Ovation Explained

The ovation (Latin: ovatio from ovare: to rejoice) was a lesser form^[1] of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior (e.g., slaves, pirates); or when the general conflict was resolved with little or no danger to the army itself.^[2] The Ovation could also be given rather than a triumph when there were extenuating circumstances, such as when Marcus Marcellus was given an ovation in lieu of a triumph as his army remained in Sicily and therefore was unable to cross the pomerium.

The general celebrating the ovation did not enter the city on a biga, a chariot pulled by two white horses, as generals celebrating triumphs did, but instead rode on horseback in the toga praetexta of a magistrate.^[3]

The honoured general also wore a wreath of myrtle (sacred to Venus) upon his brow, rather than the triumphal wreath of laurel. The Roman Senate did not precede the general, nor did soldiers usually participate in the procession.

Perhaps the most famous ovation in history is that which Marcus Licinius Crassus celebrated after his victory of the Third Servile War.

Ovation holders

Republic

There were 23 known ovations during the Republic.^[4]

• 503 BC – Publius Postumius Tubertus (over Sabins)^[5]
• 487 BC – Gaius Aquillius Tuscus^[6]
• 474 BC – Gnaeus Manlius Vulso^[7]
• 462 BC – T. Veturius Geminus Cicurinus^[7]
• 421 BC – Cn. Fabius Vibulanus^[8]
• 410 BC – C. Valerius Potitus Volusus^[9]
• 390 BC – Marcus Manlius Capitolinus^[10]
• 360 BC – Marcus Fabius Ambustus^[7]
• 290 or 289 BC – M. Curius Dentatus^[11]
• 211 BC – M. Claudius Marcellus^[12]
• 207 BC – Gaius Claudius Nero^[13]
• 200 BC – Lucius Cornelius Lentulus^[14]
• 196 BC – Cn. Cornelius Blasius^[7]
• 195 BC – M. Helvius^[7]
• 191 BC – Marcus Fulvius Nobilior^[7]
• 185 BC – L. Manlius Acidinus Fulvianus^[15]
• 182 BC – A. Terentius Varro^[16]
• 174 BC – Ap. Claudius Centho^[7]
• 132 BC – M. Perperna^[17]
• 99 BC – M. Aquilius^[18]
• 71 BC – M. Licinius Crassus^[19]
• 44 BC – Julius Caesar^[7]
• 40 BC – Augustus^[7]
• 40 BC – Marcus Antonius^[7]
• 36 BC – Augustus^[7]

Principate

• 11 BC – Nero Claudius Drusus^[20]
• 9 BC (approved in 11 BC) – Tiberius^[21]
• 20 – Drusus Julius Caesar^[22]
• 40 – Caligula^[23]
• 47 – Aulus Plautius^[24]
• 55 – Nero^[25]
• 93 – Domitian^[26]

See also

• Ovation . 20 . x.
• Roman Triumph
• Roman triumphal honours

Notes and References

1. Oxford English Dictionary
2. Book: Maxfield, Valerie A.. Valerie Maxfield. The Military Decorations of the Roman Army . 1981 . University of California Press . Berkeley . 978-0-520-04499-9 . 104–105 . 6 October 2011 .
3. Book: Goldsworthy, Adrian. Augustus: First Emperor of Rome. 2014. Yale University Press. 978-0-300-21666-0. en. 121.
4. G. Rohde. Ovatio, RE XVIII, 1939, pp. 1890–1903
5. [Pliny the Elder]
6. [Thomas Robert Shannon Broughton|T. Robert S. Broughton]
7. http://www.attalus.org/translate/fasti.html Fasti Triumphales
8. T. Robert S. Broughton. The magistrates of the Roman Republic pp. 69–70
9. T. Robert S. Broughton. The magistrates of the Roman Republic p. 77
10. T. Robert S. Broughton. The magistrates of the Roman Republic p. 92
11. T. Robert S. Broughton. The magistrates of the Roman Republic pp. 183–184
12. T. Robert S. Broughton. The magistrates of the Roman Republic pp. 273–274
13. T. Robert S. Broughton. The magistrates of the Roman Republic p. 294
14. T. Robert S. Broughton. The magistrates of the Roman Republic p. 324
15. T. Robert S. Broughton. The magistrates of the Roman Republic p. 373
16. T. Robert S. Broughton. The magistrates of the Roman Republic p. 383
17. [Publius Annius Florus|Florus]
18. T. Robert S. Broughton. The magistrates of the Roman Republic, p. 3
19. [Plutarch]
20. Lendering, Jona, Arch of Drusus
21. [Suetonius]
22. Alan K. Bowman, Edward Champlin, Andrew Lintott. The Cambridge Ancient History: The Augustan Empire, 43 B.C. – A.D. 69, p. 554
23. Suetonius, The Life of Caligula 49
24. Tacitus, "Annales" (xiii. 32)
25. Alan K. Bowman, Edward Champlin, Andrew Lintott. The Cambridge Ancient History: The Augustan Empire, 43 B.C. – A.D. 69, p. 224
26. John Donahue, Titus Flavius Domitianus (A.D. 81–96)