Staging the world. Rome and the other in the triumphal procession
(2003)- Abstract
- The triumphal procession staged Roman conquest and supremacy, featuring the defeated ‘other’ as opposed to the victorious ‘self’ in a rather fixed role-playing. This thesis takes as its theoretical premise that these ritually recurrent and visually emphatic processions both conveyed and constructed Roman views of the self and the other, and that they can be studied as formative expressions of such conceptions. Basically, the thesis is an inquiry into how Rome presented and perceived the subjugated other on triumphal display – the spoils, captives and representations. The study establishes the single displays and interprets them in terms of contents, meaning, function, placing, categorisation, reception and change. Arms, ships and rams,... (More)
- The triumphal procession staged Roman conquest and supremacy, featuring the defeated ‘other’ as opposed to the victorious ‘self’ in a rather fixed role-playing. This thesis takes as its theoretical premise that these ritually recurrent and visually emphatic processions both conveyed and constructed Roman views of the self and the other, and that they can be studied as formative expressions of such conceptions. Basically, the thesis is an inquiry into how Rome presented and perceived the subjugated other on triumphal display – the spoils, captives and representations. The study establishes the single displays and interprets them in terms of contents, meaning, function, placing, categorisation, reception and change. Arms, ships and rams, coins and bullion, statues and paintings, art objects, golden crowns, prisoners, hostages, animals and trees are examined in separate chapters, as are the representations made for the occasion, including models and personifications of subdued places and tableaux staging war scenes. The analysis embraces the period between the early 3rd century B.C. and the age of Trajan and takes into use the complete corpus of ancient sources, literary and pictorial.
Each chapter forms a unit with its own discussions and results. For example, the chapter dealing with ships and rams includes an analysis of the naval triumphs. The chapter discussing the representations rejects the traditional concept ‘triumphal paintings’ and concludes that conquered cities were primarily shown as models and war scenes as dramatic tableaux. It also shows that the scenes on parade staged the acts of the captives rather than the deeds of the triumphator. The finishing chapter brings together important conclusions and interprets them in their processional, ideological and historic context. It concludes that spoils, captives and representations, forming the group of ‘others’ were staged in marked contrast to all representatives of Rome. It shows that conquest was the major theme in the display of the other, whether the objects and people had been captured by rights of war or received as gifts or hostages, whether they came from the area of vanquishment or beyond. The thesis also concludes that spoils and captives formed the two basic categories in the processional staging of the other. The representations produced for the parade were not perceived as a particular category but they too were staged as or attached to the spoils and captives. The thesis concludes by discussing a few central themes that have become visible through this study: the display of wealth, manifesting both financial and political power, the pronounced exhibition of others (as wild rivers, barbarian Gauls and eastern kings) and the manifestation of Roman world supremacy. It is shown that the triumphs of the 2nd century B.C. manifested world power only implicitly, while the great parades of the late Republic ostentatiously boasted world conquest. In the Imperial period, world mastery rather than conquest was staged, also in triumphs held over limited areas. The development has many parallels, and the study shows that the late Republic was the most expansive period of triumphal displays, reflecting Rome’s confidence in its newly established hegemony. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Det romerska triumftåget var en segerprocession som paraderade in i och genom staden Rom efter varje segerrikt fälttåg. I tåget leddes byten och fångar av många olika slag samt avbildningar av erövrade platser och folkslag som tillverkats för processionen. Avhandlingen analyserar dessa uttryck för ”den andre” och diskuterar hur triumftåget både reflekterade och skapade uppfattningar i Rom om den egna identiteten och om omvärlden. Byten, fångar och avbildningar är indelade i undergrupper som analyseras i enskilda kapitel. Så diskuteras som byten: vapen, skepp och rammar, mynt, statyer, konstföremål och guldkransar och som fångar: krigsfångar, gisslan, djur och träd. Avbildningarna är indelade i... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Det romerska triumftåget var en segerprocession som paraderade in i och genom staden Rom efter varje segerrikt fälttåg. I tåget leddes byten och fångar av många olika slag samt avbildningar av erövrade platser och folkslag som tillverkats för processionen. Avhandlingen analyserar dessa uttryck för ”den andre” och diskuterar hur triumftåget både reflekterade och skapade uppfattningar i Rom om den egna identiteten och om omvärlden. Byten, fångar och avbildningar är indelade i undergrupper som analyseras i enskilda kapitel. Så diskuteras som byten: vapen, skepp och rammar, mynt, statyer, konstföremål och guldkransar och som fångar: krigsfångar, gisslan, djur och träd. Avbildningarna är indelade i stadsmodeller, personifikationer av folkslag och floder samt tablåer med dramatiska iscensättningar av krigshändelser. Studien spänner över tiden från det tidiga 200-talet före Kristus till kejsar Trajanus (98–117 e. Kr.) och baserar sig på en genomgång av alla bevarade källor, i skrift och bild.
