I saw the special
gates, only used for these ‘triumphs,’ opened to reveal the ‘vir triumphalis,’
as he used to be called. Now they refer to him as the
‘triumphator.’ I wonder why that has changed. I’ll bet a previous
Caesar used it, maybe Augustus, and didn’t want anybody else to ever have that
same name. Will Rome ever have another one like him? Oh, we could
only hope. Either way, if I was down among the people, I would have
simply referred to him as the ‘man of triumph,’ as we normally do, but since
I’m being asked to write a report for the Emperor, and since it was a
possibility that it was going to be sent around to a number of cities that he
plans to visit soon, along with the general that is being celebrated, that
calls for the use of proper terminology. So I thought that I might as
well start thinking along those lines, so ‘triumphator’ it is.
The gates were opened
and I saw him. The triumphator was riding in a brilliant white chariot,
being pulled by a team of the most beautiful white horses that I had ever
seen. The chariot had writing on the side. I could just make out what
it read: ‘A faithful son of Rome. A true leader of men.’ I was able
to have a bit more background information than usual, and I was told that he
was personally chosen by Caesar to lead this campaign, and that he was
hand-selected to bring and impose Rome’s glorious justice upon the peoples of
the enemy against which Rome was forced to go to war. Truly, they will
benefit from the ‘pax Romana,’ and will come to understand just what it means
to experience ‘pax et securitas.’
His face was painted
red, like Jupiter. It made his face look like it was on fire. They
had done something with his eyes. It was almost like they were
glowing. It was very impressive. Naturally, he was wearing the
laurel wreath crown. Not surprisingly, given the extra special nature of
this parituclar ‘triumph’ and triumphator, he was wearing the ‘corona triumphalis.’
For those that may be unfamiliar with this, that doesn’t happen with every
‘triumph.’ The corona triumphalis is a gold coronet that is fashioned in
the shape of a laurel wreath, with dangling gold ribbons.
I noticed that there
was another inscription on the chariot. I asked about that and was told
that the triumphator asked to be able to write another name on the
chariot---the special name given to him by his father. The writing was a
bit odd. I couldn’t make out the language in which it was written, and
nobody else around me was able to read that particular language either. I
made a notation to ask about it, so perhaps I’ll be able to learn what it said
at a later time. Written above that, however, was his proper Roman name.
Everybody could read that name. Apparently, Caesar has adopted him as his
very own son and he is going to function as Caesar’s mouthpiece and royal
emissary. Truly incredible!
As one would also
expect, the triumphator was dressed splendidly. Not only was he wearing
the customary ‘tunica palmata,’ which is the tunic embroidered with palm
leaves, but he also wore the ‘toga picta,’ which is the painted toga. As
is the custom, the toga was the royal purple and it had a border of embroidered
gold. The gold reflected brilliantly in the light, and it must have been
catching a reflection, because the gold, from time to time, looked almost
red. Because the toga is the traditional dress of the ruler of Rome, it
was an excellent reminder that this particular man has been chosen as Caesar’s
royal emissary. It’s difficult to get my mind around this. From now
on, he is going to speak for Caesar. His words are to be taken as
Caesar’s words.
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