Editing Roman triumph

{{Short description|Ancient Roman ceremony of military success}}
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[[File:Bas relief from Arch of Marcus Aurelius triumph chariot from Roma Project.jpg|thumb|Panel from a representation of a triumph of the Emperor [[Marcus Aurelius]]; a winged ''[[Genius (mythology)|genius]]'' hovers above his head]]
[[File:Triumph3-Mantegna-bearers-of-trophies-and-bullion.jpg|thumb|Scene from the [[Triumphs of Caesar (Mantegna)|''Triumphs of Caesar'']] by [[Andrea Mantegna]] (1482–94, [[Royal Collection]])]]
The '''Roman triumph''' (''{{lang|la|[[:wikt:triumphus|triumphus]]}}'') was a [[civil religion|civil ceremony]] and [[Religion in ancient Rome|religious rite of ancient Rome]], held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the success of a military commander who had led Roman forces to victory in the service of the state or, in some historical traditions, one who had successfully completed a foreign war.

On the day of his triumph, the general wore a crown of laurel and an all-purple, gold-embroidered triumphal ''[[toga picta]]'' ("painted" toga), regalia that identified him as near-divine or near-kingly. In some accounts, his face was painted red, perhaps in imitation of Rome's highest and most powerful god, [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]]. The general rode in a four-horse chariot through the streets of Rome in unarmed procession with his army, captives, and the spoils of his war. At [[Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus|Jupiter's temple]] on the [[Capitoline Hill]], he offered sacrifice and the tokens of his victory to Jupiter. 

In [[Roman Republic|Republican]] tradition, only the [[Roman Senate|Senate]] could grant a triumph. The origins and development of this honour are obscure: Roman historians themselves placed the first triumph in the mythic past. Republican [[Mos maiorum|morality]] required that the general conduct himself with dignified humility, as a mortal [[Roman citizenship|citizen]] who triumphed on behalf of Rome's Senate, people, and gods. Inevitably, the triumph offered the general extraordinary opportunities for self-publicity, besides its religious and military dimensions. Most triumphal celebrations included a range of popular games and entertainments for the Roman masses.

Most [[Roman festivals]] were calendar fixtures, tied to the worship of particular deities. While the triumphal procession culminated at Jupiter's temple on the far end of the Via Sacra (sacred road) in the Roman Forum, the procession itself, attendant feasting, and public games promoted the general's status and achievement. By the [[Roman Republic#Late Republic.28147.E2.80.9330 BC.29|Late Republican]] era, triumphs were drawn out and extravagant, motivated by increasing competition among the military-political adventurers who ran Rome's nascent empire. Some triumphs were prolonged by several days of public games and entertainments. From the [[Principate]] onwards, the triumph reflected the Imperial order and the pre-eminence of the Imperial family. The triumph was consciously imitated by medieval and later states in the [[royal entry]] and other ceremonial events.

==Background and ceremonies==

===The ''vir triumphalis''===
In Republican Rome, truly exceptional military achievement merited the highest possible honours, which connected the ''vir triumphalis'' ("man of triumph", later known as a ''triumphator'') to Rome's mythical and semi-mythical past. In effect, the general was close to being "king for a day", and possibly close to divinity. He wore the regalia traditionally associated both with the ancient [[Roman monarchy]] and with the statue of ''Jupiter Capitolinus'': the purple and gold "toga picta", laurel crown, red boots and, again possibly, the red-painted face of Rome's supreme deity. He was drawn in procession through the city in a four-horse chariot, under the gaze of his peers and an applauding crowd, to the [[Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus|temple of Capitoline Jupiter]]. His spoils and captives led the way; his armies followed behind. Once at the Capitoline temple, he sacrificed two white oxen to [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], and laid tokens of victory at the feet of Jupiter's statue, thus dedicating the triumph to the Roman Senate, people, and gods.<ref>A summary of disparate viewpoints regarding the Triumph is in Versnel, 56–93: limited preview via [https://books.google.com/books?id=DswUAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Within+the+range+of+opinions%22+inauthor%3AVersnel&pg=PA57 Books.Google.com]</ref>

Triumphs were tied to no particular day, season, or religious festival of the [[Roman calendar]]. Most seem to have been celebrated at the earliest practicable opportunity, probably on days that were deemed auspicious for the occasion. Tradition required that, for the duration of a triumph, every temple was open. The ceremony was thus, in some sense, shared by the whole community of Roman gods,<ref>Versnel, p. 386.</ref> but overlaps were inevitable with specific festivals and anniversaries. Some may have been coincidental; others were designed. For example, March 1, the festival and [[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#dies natalis|''dies natalis'']] of the war god [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], was the traditional anniversary of the first triumph by [[Publius Valerius Publicola|Publicola]] (504 BCE), of six other Republican triumphs, and of the very first Roman triumph by [[Romulus]].<ref>Beard, p. 77.</ref> [[Pompey]] postponed his third and most magnificent triumph for several months to make it coincide with his own ''dies natalis'' (birthday).<ref>Beard, p. 7.</ref><ref>Denis Feeney, ''Caesar's Calendar: Ancient Time and the Beginnings of History'', University of California Press (2008) p. 148.</ref>

Religious dimensions aside, the focus of the triumph was the general himself. The ceremony promoted him – however temporarily – above every mortal Roman. This was an opportunity granted to very few. From the time of [[Scipio Africanus]], the triumphal general was linked (at least for historians during the Principate) to [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] and the demi-god [[Hercules]], who had laboured selflessly for the benefit of all mankind.<ref>Beard, 72–75. See also Diodorus, 4.5 at Thayer: [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4A*.html#5.2 Uchicago.edu]</ref><ref>Beard ''et al'', 85–87: see also Polybius, 10.2.20, who suggests that Scipio's assumption of divine connections (and the personal favour of divine guidance) was unprecedented and seemed suspiciously "Greek" to his more conservative peers.</ref><ref>See also Galinsky, 106, 126–149, for Heraklean/Herculean associations of Alexander, Scipio, and later triumphing Roman generals.</ref> His sumptuous triumphal chariot was bedecked with [[fascinus|charms]] against the possible envy (''[[invidia]]'') and malice of onlookers.<ref>Versnel, p. 380.</ref><ref>Various Roman sources describe the different charms employed against envy during triumphs, not necessarily at the same event; they include an assemblage of miniature bells  (''[[Tintinnabulum (Ancient Rome)|tintinnabulum]]'') and a whip on the chariot's dashboard. In Pliny, a sacred [[Fascinus|phallos]] loaned by the [[Vestal Virgins]] is slung between the chariot wheels; see Beard, pp. 83–85.</ref> In some accounts, a companion or [[servus publicus|public slave]] would remind him from time to time of his own mortality (a ''[[memento mori]]'').<ref>The very few accounts are from the Imperial era of a public slave (or other figure) who stands behind or near the triumphator to remind him that he "is but mortal" or prompts him to "look behind", and are open to a variety of interpretations. Nevertheless, they imply a tradition that the triumphing general was publicly reminded of his mortal nature, whatever his kingly appearance, temporary godlike status, or divine associations. See Beard, pp. 85–92.</ref>

===The procession===
Rome's earliest "triumphs" were probably simple victory parades, celebrating the return of a victorious general and his army to the city, along with the fruits of his victory, and ending with some form of dedication to the gods. This is probably so for the earliest legendary and later semi-legendary triumphs of Rome's regal era, when the king functioned as Rome's highest magistrate and war-leader. As Rome's population, power, influence, and territory increased, so did the scale, length, variety, and extravagance of its triumphal processions.