Varje kapitel fungerar som en enhet med sina specifika diskussioner och resultat. Så diskuteras exempelvis i kapitlet om skepp också en specifik variant av triumfen, den så kallade triumphus navalis, sjötriumfen. I kapitlet om konstföremål görs en ingående analys av det judiska bytet i Vespasianus och Titus triumf, såsom det visas på Titusbågen och beskrivs av Josephus. Kapitlet om avbildningar diskuterar och avfärdar det gängse begreppet ”triumfmålningar” och fastslår att avbildningarna i triumfen inte vara målningar utan istället tredimensionella modeller, personifikationer och dramatiska tablåer. Här konstateras också att avbildningarna i triumfen inte visade triumfatorns bedrifter utan fångarnas krigiska gärningar. I slutkapitlet förs centrala slutsatser från de enskilda kapitlen samman och sätts i sina sammanhang, processionella, ideologiska och historiska. Här visas att byten, fångar och avbildningar, alla uttryck för ”den andre” paraderas separat från och i tydlig kontrast till ceremonins alla romerska deltagare. I gruppen som representerade den andre var erövring ett framträdande budskap. Föremål som tagits som byte och de som getts som gåvor visades alla tillsammans som erövrade, liksom gjorde även fångar tagna i krig och gisslan givna vid krigsslut. Här fastslås också att byten och fångar var de två huvudkategorierna av ”den andre” som visades i triumfen. Avbildningar gjorda för processionen uppfattades inte som en enskild kategori utan paraderades också de som byten eller fångar, alternativt åtföljande andra byten och fångar som visuella förklaringar. Slutkapitlet avslutas med en diskussion av ett antal tydliga temata i uppvisandet av den andre som framträtt genom undersökningen: framvisandet av rikedom (som uttryck av både finansiell och politisk makt), den markerade manifestationen av den andre (representerad av t.ex. vilda floder, barbarer och kungar) som kontrast till det normativa romerska och den tydliga demonstrationen av ett romerskt världsherravälde. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/21201
- author
- Östenberg, Ida LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Prof. Coleman, Kathleen, Harvard University
- organization
- publishing date
- 2003
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- world mastery, kings, barbarians, conquest, aerarium, wealth, triumphator, representations, captives, spoils, enargeia, spectators, display, role-playing, processional sequence, self-definition, the other, ritual, performance, Rome, triumphal procession, oikumene., Ancient history, Antikens och forntidens historia
- pages
- 341 pages
- publisher
- Ida Östenberg, Department of Archaeology and Ancient history, Sölvegatan 2, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden
- defense location
- Carolinasalen, Kungshuset, Lund
- defense date
- 2003-12-06 10:15:00
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2b025db7-7da5-4c41-8b2a-744eed29021f (old id 21201)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 12:24:42
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 21:10:47
@phdthesis{2b025db7-7da5-4c41-8b2a-744eed29021f,
abstract = {{The triumphal procession staged Roman conquest and supremacy, featuring the defeated ‘other’ as opposed to the victorious ‘self’ in a rather fixed role-playing. This thesis takes as its theoretical premise that these ritually recurrent and visually emphatic processions both conveyed and constructed Roman views of the self and the other, and that they can be studied as formative expressions of such conceptions. Basically, the thesis is an inquiry into how Rome presented and perceived the subjugated other on triumphal display – the spoils, captives and representations. The study establishes the single displays and interprets them in terms of contents, meaning, function, placing, categorisation, reception and change. Arms, ships and rams, coins and bullion, statues and paintings, art objects, golden crowns, prisoners, hostages, animals and trees are examined in separate chapters, as are the representations made for the occasion, including models and personifications of subdued places and tableaux staging war scenes. The analysis embraces the period between the early 3rd century B.C. and the age of Trajan and takes into use the complete corpus of ancient sources, literary and pictorial.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Each chapter forms a unit with its own discussions and results. For example, the chapter dealing with ships and rams includes an analysis of the naval triumphs. The chapter discussing the representations rejects the traditional concept ‘triumphal paintings’ and concludes that conquered cities were primarily shown as models and war scenes as dramatic tableaux. It also shows that the scenes on parade staged the acts of the captives rather than the deeds of the triumphator. The finishing chapter brings together important conclusions and interprets them in their processional, ideological and historic context. It concludes that spoils, captives and representations, forming the group of ‘others’ were staged in marked contrast to all representatives of Rome. It shows that conquest was the major theme in the display of the other, whether the objects and people had been captured by rights of war or received as gifts or hostages, whether they came from the area of vanquishment or beyond. The thesis also concludes that spoils and captives formed the two basic categories in the processional staging of the other. The representations produced for the parade were not perceived as a particular category but they too were staged as or attached to the spoils and captives. The thesis concludes by discussing a few central themes that have become visible through this study: the display of wealth, manifesting both financial and political power, the pronounced exhibition of others (as wild rivers, barbarian Gauls and eastern kings) and the manifestation of Roman world supremacy. It is shown that the triumphs of the 2nd century B.C. manifested world power only implicitly, while the great parades of the late Republic ostentatiously boasted world conquest. In the Imperial period, world mastery rather than conquest was staged, also in triumphs held over limited areas. The development has many parallels, and the study shows that the late Republic was the most expansive period of triumphal displays, reflecting Rome’s confidence in its newly established hegemony.}},
author = {{Östenberg, Ida}},
keywords = {{world mastery; kings; barbarians; conquest; aerarium; wealth; triumphator; representations; captives; spoils; enargeia; spectators; display; role-playing; processional sequence; self-definition; the other; ritual; performance; Rome; triumphal procession; oikumene.; Ancient history; Antikens och forntidens historia}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Ida Östenberg, Department of Archaeology and Ancient history, Sölvegatan 2, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Staging the world. Rome and the other in the triumphal procession}},
year = {{2003}},
}