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Triumph: this was the accolade bestowed on a commanding general who had been victorious in battle
Imperator: The victorious general celebrating the triumph was acclaimed as �imperator�
The Roman Triumph varies over time and the triumphing general. The
descriptions that survive are usually of individual triumphs, but we
can discern a general pattern for the procession from these accounts.
In order to triumph a general must first have conquered an enemy of
over 5000 and have obtained permission from the Senate to bring his
army into the city of Rome and ride in a horse-drawn chariot. He needs
to show the Senate and the people that the war was necessary for the
survival of Rome, that he acted only in defense under the Roman concept
of aggression. The actual procession, composed of the triumphator and
his army, magistrates, prisoners of war, sacrificial animals, war
spoils, and musicians and performers, begins at the Campus Martius.
(See map image) It passes through the Forum Boarium, circles the
Palatine, through the Forum along the Sacred Way and climbs to the
Capitol where the general offers thanks and sacrifices to Jupiter, the
crowning moment being the sacrifice of the white bull. Along the way
temples are garlanded, incense and flowers wreath all shrines. Also,
the Roman spectators are at liberty to say whatever they please during
the procession- they can insult or praise the triumphator, with no
repercussions, so the procession is accompanied by loud cheers and
cries throughout. The traditional garb of the triumphator upon the
dawning of the Empire were the military cuirass and red cloak, his face
painted vermillion like that of the statue of Jupiter on the Capitol,
and bearing an ivory sceptre,a laurel branch and laurel wreath,
traditional Roman signs of victory. During the Republic, the Senators
marched in front of the triumphator, and his army, arranged into
cohorts with their own laurel wreaths and prizes of war, marched
behind. After Augustus, the Senate began to more frequently appear
behind the triumphant emperor, reflecting the fall of the senatorial
power. Also paraded in front of the triumphator were the prisoners of
war and the war spoils, with trumpeteers announcing the coming of the
spectacle. With the triumphator rode his children and young male
relatives, in his chariot drawn by four white horses. Zonaras, a
12th-century Byzantine historian, gives us a detailed view of the
triumph. Although writing centuries later in the Byzantine Empire, he
probably had access to materials lost to us. 'Arrayed in triumphal
garments and wearing amulets, a laurel crown on his head and a laurel
branch in his right hand, the triumphator summoned the people. First he
praised the troops who had served with him, addressing them all
collectively, and mentioning some by name; and he presented them with
money and honored them witMoney before coins in early Rome
The Roman historian Livy (about 59 BC - AD 17) mentions that before the
Roman bronze money ingot (aes signatum), early 3rd century BC, Length:
170 cm, Weight: 1746 g . The elephant design on this example was
probably inspired by the war-elephants in the army of the Greek king
Pyrrhus who invaded Italy and attacked the Romans in 280 BC. This was
the first time the Roman army had ever faced elephants in battle.
Pyrrhus defeated the Romans twice, but he lost so many of his own men
in the process that he eventually lost the war, hence the phrase a
'Pyrrhic victory'. The pig on the other side may refer to a bizarre
occasion when, in one of the battles, Pyrrhus' elephants were
frightened away by the grunting of pigs kept by the Roman army.
http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
invention of silver coinage, when money consisted of 'heavy bronze',
wealthy Romans of the fourth century BC transported their money from
one place to another in wagons. The 'heavy bronze' took the form of
cast ingots weighing about 1600 grams (around 5 Roman pounds). They had
a variety of designs on either side. They seem to have been used as a
means of making official payments, such as taxes or judicial fines.
Their value was used as a unit to assess a citizen's wealth.
The ingots were no longer made after the mid-third century BC, when the
Romans moved over entirely to silver coins. But bronze remained
important within the Roman monetary system. The Latin word for bronze,
aes, was the colloquial word for money.
Coins
The principal Roman coins were the as, of copper; the sestertius, quinarius, denarius, of silver; and the aureus, of gold.
1. The as, the unit of the Roman currency, contained originally a pound
of copper, but it was diminished from time to time till at last it
contained only 1/24 of a pound.
Note.--An as, whatever its weight, was divided into twelve unciae.
2. The sestertius contained originally 2 1/2 asses, the quinarius 5,
and the denarius 10; but as the as depreciated in value, the number of
asses in these coins was increased.
3. The as is also used as a general unit of measure. Thus--
a) In Weight, the as is a pound, and the uncia an ounce.
b) In Measure, the as is a foot or a jugerum, and the uncia is l/12 of a foot or of a jugerum.
c) In Interest, the as is the unit of interest --
i.e., 1 percent a month or 12 percent a year; the uncia is l/12 percent
a month, or 1 percent a year; and the semis is 6/12 percent a month, or
6 percent a year, etc.
d) In Inheritance, the as is the whole estate, and
the uncia 1/12 of it. Hence heres ex asse, heir of the whole estate;
heres ex dodrante, heir of 9/12.
Silver republican denarius
Computation of Money
1. In all sums of money the common unit of computation was the
sestertius, also called nummus; but four special points deserve notice:
a) In all sums of money, the units, tens, and
hundreds are denoted by sestertii with the proper cardinals. Thus --
quinque sestertii = 5 sesterces;
viginti sestertii = 20 sesterces;
ducenti sestertii = 200 sestertes.
b) One thousand sesterces are denoted by mille sestertii, or mille sestertium.
c) In sums less than 1,000,000 sesterces, the
thousands are denoted either (1) by milia sestertium (gen. plur.), or
(2) by sestertia:
duo milia sestertium, or duo sestertia = 2,000 sesterces;
quinque milia sestertium, or quinque sestertia = 5,000 sesterces.