The procession (''pompa'') mustered in the open space of the [[Campus Martius]] (Field of Mars) probably well before first light. From there, all unforeseen delays and accidents aside, it would have managed a slow walking pace at best, punctuated by various planned stops en route to its final destination of the Capitoline temple, a distance of just under 4&nbsp;km (2.48&nbsp;mi). Triumphal processions were notoriously long and slow;<ref>Emperor [[Vespasian]] regretted his triumph because its vast length and slow movement bored him; see Suetonius, ''Vespasian'', 12.</ref> the longest could last for two or three days, and possibly more, and some may have been of greater length than the route itself.<ref>The "2,700 wagonloads of captured weapons alone, never mind the soldiers and captives and booty" on one day of [[Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus|Aemilius Paulus]]'s triumphal "extravaganza" of 167 BCE is wild exaggeration. Some modern scholarship suggests a procession 7 km long as plausible. See Beard, p. 102.</ref>

Some ancient and modern sources suggest a fairly standard processional order. First came the captive leaders, allies, and soldiers (and sometimes their families) usually walking in chains; some were destined for execution or further display. Their captured weapons, armour, gold, silver, statuary, and curious or exotic treasures were carted behind them, along with paintings, tableaux, and models depicting significant places and episodes of the war. Next in line, all on foot, came Rome's senators and magistrates, followed by the general's [[lictor]]s in their red war-robes, their [[fasces]] wreathed in laurel, then the general in his four-horse chariot. A companion, or a public slave, might share the chariot with him or, in some cases, his youngest children. His officers and elder sons rode horseback nearby. His unarmed soldiers followed in togas and laurel crowns, chanting "io triumphe!" and singing ribald songs at their general's expense. Somewhere in the procession, two flawless white oxen were led for the sacrifice to Jupiter, garland-decked and with gilded horns. All this was done to the accompaniment of music, clouds of incense, and the strewing of flowers.<ref>Summary based on Versnel, pp. 95–96.</ref>

Almost nothing is known of the procession's infrastructure and management. Its doubtless enormous cost was defrayed in part by the state but mostly by the general's loot, which most ancient sources dwell on in great detail and unlikely superlatives. Once disposed, this portable wealth injected huge sums into the Roman economy; the amount brought in by [[Octavian]]'s triumph over Egypt triggered a fall in interest rates and a sharp rise in land prices.<ref>Beard, pp. 159–161, citing Suetonius, ''Augustus'', 41.1.</ref> No ancient source addresses the logistics of the procession: where the soldiers and captives, in a procession of several days, could have slept and eaten, or where these several thousands plus the spectators could have been stationed for the final ceremony at the Capitoline temple.<ref>Beard, pp. 93–95, 258. For their joint triumph of 71 CE, [[Titus]] and [[Vespasian]] treated their soldiers to a very early, and possibly traditional "triumphal breakfast".</ref>

===The route===
The following schematic is for the route taken by "some, or many" triumphs, and is based on standard modern reconstructions.<ref>See map, in Beard, p. 334, and discussion on pp. 92–105.</ref> Any original or traditional route would have been diverted to some extent by the city's many redevelopments and re-building, or sometimes by choice. The starting place (the Campus Martius) lay outside the city's sacred boundary (''[[pomerium]]''), bordering the eastern bank of the [[Tiber]]. The procession entered the city through a ''Porta Triumphalis'' (Triumphal Gate),<ref>The location and nature of the ''Porta Triumphalis'' are among the most uncertain and disputed aspects of the triumphal route; some sources imply a gate exclusively dedicated to official processions, others a free-standing arch, or the ''[[Porta Carmentalis]]'' by another name, or any convenient gate in the vicinity. See discussion in Beard, pp. 97–101.</ref> and crossed the ''[[pomerium]]'', where the general surrendered his command to the [[Roman Senate|senate]] and [[Magistratus|magistrates]]. It continued through the site of the [[Circus Flaminius]], skirting the southern base of the Capitoline Hill and the ''[[Velabrum]]'', along a ''[[Via Trionfale|Via Triumphalis]]'' (Triumphal Way)<ref>Sometimes thought to be the same route as the modern ''[[Via dei Fori Imperiali]]''</ref> towards the ''[[Circus Maximus]]'', perhaps dropping off any prisoners destined for execution at the [[Tullianum]].<ref>This is where [[Jugurtha]] was starved to death and [[Vercingetorix]] was strangled.</ref> It entered the ''[[Via Sacra]]'' then the [[Roman Forum|Forum]]. Finally, it ascended the [[Capitoline Hill]] to the [[Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus]]. Once the sacrifice and dedications were completed, the procession and spectators dispersed to banquets, games, and other entertainments sponsored by the triumphing general.

===Banquets, games, and entertainments===
In most triumphs, the general funded any post-procession banquets from his share of the loot. There were feasts for the people and separate, much richer feasts for the elite; some went on for most of the night. [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus|Dionysius]] offers a contrast to the lavish triumphal banquets of his time by giving Romulus's triumph the most primitive possible "banquet" – ordinary Romans setting up food-tables as a "welcome home", and the returning troops taking swigs and bites as they marched by. He recreates the first Republican triumphal banquet along the same lines.<ref>Beard, pp. 258–259; cf Livy's "soldiers feasting as they went" at the triumph of [[Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus|Cincinnatus]] (458 BCE).</ref> [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]] claims that his aunt earned 20,000 [[Sestertius|sesterces]] by supplying 5,000 [[Thrush (bird)|thrushes]] for [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius|Caecilius Metellus]]'s triumph of 71 BCE.<ref>Beard, p. 49.</ref>

Some triumphs included [[ludi]] as fulfillment of the general's vow to a god or goddess, made before battle or during its heat, in return for their help in securing victory.<ref>Beard, pp. 263–264.</ref> In the Republic, they were paid for by the triumphing general. [[Marcus Fulvius Nobilior (consul 189 BC)|Marcus Fulvius Nobilior]] vowed ''ludi'' in return for victory over the [[Aetolian League]] and paid for ten days of games at his triumph.

