It’s hard to stop once you get a good ceremony going, Mary Beard shows in her 2007 The Roman Triumph . She notes that the last actual Roman triumph took place sometime between the fourth and sixth century but that didn’t stop imitators:
“Renaissance princelings launched hundreds of triumphal celebrations. Napoleon carted through the streets of Paris the sculpture and painting he had seized in Italy, in pointed imitation of a Roman triumph. As late as 1899 the victories of Admiral George Dewey in the Spanish-American War were celebrated with a triumphal parade in New York. True, no live captives or spoils were on show; but a special triumphal arch was built, in plaster and wood, at Madison Square.”
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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