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When the victorius legions and generals paraded through Rome,did they wear full military uniform or did they march in plain clothes.Holywood shows full uniform but different ancient sources seem to suggest that soldiers and praetorians wore plain clothes when they were inside the city walls.Maybe a triumphal parade was different.Any suggestions
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Hi Thomas (please use your personal name either in your signature or your profile - RAT forum rules!),
Could you name those sources that 'to suggest that soldiers and praetorians wore plain clothes when they were inside the city walls'?
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One would be Tacitus, Annales, XVI, 27:
Quote:At postera luce duae praetoriae cohortes armatae templum Genetricis Veneris insedere; aditum senatus globus togatorum obsederat non occultis gladiis, dispersique per fora ac basilicas cunei militares.
Though it describes special circumstances, when some troops are armed and equipped it sure must be significant that the troops lining the entrance to the Senate-house are dressed in toga's.
The other is Tacitus, Historiae, I, 38:
Quote:nec una cohors togata defendit nunc Galbam sed detinet
This is the cohors on duty at the palace.
Tacitus, Historiae, II, 89:
Quote:Ipse Vitellius a ponte Mulvio insigni equo, paludatus accinctusque, senatum et populum ante se agens, quo minus ut captam urbem ingrederetur, amicorum consilio deterritus, sumpta praetexta et composito agmine incessit. quattuor legionum aquilae per frontem totidemque circa e legionibus aliis vexilla, mox duodecim alarum signa et post peditum ordines eques; dein quattuor et triginta cohortes, ut nomina gentium aut species armorum forent, discretae. ante aquilas praefecti castrorum tribunique et primi centurionum candida veste, ceteri iuxta suam quisque centuriam, armis donisque fulgentes; et militum phalerae torquesque splendebant...
"On the march to Rome and on reaching the Milvian Bridge, Vitellius at first mounted a charger and donned his general's cloak and arms and drove the senate and people before him.
"He was prevailed upon by his friends to not enter Rome as a conquered city. So he changed into a toga praetexta and marched on at the head of an ordered column.
"At the head of all were the eagles of four legions surrounded by vexilla of the other legions, behind them came twelve cavalry standards, the columns of infantry and the cavalry. Then came thirty four cohorts, grouped according to nationality and type of equipment. In front of the eagles were the praefecti castrorum, tribuni and primi centurionum clothed in white. The remainder were with their centuries, with gleaming arms and decorations. The torques and phalerae of the soldiers glittered."
the army as a whole marched under arms. Only the general and senior officers at the front donned cvilian dress, it seams.
drsrob a.k.a. Rob Wolters
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thanx drsrob for replying to my question.This is the first real chance that ive had to come back on this forum.Throughout history citizens have been scared of armed soldiers.
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Quote:thanx drsrob for replying to my question.This is the first real chance that ive had to come back on this forum.Throughout history citizens have been scared of armed soldiers.
sorry folks i should have signed Doubtingthomas/tommy smith
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Quote:sorry folks i should have signed Doubtingthomas/tommy smith
The idea is to add that to your profile under "signature"
drsrob a.k.a. Rob Wolters
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@Rob : Yes, thanks for finding those passages.
But I'm curious to know which is the earliest recorded Triumph where we hear of armed or armored soldiers in the procession. Does anyone know ?
BTW, I found Dio's description of Severus' State Funeral for Pertinax that reads very much like a Triumph with fully armored soldiers :
Quote:Upon it had been laid a kind of wax image of Pertinax, arrayed in triumphal attire. A well-formed boy was scaring the flies away from it with peacock feathers, as though it were really a person sleeping. While it was lying there in state, Severus, we senators, and our wives approached, clad in mourning garb. The ladies sat in the porticos, and we under the open sky. After this there came forward, first, statues of all the famous ancient Romans, then choruses of boys and men, intoning a kind of mournful hymn to Pertinax. Next were all the subject nations, represented by bronze images, attired in native garb. And the guilds in the City itself,--those of the lictors and the scribes and the heralds, and all others of the sort,--followed on. Then came images of other men who were famous for some deed or invention or brilliant trait. Behind them were the cavalry and infantry in armor, the race-horses, and all the funeral offerings that the emperor and we and our wives, together with distinguished knights and peoples and the collegia of the city, had sent.
~Theo
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I wonder if if Mary Beard's The Roman Triumph could help? I've been meaning to buy it ever since it was released, and I still haven't gotten around to it. :oops:
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