A Roman triumph made a general king for a day, and moved markets
For one day a victorious Roman general dressed like the statue of Jupiter, perhaps with his face painted red, and rode a four-horse chariot to the Capitol while his own soldiers sang rude songs about him. The loot paraded in Octavian's triumph over Egypt was so vast it pushed down interest rates.
Under the Republic only the Senate could grant a triumph, and it was a rare prize for exceptional victories. Romans placed the first one in myth, crediting Romulus, and early versions were probably simple homecoming parades ending with an offering to the gods. As Rome grew rich, they became longer, grander and more competitive, with ambitious late Republican commanders using them for self-promotion. The general wore a purple, gold-embroidered toga, a laurel crown and red boots, regalia linked with the old kings and with Jupiter himself.
The procession gathered on the Campus Martius before dawn and crept just under 4 kilometres to the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline, sometimes over two or three days. Crossing the city's sacred boundary, the general surrendered his command. Captives in chains led the way, followed by carts of weapons, gold, statues, and paintings or models of the campaign. Senators and magistrates walked ahead of the general's chariot, and his unarmed troops came behind shouting io triumphe. At the temple he sacrificed two white oxen with gilded horns and laid his victory tokens at the god's feet.
Humility was officially required. His chariot carried charms against the envious gaze of onlookers, and in some accounts a companion or public slave kept reminding him that he was mortal. Timing could be political: Pompey delayed his third and grandest triumph by months so it fell on his birthday.
Celebrations spilled into feasts and games paid from the spoils. Marcus Fulvius Nobilior funded ten days of games to honour a battlefield vow, and the scholar Varro claimed his aunt earned 20,000 sesterces supplying 5,000 thrushes for one banquet in 71 BC. Most Romans never saw a triumph, but generals spread the image on coins, and later European monarchs borrowed its choreography for royal entries into their cities.
Source: Roman triumph
