Roman Triumphal Processions In Ancient Rome

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Roman triumphal processions can be traced back to Romulus, who established the triumph as the highest honor granted to a general successful in military conquest. By the end of the Republic, triumphs shifted from ritual (traditionally as a way to cleanse the victors of guilt blood with a sacrificial offering to Jupiter) to an illustration of power and pageantry.1 Augustus proclaimed imperial status to the triumphs, coveting their ostentatious glory for the empire. Augustus also condensed the length of the triumph from several days to just one.2 During the period of the Principate (27BC-284 AD) and into early Late Empire (4th century AD), triumphal processions controlled movement through the city, utilizing specific roadways and triumphal architecture to create a pageantry of art and power.
Circling from the Circus Maximus to Capitoline hill, the triumph itself was restrained by the natural topography of the city but modified in accordance with specific monuments built along the triumphal route over time. By end of the third century AD, Rome was filled with triumphal architectural monuments as emperors erected arches, temples, and other grand structures to commemorate their military victories. These triumphal structures were built with the locational purpose of being integrated in the original pathway of the procession. Thus, a control of triumphal movement was established with the further development of triumphal architecture.
The triumphator and his men would depart from their quarters at the Campus Martius on the day of the triumph. They would enter the city for the first time since their return from war as victors through the Porta Triumphalis, also known as the Triumphal Gate. This structure, whose exact date and location rema...

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...uenced the placement of triumphal architectural monuments. The triumphal route emerged as a model of control of movement as a result of engaging with specific pathways. The increase of triumphal architecture during the Roman Empire shifted the function of the triumph, the triumphal route, and the conscious experiences for the triumphators and spectators. Triumphs were a reminder of the wealth and the power of Rome, and served to educate the spectators about the foreign lands Rome had conquered through display of their art and captives.16 Long after the final splendor, the spectacle of the triumph lived through the arches and other triumphal monuments. Today, evidence of these extravagant processions can be found in literature, reliefs on monuments, and other triumphal arches that spurred from the Roman’s display of victory in cities like Paris, New York, and London.

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