Roma tardoantica come spazio della rappresentazione trionfale

If we consider the Roman triumph in the long run, we can identify some important changes in the ritual that leave traces in the path and in the monumental context. Four phases emerges from this analysis: (1) In the Republican period, the procession started from the Circus Flaminius and, after passing the Porta Triumphalis at the base of the Capitol, circled the Palatine counter-clockwise and finally crossed the Forum to climb to the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus; (2) As of 74 AD, following the Flavian enlargement of the pomerium, the procession marched along the Via Lata / Flaminia: after crossing the new Porta Triumphalis (= Arch of Portugal), continued to use the Republican path. However, this is a rite reserved to the emperor and monumental dedications are of a different type: no more temples, but arches, honorary columns and (under Constantius II) an obelisk; (3) After Constantine, the emperors did not go up to the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol: the end of the procession is a purely civic and secular one: the Curia of the Senate and the Rostra in the Forum. However, the visit to St Peter’s assumes more and more importance and the route from the Palatine to the Basilica progressively acquires an architectural dignity similar to the triumphal path; (4) The two sections of the route were merged in a single ceremony by Theodoric, who reverses the path of the adventus. The procession started from St. Peter’s and ended at the Forum. In the same period, the route between the Vatican Basilica and the Pons Aelius was also equipped with a monumental portico. In the following centuries, the example of Theodoric was followed – albeit with a degree of freedom – until the last adventus known of this type, that of Charlemagne.