Episode – 2127 : Julius Caesar’s Quadruple Triumph
Podcast Transcript
In 46 BC, after 12 years away, Julius Caesar finally returned home to Rome.
A lot had changed since he was last there. The entire Roman system had been upended, and he was now the man on top.
To celebrate his homecoming, he did something that had never been done before or since. He didn’t just hold a triumph in his honor; he held FOUR.
For some in Rome, it was the greatest thing they had ever seen. For others, it confirmed their worst fears.
Learn more about Julius Caesar’s Quadruple Triumph and the controversy surrounding it on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
One of the biggest and most spectacular events in the ancient world took place in Rome in 46 BC. Over a period of 10 or 14 days, the returning general, former consul, and former legal dictator, Julius Caesar, held not one, not two, not three, but four triumphs to celebrate his victories over the previous decade.
I have done several previous episodes covering the Roman triumph and several of Caesar’s deeds, including the Battle of Alesia.
Suffice it to say, receiving the honor of a triumph was a really, really big deal in the Roman world. It was, in some respects, the ultimate achievement for someone in the Roman Republic. In a culture that hated and feared the idea of kings, Rome would, for one day, honor a victorious general by treating him like a king.
It was a state-sponsored ceremonial procession through Rome in which a victorious general publicly displayed his spoils, captives, and achievements while being honored by the Senate and people.
Triumphs weren’t common. On average, there might be one every year or two. In a few rare cases, someone might earn a second triumph.
There were rules that had to be followed. The victorious general had to ask the senate for a triumph, and they were not allowed to enter Rome until the triumph took place.
Now, let me briefly cover what happened to Caesar in the years leading up to his triumph.
In 59 BC, he served a year as consul, while a member of the informal alliance known as the First Triumvirate along with Pompey and Crassus.
After his consulship, he was appointed the proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum, and shortly afterward, his command was extended to include Transalpine Gaul.
He used this opportunity, and the legal immunity that came with it, to conquer Gaul, which is modern-day France. None of this was approved by the Senate, yet it was very popular with the plebeians in Rome, and made some members of the elite very nervous.
Members of the Senate wanted to prosecute Caesar for his crimes in Gaul. Caesar was immune so long as he was proconsul, but his term was nearing its end. He wanted to run for consul again, which would give him immunity, but to do that, he would have to return to Rome and give up his proconsulship.
This resulted in him crossing the Rubicon River with a legion in 49 BC, marking the start of a Civil War that ended at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC.
However, after winning the war, he didn’t return to Rome immediately. He went to Egypt, then to Pontus in what is today Northern Turkey, and then to what is today Tunisia to address outstanding problems.
By the time he returned to Rome in 46 BC, he was its undisputed ruler.
With his enemies vanquished, Caesar now wanted his rewards. A triumph was usually awarded to honor an accomplishment in a single campaign. However, because Caesar had fought all over the Mediterranean, and because he had been gone for so long, he demanded FOUR triumphs.
You might be wondering why he couldn’t have just had one big triumph? It almost certainly had to do with the fact that his biggest rival, and former son-in-law, Pompey Magnus, had received three triumphs in his career.
Other notable Romans, such as Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Gaius Marius, had received three triumphs. Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Scipio Africanus, and Quintus Fabius Maximus, some of the greatest generals in the history of the republic, only received two.
Anyone who knows Roman numbers knows that IV > III.
While there is much we do know about Caesar’s triumphs, there is much we don’t know. We don’t know the exact dates they took place. Most estimates place them between July and September of 46 BC. We don’t know how many days they occupied, but everything probably happened over a span of 10 to 14 days, with many games and banquets also taking place.
46 BC was also called the year of confusion because that was the year Caesar moved Rome to the Julian Calendar and added a month to the Roman calendar to fix the fact that seasons had gone out of sync.
The first triumph was for his conquest of Gaul and his defeat of the Gallic leader, Vercingetorix. Of the four triumphs, this was the least controversial.
This triumph was the most elaborate of the four, filled with immense quantities of loot, detailed displays of battles and territories, and long processions of captives from across Gaul.
The centerpiece was the defeated Gallic leader Vercingetorix, who had been held in captivity for years and was paraded through Rome before being executed at the end of the ceremony. Caesar rode in a chariot through cheering crowds while soldiers marched behind him singing traditional, often mocking, songs.
The reason this triumph wasn’t particularly controversial is that everyone knew the story by this point. For years, Caesar had been sending dispatches from Gaul to Rome, which were intended for the Roman people. These became Caesar’s Commentaries, which are still studied today.
Also, defeating foreign enemies was the whole point of a triumph, and despite the many issues surrounding how he did it, that is what he did.
The second triumph commemorated Caesar’s victory in the Alexandrian War in Egypt, but it had a very different tone from the Gallic celebration.
The procession emphasized the exotic wealth and imagery of Egypt, with elaborate displays meant to evoke the Nile, royal splendor, and the drama of a distant kingdom brought under Roman influence.