===Commemoration===
[[Image:04 2022 Roma (Arco di Trionfo di Tito- Bassorilievi) FO228683 bis Photo by Paolo Villa.jpg|thumb|left|Detail from the [[Arch of Titus]] showing Titus as ''triumphator'']]
[[Image:Judiska kriget på Titusbågen - bearbetad.jpg|thumb|left|Detail from the [[Arch of Titus]] showing his triumph held in 71 for his [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|Sack of Jerusalem]].]]
Most Romans would never have seen a triumph, but its symbolism permeated Roman imagination and material culture. Triumphal generals minted and circulated characteristically detailed, high value coins to propagate their triumphal fame and generosity empire-wide. Pompey's issues for his three triumphs are typical. One is an [[aureus]] (a gold coin) that has a laurel-wreathed border enclosing a head which personifies Africa; beside it, Pompey's title "Magnus" ("The Great"), with [[lituus|wand]] and [[libation#Ancient Rome|jug]] as symbols of his [[augur]]y. The reverse identifies him as [[proconsul]] in a triumphal chariot attended by [[Victoria (mythology)|Victory]]. A triumphal [[denarius]] (a silver coin) shows his three trophies of captured arms, with his augur's wand and jug. Another shows a globe surrounded by triumphal wreaths, symbolising his "world conquest", and an ear of grain to show that his victory protected Rome's grain supply.<ref>Beard pp. 19–21,</ref> A notable coin, minted by Lucius Manlius Torquatus, a supporter of [[Sulla]], references Sulla's victory over [[Mithridates VI Eupator|Mithridates VI of Pontus]]. This coin depicts a [[quadriga]] with Sulla's legend and the general partially visible in his chariot. This established a precedent for the Imperial period, where coins often depicted triumphal arches erected by emperors to commemorate their victories. [[Germanicus]]' achievements in Germany in 15-16 CE are depicted on coins showing [[Tiberius]] in a quadriga.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eiland |first=Murray |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.30861/9781407360713 |title=Picturing Roman Belief Systems: The iconography of coins in the Republic and Empire |date=2023-04-30 |publisher=British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd |isbn=978-1-4073-6071-3 |pages=70–71|doi=10.30861/9781407360713 }}</ref>

In Republican tradition, a general was expected to wear his triumphal regalia only for the day of his triumph; thereafter, they were presumably displayed in the atrium of his family home. As one of the nobility, he was entitled to a particular kind of funeral in which a string of actors walked behind his bier wearing the [[Roman funerals and burial#Imagines|masks]] of his ancestors; another actor represented the general himself and his highest achievement in life by wearing his funeral mask, triumphal laurels, and ''toga picta''.<ref>Flower, Harriet I., ''Ancestor Masks and Aristocratic Power in Roman Culture'', Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 33.</ref> Anything more was deeply suspect; Pompey was granted the privilege of wearing his triumphal wreath at the Circus, but he met with a hostile reception.<ref>Taylor, Lily Ross, ''The Divinity of the Roman Emperor'', American Philological Association, 1931 (reprinted by Arno Press, 1975), p. 57, citing Cicero, To Atticus, 1.18.6, and Velleius Paterculus, 2.40.4. Faced with this reaction, Pompey never tried it again.</ref> Julius Caesar's penchant for wearing his triumphal regalia "wherever and whenever" was taken as one among many signs of monarchical intentions which, for some, justified his murder. In the Imperial era, emperors wore such regalia to signify their elevated rank and office and to identify themselves with the Roman gods and Imperial order – a central feature of [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|Imperial cult]].

The building and dedication of monumental public works offered local, permanent opportunities for triumphal commemoration. In 55 BCE, [[Pompey]] inaugurated Rome's first stone-built Theatre as a gift to the people of Rome, funded by his spoils. Its gallery and colonnades doubled as an exhibition space and likely contained statues, paintings, and other trophies carried at his various triumphs.<ref>Beard, pp. 23–25.</ref> It contained a new temple to Pompey's patron goddess [[Venus (mythology)|Venus Victrix]] ("Victorious Venus"); the year before, he had issued a coin which showed her crowned with triumphal laurels.<ref>Beard, pp. 22–23.</ref> [[Julius Caesar]] claimed Venus as both patron and divine ancestress; he funded a new temple to her and dedicated it during his quadruple triumph of 46 BCE. He thus wove his patron goddess and putative ancestress into his triumphal anniversary.

[[Augustus]], Caesar's heir and Rome's first emperor, built a vast triumphal monument on the Greek coast at [[Actium]], overlooking the scene of his decisive sea-battle against Antony and Egypt; the [[Naval ram|bronze beaks]] of captured Egyptian warships projected from its seaward wall. Imperial iconography increasingly identified Emperors with the gods, starting with the Augustan reinvention of Rome as a virtual monarchy (the [[principate]]). Sculpted panels on the [[arch of Titus]] (built by [[Domitian]]) celebrate [[Titus]]' and [[Vespasian]]'s joint triumph over the Jews after the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|siege of Jerusalem]], with a triumphal procession of captives and treasures seized from the temple of Jerusalem – some of which funded the building of the [[Colosseum]]. Another panel shows the funeral and [[apotheosis]] of the [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)#Divus, deus and the numen|deified]] Titus. Prior to this, the senate voted Titus [[Arch of Titus (Circus Maximus)|a triple-arch at the Circus Maximus]] to celebrate or commemorate the same victory or triumph.<ref>Fergus Millar, "Last Year in Jerusalem: Monuments of the Jewish War in Rome", in ''Flavius Josephus and Flavian Rome'', J. C. Edmondson, Steve Mason, J. B. Rives (eds.), pp. 101–124.</ref>

