Patterns & Metaphors
Triumph
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In the Roman republic and empire a triumph was the ceremonial entrance into the city of victorious generals and their forces or of members of the imperial family. Leading the triumphal procession was the personage to be honoured crowned with laurel, riding in a chariot pulled by four white stallions, and attending him were musicians and singers. The procession culminated with a public feast and with athletic games lasting until evening. The ceremonial entrances of conquerors, royalty, popes and political figures into cities has continued in Europe down to modern times and although not associated with a feast or with games, they sometimes have been de facto work holidays during which private feasting was observed. The triumph simply regarded as a parade of victory has prehistoric origins and is likely to have an unlimited future. As a form of presentation it was adopted by early humanists such as Petrarch to celebrate the triumph of civil and private virtues and to provide a theatrical way of personifying the forces in the universe according to Renaissance ideas. The Renaissance Triumph, to this end, became a procession of symbolic floats and masked or costumed figures.
