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Roman Triumphal Painting: Its Function, Development, and Reception

Author(s): Peter J. Holliday


Source: The Art Bulletin, Vol. 79, No. 1 (Mar., 1997), pp. 130-147
Published by: College Art Association
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Roman Triumphal Painting: Its Function,


Development, and Reception
Peter. Holliday
In 211 B.C. the great general M. Claudius Marcellus returned
to Rome after his decisive defeat of Syracuse. With him came a
vast booty of Hellenistic artifacts. Remaining outside the
sacred precincts of Rome, he supplicated the Senate for the
purification and glory of a triumphal procession. Plutarch
wrote that, receiving the Senate's permission for the celebration, Marcellus paraded "many of the most beautiful public
monuments from Syracuse, realizing that they would both
make a visual impression in his triumph and also be an
ornament for the city."' He opened his triumph impressively
with an allegorical painting of Syracuse made prisoner.
Paintings carried in triumphal processions, specifically
commissioned to commemorate victorious military campaigns, not only added immensely to the celebratory nature
of the rite, they also increased its sociopolitical power. Roman
triumphal painting also served to acquaint Romans with novel
artistic conventions, previously foreign to their experience.
Ancient literary sources reveal most of what we now know
about the contemporary Roman reception of triumphal
paintings. Although none of the paintings commissioned by
victorious Roman generals to decorate their triumphal processions survives, the testimonia provide crucial alternate evidence to determine their role in shaping Roman political and
artistic culture in the Republican period. This article examines that evidence to explore the significance this genre of
propagandistic art held in Roman society, to ascertain what

dense interplication of Roman military expansion, Hellenistic


artifacts and attitudes that were fundamentally the booty of
that expansion, and the rising political ambitions of great

how Roman audiences responded to them. As the example of


Marcellus indicates, the military victories that could lead to
political advancement also carried with them (as spolia, or as
captured craftsmen and slaves) the very objects and skills that
created triumphal painting. The genre thus demonstrates the

generals.
During the Republic, Roman paintings with historical
themes commemorated the empire's expansion: for example,
the conquests of Carthage in 201 B.C.,Sardinia in 174 B.C.,and
Macedonia in 168 B.C. Subjects included, at one end of the
spectrum, pared-down iconic personifications and, at the
other end, full-fledged battle scenes in landscape settings.
Roman historical paintings not only secured the private
memories of participants in actual events, they also served a
didactic and propagandistic function in the public sphere of
Roman political and religious institutions. The Roman governing class commissioned historical paintings to inform a
specifically Roman audience of its achievements, to educate
that audience about its policies, and thus to persuade that
audience to adopt its views and follow a particular course of
action. It used historical paintings to implement ideology.
Ancient Rome inherited arguments, already old, for the
superiority of painting over any other form of communication
to affect and manipulate an audience.2 In his treatise De
Oratore,Cicero states that the "keenest of all our senses is the
sense of sight, and that consequently perceptions received by
the ears or by reflection can be most easily retained in the
mind if they are also conveyed there by the mediation of the
eyes."3 Valerius Maximus writes about the ability of painting
to aid the memory and about its consequent role in instruction; in both instances he found painting superior to literature.4 In the Ars Poetica Horace argues that "less vividly is the
mind stirred by what finds entrance through the ears than by
what is brought before the trusty eyes, and what the spectator

This article was written with the aid of a National Endowment for the
Humanities/American Academy in Rome Fellowship in the History of Art; I
am grateful to the NEH and the American Academy for their assistance.
Several colleagues heard oral presentations or read drafts of this paper and
offered helpful suggestions; I am indebted to Christopher Baswell, Bettina
Bergmann, Richard Brilliant, John Clarke, Anthony Corbeill, Diane Favro,
Christine Kondoleon, and Tina Najbjerg for their insights and criticism.
Unless otherwise indicated, translations are mine.
1. Plutarch, Marcellus 21 (trans. Pollitt). Livy (26 21), however, states that
Marcellus was awarded an ovatzorather than a triumph.
2. The tradition appears to go back at least as far as Aristotle; see Poetwa
14.1453b. 1-2. For ancient theonries of memory in general, see F. Yates, The Art
of Memory, Chicago, 1966; and M. Carruthers, The Book of Memory: A Study of
Memoryin MedzevalCulture, Cambridge, 1990.
3. Cicero, De Oratore 2.357 (trans E. W. Sutton and H. Rackham, Loeb
Classical Library): "acerrimum autem ex omnibus nostris sensibus esse
sensum videndi; quare facillime animo teneri posse ea quae perciperentur
auribus aut cogitatione si etiam commendatione oculorum animis traderentur." He adds (2.358) that these things are well known and familiar ("re nota
et pervulgata"). Orator, politician, and philosopher, Marcus Tullius Cicero
(106-44 B.C.) was caught in the vortex of the dying Republic.
4. Valerius described the effect of a painted image of Mycon and Perus
(known in the later tradition as Cimon and Pero), an exemplary tale of Roman

filial piety, on the Romans who saw it: Facta et dicta memorabilia5.4, ext. 1.
Rhetorician and historian, Valerius Maximus wrote a collection of moralistic
historical anecdotes in the early 1st century A.D.
5. Horace, Ars Poetica 180-82 (trans. H. Rushton Fairclough, Loeb Classical
Library): "segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem, quam quae sunt ocuhs
subiecta fidelibus et quae ipse sibi tradit spectator."
6. D. Freedberg, The Power of Images. Studies zn the History and Theory of
Receptzon,Chicago, 1989, 50.
7. In their pursuit of antiquarian detail, Marcus Terentlus Varro (116-27
B.C.) and Gaius Plinius Secundus (ca. A.D. 23-79) preserved information from
the annales, early accounts of important events (including triumphal processions) originally recorded by Roman priests, and from inscriptions on statues
and buildings. Furthermore, Pliny cites Varro more frequently than any other
writer; indeed, Varro may well have preserved Hellenistic art histories and
provided a model to Romans of how to write about art; see Pollitt, xix-xx.
8. The erotic poetry of Publius Ovidius Naso (43 B.C.-A,.D. 18) displeased
Augustus and led to the poet's exile in A.D. 8 Ovid spent his remaining years
composing the Fasti, based on the Roman ritual calendar, to assuage the
emperor's anger. Through the agency of Maecenas, Quintus Horatius Flaccus
(65-8 B.C.) was also dependent on the patronage of Augustus
9. C. W. Fornara, The Nature of Hitory in Ancient Greeceand Rome, Berkelev,
1983, 53.

triumphalpaintings mayhave looked like, and finallyto assess

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ROMAN TRIUMPHAL

PAINTING

131

can see for himself."'" How can we understand these statements in reference to the beliefs of the ancient Roman
audience for history painting? Although such notions may be
viewed as mere topoi, David Freedberg recognizes that "topos
becomes a telling index of belief and behavior, not merely the
unthinking repetition of learned or critical commonplaces."6
To what extent can we depend on the veracity of literary
testimonia for accurate reconstructions of Roman historical
paintings? The genres of those textual sources and the extent
to which those genres may affect the reliability and detail of
their accounts present constant problems for historical interpretation. We might assume that a scholar or encyclopedist,
such as Varro or Pliny the Elder, who cites and occasionally
questions his sources, is fairly reliable.7 A poet like Ovid or
Horace, on the other hand, may be more imaginative and
tendentious.8 Roman biographers and historians were either
members of the ruling class themselves or in their service;9
annalists like Polybius and Livy had strong family or political
biases for and against certain subjects.10 Although literary
works were the products of a restricted social class and thus
share its limited vision, they are also revealing of its assumptions and preconceptions. The ancient textual records therefore are not themselves transparent; they, too, have ideological and political points to make, and thus require careful
handling.
Although most ancient authors seem to argue for the
greater potency of images over words, Horace's observation
echoes actual conventions of Roman political and legal
practice. Further, Romans embraced the idea that historical
painting was at its most effective when it became the embodiment of what it represented, or, to use the terms preferred by
Freedberg, when the sign becomes the living embodiment of
what it signifies."1 (Ancient authors, for example, relish
anecdotes describing portraits that profoundly affected spectators long after the death of their subjects.)12 Toward that
end, Roman patrons became increasingly sophisticated about
representational strategies and throughout the course of the
Republic procured the most commanding examples possible.
The evidence for Roman historical painting, commissioned
by a cultured elite, suggests the force of a steady Hellenization
of Roman artistic practice and reveals a mentality that

welcomed the transmission of Rome's heritage by means of


the conventions of another culture. As in the writing of
history, literature, or philosophy, this situation elicited no
embarrassment or hesitation, nor even any sense that the
emulation of Greek models debased or lessened the indigenous product.'3
History is a cultural product whose narrative alters depending on who writes it. How events and actions are perceived
and remembered can be as important as the incidents
themselves. The development of Roman historical painting
also provided the ruling elite with new means to understand
and propagandize its own conduct, which for our purposes is
just as important as the historical events themselves. The
political structure of the Republic is integral to the role
historical painting played in the patterning of Roman culture.
The course of politics from the mid- to late Republic reveals a
compelling impetus for the arts of self-promotion.
Social prestige was indispensable to a Roman elite that
exercised its control indirectly, through elections and assemblies. Competition for the high esteem of their fellow citizens
proved intense among those Romans who had an overwhelming desire for laus, or praise, on one level and gloria on a
higher one.14 During the Republic, gloria remained the
exclusive province of the aristocracy, accorded by the political
class to the elite for great deeds performed in the service of
the state. Cicero went so far as to state that the pursuit of gloria
was the prime impulse behind all human activity.'5 His
explanation has significance not only for Roman political
affairs but also for the historical paintings commissioned by
aristocrats. 16
Military success was the single most important way to
achieve laus and gloria. Not only was such achievement highly
advantageous to the Roman state, it held vital importance to
the personal aims and interests of Roman aristocrats. Ambitious young men of the Roman elite were obliged to undertake military service, and had to complete ten annual military
campaigns as a junior officer before they could seek election
to even the lowest position in Rome's hierarchy of magistracies;'7 inscriptions (epitaphs and elogia) indicate that during
the Republic a normal part of the successful young aristocrat's career centered on warfare.'8

10. The Greek historian Polybius (202-120 B.C.) could not fail to support
the cause of the Scipio family that had taken him up; see F. W. Walbank,
Polybius, Berkeley, 1990. Titus Livius (59 B.C.-A.D. 17) defers to earlier
personages who were supposedly his own ancestors, while displaying hostility
to the gens Claudza; cf. P. G. Walsh, Lzvy: Hzs Hzstoncal Azms and Methods,
Cambridge, 1967, 89, 152-53.
11. Freedberg (as in n. 6), 28.
12. Plutarch, Alexander 74, recounts how Cassander came upon an image of
Alexander at Delphi that "smote him suddenly with a shuddering and
trembling from which he could scarcely recover, and made his head swim." A
Greek from Chaironeia, Plutarch (ca. A.D. 46-120) wrote biographies of
famous Greeks and Romans in which he advocated the convergence of the two
cultures. Suetonius, Dzvus Julius 7, reports that when he came upon a statue of
Alexander the Great at Cadiz, Caesar mourned that he had as yet done
nothing noteworthy, whereas by his age Alexander had conquered the world.
The biographies of Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (ca. A.D. 69-140) emphasize
scandal and ignominy. Nevertheless, the ScriptoresHzstona Augusta, "Probus"
2, states that he wrote not so much with elegance as with truthfulness: "non
tam diserte quam vere."
13. See Gruen, 232, on translations of Greek used in Roman literature.
14. The distinction between the two terms is found, inter alia, in Cicero, De
InventzoneRhetonca 2.166: "gloria est frequens de aliquo fama cum laude." The

locz communes are listed in D. Earl, The Moral and Polztzcal Tradztzonof Rome,
Ithaca, N.Y., 1967; see also W. V. Harris, Warand Imperzalzsmzn Republcan Rome:
327-70 B c., Oxford, 1979, 17.
15. Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes 1.1.4; see also De Republzca 5.7.9. Although he insisted that a historian should not show partiality, Cicero
nevertheless urged Lucius Lucceius to write an exaggerated account of his
own consulship: Epistulae ad Famzliares5.12.3.
16. Although the triumphal paintings discussed here were commissioned by
aristocrats, similar social urges motivated other sectors of the Roman populace. Under the empire, when laus and gloria could no longer be obtained
politically, the desire for them became particularly strong among those
freedmen (libertz) who amassed fortunes in trade and sought prestige in
municzpza;see R. Bianchi Bandinelli, Rome: The CenterofPowet NewYork, 1970,
60. I first outlined this intersection of private ambition with public action in
"Ad Triumphum Excolendum: The Political Significance of Roman Historical
Painting," OxfordArtJournal, III, 1980, 3-8.
17. Polybius 6.19.4. In seeking to explain to his fellow Greeks the reasons for
Rome's rise to power, Polyblus preserved most of what we know about the
mechanics of power in the Republic of the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C.
18. A. Degrassi, Inscriptzoneslatznae lzberaerezpublicae: Imagines, Berolini, Italy,
1965, 313, 316; H. Dessau, Inscrptiones Latznae Selectae,Berlin, 1892-1916, 48,
49, 54, 56, 57, 60; see Harris (as in n. 14), 13.