==Awarding a triumph==
In [[Roman Republic|Republican]] tradition, only the [[Roman Senate|Senate]] could grant a triumph. A general who wanted a triumph would dispatch his request and report to the Senate. Officially, triumphs were granted for outstanding military merit; the state paid for the ceremony if this and certain other conditions were met – and these seem to have varied from time to time, and from case to case – or the Senate would pay for the official procession, at least. Most Roman historians rest the outcome on an open Senatorial debate and vote, its legality confirmed by one of the [[legislative assemblies of the Roman Republic|people's assemblies]]; the senate and people thus controlled the state's coffers and rewarded or curbed its generals. Some triumphs seem to have been granted outright, with minimal debate. Some were turned down but went ahead anyway, with the general's direct appeal to the people over the senate and a promise of public games at his own expense. Others were blocked or granted only after interminable wrangling. Senators and generals alike were politicians, and Roman politics was notorious for its rivalries, shifting alliances, back-room dealings, and overt public bribery.<ref>Beard, 196−201.</ref> The senate's discussions would likely have hinged on triumphal tradition, precedent, and propriety; less overtly but more anxiously, it would hinge on the extent of the general's political and military powers and popularity, and the possible consequences of supporting or hindering his further career. There is no firm evidence that the Senate applied a prescribed set of "triumphal laws" when making their decisions,<ref>See discussion in Beard, pp. 199–206, 209–210. [[Livy]]'s "triumphal laws" hark back to earlier, traditional but probably reinvented triumphs of Republican Rome's expansion to Empire and its defeat of foreign kings; his notion was that triumphal generals must possess the highest level of ''imperium'' (Livy, 38.38.4, in the 206 BCE case of [[Scipio Africanus]]), but this is contradicted in [[Polybius]] 11.33.7 and [[Pompey]]'s status at his first triumph.</ref><ref>The tradition was probably an indication of esteem and popularity that triumphal generals in the Republic had been spontaneously proclaimed as ''imperator'' by their troops in the field; it was not an absolute requirement (see Beard, p. 275). Taking divine [[auspices]] before battle might have been formally reserved to the highest magistrate on the field, while a victory proved that a commander must have pleased the gods – whatever the niceties of his authority. Conversely, a lost battle was a sure sign of religious dereliction; see Veit Rosenberger, "The Gallic Disaster", ''The Classical World'', (The Johns Hopkins University Press), 96, 4, 2003, p. 371, note 39.</ref> Valerius Maximus extrapolated various "triumphal laws" from disputed historic accounts of actual practice. They included one law that the general must have killed at least 5,000 of the enemy in a single battle, and another that he must swear an oath that his account was the truth. No evidence has survived for either of these laws, or any other laws relating to triumphs.<ref>Beard, pp. 206–211, citing Valerius Maximus, ''Memorable Facts and Sayings'', 2. 8. 1.</ref>

===Ovation===
{{Main|Ovation}}
A general might be granted a "lesser triumph", known as an Ovation. He entered the city on foot, minus his troops, in his magistrate's toga and wearing a wreath of [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]]' myrtle. In 211 BCE, the Senate turned down [[Marcus Claudius Marcellus|Marcus Marcellus]]' request for a triumph after his victory over the Carthaginians and their Sicilian-Greek allies, apparently because his army was still in Sicily and unable to join him. They offered him instead a thanksgiving (supplicatio) and ovation. The day before it, he celebrated an unofficial triumph on the [[Alban Mount]]. His ovation was of triumphal proportions. It included a large painting, showing his siege of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]], the siege engines themselves,  captured plate, gold, silver, and royal ornaments, and the statuary and opulent furniture for which Syracuse was famous. Eight elephants were led in the procession, symbols of his victory over the Carthaginians. His Spanish and Syracusan allies led the way wearing golden wreaths; they were granted Roman citizenship and lands in Sicily.<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab Urbe Condita]]'', 26, 21; cf. Plutarch ''Marcellus'' 19–22.</ref>

In 71 BCE, [[Marcus Licinius Crassus|Crassus]] earned an ovation for quashing the [[Spartacus]] revolt, and increased his honours by wearing a crown of Jupiter's "triumphal" laurel.<ref>Beard, p. 265.</ref> Ovations are listed along with triumphs on the ''Fasti Triumphales''.

==Sources==
[[File:CILI(2)p47fgtXXFastitriumphales.jpg|thumb|right|Segment XX of the ''Fasti triumphales'', a portion recording triumphs during the [[First Punic War]]]]
The ''[[Fasti Triumphales]]'' (also called ''Acta Triumphalia'') are stone tablets that were erected in the [[Forum Romanum]] around 12 BCE, during the reign of Emperor Augustus.<!---note that there is still some debate as to whether Augustus was the first emperor---> They give the general's formal name, the names of his father and grandfather, the people(s) or command province whence the triumph was awarded, and the date of the triumphal procession. They record over 200 triumphs, starting with three mythical triumphs of Romulus in 753 BCE and ending with that of [[Lucius Cornelius Balbus the Younger|Lucius Cornelius Balbus]] (19 BCE).<ref>Romulus' three triumphs are in Dionysius of Halicarnassus (''Antiquitates Romanae'', 2.54.2 & 2.55.5). Dionysius may have seen the ''Fasti''. Livy (1.10.5–7) allows Romulus the ''[[spolia opima]]'', not a "triumph".  Neither author mentions the two triumphs attributed by the Fasti to the last king of Rome, Tarquin. See Beard, 74 and endnotes 1 &2.</ref> Fragments of similar date and style from Rome and provincial Italy appear to be modeled on the Augustan ''Fasti'', and have been used to fill some of its gaps.<ref>Beard, 61–62, 66–67. The standard modern edition of the Fasti Triumphales is that of [[Attilio Degrassi]], in ''Inscriptiones Italiae'', vol. XIII, fasc. 1 (Rome, 1947)</ref>

Many ancient historical accounts also mention triumphs. Most Roman accounts of triumphs were written to provide their readers with a moral lesson, rather than to provide an accurate description of the triumphal process, procession, rites, and their meaning. This scarcity allows only the most tentative and generalised (and possibly misleading) reconstruction of triumphal ceremony, based on the combination of various incomplete accounts from different periods of Roman history.

