an elected magistrate with the power of imperium, i.e. a consul or a praetor. # 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 ceremony consisted of a spectacular
parade, opened by the chiefs of conquered peoples (afterwards executed in the
Tullianum), followed by wagons of gold and other valuable spoils captured during the campaign (including slaves), musicians, dancers, placards drawn with scenes of the war, then came the victorious general at the head of his troops (in the late republic and imperial times it was only a token body of troops rather than the entire army). It was a concrete exhibit of the spoils brought to the patrimony of
Senatus Populusque Romanus (
S.P.Q.R.).
The
triumphator, his face and arms painted red, rode on an already ancient four wheeled car pulled by two white
horses. A
slave behind the
triumphator held a
laurel crown over his head (not touching it). Notably, this slave had to repeat continuously
"Memento mori." ("Remember thou art mortal.") Some sources state that the slave would say; "Respica Te, Hominum Te Memento" ("Look behind you, you are only a man.") The ceremony's origin, though shrouded by antiquity, perhaps derives from earlier
Etruscan rituals.
The parade followed a precise route in the streets of
Rome, starting outside the
Servian Walls of the city, in the
Campus Martius on the western bank of the
Tiber. The
triumphator would then cross the
pomerium into the city through the
Via Triumphalis (which centuries later was reopened as the current
Via dei Fori Imperiali by
Benito Mussolini so that he, too, could march in triumph) and travel along the
Via Sacra into the
Forum Romanum. The triumph reached its climax at the Temple of
Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the
Capitoline, where the triumphing general offered
laurels of victory to the god.
To better celebrate the triumph, a monument was sometimes erected. This is the origin of the
Arch of Titus and the
Arch of Constantine, not far from the
Colosseum, or perhaps near a battle site as is the case for the
Tropaeum Traiani. Also, the monumental
Meta Sudans was erected by the
Flavians to mark the point where the triumph route turned from the
Via Triumphalis into the Via Sacra and the Forum.
After the establishment of the
Principate, only members of the Imperial family were awarded with triumphs. Other citizens were awarded with
Ornamenta triumphalia (triumphal regalia), so that the Imperial familiy could better keep hold on avenues to power and advancement.
Flavius Belisarius was the last person to receive a triumph (ostensibly "sitting in" for Emperor
Justinian I), in recognition for his victory over the
Vandals. It was held in
Constantinople.
*
Triumphal arch*
Ovation*
Victory parade