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132

ART BULLETIN

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MARCH 1997 VOLUME LXXIX NUMBER

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The Development of the Triumph


during the Republican Period
The triumph awarded to a successful military commander was
Roman society's most spectacular and esteemed celebration,
and paintings were integral to triumphal ritual. The Roman
triumph served three crucial purposes. First, and most venerable, the ceremony not only acknowledged military success
but also purified the city of Rome and its soldiers contaminated by the bloodguilt of war. Second, the triumphal
ceremony appeased and honored the gods. Third-and most
crucial for the development of triumphal painting-the rite
justified military campaigns to the Senate and people who
had remained in Rome. Triumphal celebrations centered on
a magnificent parade whose route, choreography, and participants responded to each of these purposes.
The long history of the triumph, however, also traces a
fundamental transformation in Roman mentality, a change
that resulted in the development of triumphal painting.
Originally a purification ritual, the triumph gradually developed into a purely honorific ceremony, whose chief purpose
lay in the auctoritas, or authority, and consequent political
power it bestowed on the victorious general and the gloria it

"

-..... ..

1 Typical route of a
triumphal procession
during the Republican
period; significant sites
include: (33) the Theater
of Pompey in the Campus
Martius; (19) Temple of
Hercules of the Muses;
(28) Temple of Hercules in
the Forum Boarium; (16)
Palatine Hill; (32) Forum
Romanum; and (30)
Temple ofJupiter Optimus
Maximus (drawing: R. H.
Abramson)

brought his family and his troops. According to ancient


Roman tradition, Romulus celebrated the first triumph.'19
Indeed, linguistic, archaeological, and literary sources trace
the origins of the rite to the earliest history of Rome, before
the sixth century B.C.,and Roman antiquariansaffirmed its
venerable history through the connection of many details
with Etruscanprecedents.20
During the early Republican period, triumphs were infrequent and simple. Gradually, however, the influence of
extravagant celebrations by Hellenistic dynasts, such as the
grand Dionysiacprocession documented for Ptolemy II Philadelphus in Alexandria,resulted in numerous and increasingly
impressive triumphs in Rome.2' These ceremonies, which
became identified with Dionysiac processions accompanying
the god's triumphantreturn to Olympus,specificallyglorified
the victorious Roman general and his troops.22Between 220
and 70 B.C.spectacular celebrations occurred approximately
once every year and a half.23 It was during this phase of
development, when the triumph's outward changes were
consonant with the greater luxury and power of Rome, that
the practice of triumphal painting flourished. To appreciate
fully the significance of triumphal painting, the fundamental

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ROMAN TRIUMPHAL

PAINTING

133

nature of the triumph itself during the Republic must be


understood.
Not every victory was worthy of a triumph. Tradition
required that the triumphatorpossess imperiummaius, or act as
commander of the forces.24 The war had to be fought against
foreign enemies, not fellow Romans in a civil conflict. 25 At
least five thousand enemy had to be killed in a single battle,26
and that battle had to lead to unequivocal success.27 The army
was the first to acknowledge victory by acclaiming the general
as imperatoron the battlefield. He then sent his report to the
Senate, which, after considering it, might decree that thanksgivings (supplicatio) be held. On arrival the general made his
request for a triumph at a meeting of the Senate held outside
the sacred city boundary (pomerium)in the Campus Martius.
The Senate debated the merits of his claim to the honor;28 if
rejected, he was sometimes granted a minor triumph (ovatio)
instead. Sacred law decreed the general forfeit his chance for
a triumph if he entered the pomerium before the vote was
taken.29 Sometimes political rivals obstructed the aspirations
of victorious generals, indicating that the ambition for a
triumph also held dangers for political advancement. Lucullus waited three years for the authorization to enter Rome
upon his return from Asia.30
Preparations for the triumph began in the Campus Martius,
northwest of the city center (Fig. 1). Lying outside the sacred
city boundary (extra pomerium), this floodplain-significantly
named for the war god Mars-had provided early Rome with
a place for military exercises and remained the site for solemn
purification rituals, award ceremonies, and speeches by the
new triumphatorWith great fanfare, the triumphal procession
entered the city proper through the porta triumphalis.The fact
that originally the porta triumphalisremained closed most days
of the year, to be opened only specifically for triumphal
processions, may have underscored the gate's purificatory
significance.31
The expiatory nature of the triumph was evident in its every
phase. Religious sacrifices began with offerings by the troops

in the Campus Martius. According to Festus, "Laurelwreathed soldiers followed the triumphal chariot, in order to
enter the city as if purged of bloodguilt."32 The procession
followed a counterclockwise route (circumambulatio)through
the city, emulating the choreography of other sacred lustration rituals and indicating an apotropaic function. (In Roman
rites purification was accomplished through a circular movement, or ambitus, and through the magical practice of either
walking around the area to be purified or leading the thing to
be purified in a procession that culminated in a specific
sacrifice.) 33After entering the porta triumphalisthe procession
followed the foot of the Capitoline Hill on the west and
curved up along the Vicus lugarius and across the Velabrum,
past the Forum Boarium. After circling the Palatine, passing
the site of the Circus Maximus, it turned onto the original
Sacra Via and traversed the Forum Romanum, passing in
front of the Temple of Vesta and the area of the Regia. In
practice, the course of the procession varied from celebration
to celebration, allowing the triumphatorto pass buildings and
sites dense with personal and family associations.
The final segment of the triumph focused on its religious
significance. The procession led past the ancient sanctuary of
Saturn and proceeded up the steep Clivus Capitolinus to the
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. There the victorious
general offered the spolia to Jupiter.34 He then solemnly
sacrificed white oxen and laid a laurel branch and wreaths in
the lap of Jupiter's statue. The ceremonies closed with the
triumphatorand Senate feasting in Jupiter's great temple.
The precise order of the participants varied, but during the
Republic the following groupings were fairly common. At the
head came Roman magistrates and senators, visible manifestations of state approval. At the rear lumbered cartloads of
booty, sacrificial animals, and captives, which collectively
vindicated the cost of war.35Next came the triumphatorin all
his glory. Clothed in a richly embroidered toga,36 he stood in
a chariot drawn by four white horses.37 Above his head a slave

19. Plutarch, Romulus 16.


20. For the origins and history of the triumph, see R. Payne, The Roman
Triumph,London, 1962; L. Bonfante Warren, "Roman Triumphs and Etruscan
Kings: The Changing Face of the Triumph," Journal ofRoman Studzes,LX, 1970,
49-66; H. S. Versnel, Trzumphus:An Inquzry into the Origin, Development and
Meanzng of the Roman Triumph, Leiden, 1970; and E. Kunzl, Der r6mzsche
Triumph:Siegesfeiernim antzkenRom, Munich, 1988.
21. On the Dionysiac procession of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, see E. E. Rice,
The Grand Processzonof PtolemyPhzladelphus,Oxford, 1983.
22. A. Bruhl, "Les influences hellenistiques dans le triomphe romain,"
Milanges d'Archiologzeet d'Histoire de l'EcoleFranfazse de Rome, XLVI,1929, 77-95;
F. Matz, "Belli Facies et Triumphus," in FestschrnftCarl Weickert,Berlin, 1955,
41-42.
23. On the frequency of triumphs in the mid- and late Republican periods,
see J. S. Richardson, "The Triumph, the Praetors and the Senate in the Early
Second Century B.C.,"Journal of Roman Studzes, LXV,1965, 50-63; L. PietilaCastren, Magnficentia publzca. The VzctoryMonuments of the Roman Generalszn the
Era of the Punzc Wars,Helsinki, 1987.
24. Livy 28.9.10.
25. A. Gellius 5.6.21; Valerius Maximus 2.8.7; Dio Cassius 42.18, 43.42, 51.19.
26. Livy 37.46.
27. Livy 26.21; 30.29.
28 Polybius 6.15; Livy 33.23.
29 Although Caesar had been granted a triumph in 60 B.C.for his victories
in Spain, he abandoned it in order to be in Rome to run for the consulate of 59
B.C.:Dio Cassius 37.54.1; Appian, Bella Czvilia 1.c; Plutarch, Caesar 13.
30. Plutarch, Lucullus 37.
31. Cicero, In Pzsonem23.55; Festus 104 L (117 M); see Versnel (as in n. 20),
135, 152, 394-96. For a contrasting interpretation of the porta trzumphalzsas a
gate in daily use, see L. Richardson,Jr., A New TopographicalDzctzonaryofAncient

Rome, Baltimore, 1992, 301. On the debates over the porta triumphalhs,see the
extensive research by F. Coarelli, "La Porta Trionfale e la Via dei Trionfi,"
Dzaloghi dz Archeologia,I1, 1968, 55-103; idem, II Foro Boario dalle ongInz alla fine
della repubblzca,Rome, 1988; Versnel (as in n. 20), 132-63; and F. S. Kleiner,
"The Study of Roman Triumphal and Honorary Arches 50 Years after KIihler,"
Journal of Roman Archaeology,II, 1984, 201-4.
32. Festus 104 L (117 M): "laureati milites sequebantur currum triumphantis, ut quasi purgati a caede humana intrarent urbem."
33. See Bonfante Warren (as in n. 20), 54.
34. In the primitive phases of the rite, the spolza had been offered to Jupiter
Feretrius in emulation of Romulus, who is described as dedicating the spolza
opzma of the enemy commander there: Plutarch, Romulus 16. By the late
Republic, however, the Temple ofJupiter Optimus Maximus had become the
primary focus.
35. Contrary to Hollywood's version of history, Cleopatra did not take her
life in misery over Antony's death; rather, the last Hellenistic monarch sought
to avoid the humiliation of being displayed in Octavian's triumph; see
Plutarch, Antony 78; Horace, Carmzna 1.37.30-32: "invidens / privata deduci
superba / non humilis mulier triumpho." In the end Octavian ordered a
painting of Cleopatra grasping the asp carried in the procession: Plutarch,
Antony 86.
36. By the 3rd century, the original triumphal garb introduced in the period
of the Etruscan kings was replaced by even more elaborate dress. On the toga
picta, decorated with designs in gold threads, and the tunzca palmata, see Festus
228 L (209 M).
37. Although the trzumphatormarched with his troops in the primitive
Roman phase of the rite, under Etruscan influence he rode in the vehicle
Etruscan nobles customarily used in honorary processions; see Bonfante
Warren (as in n. 20), 58.