==Evolution==
===Origins and Regal era===
[[File:Triumph of Bacchus - Sousse (edit).jpg|thumb|left|''The Triumph of [[Bacchus]]'', a [[Roman mosaic]] from [[Africa Proconsolaris]], dated 3rd century CE, now in the [[Sousse Archaeological Museum]], Tunisia]]
The origins and development of this honour are obscure. Roman historians placed the first triumph in the mythical past; some thought that it dated from [[Founding of Rome|Rome's foundation]]; others thought it more ancient than that. Roman etymologists thought that the soldiers' chant of ''triumpe'' was a borrowing via [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] of the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] ''[[thriambus]]'' (''θρίαμβος''), cried out by [[satyr]]s and other attendants in [[Dionysus|Dionysian]] and Bacchic processions.<ref>Versnel considers it an invocation for divine help and manifestation, derived via an unknown pre-Greek language through Etruria and Greece. He cites the chant of "''Triumpe''", repeated five times, which terminates the ''[[Carmen Arvale]]'', a now-obscure prayer for the help and protection of [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] and the [[Lares]]. Versnel, pp. 39–55 (conclusion and summary on p. 55).</ref> Plutarch and some Roman sources traced the first Roman triumph and the "kingly" garb of the ''triumphator'' to Rome's first king [[Romulus]], whose defeat of King Acron of the [[Caenina (Town)|Caeninenses]] was thought coeval with Rome's foundation in 753 BCE.<ref>Beard et al, vol. 1, 44–45, 59–60: see also Plutarch, Romulus (trans. Dryden) at The Internet Classics Archive [http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/romulus.html MIT.edu]</ref> [[Ovid]] projected a fabulous and poetic triumphal precedent in the return of the god [[Bacchus]]/Dionysus from his conquest of India, drawn in a golden chariot by tigers and surrounded by [[maenads]], satyrs, and assorted drunkards.<ref>Bowersock, 1994, 157.</ref><ref>Ovid, ''The Erotic Poems'', 1.2.19–52. Trans P. Green.</ref><ref>Pliny attributes the invention of the triumph to "Father [[Liber]]" (identified with Dionysus): see Pliny, ''Historia Naturalis'', 7.57 (ed. Bostock) at Perseus: [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plin.+Nat.+7.57 Tufts.edu]</ref> [[Arrian]] attributed similar Dionysian and "Roman" elements to a victory procession of [[Alexander the Great]].<ref>Bosworth, 67–79, notes that Arrian's attributions here are non-historic and their details almost certainly apocryphal: see Arrian, 6, 28, 1–2.</ref> Like much in Roman culture, elements of the triumph were based on Etruscan and Greek precursors; in particular, the purple, embroidered ''[[Toga|toga picta]]'' worn by the triumphal general was thought to be derived from the royal toga of Rome's Etruscan kings.

For triumphs of the Roman regal era, the surviving Imperial ''Fasti Triumphales'' are incomplete. After three entries for the city's legendary founder [[Romulus]], eleven lines of the list are missing. Next in sequence are [[Ancus Marcius]], [[Tarquinius Priscus]], [[Servius Tullius]], and finally [[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus|Tarquin "the proud"]], the last king. The ''Fasti'' were compiled some five centuries after the regal era, and probably represent an approved, official version of several different historical traditions. Likewise, the earliest surviving written histories of the regal era, written some centuries after it, attempt to reconcile various traditions, or else debate their merits. [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus|Dionysius]], for example, gives Romulus three triumphs, the same number given in the ''Fasti''. Livy gives him none, and credits him instead with the first ''[[spolia opima]]'', in which the arms and armour were stripped off a defeated foe, then dedicated to Jupiter. Plutarch gives him one, complete with chariot. Tarquin has two triumphs in the ''Fasti'' but none in Dionysius.<ref>Beard, p. 74.</ref> No ancient source gives a triumph to Romulus' successor, the peaceful king [[Numa Pompilius|Numa]].

===The Republic===
Rome's aristocrats expelled their last king as a tyrant and legislated the monarchy out of existence. They shared among themselves the kingship's former powers and authority in the form of [[Roman Magistrate|magistracies]]. In the Republic, the highest possible magistracy was an elected consulship, which could be held for no more than a year at a time. In times of crisis or emergency, the Senate might appoint a [[Roman dictator|dictator]] to serve a longer term; but this could seem perilously close to the lifetime power of kings. The dictator [[Marcus Furius Camillus|Camillus]] was awarded four triumphs but was eventually exiled. Later Roman sources point to his triumph of 396 BCE as a cause for offense; the chariot was drawn by four white horses, a combination properly reserved for Jupiter and Apollo – at least in later lore and poetry.<ref>Beard, p. 235.</ref> The demeanour of a triumphal Republican general, and the symbols he employed in his triumph, would have been closely scrutinised by his aristocratic peers, alert for any sign that he might aspire to be more than "king for a day".<ref>Flower, Harriet, "Augustus, Tiberius, and the End of the Roman Triumph", ''Classical Antiquity'',  2020, 39 (1): 1–28 [https://doi.org/10.1525/ca.2020.39.1.1]</ref>

In the Middle to Late Republic, Rome's expansion through conquest offered her political-military adventurers extraordinary opportunities for self-publicity; the long-drawn series of wars between Rome and Carthage – the [[Punic Wars]] – produced twelve triumphs in ten years. Towards the end of the Republic, triumphs became still more frequent,<ref>Beard, p. 42; four were clustered in one year (71 BCE), including Pompey's second triumph.</ref> lavish, and competitive, with each display an attempt (usually successful) to outdo the last. To have a triumphal ancestor – even one long-dead – counted for a lot in Roman society and politics. [[Cicero]] remarked that, in the race for power and influence, some individuals were not above vesting an inconveniently ordinary ancestor with triumphal grandeur and dignity, distorting an already fragmentary and unreliable historical tradition.<ref>Cicero, ''Brutus'', 62.</ref><ref>See also Livy, 8, 40.</ref><ref>Beard, 79, notes at least one ancient case of what seems blatant fabrication, in which two ancestral triumphs became three.</ref>

To Roman historians, the growth of triumphal ostentation undermined Rome's ancient "peasant virtues".<ref>Beard, 67: citing Valerius Maximus, 4.4.5., and Apuleius, Apol.17</ref> [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] ({{Circa|60 BCE}} to after 7 BCE) claimed that the triumphs of his day had "departed in every respect from the ancient tradition of frugality".<ref>Dionysus of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities'', 2.34.3.</ref> Moralists complained that successful foreign wars might have increased Rome's power, security, and wealth, but they also created and fed a degenerate appetite for bombastic display and shallow novelty. Livy traces the start of the rot to the triumph of [[Gnaeus Manlius Vulso (consul 189 BC)|Gnaeus Manlius Vulso]] in 186, which introduced ordinary Romans to such [[Galatia]]n fripperies as specialist chefs, flute girls, and other "seductive dinner-party amusements". Pliny adds "sideboards and one-legged tables" to the list,<ref>Livy, 39.6–7: cf Pliny, ''Historia Naturalis'', 34.14.</ref> but lays responsibility for Rome's slide into luxury on the "1400 pounds of chased silver ware and 1500 pounds of golden vessels" brought somewhat earlier by [[Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus|Scipio Asiaticus]] for his triumph of 189 BCE.<ref>Beard, p. 162.</ref>

