Roman triumphal honours

Last updated February 19, 2019

Roman triumphal honours (Latin: insignia or ornamenta triumphalia) denotes honours awarded during the Roman Empire to a victorious general in lieu of a full Roman triumph.

The Roman Empire was the post-Roman Republic period of the ancient Roman civilization. It had a government headed by emperors and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. From the constitutional reforms of Augustus to the crisis of the third century, the Empire was a principate ruled from the city of Rome. The Roman Empire was then divided between a Western Roman Empire, based in Milan and later Ravenna, and an Eastern Roman Empire, based in Nicomedia and later Constantinople, and it was ruled by multiple emperors.

The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and 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, originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war.

After 14 BC, it became the policy of the founder-emperor Augustus, and of his successors, to grant full Triumphs only to members of their own ruling Julio-Claudian dynasty. As a substitute, victorious generals who were unrelated to the imperial house were awarded insignia (or ornamenta) triumphalia. That is, the dress and privileges traditionally granted to a triumphator, without the elaborate triumphal procession through Rome at the head of his troops.^[1]

Augustus first emperor of the Roman Empire

Augustus was a Roman statesman and military leader who was the first Emperor of the Roman Empire, controlling Imperial Rome from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. His status as the founder of the Roman Principate has consolidated an enduring legacy as one of the most effective and controversial leaders in human history. The reign of Augustus initiated an era of relative peace known as the Pax Romana. The Roman world was largely free from large-scale conflict for more than two centuries, despite continuous wars of imperial expansion on the Empire's frontiers and the year-long civil war known as the "Year of the Four Emperors" over the imperial succession.

Insignia

The honours included the right to wear triumphal dress in public: the corona triumphalis (a gold coronet fashioned in the shape of a laurel wreath with dangling gold ribbons); an ivory baton; the tunica palmata (a tunic embroidered with palm-leaves); and the toga picta ("painted toga"), a toga which was dyed entirely purple with embroidered gold border, a robe believed originally to have been the official dress of the Roman kings. The only other Romans entitled to wear these garments were the emperor himself, the two Consuls in office and other magistrates when presiding over games.

In English, a coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. By one definition, a coronet differs from a crown in that a coronet never has arches, and from a tiara in that a coronet completely encircles the head, while a tiara does not. By a slightly different definition, a crown is worn by an emperor, empress, king or queen; a coronet by a nobleman or lady. See also diadem.

Laurel wreath wreath made of branches and leaves of the bay laurel

A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel, an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom or cherry laurel. It is a symbol of triumph and is worn as a chaplet around the head, or as a garland around the neck. The symbol of the laurel wreath traces back to Greek mythology. Apollo is represented wearing a laurel wreath on his head, and wreaths were awarded to victors, both in athletic competitions. This includes the ancient Olympics — for which they were made of wild olive tree known as "kotinos" (κότινος), — and in poetic meets; in Rome they were symbols of martial victory, crowning a successful commander during his triumph. Whereas ancient laurel wreaths are most often depicted as a horseshoe shape, modern versions are usually complete rings.

A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles. The name derives from the Latin tunica, the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome, which in turn was based on earlier Greek garments that covered wearers' waists.

In addition, a bronze statue of the beneficiary of triumphal honours was erected in the Forum of Augustus. The beneficiary also had the right to display a further statue of himself in triumphal attire in the vestibule of his own house, which could also be displayed by his descendants.

The Forum of Augustus is one of the Imperial forums of Rome, Italy, built by Augustus. It includes the Temple of Mars Ultor. The incomplete forum and its temple were inaugurated in 2 BC, 40 years after they were first vowed.

Later history

Triumphal honours became debased in the latter part of Tiberius' rule and under Nero (r. 54-68), who awarded them to delators (spies used by these emperors to denounce out-of-favour senators for treason), as well as to military victors. But they were restored to distinction by Vespasian (r. 69-79) who had himself been awarded such honors by Claudius during the invasion of Britain. Under the Antonines (98-180), the winners of triumphal honours lost the right to wear triumphal dress, which was now reserved for the Consuls and for the emperors themselves, but retained the privilege of a public statue.^[2]

Tiberius was Roman emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD, succeeding the first emperor, Augustus.

Nero was the last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius and became Claudius' heir and successor. Like Claudius, Nero became emperor with the consent of the Praetorian Guard. Nero's mother, Agrippina the Younger, was likely implicated in Claudius' death and Nero's nomination as emperor. She dominated Nero's early life and decisions until he cast her off. Five years into his reign, he had her murdered.

Delator is Latin for a denouncer, i.e. who indicates to a court another as having committed a punishable deed.

Citations

↑ Maxfield, Valerie A. (1981). The Military Decorations of the Roman Army. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-520-04499-9 . Retrieved 6 October 2011.
↑ Smith's (1890) Corona, Toga, Triumphus

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References

Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890)

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[1] Maxfield, Valerie A. (1981). The Military Decorations of the Roman Army. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-520-04499-9 . Retrieved 6 October 2011.

[2] Smith's (1890) Corona, Toga, Triumphus