Roman triumphs have provided a model for the celebration of military success, the inauguration of leaders, and ecclesiastical self-representation. There has hardly been a monarch, prince, bishop, pope or general who has not looked back to Rome for a lesson in how to mark a victory on the battlefield, to assert power or to present the divine kingdom on earth.
The triumph is a ritual, a procession, or a ceremony that asserts the power of the mighty and the humility of the subjects. It has been calculated that the triumph was celebrated more than three hundred times in the history of Rome, from its foundation in the eighth century BC until its decline in the fifth century. Within Roman culture, the triumph was the context and prompt of the balance between power and subordination, failure and success, public support and loneliness at the top.
The triumph made an impact far beyond the celebration of a victory, as today’s championship winners do. The triumphal procession was a display of booty, enemy captives, and other trophies of the battleground and conquered cities and territories.
The victorious general or (later) emperor rode a triumphal chariot, followed by his troops. The procession followed the way to the most important temple, the Temple of Jupiter or, after the civil war in 69 AD, the Circus Maximus in Rome.
Public spectacles are ephemeral events, and written documents, coins, arts and architecture played an essential role in fixing the occasions in public consciousness and memory. Triumphal arches are among the colossal memorials.
They became fully established in the late Republic and the Empire. Other buildings, such as temples and other religious memorials, commemorated the triumph as well. These buildings were funded from the riches and booty of war, and they were permanent showcases and memorials to the general’s prowess, the Gods‘ support, and Rome’s power.
One of the best-documented Roman triumphs is the ceremony in 61 BC by Pompeius the Great (106-48 BC), celebrating his third triumph, after those in 81 and 71 BC. The theatre complex, inaugurated in 55 BC, was a successful attempt to set his latest triumph in stone.
The theatre no longer exists, but it was the first stone Roman theatre and was famous for its splendour and magnificence. The Arch of Titus, erected in 80AD, and the Arch of Constantine, built after his victory in 312, still dominate the skyline of ancient Rome.
These (provincial) arches were not used for the triumphal processions of victorious emperors or members of their families, since they took place in Rome. They were instead used by local elites to express Roman triumphs and to incorporate Roman imagery into their self-representation and rhetoric of power.
The Latin church used (pagan) imperial Roman architecture as a symbol of power and eternal existence as well, given Rome’s prestige. The Romanesque art and architecture of the eleventh and twelfth centuries referred to the Roman heritage. Pagan symbolism of the Roman Empire was eagerly incorporated into building programs and self-representation.
The triumphal arch in Besançon (Vesontio in the Roman Empire) serves as the main symbol of divine victory and supremacy. The arch was erected by Marcus Aurelius (121-180) to commemorate his victory over German tribes in 167 AD. Religious processions and ceremonies passed the arch on their way to the cathedral.
The porches of Romanesque churches copied the Roman triumphal arch, but with Christian iconography, in particular the Last Judgement.
The Gallus Porch of the Münster Cathedral in Basel is just one of the many examples of this Roman legacy. The porch dates from the twelfth century, and its history should be placed in the context of the triumphal arch in Besançon, the Archbishopric to which Basel belonged at the time.
The long-lasting Roman legacy in stone, arts, writing, language and ecclesiastical organisation can be seen across Europe.
(Source: Mary Beard. The Roman Triumph, London 2007).