The three triumphs awarded to [[Pompey the Great]] were lavish and controversial. The first in 80 or 81 BCE was for his victory over King [[Hiarbas (king)|Hiarbas]] of [[Numidia]] in 79 BCE, granted by a cowed and divided Senate under the dictatorship of Pompey's patron Sulla. Pompey was only 24 and a mere equestrian.<ref>Beard, 16; he was aged 25 or 26 in some accounts.</ref> Roman conservatives disapproved of such precocity<ref>Dio Cassius, 42.18.3.</ref> but others saw his youthful success as the mark of a prodigious military talent, divine favour, and personal brio; and he also had an enthusiastic, popular following. His triumph, however, did not go quite to plan. His chariot was drawn by a team of elephants in order to represent his African conquest – and perhaps to outdo even the legendary triumph of Bacchus. They proved too bulky to pass through the triumphal gate, so Pompey had to dismount while a horse team was yoked in their place.<ref>Pliny, ''Historia Naturalis'', 8.4: Plutarch, ''Pompey'', 14.4.</ref> This embarrassment would have delighted his critics, and probably some of his soldiers – whose demands for cash had been near-mutinous.<ref>Beard, 16, 17.</ref> Even so, his firm stand on the matter of cash raised his standing among the conservatives, and Pompey seems to have learned a lesson in populist politics. For his second triumph (71 BCE, the last in a series of four held that year) his cash gifts to his army were said to break all records, though the amounts in Plutarch's account are implausibly high: 6,000 ''[[sesterces]]'' to each soldier (about six times their annual pay) and about 5&nbsp;million to each officer.<ref>Beard, 39–40, notes that the introduction of such vast sums into the Roman economy would have left substantial traces, but none are evidenced (citing Brunt (1971), 459–460; Scheidel (1996); Duncan-Jones (1990), 43, & (1994), 253).</ref>

Pompey was granted a third triumph in 61 BCE to celebrate his victory over Mithridates VI of Pontus. It was an opportunity to outdo all rivals – and even himself. Triumphs traditionally lasted for one day, but Pompey's went on for two in an unprecedented display of wealth and luxury.<ref>Beard, 9, cites Appian's very doubtful "75,100,000" drachmae carried in the procession as 1.5 times his own estimate of Rome's total annual tax revenue (Appian, ''Mithradates'', 116).</ref> Plutarch claimed that this triumph represented Pompey's domination over the entire world – on Rome's behalf – and an achievement to outshine even [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]'s.<ref>Beard, 15–16, citing Plutarch, Pompey, 45, 5.</ref><ref>Beard, 16. For further elaboration on Pompey's 3rd triumph, see also Plutarch, ''Sertorius'', 18, 2, at Thayer [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Sertorius*.html Uchicago.edu]: Cicero, Man. 61: Pliny, Nat. 7, 95.</ref> Pliny's narrative of this triumph dwells with ominous hindsight upon a gigantic portrait-bust of the triumphant general, a thing of "eastern splendor" entirely covered with pearls, anticipating his later humiliation and decapitation.<ref>Beard, 35: Pliny, Historia Naturalis, 37, 14–16.</ref>

===Imperial era===
[[File:Tapís flamenc amb escena de triomf romà, fumoir del palau del marqués de Dosaigües.JPG|thumb|left|[[Flemish people|Flemish]] [[tapestry]] in the [[smoking room]] of the [[Palace of the Marqués de Dos Aguas]]]]

Following Caesar's murder, his adopted son Gaius Octavian assumed the permanent title of ''imperator'' and became the permanent head of the Senate from 27 BCE (see [[principate]]) under the title and name [[Augustus (honorific)|Augustus]]. Only the year before, he had blocked the senatorial award of a triumph to [[Marcus Licinius Crassus (consul 30 BC)|Marcus Licinius Crassus the Younger]], despite the latter's acclamation in the field as Imperator and his fulfillment of all traditional, Republican qualifying criteria except full consulship. Technically, generals in the Imperial era were [[Legatus|legates]] of the ruling Emperor (Imperator).<ref>Beard, pp. 297–298.</ref> Augustus claimed the victory as his own but permitted Crassus a second, which is listed on the ''Fasti'' for 27 BCE.<ref>Syme, 272–275: [https://books.google.com/books?id=fj8oQ4lzteIC&dq=%22descendants+of+crassus%22+intitle:augustan+intitle:aristocracy+inauthor:syme&pg=PA270 Google Books Search]</ref> Crassus was also denied the rare (and technically permissible, in his case) honour of dedicating the ''[[spolia opima]]'' of this campaign to [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter Feretrius]].<ref>Southern, 104: [https://books.google.com/books?id=v8dOBMbVW1cC&dq=Crassus+Triumph+Augustus+spolia+opima&pg=RA2-PA104 Google Books Search]</ref>

The last triumph listed on the ''Fasti Triumphales'' is for 19 BCE. By then, the triumph had been absorbed into the Augustan [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|imperial cult]] system, in which only the emperor<ref>Very occasionally, a close relative who had glorified the Imperial ''gens'' might receive the honor.</ref> would be accorded such a supreme honour, as he was the supreme ''[[Imperator]]''. The Senate, in true Republican style, would have held session to debate and decide the merits of the candidate; but this was little more than good form. Augustan ideology insisted that Augustus had saved and restored the Republic, and it celebrated his triumph as a permanent condition, and his military, political, and religious leadership as responsible for an unprecedented era of stability, peace, and prosperity. From then on, emperors claimed – without seeming to claim – the triumph as an Imperial privilege. Those outside the Imperial family might be granted "triumphal ornaments" (''Ornamenta triumphalia'') or an ovation, such as [[Aulus Plautius]] under [[Claudius]]. The senate still debated and voted on such matters, though the outcome was probably already decided.<ref>Suetonius, ''Lives'', Claudius, 24.3: given for the [[Roman conquest of Britain|conquest of Britain]]. Claudius was "granted" a triumph by the Senate and gave "triumphal regalia" to his prospective son-in-law, who was still "only a boy." Thayer: [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html Uchicago.edu] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120630034237/http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html |date=2012-06-30 }}</ref> In the Imperial era, the number of triumphs fell sharply.<ref>Beard, 61–71.</ref>