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134

ART BULLETIN

MARCH 1997 VOLUME LXXIX NUMBER

2 Andrea Mantegna, The


Triumphsof Caesar:
Bearersof
Trumpeters,
Standardsand Banners
(canvas I), ca. 1484-94.
Hampton Court Palace,
Royal Collection (photo: by
permission H. M. Queen
Elizabeth II)

held a victory wreath while whispering, "Look behind you


and remember that you are a man," a cautionary reminder
that the general acted on behalf of the Roman people
watching the spectacle. After the triumphatorcame his military
officers, Roman citizens rescued from slavery, and the troops,
crying "io Triumphe."3" The order of participants, therefore,
indicates that the Roman social hierarchy itself was both
embedded in and justified by the spectacle it witnessed.
The didactic functions of the triumph are especially telling.
Over the course of several days, extravagant processions
flowed past teeming spectators from Rome and throughout
Italy. Along with the general and his celebrating troops came
a panoply of tendentious displays. Romans learned not only
about the prowess of their armies and generals, they were also
taught about the people, art, architecture, and flora and
fauna of newly conquered lands. Exhibits of captured exotica,
ranging from jewel-encrusted furniture to elephants and
other wild beasts, awed but also educated the audience about
the expanding territory Rome controlled.39 According to
Livy, the triumph of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus (the
elder brother of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus) for his
Asiatic victory in 189 B.C. reportedly included 224 military
standards, 1,231 ivory tusks, 234 gold crowns, 137,420 pounds
of silver, and equally impressive quantities of gold, chased
silver vases, coins, and prisoners.40 For his triumph of 61 B.C.,

Pompey had gathered so much material that he could not


show it all in the two days allotted.41
Paintings Carried in the Triumphal Procession
Triumphal paintings became an integral part of this didactic
display. The main purpose of triumphal paintings was to
advance the personal prestige of the triumphatorbydocumenting those achievements that had led to his triumphal celebration. They were primarily propagandistic, often with political
and electoral ends in mind. L. Hostilius Mancinus, for
example, used a painting commemorating his victory over
Carthage as a successful polemic against his political rival,
Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus.42
Triumphal paintings utilized diverse modes of representation. They were sometimes executed on large panels, called
tabulae,which could be easily carried in the procession. In his
reconstruction of Caesar's triumph, however, Andrea Mantegna drew on references that describe vast paintings on
cloth, works that sources claim could sometimes reach three
to four stories in height (Fig. 2);43 paintings of such magnitude, however, were probably displayed on large wheeled
processional floats (pegmata).44After using their paintings in
the procession, triumphatoresoften exhibited them in public
buildings, or in the temples of the gods to whom the victories
were pledged, where theyjoined other artworks brought back

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ROMAN TRIUMPHAL

as booty. Public display of the paintings shifted their function


from that of parade props to permanent records. So displayed, the paintings not only commemorated the victories of
Roman generals but also recalled their spectacular celebrations for future generations. Triumphal paintings thereby
became a major element in the Roman civic environment.
Two themes dominated triumphal painting: scenes of
victorious battles and images of conquered cities.45 Representations of both battles and cities belong to an essentially
Hellenistic repertory that was spreading in popularity, a
repertory that fulfilled the needs of Roman generals concerned with securing gloria.
The first notice of a triumphal painting is the elder Pliny's
reference to the tabula picta commissioned by M. Valerius
Maximus Messala in 264 B.C.:

PAINTING

135

Pliny's remarks are crucial to understanding the promotion


of triumphal painting in Rome. As was mentioned earlier, of
course, these textual records are not themselves transparent;
the authority we can invest in them remains problematic.
Pliny states that this painting, the first one of a battle
displayed in Rome, depicted Messala's defeat of the Carthaginians and Hieron II in Sicily during the previous year. He
emphasizes the importance of this painting, not only because
it was the first of a new type, but also because of the role it
played in shaping Roman tastes: he states specifically that the
esteem Romans gave to the art of painting was increased by its
display to the public on a side wall of the Curia Hostilia, the
original senate house of Rome.
Although Messala's painting is lost, the frescoes decorating

a tomb on the Esquiline Hill, also dated to the early third


century B.C., can stand as comparable examples of early
Roman historical painting (Fig. 3).47 Probably based on
Greek prototypes, these scenes of battle and negotiation from
the Second Samnite War are depicted in horizontal bands,
the protagonists carefully identified through hierarchical
proportions and inscriptions. The artist has also taken care to
distinguish iconographic details such as the different armor
and clothing of the participants. In addition, modeling of
three-dimensional form is achieved through color, the anatomy
shows foreshortening, and superposed figures create the illusion
of deep space, techniques learned from Greek practice.
Messala's painting, depicting specific historical incidents,
was also probably inspired by an early Hellenistic battle scene,
perhaps brought back to Rome from Sicily or Magna Graecia
as booty. Similar circumstances probably lie behind the
installation of the Alexander mosaic in the Casa del Fauno at
Pompeii (Fig. 4).48 It has been proposed recently that several
ancient restorations indicate that the mosaic was damaged
when it was brought to Pompeii, presumably from the eastern
Mediterranean, and was restored when it was placed in the
exedra of the Casa del Fauno.49 Other scholars, however, have
argued that those repairs could have been made on numerous occasions once the mosaic was already in place.50 Furthermore, the tesserae, which are the same as those in the other
mosaics decorating the Casa del Fauno, and the manner of
their installation suggest that all the mosaics in the Casa del
Fauno can be attributed to the same workshop, and were
therefore made in Italy.51The S-shaped strip and reparations
running roughly through the middle of the mosaic and the
wide, plain strip in the lower side may have resulted from
craftsmen who, working from a large cartoon, had some
difficulty in fitting the entire composition into the available
space. The Alexander mosaic was undoubtedly made after a
famous original work of art, reflections of which have been
preserved in other media.52 The original has been identified

38. Varro, De Lingua Latzna 6.68: "cum imperatore milites redeuntes


clamitant per urbem in Capitolium eunti 'io Trlumphe.' " By the late
Republic the soldiers also hurled insults at their commander and sang bawdy
songs at his expense, apotropaic practices meant to shield him from the gods'
envy: for iocz militares, see W. Ehlers, in Paulys Realencyclopddiader classischen
Altertumswzssenschaft,rev. ed., 2nd ser., vii, 1939, s.v. "triumphus," 495, 509.
39. Drawing on ancient accounts, the 2nd-century A.D. rhetorician and
historian Florus (1.13) carefully describes the elephants and diverse peoples
included among the captives in a triumphal procession in 275 B.C.
40. Livy 37.59.3-5. Lucius Scipio's honorific cognomen is also given as
Asiagenus and Asiagenes.
41. Plutarch, Pompey 14.45. Detailed information about early triumphal
processions recounted in the works of Livy, Florus, and others ultimately goes
back to the annals and the earliest histories based on them (see above, n. 7).
For an overview of the sources for early Roman history and their reliability, see
H H. Scullard, A Hzstoryof theRoman Worldfrom 753 to 146B c., 3d ed., London,
1961, 405-16.
42. Pliny, Naturalis Histona 25.23. See below, nn. 123 and 125.
43. One of nine canvases, 8 ft. 9 in. x 9 ft. (2.66 X 2.78 m), probably painted
in the order of their display, based on many of the same classical sources
discussed in this article. See A. Martindale, The Triumphs ofJulzus Caesar zn the
Collectionof Her Majesty the Queen at Hampton Court, London, 1979, esp. 136-37;
C. Hope, "The Chronology of Mantegna's 'Triumphs,' " Renaissance Studzesin
Honor of Craig Hugh Smyth, II, ed. A. Morrogh et al., Florence, 1985, 297-309.
On cloth paintings of this scale, seeJosephus,Jewish War7.5.
44. On pegmata, see S. Settis, La colonna trazana, Turin, 1988, 232.
45. Some of the sources are gathered in O Vessberg, Studzen zur Kunstgeschichteder romischenRepublzk,Lund/Leipzig, 1941, nn. 80, 85, 95, 101, 110,
116, 275, 276; Pollitt provides English translations of many of these citations.
See also S. Ferri, Plinzo zl Vecchio,Rome, 1946, 126-29; G. Zinserling, "Studien

zu den Historiendarstellungen der r6mischen Republik," in Wzssenschaftliche


Zeitschrzftder FrzedrichSchiller UnzversitditJena,Ix, Jena, 1959-60, 403-48; B. M.
Felletti Maj, La tradzzzoneztalica nell'arte romana, Rome, 1977, 59-65, 70-79.
46. Pliny, Naturalzs Hzstona 35.22 (trans. Pollitt). "Dignatio autem praecipua
Romae increuit, ut existimo, a M'. Valerio Maximo Messala, qui princeps
tabulam [picturam] proelii, quo Carthaginienses et Hieronem in Sicilia
uicerat, proposuit in latere curiae Hostiliae anno ab urbe condita ccccxc."
47. Discovered in 1875; it is 0.874 m high. See C. M. Dawson, RomanoCampanzan Mythological Landscape Painting, Yale Classical Studies, Ix, New
Haven, 1944, 53; F Coarelli, "Frammento di affresco dall'Esquilino con scena
storica," in Affreschi romani dalle raccolte dell'Antiquarium Communale, Rome,
1976, 13-21; Felletti Maj (as in n. 45), 145-51; E. La Rocca, "Fabio o Fannio:
L'affresco medio-repubblicano dell'Esquilino come riflesso dell'arte 'rapprensentativa' e come espressione di mobilitA sociale," Dzaloghzdz Archeolopga,
n.s., III, no. 2, 1984, 31-53; A. Rouveret, Hzstoire et zmaginazrede la peinture
anczenne (Vesicle av.J.-C.--ler siicle ap.J.-C.), Rome, 1989, 273, 332.
48. The mosaic is 3.42 m high. On this artwork, see E. Pernice, Pavzmenteund
figiirlche Mosaziken,vol. vI of Die hellenistzscheKunst in Pompeji, Berlin, 1938; A.
Rumpf, "Zum Alexandermosaik," Mzttezlungen des Deutschen Archaologzschen
Instztuts, Athens, LXXVII,1962, 229-41; T. H61olscher,GnechischeHzstonenbilderdes
5 und 4. Jahrhunderts v. Chr, Wurzburg, 1973, 122-69; B. Andreae, Das
Alexandermosazkaus Pompefi, Recklinghausen, 1977; P.G.P. Meyboom, "I mosaici pompeiani con figure di pesci," Mededeelhngenvan het Nederlands Hzstorzsch
Insztuut te Rome, xxIx, 1977, 49-93; M. Donderer, "Das Pompejanische
Alexandermosaik: Ein 6stliches Importstiuck?" in Das antzkeRom und der Osten:
FestschrzftfurKlaus Parlasca zum 65. Geburtstag,Erlangen, 1990, 27-28.
49. Donderer (as in n. 48).
50. See Pernice (as in n. 48), 94.
51. Pernice (as in n. 48), 94; Meyboom (as in n. 48), 72 n. 271.
52. See Andreae (as in n. 48), fig. 21.

