Roman Triumph

Classicist Mary Beard's Roman Triumph is a detailed, scholarly look at an aspect of Roman ceremonial theatrics most of us probably thought we knew at least something about. We think we know that in the triumph: The victorious general stood in a chariot on the Campus Martius, laurel crown on his head, with a slave behind him to remind him that he is only mortal. In front of his chariot stood the chained captives to be killed and the plunder from the war. Behind his chariot stood his soldiers singing increasingly drunken ditties. The procession, granted him and paid for by the Senate, made its way from outside the pomoerium through a triumphal arch to the Capitoline Hill, and ended with sacrifice and feasts for all. Mary Beard takes all this apart.

In addition to being a must-read for anyone interested in military victories (she ties the Roman celebration to modern events), Roman Triumph should be on the short list for those concerned with historical accuracy or the ancient historians. Beard explains why we have certain stereotypes about Roman triumphs, but she also shows how those stereotypes may have been one-time occurrences, deductions based on faulty information, guesses or lies. Importantly, most of what she writes about Roman triumphs applies to ancient history, in general.

After warning the reader to be skeptical of accounts based on hearsay generations after the events, Beard stresses that there is a limit to how skeptical we should be. Triumphs like Pompey's in 61 B.C. are documented so many places, including public inscriptions, that it would be perverse to deny it, but it would be equally perverse to accept the triumph of Romulus as any more historical than the stories of King Arthur.

Beard wrote Roman Triumph for a general audience. I'm not sure what makes something suitable for the general audience and what makes it only for a select few. I know her blog is entertaining and accessible. Likewise, the prose of Roman Triumph is witty and easy enough to read, but I still wouldn't recommend it for people who know little about ancient history.

Mary Beard writes the irreverent "A Don's Life," a blog, from her perspective as a Cambridge University don.