Imperial panegyrics of the later Imperial era combine triumphal elements with Imperial ceremonies such as the consular investiture of Emperors, and the ''[[Adventus (ceremony)|adventus]]'', the formal "triumphal" arrival of an emperor in the various capitals of the Empire in his progress through the provinces. Some emperors were perpetually on the move and seldom or never went to Rome.<ref>On triumphal entrances to Rome in the fourth century, see discussion in Schmidt-Hofner, pp. 33–60, and Wienand, pp. 169–197.</ref> Christian emperor [[Constantius II]] entered Rome for the first time in his life in 357, several years after defeating his rival [[Magnentius]], standing in his triumphal chariot "as if he were a statue".<ref>Beard pp. 322–323.</ref> [[Theodosius I]] celebrated his victory over the usurper [[Magnus Maximus]] in Rome on June 13, 389.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/person/theodosius-i/|title=Theodosius I – Livius|website=www.livius.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429115503/https://www.livius.org/person/theodosius-i/|archive-date=2015-04-29}}</ref> [[Claudian]]'s panegyric to Emperor [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]] records the last known official triumph in the city of Rome and the western Empire.<ref>{{cite book |author=Claudian|title=Panegyricus de Sexto Consulatu Honorii Augusti|year=404|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Claudian/De_VI_Consulatu_Honorii*.html|access-date=21 August 2013}}</ref><ref>Beard, 326.</ref> Emperor [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]] celebrated it conjointly with his sixth consulship on January 1, 404; his general [[Stilicho]] had defeated [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] King [[Alaric I|Alaric]] at the battles of [[Battle of Pollentia|Pollentia]] and [[Battle of Verona (402)|Verona]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Gibbon|first=Edward|title=The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire|chapter=Chapter XXX|pages=39–41|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YmABAAAAQAAJ&q=triumph+404+a.d.+honorius&pg=PA39|year=1776–1789 |access-date=21 August 2013|quote=After the retreat of the barbarians, Honorius was directed to accept the dutiful invitation of the senate, and to celebrate, in the Imperial city, the auspicious aera of the Gothic victory, and of his sixth consulship.}}</ref> In Christian [[martyrology]], [[Saint Telemachus]] was martyred by a mob while attempting to stop the customary [[gladiator]]ial [[Ludi|games]] at this triumph, and gladiatorial games (''munera gladiatoria'') were banned in consequence.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wace|first=Henry|title=Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century A.D., with an Account of the Principal Sects and Heresies|chapter=Entry for "Honorius, Flavius Augustus, emperor"|year=1911|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict.html?term=Honorius,%20Flavius%20Augustus,%20emperor|access-date=21 August 2013|quote=The customary games took place with great magnificence, and on this occasion St. Telemachus sacrificed himself by attempting to separate the gladiators.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021100724/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wace/biodict.html?term=Honorius,%20Flavius%20Augustus,%20emperor|archive-date=21 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Theodoret|author-link=Theodoret|year=449–450|title=Ecclesiastical History|chapter=Book V, chapter 26|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/27025.htm|access-date=21 August 2013|quote=When the admirable emperor was informed of this he numbered Telemachus in the array of victorious martyrs, and put an end to that impious spectacle.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920225816/http://newadvent.org/fathers/27025.htm|archive-date=20 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Foxe|first=John|title=Actes and Monuments (a.k.a. Foxe's Book of Martyrs)|chapter=Chapter III, section on "The Last Roman 'Triumph.'"|url=http://www.ccel.org/f/foxe/martyrs/fox103.htm|year=1563|access-date=21 August 2013|quote=[F]rom the day Telemachus fell dead&nbsp;... no other fight of gladiators was ever held there.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530160943/http://www.ccel.org/f/foxe/martyrs/fox103.htm|archive-date=30 May 2013}}</ref> In 438 CE, however, the western emperor [[Valentinian III]] found cause to repeat the ban, which indicates that it was not always enforced.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dell'Orto |first=Luisa Franchi |title=Ancient Rome: Life and Art |year= 1983 |publisher=Scala Books |isbn=978-0-935748-46-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nv1-AAAAIAAJ |page=52}}</ref>

In 534, well into the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine era]], [[Justinian I]] awarded general [[Belisarius]] a triumph that included some "radically new" [[Christianity|Christian]] and Byzantine elements. Belisarius successfully campaigned against his adversary Vandal leader [[Gelimer]] to restore the former [[Roman province of Africa]] to the control of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]] in the 533–534 [[Vandalic War]]. The triumph was held in the Eastern Roman capital of [[Constantinople]]. Historian [[Procopius]], an eyewitness who had previously been in Belisarius's service, describes the procession's display of the loot seized from the [[Temple of Jerusalem]] in 70 CE by Roman Emperor [[Titus]], including the [[Menorah (Temple)|Temple Menorah]]. The treasure had been stored in Rome's [[Temple of Peace, Rome|Temple of Peace]] after its display in Titus' own triumphal parade and its depiction on [[Arch of Titus|his triumphal arch]]; then it was seized by the [[Vandals]] during their [[Sack of Rome (455)|sack of Rome]] in 455; then it was taken from them in Belisarius' campaign. The objects themselves might well have recalled the ancient triumphs of [[Vespasian]] and his son [[Titus]]; but Belisarius and [[Gelimer]] walked, as in an [[ovation]]. The procession did not end at Rome's [[Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus|Capitoline Temple]] with a sacrifice to Jupiter, but terminated at [[Hippodrome of Constantinople]] with a recitation of Christian prayer and the triumphant generals prostrate before the emperor.<ref>Beard, 318–321. Procopius' account is the source for a "marvelous set piece" of Belisarius' triumph, in [[Robert Graves]]' historical novel [[Count Belisarius]].</ref>

==Influence==
{{main|Trionfo|Royal entry}}
[[File:Roman triumph, Basil II.jpg|thumb|Miniature representation of the emperor [[Basil II]]'s triumphal procession through the [[Forum of Constantinople]], from the ([[Madrid Skylitzes]])]]
[[File:Charles V announcing the capture of Tunis to the Pope in 1535.jpg|thumb|[[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] announcing the capture of Tunis to [[Pope Paul III]], as imagined in an anonymous sixteenth century tapestry]]

During the [[Renaissance]], kings and magnates sought ennobling connections with the classical past. [[Ghibelline]] [[Castruccio Castracani]] defeated the forces of the [[Guelphs and Ghibellines|Guelph]] [[Republic of Florence|Florence]] in the 1325 [[Battle of Altopascio]]. Holy Roman Emperor [[Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Louis IV]] made him [[Duchy of Lucca|Duke of Lucca]], and the city gave him a Roman-style triumph. The procession was led by his Florentine captives, made to carry candles in honour of Lucca's patron saint. Castracani followed, standing in a decorative chariot. His booty included the Florentines' portable, wheeled altar, the ''[[carroccio]]''.<ref>Zaho and Bernstein, 2004, p. 47.</ref>

[[Flavio Biondo]]'s ''Roma Triumphans'' (1459) claimed the ancient Roman triumph, divested of its pagan rites, as a rightful inheritance of Holy Roman Emperors.<ref>Beard, p. 54.</ref> Italian poet [[Petrarch]]'s ''[[Triumphs]]'' (''I triomfi'') represented the triumphal themes and biographies of ancient Roman texts as ideals for cultured, virtuous rule; it was influential and widely read.<ref>Zaho and Bernstein, 2004, pp. 4, 31 ff.</ref> [[Andrea Mantegna]]'s series of large paintings on the ''[[Triumphs of Caesar]]'' (1484–92, now [[Hampton Court Palace]]) became immediately famous and was endlessly copied in [[old master print|print]] form. The ''[[Triumphal Procession]]'' commissioned by [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]] (1512–19) from a group of artists including [[Albrecht Dürer]] was a series of [[woodcut]]s of an imaginary triumph of his own that could be hung as a [[frieze]] {{convert|54|m|ft}} long.

