S1E17 Victory and Triumph in Ancient Rome

In the 1920s and 1930s, fascist dictator Benito Mussolini celebrated a number of ancient Roman centennials, coopting Roman imagery and symbolism to inaugurate his own “rebirth” of the Roman Empire. But did these symbols mean the same thing to the ancient Romans that they did to Mussolini? Where did these symbols come from, and what role did they play in the Roman Republic? By tracing the evolution of the Roman triumphal parade in the Roman Republic, this presentation will demonstrate why the triumph was so important in Roman society, explain how it came to underscore and shed light on why this ancient military and religious procession continues to resonate into the modern world.

Alyson Roy is an assistant professor of ancient history at the University of Idaho. Her research focuses on the Roman Republic, ancient military history, material culture and numismatics. Her forthcoming book project, Circulating Triumph: Conquest Imagery and its Reception in the Roman Republic, explores the use of triumphal imagery in the provinces to extend and reinforce conquest. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Washington.

Watch the video here.