Roman triumphal honours (Latin: ''insignia'' or ''ornamenta triumphalia'') denotes honours awarded during the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

to a victorious general in lieu of a full

Roman triumph The Roman triumph (') 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 servi ...

. After 14 BC, it became the policy of the founder-emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

, and of his successors, to grant full Triumphs only to members of their own ruling

Julio-Claudian , native_name_lang=Latin, coat of arms=Great_Cameo_of_France-removebg.png, image_size=260px, caption= The Great Cameo of France depicting emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius and Nero, type=Ancient Roman dynasty, country= Roman Empire, estates=* ...

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.

Insignia

The honours included the right to wear triumphal dress in public: the ''corona triumphalis'' (a gold

coronet A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. A coronet differs from other kinds of crowns in that a coronet never has arches, and from a tiara in that a coronet completely encircles the head, while a tiara does ...

fashioned in the shape of a

laurel wreath 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 (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a sy ...

with dangling gold ribbons); an ivory

baton Baton may refer to: Stick-like objects *Baton, a type of club *Baton (law enforcement) *Baston (weapon), a type of baton used in Arnis and Filipino Martial Arts *Baton charge, a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people *Baton (conductin ...

; the ''tunica palmata'' (a

tunic 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 knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome ...

embroidered with palm-leaves); and the ''toga picta'' ("painted toga"), a

toga The toga (, ), a distinctive garment of ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from white wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tra ...

which was dyed entirely purple with embroidered gold border, a robe believed originally to have been the official dress of the

Roman kings The king of Rome ( la, rex Romae) was the ruler of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 ...

. The only other Romans entitled to wear these garments were the emperor himself, the two

Consuls A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

in office and other

magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

when presiding over games. In addition, a bronze statue of the beneficiary of triumphal honours was erected in the

Forum of Augustus The Forum of Augustus ( la, Forum Augustum; it, Foro di Augusto) is one of the Imperial fora 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 ...

. 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.

Later history

Triumphal honours became debased in the latter part of

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

' rule and under

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

(r. 54-68), who awarded them to

delator Delator (plural: ''delatores'', feminine: ''delatrix'') is Latin for a denouncer, one who indicates to a court another as having committed a punishable deed. Secular Roman law In Roman history, it was properly one who gave notice (''deferre'') to ...

s (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 Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...

(r. 69-79) who had himself been awarded such honors by

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

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.

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

(r. 117-138) awarded ornamenta triumphalia to

Sextus Julius Severus Gnaeus Minicius Faustinus Sextus Julius Severus was an accomplished Roman general of the 2nd century. He also held the office of suffect consul in the last three months of 127 with Lucius Aemilius Juncus as his colleague. Biography Julius Severus ...

and other generals after the

Bar Kokhba revolt The Bar Kokhba revolt ( he, , links=yes, ''Mereḏ Bar Kōḵḇāʾ‎''), or the 'Jewish Expedition' as the Romans named it ( la, Expeditio Judaica), was a rebellion by the Jews of the Judea (Roman province), Roman province of Judea, led b ...

. W. Eck. 1999
''The Bar Kokhba Revolt: The Roman Point of View''
The Journal of Roman Sudies, vol 89, pp. 76-89.

Citations

{{Reflist

References

Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' is an English language encyclopedia first published in 1842. The second, improved and enlarged, edition appeared in 1848, and there were many revised editions up to 1890. The encyclopedia covered law ...

(1890) Military awards and decorations of ancient Rome

Insignia

Later history

See also

Citations

References