In the 1550s, the fragmentary ''[[Fasti Triumphales]]'' were unearthed and partially restored. [[Onofrio Panvinio]]'s ''Fasti'' continued where the ancient ''Fasti'' left off.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=kmMNon1nRr4C&q=De+fasti+et+triumphi+Romanorum+a+Romulo+usque+ad+Carolum+V+madrid ''De fasti et triumphi Romanorum a Romulo usque ad Carolum V''], Giacomo Strada, Venice, 1557 (Latin text, accessed 22 August 2013)</ref> The last triumph recorded by Panvinio was the [[Royal Entry]] of [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] into Rome on April 5, 1536, after his [[Conquest of Tunis (1535)|conquest of Tunis]] in 1535.<ref>Beard, p. 53; in preparation, Pope Paul III arranged the clearance of any buildings that obstructed the traditional ''Via Triumphalis''.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Pinson|first=Yona|year=2001|title=Imperial Ideology in the Triumphal Entry into Lille of Charles V and the Crown Prince (1549)|journal=Assaph: Studies in Art History|volume=6|page=212|url=http://www2.tau.ac.il/InternetFiles/Segel/Art/UserFiles/file/09pinson.pdf|quote=Already in his Imperial Triumphal Entry into Rome (1536) the Emperor appeared as a triumphant Roman Imperator: mounted on a white horse and wearing a purple cape, he embodied the figure of the ancient conqueror. At the head of a procession marching along the ancient ''Via Triumphalis,'' Charles had re-established himself as the legitimate successor to the Roman Empire.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223003416/http://www2.tau.ac.il/InternetFiles/Segel/Art/UserFiles/file/09pinson.pdf|archive-date=2014-02-23}}</ref> Panvinio described it as a Roman triumph "over the infidel." The Emperor followed the traditional ancient route, "past the ruins of the triumphal arches of the soldier-emperors of Rome", where "actors dressed as ancient senators hailed the return of the new Caesar as ''miles christi''," (a soldier of Christ).<ref>{{cite book|last=Frieder|first=Braden|title=Chivalry & the Perfect Prince: Tournaments, Art, and Armor at the Spanish Habsburg Court|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFtMbrAHZpsC|year=2016|publisher=[[Truman State University Press]]|isbn=978-1-931112-69-7|page=80|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510133612/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NFtMbrAHZpsC&redir_esc=|archive-date=10 May 2017}}</ref>

The extravagant triumphal entry into [[Rouen]] of [[Henri II of France]] in 1550 was not "less pleasing and delectable than the third triumph of Pompey&nbsp;... magnificent in riches and abounding in the spoils of foreign nations".<ref>Beard, 31. See 32, Fig. 7 for a contemporary depiction of Henri's "Romanised" procession.</ref> A triumphal arch made for the Royal entry into Paris of [[Louis XIII of France]] in 1628 carried a depiction of Pompey.<ref>Beard, 343, footnote 65.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Ancient Rome}}
* [[Imperial fora]]
* [[Joyous Entry]]
* [[Triumphal arch]]
* [[Roman triumphal honours]]
* [[Victory parade]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|30em}}
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* Bowersock, Glen W., ''"Dionysus as an Epic Hero," Studies in the Dionysiaca of Nonnos,'' ed. N. Hopkinson, Cambridge Philosophical Society, suppl. Vol. 17, 1994, 156–166.
* [[T. Corey Brennan|Brennan, T. Corey]]: "Triumphus in Monte Albano", 315–337 in R. W. Wallace & E. M. Harris (eds.) ''Transitions to Empire. Essays in Greco-Roman History, 360–146 B.C., in honor of E. Badian'' ([[University of Oklahoma Press]], 1996)  {{ISBN|0-8061-2863-1}}
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* Richardson, J. S., "The Triumph, the Praetors and the Senate in the early Second Century B.C.", ''JRS'' 65 (1975), 50–63
* Schmidt-Hofner, Sebastian, "Trajan und die symbolische Kommunikation bei kaiserlichen Rombesuchen in der Spätantike", in R. Behrwald & C. Witschel (eds.) ''Rom in der Spätantike'' (Steiner, 2012) pp.&nbsp;33–60. {{ISBN|978-3-515-09445-0}}
* Southern, Pat, ''Augustus'', illustrated, reprint, Routledge, 1998. {{ISBN|0-415-16631-4}}
* [[Ronald Syme|Syme, Ronald]], ''The Augustan Aristocracy'' (Oxford University Press, 1986; Clarendon reprint with corrections, 1989) {{ISBN|0-19-814731-7}}
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* Wienand, Johannes, "O tandem felix civili, Roma, victoria! Civil War Triumphs From Honorius to Constantine and Back", in J. Wienand (ed.) ''Contested Monarchy: Integrating the Roman Empire in the 4th Century AD'' (Oxford, 2015) pp.&nbsp;169–197 {{ISBN|978-0-19-976899-8}}
* Wienand, Johannes; Goldbeck, Fabian; Börm, Henning: ''[https://www.academia.edu/30831603/Der_r%C3%B6mische_Triumph_in_Prinzipat_und_Sp%C3%A4tantike._Probleme_Paradigmen_Perspektiven_in_F._Goldbeck_-_J._Wienand_eds._Der_r%C3%B6mische_Triumph_in_Prinzipat_und_Sp%C3%A4tantike_Berlin_De_Gruyter_2017_pp._1ff Der römische Triumph in Prinzipat und Spätantike. Probleme – Paradigmen – Perspektiven]'', in F. Goldbeck, J. Wienand (eds.): ''Der römische Triumph in Prinzipat und Spätantike'' (Berlin/New York, 2017), pp.&nbsp;1–26.
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{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Roman triumphs}}
*[https://www.worldhistory.org/Roman_Triumph/ Roman Triumph] on ''[[World History Encyclopedia]]''
*Fasti Triumphales at attalus.org. Partial, annotated English translation. From A. Degrassi's "Fasti Capitolini", 1954. [http://www.attalus.org/translate/fasti.html Attalus.org]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Triumph}}
[[Category:Military awards and decorations of ancient Rome|Triumph]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman religion|Triumph]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman religion|rituals]]
[[Category:Victory parades]]
[[Category:Processions in ancient Rome]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman rituals]]