The dignified reputation of painting at Rome was increased by M. Valerius Maximus Messala, who first displayed a painting of a battle-the one in which he had
defeated the Carthaginians and Hieron in Sicily-on a side
wall of the Curia Hostilia in the 490th year from the
foundation of the city.46

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136

ART BULLETIN

MARCH 1997 VOLUME LXXIX NUMBER

that the esteem Pliny claimed Romans gave to the art of


painting following Messala's example had less to do with the
cultivation of aesthetic sensibilities than with the Romans'
recognition of a new and effective means of manipulating

3 Fresco from the tomb of Q. Fabius on the Esquiline Hill


(detail), early 3rd century B.c. Rome, Museo dei Conservatori,
Braccio Nuovo, 1025 (photo: DAI)

with an early Hellenistic painting of a battle scene between


Alexander and Darius by Philoxenos of Eretria.53
The painter of the Esquiline Tomb depicted scenes from
the war between Rome and the Samnites that focus on the
interaction between two leaders, inscribed Fabius and Fannius, a treatment echoed by the mosaic's emphasis on the
personal contest between Alexander and Darius. This manner
of fashioning scenes of battle and negotiation also tends to
echo the heroic duels of epic poetry, thereby elevating the
achievements of the Roman patron to the heroic and further
increasing his gloria. If based on similar Hellenistic models,
Messala's battle painting would likewise emphasize the role of
the triumphator Indeed, Messala may have brought back an
artist from Sicily to execute his painting; only an experienced
painter of Hellenistic training could have painted a panel of
large proportions so quickly. In any event, it seems probable

public opinion.
The Romans readily promoted an art form of such apparent utility, and throughout the Republican period many other
generals celebrated their campaigns with similar paintings.
The most significant commissions include those of M. Claudius
Marcellus for his success against Syracuse, Scipio Africanus
following the Battle of Zama (201 B.C.), Scipio Asiaticus, the
younger Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus for his victories in
Sardinia (174 B.C.), L. Aemilius Paullus after his victory
against the Macedonians at Pydna (168 B.C.), L. Hostilius
Mancinus after his success against the Carthaginians (146
B.C.), Sulla (81 B.C.), Pompey following the Mithridatic Wars
(62 B.C.), and Julius Caesar's famous fourfold triumph:
Gallicus, Alexandrinus, Ponticus, and Africanus (46 B.C.).54
Analysis of the literary evidence indicates that triumphal
paintings provided an important conduit for the penetration
of Hellenistic innovations into Rome following the conquests
of Greek artistic centers. As described above, following his
victory in Sicily, Marcellus began his triumphal procession
with a painting of Syracuse made prisoner.55 In his slightly
later triumph in 187 B.C. for his victories over the Aetolians
two years earlier, M. Fulvius Nobilior displayed a similar
painting with the image of Ambracia taken prisoner.56 Both
paintings were undoubtedly personifications, images of female figures signifying the captured nations. The triumphal
paintings of Marcellus and Fulvius, therefore, indicate the
introduction in triumphal painting of allegorical representations. Educated Romans with a developing taste for abstraction and symbolism seem to have readily accepted such
imagery. Coins provided another medium for introducing
abstraction in Roman visual arts; however, Romans struck
coins rather late in their history, after the defeat of Tarentum
(272 B.C.) had made them the masters of Italy. Greek models
for coin dies from Magna Graecia and Campania served as the
initial impetus for Roman engravers, paralleling the situation
of triumphal painting.57
Personifications of nations or cities, specifically their Tyche
or Fortune, became increasingly popular in the Hellenistic
world of the fourth century B.C.;58 the complex iconography
of the celebrated Tyche of Antioch created by Eutychides in
ca. 300 B.C.established a standard for such images (Fig. 5).59
She sits on a massive rock symbolizing Mount Silphion, while
the swimming figure at her feet represents the river Orontes;
her crown takes the form of a city wall (or "mural crown"),
and the sheaf of wheat in her right hand stands for the city's
prosperity.60 Even today, only the knowledgeable viewer can
properly decipher such elaborate attributes. The introduction of an artistic language dependent on abstraction and
arcane symbolism may have presented problems of interpretation for the very Roman populace it was created to persuade,
an issue addressed below.61
Following the Battle of Zama in 203 B.C., Scipio Africanus
had paintings carried in his triumph two years later with
representations of captured cities and depictions of the war's
events.62 Similarly, his brother Scipio Asiaticus commissioned

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ROMAN TRIUMPHAL

PAINTING

137

4 Alexander mosaic, ca.


110-80 B.C.Naples, Museo
Nazionale Archeologico,
10020 (photo: DAI)

134 oppidorumsimulacra, or images of conquered cities, for his


triumphal procession in 188 B.C. celebrating his victory over
Antiochos III of Syria;63it is uncertain whether these were in
the form of symbolic personifications or, more likely, panoramic views.64Whether personifications or panoramic views,
images of cities indicate the pervasive taste among Roman
patrons for paintings emulating Hellenistic conventions.
Hellenistic innovation, and Hellenistic science, are also
apparent in the use triumphal paintings appear to have made
of chorography and topography, two types of cartographic
illustration that were undoubtedly crucial to the military
successes encoded by the later paintings. The origins of
chorography and topography, both as literary genres and
types of painting, are generally attributed to Alexandria
because of the close connection with the geographical studies
of the Mouseion. Interest in the natural history of foreign

lands had originated during the campaigns of Alexander.65 In


the Hellenistic period, Ptolemy II stimulated further research
by mounting expeditions for the exploration of Egypt, collecting species of animals, and even writing a treatise on trees.66
About 252 B.C.,Gaius Sempronius Gracchus commissioned
a map of Italy, seen by Varro in the Temple of Tellus on the
Esquiline (constructed by Gaius Sempronius's father, P. Sempronius Gracchus, in 268 B.C.), that documented Rome's
territorial expansion.67 This picta Italia was probably an
example of the kind of cartographic painting showing land
masses defined by mountains, oceans, and rivers described by
Strabo, who called paintings depicting such features chorographical pinakes.68A huge map showing Roman conquests
placed in the Porticus Vipsania by Marcus Agrippa was
probably another example of chorographic painting.69
More elaborate and detailed was the kind of painting

53. H. Fuhrmann, Philoxenos von Eretria,


G6ttingen, 1931; see Pliny, Naturalis
Historia 35.110. A dating to the late 4th century B.C. for the original is
supported by the limited use of colors, primarily yellow, white, red brown, and
brown black, which is attested as characteristic of the late classical period: see
Pliny, Naturalis Historia 30.32.
54. L. Cornelius Balbus celebrated a triumph over the Garamantes on Mar.
27, 19 B.C.; he was the last triumphatorwho did not belong to the imperial
family.
55. Livy 26.21.
56. Livy 38.43.9. Following the procession Fulvius displayed the
painting in
the atrium of his house.
57. See A. Alf6ldi, "The Main Aspects of Political Propaganda on the
Coinage of the Roman Republic," in Essays in Roman CoinagePresentedto Harold
Mattingly, ed. R. Carson and C. Sutherland, Oxford, 1956, 72-74; M. H.
Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, Cambridge, 1974, 728-29.
58. Praxiteles made a statue of Tyche for a temple in Megara (Pausanias
1.43.6) and one of Agathe Tyche, removed from Athens to Rome (Aelianus,
VariaHistoria 9.39; Pliny, Naturalis Historia 36.23).
59. The marble copy of the Roman period illustrated here (height 0.895 m)
is the best among many variations, which include bronze and marble
reductions and also coins. See T. Dohrn, Die Tychevon Antiochia, Berlin, 1960;
J. J. Pollitt, Art in the Hellenistic Age, Cambridge, 1986, 2-3.
60. Although personifications of cities or countries wearing mural crowns
were already established as coin types, Eutychides added new attributes to his
composition; see W. Deonna, "La couronne murale des villes et des pays
personnifi6s dans l'antiquit&," Geneva, xvIII, 1940, 127-86.

61. Even with ubiquitous coin types, the finer points of their messages
probably went unnoticed. W. V. Harris, Ancient Literacy, Cambridge, Mass.,
1989, 213, notes, "It required recherch6 knowledge, as well as reading ability,
to understand some of the coin legends of the late Republic; nor does this fact
make the moneyers' choice of legends impossible to understand, for the
obscurity of a message can make it impressive." See also the more cautious
view of M. H. Crawford, "Roman Imperial Coins Types and the Formation of
Public Opinion," Studies in Numismatic Method Presented to Philip Grierson,ed.
C.N.L. Brooke et al., Cambridge, 1983, 47-64.
62. Appian, Punic War66.
63. During the war Scipio Asiaticus led the Roman army but was advised by
his brother Scipio Africanus, and he soundly defeated Antiochos in the Battle
of Magnesia in Asia Minor in 189 B.C.
64. Livy 37.59.3-5. It is also possible that these were models of the towns or
even statues personifying them; see Pollitt, 41 n. 65.
65. F. Pfister, "Das Alexander-Archiv und die hellenistische-r6mische Wissenschaft," Historia, x, 1961, 30-67.
66. P. M. Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria, I, Oxford, 1972, 176-77, 306, 311; I1,
406 n. 39; Meyboom, 372-73. Pliny, Naturalis Historia 1.12-13, cites Ptolemy II
as one of his sources.
67. Varro, De Re Rustica 1.2.1.
68. Strabo, Geography 2.5.17. The historian and geographer Strabo (64
B.C.-A.D. 21), who probably wrote for an audience involved in politics,
emphasized the use of geography in public affairs (see 1.1.16-18).
69. Pliny, Naturalis Historia 3.2.17. See C. Nicolet, Linventaire du monde:
Geographieetpolitique aux origines de l'Empireromain, Paris, 1988.

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138

ART BULLETIN

MARCH 1997 VOLUME LXXIX NUMBER 1

5 Eutychides, Tyche of Antioch, Roman copy after an original


of ca. 300 B.c. Rome, Musei dei Vaticani, Galleria dei
Candelabri, 2672 (photo: Alinari)

commissioned by the younger Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. Following his triumph in 174 B.C., Gracchus dedicated
to Jupiter in the Temple of the Mater Matuta a representation
of the island of Sardinia with simulacra pugnarum, representations of battles, at corresponding localities.70 In 146 B.C. L.
Hostilius Mancinus followed with a painting of the site of
Carthage featuring his own successful assaults.71 These paintings would appear to exemplify the genre of painting distinguished as topography. Vitruvius, writing in the Augustan
period, indicates that in antiquity topography involved not
only the drawing of maps but also the insertion of typical
views.72 In the first chapter of his GeographyClaudius Ptolemaeus writes of certain maps that included "topography,"
that is, the representation of typical or characteristic sites or
settings; he also states that a topographer had to be a
70. Livy 41.28.8-10.
71. Pliny, Naturalis Historia 35.23.
72. Vitruvius, De Architectura8.2.6.
73. Claudius Ptolemaeus, Geographia1.1.5-6. See also F. Prontera, Geografiae
geografi nel mondo antico: Guida storica e critica, Rome/Bari, 1983; 0. A. Dilke,
Greekand Roman Maps, London, 1985.
74. Blanckenhagen, 54; Felletti Maj (as in n. 45), 307-14.
75. This situation is captured in the quip by the historian Menecles of Barce
that in this way Alexandria became the teacher to all Greeks and barbarians.
See Fraser (as in n. 66), I, 121, 517-18; II, 165 n. 324; Meyboom, 373 nn. 21, 22.
76. Diodorus Siculus, Excerpta,31.18.2; Valerius Maximus 5.1.1. The historical accounts left by Diodorus (fl. 60-30 B.C.) are valued primarily for their
preservation of numerous sources, including early Roman annalists and

