Addressing emergent charisma in Roman military leaders: Triumphal practices in the Republican period

Abstract

Starting from the premise that charisma is to be understood as both a social and political process, it is argued that in Republican Rome it represented a moment of political and personal consecration for military leaders. Within this context some of the practices associated with the triumph had the function of dampening emergent charisma. They helped to maintain as foremost the institutions of the Republic in the face of extremely successful military leaders who had the potential to radically alter them. Their capacity was at its peak during the classical Republican period, but progressively diminished during the late stages of the Roman Republic.