Characteristics of

a Roman Triumph

Triumph – the official procession (pompa triumphalis) of a Roman general who had won a major military victory

The senate had to give permission for the general to retain imperium inside the city

In the early days of the Roman Republic, a triumph could only be celebrated if 5000 enemy soldiers were killed and the war was terminated

Reserved for a praetor, consul, or dictator

In the late Republic and Empire, though, the rules were subject to interpretation

Procession entered Rome at the Porta

Triumphalis on the Campus Martius

Ended at the Temple of Jupiter on the

Capitoline Hill

The triumphator would dress in an elaborate

red or purple toga and paint his face red

Red face = Jupiter

Triumphator would ride in a four-horse

chariot (quadriga)

A slave would ride with him, holding a laurel

wreath over his head and reminding him of

his mortality

Te hominem esse

memento!

Other features of the triumph:

Prisoners of war

Spoils of war

Roman soldiers on parade

Animals for sacrifice

Musicians

Banners, paintings of battle landscapes, etc.

Those who celebrate a triumph temporarily stay the executions of the enemy's leaders so that the people of Rome can witness the beautiful spectacle and the reward of victory when these men are paraded in the triumph. But when the wagons in the procession begin their turn from the Forum to the Capitoline, they order the captive leaders to be led into the prison (carcer) to their death. Thus does one same day put an end to both the command of the victorious general and the life of the defeated foe.

Cicero, Against Verres 5.77

Triumph of Bacchus

Triumph of Aemilius

Paulus

Triumphal procession depicted on Arch of Titus

Which victory is this image celebrating?

Arch of Titus – Titus in the chariot

Triumphal arch, with the triumphal

chariot on top

Arch of Titus, today

Triumphal arch in Belgium

Victoria!

Minnesota State Capitol

Slide 3 – Temple of Jupiter on Capitoline Hill:

http://www.robertabarresi.com/Vitruviusbook3Chap3.html

Slide 4 – Map of triumphal procession

http://hannibalbarca.webspace.virginmedia.com/rome-triumph.htm

Slides 5 and 6 – Triumph of Caesar in HBO’s Rome:

http://sites.duke.edu/clst182_01_f2012/?attachment_id=29

Slide 9 – The Triumph of Aemilius Paulus - Vernet, 1789:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Triumph_of_Aemilius_Paulus_%28detail%29.jpg

Slide 9 – Triumph of Bacchus – Mosaic, Sousse:

http://www.the-goldenrule.name/Dionysus_ART-Pagan.htm

Slide 10 – Triumphal procession on Arch of Titus:

http://legacy.earlham.edu/~vanbma/20th%20century/images/AAFXPMP0.jpg

Slide 11 – Chariot of Titus on the Arch of Titus:

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/titus/titus.html

Slide 12 – Illustration of the Arch of Titus in construction - Cambridge Latin Series, Stage 29:

http://www.cambridgescp.com/ws2_php/ws2_image_page.php?galleryNumber=5&image FileName=s29_arch_scaffold.jpg&imageTitle=Arch%20of%20Titus

Slide 12 – Arch of Titus illustration:

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/ancientfilmCC304/lecture31/detail.php?linenum=19

Slide 13 – Arch of Titus photograph:

http://culturedart.blogspot.com/2010/12/arch-of-titus.html

Slide 14 – Parc du Cinquantenaire, Brussels, Belgium:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrightfamilyarchives/5170914071/sizes/z/in/photostrea

m/

Slide 15 – Closeup of chariot on Parc du Cinquantenaire monument:

http://mjfenn.hubpages.com/hub/Visiting-the-Triumphal-Arch-at-the-Parc-du-

CinquantenaireJubelpark-Brussels-an-expression-of-confidence-in-Belgium

Slide 16 – Minnesota State Capitol, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1905:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Minnesota_State_Capitol.jpg

Slide 17 – Quadriga detail – Sculpture by Daniel Chester French and Edward French, 1906 - Copper,

with a gold covering

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Progress_of_the_State.jpg

Beard, Mary. The Roman Triumph. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007.

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities:

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Triumphus.html