painter.73 Topographical paintings with such distinguishing


vignettes would be especially suited to the representation of
countries and Roman conquests in them.
In order to produce a detailed pictorial record of events
within their settings, topographers probably used some form
of bird's-eye perspective. However, they combined it with
other perspectives, for the objects represented are not uniformly seen from a high eye level; rather, each appears in its
own perspective, one chosen to be the most informative and
in which its shape and volume are most easily comprehended.
Buildings, for example, appear as if seen from different,
usually high points of view, while people and smaller objects
seem to be represented at much lower eye levels. Consequently, there is no consistent scale; the representation of
reality as it appears to the eye takes second place to the desire
to give the fullest possible information about the things
selected for representation.74
Following the Battle of Raphia in 217 B.C., the Ptolemaic
empire began to decline. After 200 B.C.,the Mouseion, which
had flourished in the third century B.C., also declined, and
scholars and scientists departed to find more active patrons in
cities such as Pergamon and eventually Rome.75 When in 164
B.C. the exiled Egyptian king Ptolemy VI Philometor came to
seek the aid of Rome against his brother Euergetes II, he
found lodging with a painter, named Demetrios the Topographos, whom the king had favored with commissions in Alexandria.76 Demetrios probably had been born and trained in
Alexandria in the late third century B.C. and joined the
exodus of intellectuals in the second. The Alexandrian
topographos,or one of his followers, may have been employed
for such representations as Gracchus's painting of Sardinia
and for Mancinus's views of Carthage, in each case adapting
Hellenistic conventions to Roman demands.
Hellenistic cartographies also came to be adapted by
Romans for decorative use. The vast Nilotic mosaic set into
the floor of the apsidal hall adjacent to the sanctuary of
Fortuna Primigenia at Praeneste (Palestrina) provides important evidence for what Roman triumphal paintings using
topographical conventions may have looked like (Fig. 6).77
On the mosaic, the Nile winds past vignettes representing
exotic landscapes and settlements; the more recondite details
are carefully labeled in Greek, underscoring the Alexandrian
source of the genre. The precise nature of the relationship
between the mosaic and cartographic practices is controversial. Recently the Palestrina mosaic has been interpreted as an
actual topographic map of the Nile: the upper part of the
mosaic represents Ethiopia, the upper zone of the lower
Polybius. On the character and significance of the term topographos,see E.
Pfuhl, Malerei und Zeichnung, III,Munich, 1923, 888-90; Vessberg (as in n. 45),
38; B. R. Brown, Ptolemaic Paintings and Mosaics, Cambridge, Mass., 1957, 88;
Meyboom, 186-90.
77. The mosaic is 6.56 X 5.25 m. On this work, see G. Gullini, I mosaici di
Palestrina, Rome, 1956; Blanckenhagen, 56-57; A. Steinmeyer-Schareika, Das
Nilmosaik von Palestrina und eine ptolemiiischeExpedition nach Athiopien, Bonn,
1978; Pollitt (as in n. 59), 205-7; R. Ling, Roman Painting, Cambridge, 1991,
7-8; F. Coarelli, "La pomp? di Tolomeo Filadelfo e il mosaico nilotico di
Palestrina," Ktema, xv, 1990, 225-51; Meyboom.
78. Coarelli (as in n. 77). Coarelli also sees specific monuments and settings
in the detailed scenes, such as the Nilometer at Aswan, the Canopus, the
harbor at Alexandria, and the island of Pharos. In addition, he speculates that

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ROMAN TRIUMPHAL

PAINTING

139

6 Barberini Mosaic, ca.


120-110 B.C., Palestrina,

Museo Archeologico
Prenestino (Palazzo
Barberini) (photo: Alinari)

section represents Egypt, and the foreground represents the


Delta, top to bottom understood as south to north, the
standardconvention for ancient maps.78More likely,however,
the mosaic provides a large, coherent landscape composition
of the Nile during the flood season, nevertheless dependent
on topographicalconventions.79
Although Hellenistic artists commonly show combinations
of people and settings, they generallyavoid bird's-eyeperspective and instead attempt to achieve congruity through the
fusion of elements.80The aesthetics of bird's-eyeperspective
are contrary to traditional Greek teaching and practice.8'
Nevertheless, the device provides an appropriatesolution for
showing clearly the actions of Roman generals in specific
settings. It is only in pictures of such blatantly didactic
function that inconsistency of scale and perspective will be
accepted as a convention by a public acquainted with and
used to a realistic rendering of persons and objects. Significantly, mapmaking is a form of visual documentation with

obvious military application. It can hardly be accidental,


commissioned works
therefore, that Roman triumphatores
employing a form of representation utilized in their campaigns, a form of illustration drawn from the realm of
Hellenistic science rather than art.82
Of the Roman pictorial record only one historical example
remains: the famous fresco in Naples of the riot in the
amphitheaterat Pompeii (Fig. 7),"8 an event in A.D.59 that led
to the closing of the facility.84The artist depicts the scene
from the north, clearly showing both the facade and interior
of the amphitheater,the nearby palaestra,and the open area
before them dotted with trees and commercial booths; the
accurate rendering of the urban setting and details of
architecturehas been verified by archaeological excavation.85
Rapid,impressionisticstrokesindicate citizens, some engaged
in their daily business and others as participants in the
ignominious events of that day.Although more than a century
separates the Pompeian painting from the Palestrinamosaic

the scene represents the Grand Procession of Ptolemy II.


79. Meyboom's careful iconological study convincingly argues that the
flooded countryside contributed to the impression that the composition was
made up of separate scenes. He further suggests that the Palestrina mosaic,
with regard to landscape and perspective, reflects a 3rd-century B.C.model.
80. Blanckenhagen, 56.
81. For a discussion of various forms of perspective available to artists by the
1st century B.C., see H. Beyen, Die pompeianische Wanddekorationvom zweiten bis
zum vierten Stil, I, II, The Hague, 1938-60; P. W. Lehmann, Roman Wall-Paintings
from Boscorealein the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cambridge, Mass., 1953, esp.
149-52.
82. See above, nn. 66, 73, and 75.
83. Found near the amphitheater in the house at 1.3.23, known both as the

Domus of Actius Anicetus and as the Casa della pittura dell'anfiteatro, it


measures 1.69 m high. See O. Elia, Pitture murali e mosaici nel Museo Nazionale di
Napoli, Rome, 1932, 59-61 n. 101; Felletti Maj (as in n. 45), 330-32.
84. Tacitus, Annales 14.17, describes how the people of Nuceria, whose
rivalry with Pompeii was ancient, came out the worse in riots erupting at the
be
amphitheater. They took their case to Nero, who ordered that games
suspended for ten years. Tacitus narrates the events in terms that recapitulate
the painted representation.
85. See A. Mau, Pompeii: Its Life and Art, rev. and trans. F. W. Kelsey, New
York, 1902, 212-26; E. La Rocca et al., Guida archeologicadiPompei, Milan, 1976,
248-60; L. Richardson, Jr., Pompeii: An ArchitecturalHistory, Baltimore, 1988,
134-38.

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140

ART BULLETIN

MARCH 1997 VOLUME LXXIX NUMBER

7 Riot scene in theater at


Pompeii, ca. A.D. 59-79.

Naples, Museo Nazionale


Archeologico, 112222
(photo: Alinari)

(the former was probably executed after the earthquake of


A.D. 62), their close correlation in perspective and scale is
evident. In both works architectural monuments define the
locales. In order to show those settings clearly, the artist
combined multiple perspectives, dramatically shifting scale
from detail to detail and varying in proportion the human
figures animating the scenes. These techniques derive from
the traditions of cartography imported from Alexandria and
first exploited in triumphal painting.
Another characteristic of later Roman pictorial representations, what is generally called "continuous narrative," may
also have been inspired by topographical triumphal paintings. In their search for what is "Roman" about Roman art,
scholars at the turn of the century thought they discerned
innovations in narrative modes; discussions of continuous

compositions have remained at the heart of these studies.86


Although classical Greek artists generally maintained a unity
of time and place within monumental narrative scenes,
Hellenistic artists incorporated successive episodes from a
story, repeating its characters several times in a continuous
pictorial plane.87 This cyclic narrative method entails a
certain suspension of belief analogous to the anomalies in
combined perspectives utilized by topographoi.88
The representations of battles on the map of Sardinia, for example,
depicted Gracchus and his army at different times and
different locations, all within a single picture. Significantly,
the fragmentary paintings from the Esquiline Tomb (Fig. 3),
which also feature protagonists repeated across the pictorial
field, postdate direct Roman contact with Hellenistic Greek
artistic models (through the mediation of southern Italy). The

86. Among the most influential of these studies are F. Wickhoff, Roman Art:
Some of Its Principles and TheirApplication to Early Christian
Painting (Mrs. S. A.
Strong's translation of the introduction to WienerGenesis), London/New York,
1900, 110-14, 154-58; J. Strzygowski, Orient oderRom; Beitrag zur Geschichteder
spdtantike und friihchristlichen Kunst, Leipzig, 1901, 3-4; K. LehmannHartleben, Die Trajanssdule; ein romischesKunstwerk am Beginn der Spitantike,
Berlin/Leipzig, 1926, 152-54; M. Wegner, "Die Kunstgeschichtliche Stellung
der
des Deutschen ArchdologischenInstituts, XLVI,1931,
Marcussfiule," Jahrbuch
61-174, esp. 167-70, 173. O.J. Brendel evaluates the contribution of these and
other investigations to our understanding of Roman art, and to intellectual
history in general, in "Prolegomena to a Book on Roman Art," Memoirs of the
AmericanAcademyin Rome,xxI, 1953, 9-73, expanded to Prolegomenato the
Study

of Roman Art, ed.J.J. Pollitt, New Haven, 1979.


87. For a succinct examination of this Hellenistic innovation, see Pollitt (as
in n. 59), 198-205.
88. The idea of continuous narrative is problematic. In order to introduce
some terminological clarity to the scholarly dialogue, "cyclic method" was first
used by K. Weitzmann, Illustrations in Roll and Codex, Studies in Manuscript
Illumination, II, Princeton, NJ., 1970, 40.
89. Weitzmann (as in n. 88), 40; U. Hausmann, HellenistischeReliefbecheraus
Attischen und bootischenWerkstatten,Stuttgart, 1959, 19-58; Blanckenhagen, 56;
Pollitt (as in n. 59), 200-205.
90. For example, the same conventions are found on the panel reliefs of the
Arch of Septimius Severus in Rome, A.D. 203. These reliefs were probably

