Abstract:
This chapter stresses the failure of many scholars, ancient as well as modern, to grasp one simple yet fundamental theme: that early Rome was not like the Rome of the late Republic and Empire, and her institutions and rituals need to be interpreted in their appropriate context. The chapter argues that when the Roman triumph is viewed in the absence of the anachronistic social and military contexts which are so often foisted upon it a very different interpretation is possible. Various aspects of the post-victory rituals are discussed including the royal progress home as well as the battlefield trophies. The final sections of the chapter move to the historical background of two events: Hellenistic royal processions and the Roman triumph. There is also an effective debunking of the supposition that Antiochus IV copied Roman ideas for his personal triumph.