Mapping the Roman Triumphal Procession
Modern Reconstructions and Ancient Evidence
A database-in-progress for studying the topography of the Roman triumphal procession
Mapping the Roman Triumph: Reconstructions and Evidence
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The triumphal procession was the highest honour that could be bestowed to a Roman general. Celebrating victory in their campaigns abroad, the triumphs brought war booty, prisoners, exotic animals and other lavish displays through the streets of Rome, culminating at the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline hill. There, the victor (or triumphator) would offer sacrifice to the city's patron god. The Romans traced this ceremony back to their mythical founder Romulus, and the tradition persisted throughout the city's nearly 1000-year history.
What is the Roman Triumph anyway?
Peter Paul Rubens' A Roman Triumph, ca. 1630 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Okay, so why the map then?
This site is concerned with the route, or routes, that the triumphal procession possibly took through the Roman city. The interactive map (built using MapsAlive) serves two main purposes:
1) To compile and locate all ancient literary references to the triumph's route
2) To map out a number of modern scholars' reconstructions of the triumphal route, for easy and direct comparison
