top of page
Search
Writer's picturesulla80
Nov 166 min read

Triumphs of Augustus

"The triumph was the most prestigious accolade a politician and general could receive in Republican Rome. After a brief review of the role played by the triumph in republican political culture, this article analyzes the severe limits Augustus placed on triumphal parades after 19 BC, which then became very rare celebrations. It is argued that Augustus aimed at and almost succeeded in eliminating traditional triumphal celebrations completely during his lifetime, by using a combination of refusing them for himself and his relatives and of rewarding his legates who fought under his auspices with ornamenta triumphalia and an honorific statue in the Forum of Augustus."
-Harriet Flower, 2020

Córdoba is a city in Andalusia, Spain that was known in antiquity as Corduba. In 169 BCE, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Roman governor, praetor, of Hispania Ulterior and Citerior, and the grandson of the general Marcus Claudius Marcellus, established the Roman colony of Corduba alongside an existing Iberian settlement.


Under Julius Caesar (59-44 BCE), the city was partially destroyed by civil war. Augustus, after defeating Mark Antony at Actium in 31 BCE, and consolidating his power as Rome’s first emperor, re-founded the city as Colonia Patricia Corduba, a name chosen to honor the settlement’s veteran colonists and respected citizens (‘Patribus’). At this time a new forum, aqueduct, and a theater were built.


Today's coin of interest, a silver denarius from 18 BCE, comes from a mint known as "mint 2" from Spain. The location of this mint is not certain, but it has been tentatively associated with Colonia Patricia by Sutherland in RIC.


By 18 BCE, Augustus had been the uncontested leader of Rome for over a decade. His reign had seen the transformation from the tumult of the late Republic to a period of stability and imperial grandeur. In 27 BC, Augustus reorganized the Roman provinces in Spain, creating Hispania Tarraconensis, Hispania Baetica, and Hispania Lusitania to ensure more effective governance and military control.


If this coin was minted in Colonia Patricia, it comes from the province of Hispania Baetica (southern part of modern Spain), where four legions were stationed at the time and needed pay. While Colonia Patricia profusely produced coins from 20 to 17 BCE, the mint was soon supplanted by one in Lugdunum (Lyon, France), in the province of Gallia Lugdunensis (modern France), which opened around 15 BCE.


"Richard Prideaux suggests Colonia Patricia as an improbable mint location, as Baetica was very distant from the operations in the northwest and far from Rome and its main port in Spain at Tarraco. Giard attempted to add a third mint at Nemausus, based on a die that was found in the fountain of Nemausus. Prideaux disputes this, questioning why in a time of relative stability in Spain, the main Imperial Mint for the West would have been moved twice within a couple of years." (see CNG : "Coinage Struck in Spain 20-18 BCE")

The Roman Empire, Octavian as Augustus, 27 BC – 14 AD, Denarius, uncertain "mint 2", Colonia Patricia (?) circa 18 BC, AR 17 mm, 3.80 g. Obv: S P Q R PAREN – CONS SVO Toga picta over tunica palmata between aquila, on l., and wreath, on r.

Rev: CAESARI AVGVSTO Slow quadriga r. with ornamented panels surmounted by four miniature galloping horses.

Ref: C 79. BMC –. RIC 97. CBN 1198.

Notes: Old cabinet tone, minor areas of weakness, otherwise about extremely fine; from the collection of a Mentor.


Context for this coin is Augustus' intentional attitude toward triumphs, after his triple triumph in 29 BCE and after accepting the title of Augustus in 27 BCE. In 29 BCE, Octavian was recognized for victories over the Dalmatians, over Antony and Cleopatra at Actium, and for the conquest of Egypt. This triumph an ultimate expression of rule over the European North, the Greek East, and the African South, which competed with Pompey, who boasted victories on the three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. This triumph became an a recognition that could not be further surpassed, and Augustus refused any triumphs after 29 BCE.


The Senate repeatedly offered Augustus triumph's and he personally refused them all - allowing Tiberius to accept two.

  • 26 BCE after the campaign in Spain

  • 19 BCE after the success against the Parthians

  • 7 BCE & 19 CE the Senate proposed a joint triumph for Augustus and Tiberius

These public gestures reinforced Augustus' image as protector of the state, a modest and principled ruler. Augustus at the same time established an enduring and elevated role for the emperor, not just a military commander, but a higher authority with rule over Rome and its provinces. By refusing honors he altered the dynamics that had plagued Rome with civil war from the reign of Sulla as dictator with war lords competing to demonstrate military successes as the path to authority.


The 20 BCE victory is the context for this coin. Through diplomatic negotiations, Augustus recovered the eagles and standards lost by Crassus to the Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE from King Phraates IV of Parthia (See Standards Restored for more). The senate offered him a triumph for this achievement which was seen as a significant restoration of Roman honor. Augustus refused.


A tetradrachm of Phraates IV


The Cassiodoros "Chronicle" records that in 19 BC, under consuls, C. Sentius and Q. Lucretius, a chariot with a crown of gold was decreed for Augustus Caesar on his return from the provinces; but he refused to ride on it.


The Res Gestae (35.1) references a chariot set up in the Forum - this could be the same chariot decreed in 19 BC.

"In my thirteenth consulship [2 BC] the senate, the equestrian order and the whole people of Rome gave me the title of Father of my Country, and resolved that this should be inscribed in the porch of my house and in the Curia Julia and in the Forum Augustum below the chariot which had been set there in my honor by decree of the senate."

The Obverse : features an aquila, or eagle, perched atop a scepter, flanked by a toga picta draped over a tunica palmata, and a laurel wreath. The eagle, a longstanding emblem of Rome’s power and divine sanction, a reference to Augustus' diplomatic victory and restoration of the Roman standards. The toga picta, a ceremonial purple garment reserved for triumphal parades, and the tunica palmata, adorned with intricate palm designs, and the laurel wreath, a symbol of victory, all recognize Augustus' triumphal honors.


The legend, “S.P.Q.R. PARENTI CONS SVO,” translates to “The Senate and the Roman People to its Protective Parent” reinforcing Augustus’s paternal role as Rome’s preserver. Augustus formally accepted the title pater patriae on 5-Feb-2 BCE, although by then is was already common practice to reference him as father or parent, as illustrated by this coin.


The Reverse: features a slow quadriga, or four-horse chariot, embellished with ornate panels and topped by four miniature galloping horses. This imagery symbolizes a triumphal procession, evoking the recognition and honors bestowed upon Augustus and shown without him in the chariot. The inscription “CAESARI AVGVSTO” translates to "For Caesar Augustus".


Sutherland (1945) assigns this coin the his "Group C" and writes about this group:

"While group B reflects the first full news of the Parthian coup, Group C  is devoted rather to the honors that fell to Augustus on his return to Rome."

References


29 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments

bottom of page