The most striking figure in the parade was Arsinoe IV, the sister and rival of Cleopatra VII, who had opposed Caesar and was led in chains as a captive. Her presence reportedly drew sympathy from the crowd, and unlike most high-profile captives, she was spared execution afterward.
Cleopatra herself was in Rome at the time but did not take part in the triumph because her having a son with Caesar was an extremely sensitive topic in Rome.
The reason why this was controversial was that Rome didn’t really gain anything. Caesar didn’t conquer Egypt. He just inserted himself in the middle of a dynastic feud and personally selected the new monarch.
While the triumph celebrated a Roman victory, it also revealed something more unsettling to many observers: Caesar acting as a kingmaker in a foreign monarchy and projecting a kind of personal, almost royal power that went beyond traditional Republican norms.
Furthermore, the only reason he was in Egypt was to hunt down Pompey during the civil war, and the Romans would never grant a triumph for killing Romans.
Under normal circumstances, this probably would not have warranted a triumph.
The third triumph celebrated his victory at the Battle of Zela over Pharnaces II.
The Battle of Zela is something most of you might not be familiar with. The Battle of Zela, fought in 47 BC in Pontus, in the north of modern Turkey, saw Julius Caesar confront Pharnaces II, who had taken advantage of Rome’s civil war to reclaim territory. Caesar went there after he was in Egypt.
Pharnaces attacked Caesar’s forces as they were still entrenching on high ground, but the Roman legions quickly rallied, counterattacked downhill, and routed his army in a single, decisive engagement.
While the battle itself has largely been forgotten, one thing that came from it is known by almost everyone. One of the most famous quotes in the world: “veni, vidi, vici”, which means, “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
The triumph reflected the speed of the battle, with fewer prolonged scenes of conquest and greater emphasis on the campaign’s decisiveness, including displays of captured arms and standards, as well as representations of the battlefield at Zela.
Its most famous feature was a placard bearing the words “Veni, vidi, vici,” announcing how quickly the war had been won and turning the triumph into a statement about Caesar’s personal efficiency and brilliance.
Caesar’s quote was the most controversial part of the Triumph, as it emphasized himself rather than Rome or his legions.
As with other triumphs, he rode in a chariot through Rome, with troops following behind, but the tone was almost brisk compared to the others, reinforcing the idea that this victory had been achieved with remarkable ease.
The fourth and final triumph celebrated his victory in North Africa, culminating in the Battle of Thapsus against the forces of Metellus Scipio and King Juba I. Caesar sailed here after the Battle of Zela, where he defeated the remaining senatorial forces who survived the Battle of Pharsalus.
The procession displayed spoils and imagery from the African campaign, including depictions of the battle and exotic elements meant to evoke the region, such as animals and Numidian symbols. One of the most notable figures in the parade was Juba’s young son, Juba II, who was led as a captive and later raised in Rome.
This was extremely controversial. While Caesar took pains not to mention the deaths of Romans, it was unavoidable. King Juba was only an ally of the Romans opposed to Caesar. It was here that Cato the Younger killed himself rather than submit to Caesar. The link to a foreign army was tenacious at best
To complement the four triumphs, Julius Caesar organized a massive series of public events designed to dazzle the Roman citizenry with his generosity and the sheer scale of the spectacle.
A primary feature of these celebrations was the hosting of immense public banquets. Thousands of Romans were fed simultaneously as dining couches were arranged across numerous city districts. During these feasts, the public received wine, food, and, occasionally, even cash gifts.
At the same time, he put on lavish games that included gladiatorial fights, theatrical performances, and even a staged naval battle, or naumachia, fought by thousands of participants in a specially constructed basin.
There were also hunts featuring exotic animals and elaborate displays meant to showcase the wealth of his conquests. The scale was unprecedented, turning the triumphs into a citywide festival that reinforced Caesar’s image not just as a conqueror, but as a provider for the Roman people.
Needless to say, if the common people of Rome didn’t love Caesar before, they did now.
Many members of the Senatorial class, however, saw something very different.
The triumphs of Julius Caesar did not directly cause his assassination, but they played a critical role in convincing many Romans that he had become dangerously powerful.
By staging four triumphs back-to-back, Caesar compressed what would normally be a lifetime of honors into a single overwhelming display, signaling that he stood above all other generals. More troubling was what those triumphs represented.
The triumphs blurred the distinction between Roman magistrates and monarchs. Exotic imagery from Egypt, the association with Cleopatra, and Caesar’s growing list of honors afterward, including a long-term, and eventually lifelong, dictatorship, made many senators fear that he intended to become a king in all but name.
In less than two years, the grievances would build up, and Caesar would be stabbed to death on the floor of the Senate.
While no one knew it at the time, Caesar’s Quadruple Triumph and the surrounding celebrations were a sort of goodbye celebration for the Roman Republic.This episode can be found at: https://everything-everywhere.com/julius-caesars-quadruple-triumph/