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ROMAN TRIUMPHAL

PAINTING

141

8 Arch of Septimius
Severus, Rome, northwest
panel, Siegeof Seleucia,A.D.
203 (photo: Fototeca
Unione)

ultimate models for this mode of visual narrative were probably


illustrated scrolls, also initially produced in Alexandria.89
Triumphal paintings provided the Roman precedent for
combining different perspectival practices. Artists changed
viewpoints according to specific needs: figures were seen
straight on, but cities were represented from a high level for
clarity's sake. Despite, or perhaps because of, these anomalies,
triumphal paintings appear to have been effective for the
Roman viewer; indeed, similar conventions continued to
provide the basis for later historical reliefs from the Imperial
period (Fig. 8).90 Whatever the relation may have been
between the Alexandrian Demetrios the Topographosand the
paintings commissioned by Gracchus and Mancinus, the
formal affinity between the conventions of Hellenistic topography and the Roman pictorial record is obvious. They, too,
must have been essentially combinations of bird's-eye perspective and normal views, tending to the conventions of continuous narrative; they were symbolic rather than realistic renderings of events and objects in specific settings. Nonetheless,
they were informative and useful.
What do the sources tell us about the artists of triumphal

paintings and the aims of their patrons?When Marcellus,the


conqueror of Syracuse, returned to Rome with spectacular
spoils of war, notably a great haul of Sicily's choicest art
treasures,his actions implied a deliberate stand:he presented
himself as a man of culture and discernment, and professed
to stimulate Romans to an appreciation and admiration of
Hellenic activity.91He thereby gained a reputation as a
devotee of Greek education and letters and an admirer of
those who excelled at them.92Nevertheless, his goal was not
so much to spread Hellenism as to draw Hellenism into the
service of Roman civic and religious life.93
Many artistscame to Rome from Asia Minor at the time of
the wars with Eumenes II and Antiochos III. When Fulvius
Nobilior returned to Rome after his defeat of the Aetolians
and the capture of Ambracia,many artistsfollowed him from
Greece in preparationfor a great procession and games.94In
addition, Fulvius dedicated the spoils of war to the Muses
themselves: he displayed images of the nine Muses brought
from Ambraciain the newly rebuilt or refurbished Temple of

based on painted prototypes, the paintings Septimius sent to the Senate


HistoriaAugusta,"Severus"
describinghis victories:Herodian 3.9.12; Scriptores
Severusin theRoman
21.12, "Caracalla"9.6; see R. Brilliant,TheArchofSeptimius
Forum,published as a single issue of Memoirsof theAmericanAcademyin Rome,
xxIx, 1967, 223-24.
91. Plutarch,Marcellus1.2.
92. Plutarch,Marcellus21.5; see also Gruen, 214.
93. The treasuresfrom Syracusewere used to finance and decorate a new
temple to Virtus, a characteristicallyRoman deity. See Cicero, In Verrem
2.4.120-21, De Republica1.21; Livy25.40.1-3; Plutarch,Marcellus28.1; Valerius
Maximus1.1.8.
94. Livy39.22.1-2: "multiartificesex Graeciavenerunt honoris eius causa."

Some scholars have suggested that Fulvius and Scipio brought actors and
performers to help mount ludi scaenici. It seems probable, however, that the
artifices mentioned by Livy were neither actors nor Dionysiac technitai to stage
and staff plays; see B. Gentili, Theatrical Performances in the Ancient World:
Hellenistic and Early Roman TheaterAmsterdam, 1979, 15-41.
95. Pliny, Naturalis Historia 35.66; Eumenius, Panegyrici Latini 9.7.3. Eumenius states incorrectly that Fulvius actually built the temple in his censorship of
179 B.C., confusing it with the portico he added to the god's shrine: see Livy
40.51.6. On the Temple of Hercules of the Muses, see E. Nash, Pictorial
Dictionary of Ancient Rome, I, London, 1961, 417; and on the images of the
Muses, which may have been recorded on the coins of Q. Pomponius Musa,
see Crawford (as in n. 57), 410, 437-39.

Hercules of the Muses (the aedes Herculis Musarum).95 The

symbolism is significant, for on one level, it put the fruits of

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142

ART BULLETIN

MARCH 1997 VOLUME LXXIX NUMBER 1

9 Andrea Mantegna, The


Triumphsof Caesar:Captured
Statuesand SiegeEquipment,
a Representationof a
CapturedCityand
Inscriptions(canvas II), ca.
1484-94. Hampton Court
Palace, Royal Collection
(photo: by permission
H. M. Queen Elizabeth II)

war in the service of the advancement of culture,96 and on


another, his dedication of spolia in their proper temple
underscored their fated migration to Rome. Fulvius's action
shows how the matter of spolia could have an effect on the city,
dictating what might be refurbished due to the chance
acquisition of booty. Fulvius was a scholar, writer, and general
who demonstrated a profound interest in the fine arts. He
took the poet Ennius with him on the Ambraciote expedition,
undoubtedly in order to have him compose a laudatory poem
commemorating his campaign.97 Following the example of
victorious commanders before him, Fulvius sought to identify
personal with national accomplishment through a complex
interweaving of artistic, literary, religious, and political elements. His actions were aimed at an enlightened constituency
in Rome.98
Livy states, on the authority of Valerius Antias, that Scipio
Asiaticus gathered artifices in Asia and brought them to
Rome.99 The historian describes how Scipio collected cash
contributions from kings and cities following his victory over
Antiochos III to help finance the games he had vowed in the
event of success; it seems likely that he used some of those
funds to pay his artists. Livy does not specify that his action was
the first of its kind, nor is it likely to have been, for new

paintings representing recent victories and accomplishments


financed from booty or its sale could not have been the work
of local artistsonly.100
After his victory over Perseus at Pydna, Aemilius Paullus
harnessed the literary and visual arts to secure his gloria.He
demanded that Athens send him the most respected philosopher to educate his sons and a painter "to ennoble his
triumph."'0' An Athenian painter named Metrodoros who
was also a respected philosopher met both requirements to
his satisfaction;Metrodoroswas probablyresponsible for the
reliefs commemorating Paullus's victory on his triumphal
monument at Delphi.'02Aemilius Paullus commissioned the
poet-painter Pacuviusto write a fabulapraetextacommemorating his victory, Paullus.103Finally,Pacuviuswas also hired to
decorate the Temple of Hercules in the Forum Boarium;104
the gens Aemilia had enjoyed a long association with the
temple, and it is probable that this famous painting celebrated the triumph of 167 B.C.
Just how good was the work produced for these ideological
and careerist ends? Scholars generally argue that triumphal
paintings were second-rate works, little more than colored
cartoons, and formed part of the repertory of Romanized
Yet two considerations suggest
Etruscanand Italian artists.105

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ROMAN TRIUMPHAL

that from the inception of the practice Romans employed


artists of Greek training.106 First, Etrusco-Italic artists did not
create original representations of battles; rather, such representations were dependent on models furnished by episodes
from Greek mythology in which the Romans could not
obviously recognize themselves. Second, in the first decades
of the third century successive military victories opened to
Rome roads of artistic communication and cultural exchange
with Greek artistic centers in Magna Graecia and Sicily.
The literary sources for Roman triumphal painting describe sophisticated works that were probably beyond the
capabilities of native Roman artists at that time. Greek
painting provided the "provincial" Romans with models for
complex representations of battles. These models superseded
the classical schemata of friezes of combatants with compositions using masses of figures placed in planes of deep space.
As discussed in reference to Messala's battle scene displayed
on the Curia Hostilia, the paintings were most likely the
products of Greek artists, proficient in Hellenistic innovations, working in the service of Roman patrons.
Certainly, triumphatorescompeted to surpass other members
of the elite in the richness and pomp of their processions. The
anecdote Quintilian uses to illustrate a point about jesting is
revealing:

PAINTING

143

audience they needed to impress. Obtaining the finest artists


available to decorate their triumphs was one efficacious
means at their disposal.
Although most of the sources indicate a Roman governing
elite that strove to secure laus and gloria by embracing
Hellenistic art, the historical tradition also contains a kind of
"negative" information regarding the changing tastes and
growing sophistication of Romans during this period. The
victorious campaign of the consul Lucius Mummius against
the forces of the Achaean League culminated in the punishing sack and destruction of Corinth in 146 B.c. Although the
works of art Mummius brought back as booty had a profound
effect on the artistic taste of the age, anecdotes preserved in
the literary sources also reveal the self-consciousness later
Romans of the early empire felt about some of their less
sophisticated Republican ancestors. Pliny relates the following story about the evolving esteem of foreign art in Rome:

When ivory models of captured towns were carried in


Caesar's triumphal procession, and a few days later wooden
models of the same kind were carried in Fabius Maximus's,
Chrysippus remarked that the latter were the boxes for
Caesar's ivory models.107

Mummius, whose victory won him the cognomen Achaicus,


was the first to enhance the esteem which is publicly
accorded to foreign paintings at Rome. For when, during
the sale of the booty [from Corinth] King Attalos [II of
Pergamon] bought a painting by Aristeides, The Father
Liber for six hundred thousand denarii, Mummius, amazed
at the price and having begun to suspect that there might
be something good in the painting which he himself did
not comprehend, demanded that it be brought back, and,
over the prolonged protests of Attalos, placed it in the
sanctuary of Ceres; this, I believe, was the first foreign
picture to become public property in Rome.109

Although not specifically about painting, Quintilian's remark


addresses the role memory played in commissioning elaborate triumphal displays. Memory allowed spectators to compare the wooden models of Fabius with the ivory models of
Caesar (Fig. 9)108 and find the former worthless, no more
than the wooden cases in which Caesar might have kept the
latter. Triumphatoreswere also undoubtedly conscious of the
effects their rivals had achieved, and endeavored to surpass
them with their own celebrations, always mindful of the

Pliny goes on to state that following Mummius's action,


paintings were commonly displayed in the Forum Romanum,
undoubtedly in order to recall the exploits of great men.110
The accounts related here about Marcellus's sack of Syracuse
and Fulvius's dedication of his spolia to the Muses, however,
indicate that The Father Liber could not have been the first
foreign painting displayed in Rome."' Rather, such conflicting testimony indicates the danger of taking sources such as
Pliny at face value and, at the same time, reveals the kind of

96. Cicero, Pro Archza 27: "Fulvius non dubitavit Martis manubias Musis
consecrare." See Gruen, 109-10. I have benefited from conversations with
Michael Koortbojian on this topic.
97. According to Cicero, Tusculanae Disputatzones 1.3, Cato the Censor
rebuked Fulvius for hiring such "flatterers." What we know of Quintus Ennius
(239-169 B.C.), who wrote in an affected and Hellenized Latin, makes an
interesting comparison with the Hellenization of contemporary painters in
Rome; in addition, Ennius extolled the aristocratic pursuit of glona: Annales fr.
333-5, 434-5; cf. TragicFragments 10-12. It should be noted that Cato himself
had been responsible for bringing Ennius to Rome from Sardinia, an
important event in the development of Latin poetry: Nepos, Cato 1.4.
98. Gruen, 110. A. Stewart, Attzka. StudzesznAthenzan Sculptureof theHellenzstic
Age, London, 1979, 43, suggests that Fulvius might have promoted the work of
the Athenian sculptor Polycles, whose son Timarchides was subsequently
engaged by Roman nobzlesto decorate temples; Pliny, Naturalzs Hzstona 36.35.
99. Livy, 39.22.10: "tum collatas ei pecunias congregatosque per Asiam
artifices." Gruen, 106, rightly argues that here the term almost certainly
means artists or artisans rather than dramatic actors, as there were plenty of
the other already in Italy; contra Gruen, seeJ. C. Balty, "La statue de bronze de
T. Quinctius Flaminius ad Apollznzszn czrco,"Milanges d'Archiologieet d'Histozrede
l'EcoleFrangazsede Rome, xc, 1978, 683-84.
100. See Gruen, 106.
101. Pliny, Naturalzs Hzstona
"ad triumphum excolendum."
102. See H. KFihler,Der Fries35.135"
vom Rezterdenkmaldes Aemzhus Paullus zn Delphz,

Berlin, 1965.
103. For the remaining fragments see E. H. Warmington, Remains of Old
Latin, II, Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass., 1936, 302-5; see also
Plutarch, AemzlzusPaullus 15. Marcus Pacuvius (220-130 B.c.) was also a major
dramatist and the nephew of the epic poet Ennius.
104. Pliny, Naturalzs Hzstona 35.19: "Proxime celebrata est in foro boario
aede Herculls Pacui poetae pictura."
105. This view is best expressed in the work of G. Becatti, "Metrodoro e
Paolo Emilio: Una Ipotesi," Crtzca d'Arte, vi, 1941, 71-72; idem, Arte e gusto
neglzscntton latznz,Florence, 1951, 7-8.
106. See Felletti Maj (as in n. 45), 61.
107. Quintilian, Instztutio oratoria 6.3.61: "ut Chrysippus, cum in triumpho
Caesaris eborea oppida essent translata, et post dies paucos Fabii Maximi
lignea, thecas esse oppidorum Caesaris dixit." The Fabius Maximus of this
anecdote was Caesar's legatus in Spain; Chrysippus was probably Chrysippus
Vettius, a freedman and architect. The rhetorician, teacher, and advocate
Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (ca. A.D. 30-ca. 100) was patronized by Galba,
Vespasian, and Domitian, among others.
108. The painting measures 2.66 x 2.78 m. See Martindale (as in n. 43);
Hope (as in n. 43).
109. Pliny, Naturalzs Hzstona 35.24 (trans. Pollitt).
110. Pliny, Naturalzs Hzstona 35.24: "Deindi uideo et in foro positas uolgo."
111. See Gruen, 125.