Note.--With sestertia the distributives are generally used, as -- bina sestertia.
d) In sums containing one or more millions of
sesterces, sestertium with the value of 100,000 sesterces is used with
the proper numeral adverb, decies, vicies, etc. Thus--
decies sestertium = 1,000,000 (10 x 100,000) sesterces;
vicies sestertium, 2,000,000 (20 x 100,000) sesterces.
In the examples under d), sestertium is treated as a neuter noun in the
singular, though originally it was probably the genitive plural of
sestertius, and the full expression for 1,000,000 sesterces was decies
centena milia sestertium. The words centena milia were afterward
generally omitted, and finally sestertium lost its force as a genitive
plural, and became a neuter noun in the singular, capable of declension.
2. Sometimes sestertium is omitted, leaving only the numeral adverb: as, decies = 1,000,000 sesterces.
3. The sign HS is often used for sestertii, and sometimes for sestertia, or sestertium:
decem HS = 10 sestercies (HS = sestertii).
dena HS = l0,000 sesterces (HS = sestertia).
decies HS = 1,000,000 sesterces (HS = sestertium).
Weights and Measures
The following weights and measures deserve mention:
1. The Libra, also called As or Pondo, equal to about 11 1/2 ounces, is the basis of Roman weights.
a) The libra, like the as in money, is divided into 12 parts.
2. The Modius, equal to about a peck, is the basis of dry measure.
3. The Amphora, containing a Roman cubic foot, equivalent to about seven gallons, is a convenient basis of liquid measure.
4. The Roman Pes or Foot, equivalent to about 11.6 inches, is the basis of long measure.
Note.-- Cubitus is equivalent to 1 1/2 Roman feet, passus to 5, and stadium to 625.
5. The Jugerum, containing 28,800 Roman square feet, equivalent to about six tenths of an acre, is the basis of square measure.
6. The stade - a Greek measure of distance - was 177,60 metres
Weights and measures
Latin terms used by Cato (italic)
English approximations used in this translation (roman)
Metric equivalent Imperial
equivalent
Linear measure 1 foot (pes) = 4 palms (palmae) = 12
inches (pollices) = 16 fingers (digiti) pes: 24
centimetres 11.5 inches
Area 1 iugerum [= 240 x 120 pedes] iugerum: 0.25 hectare 0.6 acre
Dry volume 1 peck (modius) = 2 gallons (semodii)
= 16 pints (sextarii) modius: 8.75 litres 2 UK gallons
2.4 US gallons
Liquid volume 1 culleus = 20 amphorae or quadrantalia = 40 urnae = 160 congii
= 960 pints (sextarii) culleus: 525 litres (5.25 hectolitres) 115 UK gallons
139 US gallons
Volume: smaller units 1 pint (sextarius) = 2 heminae
or cotulae = 3 tertiarii = 4 quartarii = 8 acetabula = 12 cyathi
sextarius: 0.55 litre 1 UK pint
1.2 US pints
Weight 1 lb. or libra = 12 ounces (unciae)
libra: 0.325 kilogram 13 ounces
Apothecaries’ weight 1 pound (mina) =
100 drams (drachmae) mina: 0.44 kilogram
15.4 ouncesh decorations....As soon as these ceremonies
were over, the triumphator mounted his chariot...In the chariot there
rode with the triumphator a public slave, who held over his head a
crown of gold set with precious stones, who kept saying, "Look behind!"
meaning: 'Look to the aftermath- look at all the years that remain. Do
not be puffed up or elated at your present good-fortune." A bell and a
whip were fastened to the chariot, and these signified that it was
possible for him to meet with misfortune even to the extent of being
scourged or condemned to death.' (Zonaras, VII, 21). The presence of a
warning to the triumphator not to get too overconfident, while he is
marching his entire army through the city of Rome amid applause and
celebrations, is an important tradition that was probably instituted by
the Senate, the elder men who were ever striving to keep powerful
generals under their control. Since the Republic, armies were not
allowed to even cross the Rubicon, the presence of one in the city was
a potentially dangerous situation for the Senate, who would perhaps
institute this measure to counteract any rash behavior of the
commanding general.
There have been less glorious triumphs, however. For example, that of
greedy Aemilius Paulus, upon crushing King Perseus, triumphed through
the streets, leading the king's children behind him and the surrendered
monarch walking stupefied in mourning black. "A little way behind came
the captives, the king's children with their servants, all of them
shedding tears and stretching out their hands to the spectators, and
making the children beg for mercy. There were two sons and a daughter,
too young to realize the gravity of the occasion, and their very
insensibility of their condition rendered it all the more deplorable,
so much so that hardly anyone paid attention to Perseus, and the pity
of the Romans was concentrated on the children. Many of the Romans
wept, and they watched in mingled sorrow and happiness, until the
children passed." (Aemilius Paulus, XXXIII) The Roman triumph, a
stately, aweing spectacle, heavy with significance and tradition, has
its glories and its downfalls. It has been changed and manipulated by
so many triumphators that we do not know its original form for certain.
The most enduring, and therefore most important, aspect seems to be
that of the triumphator confronting Jupiter upon the Capitol and
offering him sacrifice. Most of the scenes depicted in cups show us
this defining moment. The purpose of the procession seems to be to give
the triumphator a taste of divinity, and the moment where Jupiter
bestows favor upon him and all people recognize it, in exchange for
wars wrought and enemies killed. Both pictures used in this page are
from Versnel, H.S. Triumphus: An Inquiry Into the Origin, Development
and Meaning of the Roman Triumph. Netherlands: Leiden E.J. Brill, 1970.
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