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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

From Hutton Webster's, Early European History (1917); edited for this on-line publication, by ELLOPOS

IV. THE RISE OF ROME TO 264 B.C.

Em. Macron, Rediscovering the Path to Europe

» Contents of this Chapter

Italy and Sicily   * The Peoples of Italy   * The Romans   * Early Roman Society   * Roman Religion   * The Roman City State   * Expansion of Rome over Italy, 509 (?)-264 B.C.   * Italy under Roman Rule   * The Roman Army

Page 27

THE TRIUMPH

The state sometimes bestowed on a victorious general the honor of a triumph. This was a grand parade and procession in the city of Rome. First came the magistrates and senators, wagons laden with booty, and captives in chains. Then followed the conqueror himself, clad in a gorgeous robe and riding in a four-horse chariot. Behind him marched the soldiers, who sang a triumphal hymn. The long procession passed through the streets to the Forum and mounted the Capitoline Hill. There the general laid his laurel crown upon the knees of the statue of Jupiter, as a thank offering for victory. Meanwhile, the captives who had just appeared in the procession were strangled in the underground prison of the Capitol. It was a day of mingled joy and tragedy.

MILITARY GENIUS OF THE ROMANS

The Romans, it has been said, were sometimes vanquished in battle, but they were always victorious in war. With the short swords of her disciplined soldiers, her flexible legion, and her fortified camps, Rome won dominion in Italy and began the conquest of the world.

 

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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY: Table of Contents

url: www.ellopos.net/politics/european-history/default.asp

IN PRINT

Cf. The Ancient Greece * The Ancient Rome
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) * Western Medieval Europe * Renaissance in Italy