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144

ART BULLETIN

MARCH 1997 VOLUME LXXIX NUMBER 1

mythology that was developing around these generals. Nevertheless, Mummius's boorishness in artistic matters became
legendary:
Mummius, however, was so lacking in culture that, when he
had captured Corinth and was arranging for the transportation to Italy of paintings and statues, which were masterpieces by the hands of the greatest artists, he warned those
in charge of the transportation that if they destroyed any of
the statues and paintings, they would have to replace them
with new ones.112

Victorious commanders, through the dual display of art


objects brought back as plunder and those works specifically
commissioned to celebrate their triumph, therefore, cultivated an image as promoters of the fine arts. The public
display of a triumphal painting demonstrates the multiple
purposes to which a Roman leader could apply a single work
of art. A great painting such as that commissioned by Tiberius
Sempronius Gracchus combined individual publicity with the
observance of a national military success, the conquest of a
province, and an expression of gratitude for divine favor.

Caesar's Fears, Ovid's Seductions:


The Reception of Roman Triumphal Painting
As noted at the outset, the Roman elite used triumphal
paintings for ideological purposes. Patrons utilized the paintings they commissioned to persuade fellow Romans to follow
their political lead. Ancient Rome presented no single or
monolithic audience, however, for these works."3 Rather, the
audience for triumphal paintings embraced the whole of the
Roman populace, and was therefore characterized by the
same strong class divisions and social hierarchies that generated political tensions throughout the Republican period.
Furthermore, people journeyed into Rome from the country
for triumphal celebrations, and swarms of slaves and foreigners joined the crush of citizens to watch the spectacle of the
procession. Suetonius describes crowds so vast for Caesar's
triumph in 46 B.C. that two senators and several others died in
the press of the mob." Although the ancient testimonia were
necessarily written by and for an educated elite, they nevertheless indicate the heterogeneity of those who witnessed the
paintings and suggest various strategies patrons exploited to
manipulate those audiences.
Certainly, different classes responded to triumphal paintings in a way that corresponded to their various social and
112 Velleius Paterculus 1.13.4 (trans. Pollitt). The Roman military officer
Velleius Paterculus (ca. 19 B.C.-after A.D. 30) wrote a brief account of Roman
history to celebrate a friend's consulship; he was an admirer of Tiberius
(under whom he served), and his evidence and interpretations must be used
with care. Gruen, 123-29, for example, argues for a more sympathetic picture
of Mummius, whose actions demonstrated a high regard for Greek art,
promoted its display in Rome and Italy, and reinforced its association with the
Roman political and religious institutions.
113. See the discussion rendering problematic the notion of the audience
for Roman art by N. B. Kampen, "On Not Writing the History of Roman Art,"
Art Bulletzn, LxxvII, no. 3, 1995, 375-78.
114. Suetonius, Dzvus lulhus 39.
115. See Freedberg (as in n. 6), 23.
116. By codes I do not mean units of meaning; rather, codes are areas of
connotation that are occupied differently for different classes and even class

cultural situations. The paintings, like any work of public art,


were encoded so as to communicate specific messages to
specific cultures or groups-not only the educated elite but
also the communities from which the artists themselves
emerged, and other segments of the Roman populace.115 As
will be shown, the distribution of codes necessary for the
interpretation of triumphal paintings was unequal: some
systems could have been known by most of the lower classes,
whereas others would be discernible by only the most sophisticated of viewers.116
Whatever the class, the medium of triumphal painting,
through which various Hellenistic conventions of painting
were introduced to Rome, provoked a powerful response.
The Greek biographer Plutarch emphasized the role played
by the spoils Marcellus brought back from the sack of
Syracuse in transforming Rome physically through their
public display and also intellectually by helping foster the
intellectual ferment of the late Republic. He wrote that
conservative Romans criticized Marcellus "because he had
filled the Roman people, who had hitherto been accustomed
to fighting or farming and had no experience with a life of
softness and ease ... with a taste for leisure and idle talk,
affecting urbane opinions about art and artists, even to the
point of wasting the better part of the day on such things."'17
Not only collecting and displaying Greek art but also learning
about it and exhibiting one's erudition became status symbols
for rich Romans.118
In this socially competitive context triumphatoressought the
services of the best Greek artists available in order to increase
their gloria among their true peers, other leaders drawn from
the educated upper classes. The efficacy of a painting might
correspond directly with the quality of the representation: the
finer the painting, the more famous the event it commemorated might become; the better the artist or painting, the
greater the potential gloria accrued to the triumphatorand his
family.119In addition, style itself might be considered capable
of holding political significance. Among the upper classes,
sophisticated viewers might distinguish the work of the Asian
artifices brought to Rome by Scipio Asiaticus from the neoAttic classicism of Metrodoros's work for Aemilius Paullus;
they could admire a painting for its aesthetic qualities, for its
artistic skill, as well as for its ability to communicate the
specific deeds it commemorated. It is this last criterion,
however, that remained the primary function of the painting.
Clarity in transmitting the facts about events-or, rather, the
triumphator's preferred rendition of those facts-remained
factions, complicated by other factors such as ethnicity and gender, as well as
the whole cultural experience of the viewer. See W. Iser, "Indeterminacy and
the Reader's Response in Prose Fiction," in Aspects of Narrative, ed. J. Hillis
Miller, NewYork, 1971; H. R Jauss, AestheticExperienceand LzteraryHermeneutzcs,
trans M. Shaw, Ann Arbor, Mich, 1982, esp. 92; idem, Toward an Aesthetic of
Reception,trans. T. Bahti, Ann Arbor, Mich., 1982.
117. Plutarch, Marcellus 21 (trans. Pollitt). Livy (25.40) also gives Marcellus
credit for initiating the Roman fascination with Greek art.
118. See, for example, Epistulae ad Attwum, the letters of Cicero to Titus
Pomponlus Atticus (109-32 B.C.), who resided in Athens and purchased works
of art to decorate his friend's villa in Tusculum.
119. See Freedberg (as in n. 6), 112
120. Varro, De Re Rustica 1.2.1.
121. Pliny, Naturalis Historza3.2.17.

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ROMAN TRIUMPHAL

the basis for assessing a painting's effectiveness among the


masses of Roman citizenry.
After the procession, triumphatores also exhibited their
paintings in public spaces to continue to evoke powerful
partisan responses in the spectators. As noted above, Messala
secured his gloria by displaying a painting of a battle on the
wall of the Curia Hostilia in 264 B.C. Generally, the public
display of paintings was a means of strengthening the gloria of
an entire family. Gaius Sempronius Gracchus undoubtedly
chose to place his picta Italia in the Temple of Tellus because it
had been built by his father;120 Marcus Agrippa placed his
huge map showing Rome's domination of the world in the
Porticus Vipsania, built by his sister.121As Erich Gruen has
argued, the use of artistic creations to promote Roman values
and to broadcast both individual and national achievements
was well entrenched and undisputed. The phenomenon
cannot be reduced to mere pragmatism or cynicism, for
"political, religious and aesthetic elements all played a part,
overlapping and entwined."122
Nevertheless, public exhibition of triumphal paintings
could also incite disapproving reactions, such as jealousy and
even bitterness. Pliny relates the story that when Scipio
Asiaticus placed a picture representing his Asiatic victory of
190 B.C. on the Capitoline, his action infuriated his brother,
Scipio Africanus, since Africanus's adoptive son, Lucius Cornelius Scipio, had been taken prisoner in that war.123The elite
would have access to full accounts of military campaigns,124
and they also had firsthand knowledge of factional intrigues
at home. This audience, viewing triumphal paintings with the
awareness of political insiders, could recognize potential
political implications, both subtle and overt, conveyed by
some representations.
The events Pliny relates about Mancinus, the Roman victor
at Carthage, demonstrate the effective use of a triumphal
painting following its appearance in the procession; in this
instance the adoptive son of Scipio Africanus again suffered
from the public display of triumphal art:
L. Hostilius Mancinus, who first broke into Carthage,
committed a not dissimilar offense against Aemilianus by
placing in the Forum [a painting depicting] the site of the
city and his own assaults upon it, and also by being present
himself and explaining the details to the onlooking public
(for which affable behavior he was elected to the consulship in the next assembly).'125

PAINTING

145

political rival, his blatant self-promotion helped him win the


consulship and favorable attention in the subsequent literary
tradition concerning the war: his triumphal painting helped
him secure his gloria.126Certainly, seeing the general standing
beside the painting and using it as a visual aid for his speeches
increased the viewer's involvement and augmented the painting's didactic and propagandistic value. The use of visual
props itself was not novel or unique; literary sources describe
instances in which lawyers and private citizens used pictorial
representations in their pleas,127 and the archaeological
record provides numerous examples of simple illustrations
used as advertisements and shop signs.'28 We may wonder,
however, whether the continued introduction of obscure
personifications and other unfamiliar artistic conventions
necessitated some type of oral explanation to make the
paintings intelligible to the general public.
The triumphal paintings of the last century of the Republican period became increasingly complex and elaborate, truly
spectacular and sensational decorations commemorating military victory. Ancient literary sources describe the introduction of suites of paintings providing more and more information about historical events. Not only specific battles but also
the events leading up to war and its consequences were
depicted. It was necessary for the observer to coalesce the
visual imagery, supply missing connections, and construct
imagery into meaning.'29 Paradoxically, the more information triumphal paintings provided, the more indeterminate
they might become for many spectators. In order to secure
laus and gloria, triumphatoresneeded to insure that the Roman
audience properly interpreted their deeds.
In his triumph of 46 B.C.,Julius Caesar displayed twenty
paintings retracing the evils of the civil war, including the
forced suicides of his defeated enemies. These images must
have been easily understood, and were therefore particularly
effective, for each elicited different yet deeply felt reactions
from the crowd:
People groaned when they saw the picture of Lucius
Scipio, the general-in-chief, wounded in the breast by his
own hand, casting himself into the sea, and Petreius
committing self-destruction at the banquet, and Cato torn
open by himself like a wild beast. They applauded the
deaths of Achillas and Pothinus, and laughed at the flight
of Pharnaces.130

Although Mancinus's use of a topographical painting as a


polemic against Scipio Aemilianus offended and angered his

Although a biased source, Appian must be accurate in


reporting the anguished reactions of Romans to depictions of
the deaths of fellow citizens;131"Caesar chose to regard these

122. Gruen, 103.


123. Pliny, Naturalzs Hzstona 35.22: "Fecit hoc idem et L. Scipio tabulamque
uictoriae suae Asiaticae in Capitolio posuit, idque aegre tulisse fratrem
Africanum tradunt, haut inmerito, quando filius eius illo proelio captus
fuerat. "
124. The Senate heard the military lztteraesent by commanders from the
front explaining their actions throughout campaigns. The commentaries of
Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.), for example, built on that tradition and presented
events from his point of view to a larger yet still literate audience.
125. Pliny, NaturahlzsHistona 35.23 (trans. Pollitt).
126. Those giving credit to Mancinus's successes include Livy, Penochae 51;
Florus 1.31.10; Ampelius 32.1; while Appian, Punzc Wars 113-14, gives a less
favorable version. See A. E. Astin, SczpioAemzlianus, Oxford, 1967, 121; Gruen,
118.

127. Cicero, Pro Sestzo93; Persius, Satzres6.32 ff.; see Blanckenhagen, 55.
128. T. Fr6hlich, Laranen- und Fassadenbzlderin den Vesuvstaidten:Untersuchungen zur "Volksttimlzchen"
PompeyanzschenMalerez, Mitteilungen des Deutschen
Archa~ologischen Instituts, R6mische Abteilung, Ergfinzungsheft xxxII, 1991;
see Ling (as in n. 77), 163.
129. A precept of reception theory is that all works are full of indeterminacies, that is, elements that can be interpreted in a number of different, perhaps
mutually conflicting ways, and that depend on the observer's interpretation
for their effect. Cf. Iser (as in n. 116).
130. Appian, Bella Czvzlza2.101 (trans. H. White).
131. The histories of Appian (born in Alexandria, fl. mid-2nd century A.D.)
reveal an admirer of Roman impenalism with a strong devotion to Rome
(where he had served as an advocate). He preserves much interesting
information but is unreliable about Republican institutions.

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146

ART BULLETIN

MARCH 1997 VOLUME LXXIX NUMBER

10 Arch of Titus, Rome, SpoilsofJerusalem,ca. A.D. 90, (photo:


DAI)

men as having lost their claim to Roman citizenship because


they were traitors dominated by a foreign king and had
purportedly promised away Roman domains.132 In contrast,
paintings showing the deaths of demonstrably foreign enemies must have provided a sense of release; rather than
despair, their images evoked unmitigated applause and laughter.133
Appian records that the Roman people had been overwhelmed by the paintings displayed in Pompey's triumph
following the Mithridatic Wars in 62 B.C.:
Portraits of those who were not present were also carried in
the procession, notably of Tigranes of Armenia and Mithridates, fighting, being conquered, and fleeing. Even the
besieging of Mithridates and his silent flight by night were
represented. And finally it was shown how he died; the
virgins who chose to perish with him were depicted
standing by, and there were paintings of the sons and
daughters who died before him and also images of the
barbarian gods adorned in the fashion of the countries.134
The means of expression available to artists in the first
century B.C. suggest that these images combined realistic
narrative features with divine and allegorical figures, such as
the goddess Nyx and a personification of taciturnity, in order
to depict the nature of the king's flight.
Although Pompey's paintings may have been properly
construed by a sophisticated viewer drawn from the ruling
elite, such densely complex imagery, passing by quickly in the
initial procession, was undoubtedly beyond the comprehen-

132. Caesar, Bellum Africanum, 57.2-6. At the final African triumph Caesar
included the Numidian king Juba's four-year-old son of the same name in
order to prove that the campaign had been foreign and not civil strife.
133. For additional descriptions of Caesar's triumph and the reactions it
elicited, see Suetonius, Caesar37; Plutarch, Caesar55.2; Dio 43.20.
134. Appian, Mithridatic War17.117.
135. Note, for example, the inscriptions on the Esquiline Tomb painting
(Fig. 3). The Roman public visited the interiors of large and richly decorated
tombs: see Cicero, Pro Archia 22; Livy 38.56.4.
136. See M. Pfanner, Der Titusbogen, Mainz, 1983; R. R. Holloway, "Some
Remarks on the Arch of Titus," L'AntiquitW
classique, XLVI,1987, 183-91.

sion of the average Roman. Consequently, patrons employed


various means to ameliorate the situation. For example, in the
tomb paintings of the Republican period, inscriptions insured a direct linking of the events depicted from lives of the
deceased; they were considered essential for viewers (both
family members participating in funerals and commemorative rites and other visitors to the tombs) to achieve an
accurate and specific interpretation.135 Placards called tituli
were carried to identify and explain some of the displays in
triumphal processions (a detail Mantegna picked up from the
Arch of Titus reliefs; Figs. 9, 10).136 In Pompey's triumph,
sixty-one inscriptions were carried to inform spectators about
his victories.137
The efficacy of tituli, however, presupposes a literate audience that could read them.138 The educated elite would
discern their significance, and literate spectators who read
the tituli aloud for their company would have been overheard
by other viewers within earshot.'39 Some triumphatoresmay
have hired special attendants (apparitores)or claquers to read
the passing inscriptions to the crowds;140 although no evidence survives relating specifically to triumphal processions,
planting hired spectators in an audience was characteristic of
other public observances in Rome.141 Finally, it seems likely
that veterans would mill around the paintings both immediately and long after the procession, reminiscing about the
campaign and bragging about their own exploits. (In Warand
Peace,Tolstoy showed how differently soldiers view battle from
their commanders.) Self-aggrandizement by individual soldiers, similar to Mancinus's actions, could only increase the
gloria of the victory commemorated by the images.
Ovid sought to turn the general confusion that attended
triumphal displays to the advantage of a young man in love. In
The Art of Love, Ovid advises his listener to impress his
potential conquest as a triumphal procession passes:
And when some girl inquires the names of the monarchs,
Or the towns, rivers, and hills portrayed,
Answer all her questions (and don't draw the line at
Questions only): pretend
You know even when you don't. Here comes the
Euphrates, tell her,
With reed-fringed brow; those dark
Blue tresses belong to Tigris, I fancy; there go Armenians,
That's Persia, and that, h'r'm, is some
Upland Achaemenid city. Both those men there are
generalsGive the names if you know them, if not, invent.142

137. Plutarch, Pompey45.1-3, describes plaques informing the crowds of the


names of conquered territories, and that one hundred fortresses were taken,
that thirty-nine cities were founded, and that twenty thousand talents worth of
gold and silver had been deposited in the treasury. See J. van Ootgehem,
Pomp&ele Grand: Bdtisseur d'empire,Bruxelles, 1954.
138. On this issue generally, see Harris (as in n. 61), esp. 213. M. Corbier,
"L'ecriture dans l'espace public romain," L'Urbs:Espace urbain et histoire,Actes
du colloque (Rome, 8-12 mai 1985), Rome, 1987, 27-60, is probably mistaken
when she implies that the Roman elite tried to communicate with the
population at large by written means.
139. Cf. P.J. Vanderbroek, Popular Leadershipand CollectiveBehavior in theLate

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ROMAN TRIUMPHAL

Ovid playfully points out the contrasts of potential responses


conditioned by cultural and literate sensitivity. Although he
actually writes for an audience drawn from the educated elite
of Augustan Rome, he pretends to address a member of the
masses, or, at least, a youth less experienced in worldly ways,
and thereby enframes important questions regarding the
ultimate effectiveness of these images. One can easily imagine
a situation (similar to that speculated above regarding soldiers sharing exaggerated war stories after the procession) in
which even incorrect interpretations volunteered by viewers
enhanced the propagandistic efficacy of triumphal paintings.
Yet triumphal paintings could be effective even if the mass
of spectators did not fully comprehend what they were
looking at. The sheer force of their number and scale, evident
in the cataloguelike descriptions of triumphal parades, even
the very obscurity of their foreign and exotic artistic conventions apparently impressed Romans who lined the parade
route and later viewed the works in temples. Members of the
lower classes and country folk who came to Rome for the
spectacle must have been profoundly affected by these images
of power. Modern tourists in Rome have been moved by
commemorative monuments whose elaborate programs were
derived from the tradition of triumphal painting.143 Although
it is impossible to discern clearly from most vantage points the
decorative reliefs on the columns of Trajan and of Marcus
Aurelius, or the panels on the arches of Septimius Severus
(Fig. 8) and of Constantine, contemporary viewers (who are
further conditioned in their responses by such factors as the
age and media of such monuments) are still awed by their
remains. It seems likely, then, that the patrons and makers of
triumphal paintings aimed at two different modes of exhibition: the initial presentation in the procession itself and the
later display in some public place. The design of the most
effective paintings probably took both spectacles into account, leading to works that could be seen as both iconic and

PAINTING

147

and thereby justified the reasons for the celebration, and


their later public display both commemorated the victory and
kept the triumphal spectacle alive in the minds of those who
had seen it. Unlike all the sacrifices, processions, speeches,
prayers, and other elements of the triumphal celebration, the
paintings commissioned for the spectacle remained a lasting
record extolling the gloria of the triumphator Even with the
introduction of novel, Hellenistic conventions, which may
have temporarily confused some Roman viewers, the triumph's visual imagery remained an exceedingly potent force.
The distinction between reality and illustration was not always
clear in antiquity. The Early Christian propagandist Tertullian
warned against confusing the two worlds of the quotidian and
the spectacle, and was especially fearful of artistic imagery.145
Appian reports that a depiction of one defeated enemy's
death was not exhibited in the triumph of 46 B.C.:even Caesar,
at the height of his popularity, refrained from showing the
image of Pompey among that group from fear of stirring up
the people.146 His reticence underscores the powerful feelings that the display of triumphal paintings could arouse in
the Roman populace.

Frequently Cited Sources


Blanckenhagen, P. H. von, ThePaintzngsfrom Boscotrecase,Heidelberg, 1962.
Gruen, E., Culture and Natzonal Identity zn RepublzcanRome, Ithaca, N.Y., 1992.
Meyboom, P.G.P., The NzleMosaic ofPalestrzna: Early EvzdenceofEgyptzanRelzgion
in Italy, Leiden, 1995.
Pollitt, J. J., The Art of Rome c. 753 B.C.-A.D. 337: Sources and Documents,
Cambridge, 1983.

In conclusion, paintings were a crucial component of the


triumphal procession: they demonstrated the military victory

Peter J. Holliday editedand contributedto Narrative and Event in


Ancient Art (Cambridge University Press, 1993). His book on
Roman historicalpainting during the Republicanperiod isforthcoming [DepartmentofArt, California State University,San Bernardino,
Calif., 92407].

Roman Republzc(ca. 80-50 B.c.), Amsterdam, 1987, 111. W. V. Harris, "Literacy


and Epigraphy," Zeztschrzftfir Papyrologie und Epzgraphik, LII, 1983, 87-111,
analyzed the epigraphical evidence of advertisements for gladiatorial games
and election bills at Pompeii and decided they were probably written by
professionals and directed toward the upper strata of society.
140. Heralds, for example, similar to the praecones familiar at games, law
courts, sacrifices, and funerals may have been employed; see F. Hinard,
"Remarques sur les praecones et la praeconzum dans la Rome de la fin de la
Republique," Latomus, xxxv, 1976, 730-46.
141. Inter alia, Pliny, Epistulae 2.14, describes people hired to applaud
prepared speeches; Horace, Ars Poetzca431, mentions hired mourners at

funerals (a common practice); Cicero, Pro Sestzo 49.104, refers to hired


audiences at political assemblies; Plutarch, Pompey 48.7, describes P. Clodius
whipping up a crowd.
142. Ovid, Ars Amatona 1.219-28 (trans. P. Green, Penguin Classics).
143. See above, n. 90.
144. I am grateful to Bettina Bergmann for suggesting this line of exploration.
145. Tertullian, De Spectaculzs 12: "in mortuorum autem idolis daemonia
consistunt"; see above, n. 11. I am grateful to Richard Brilliant, who suggested
this citation.
146. Appian, Bella Czivilia2 101.

narrative.144

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