Product Code Database
A tropaion (, ), from which the English word "trophy" is derived, was a monument erected to commemorate a victory over one's foes by the ancient Greeks and later, by the Roman Empire. The armour of the defeated foe would be hung upon the monument. Originally, the location of the monument was the battlefield where the commemorated victory took place. Initially, the typical monument was constructed out of a living tree with lateral branches, or it was constructed in the shape of one. After construction, the tropaion was dedicated to a Twelve Olympians in thanksgiving for the victory. Some images of tropaion show many weapons and shields heaped below the armor hoisted upon the monument. In later times, pairs of lances, banners, or stakes set crosswise might be used instead of the tree format.
During later eras in the Greek world, intention to build a tropaia might be declared at the battlefield, but in fact, erected at pan-Hellenic sanctuaries such as Olympia or Delphi, further increasing the prestige of the victorious state.
The significance of the monument was a ritualistic notification of "victory" to the defeated enemies. Since warfare in the Greek world was largely a ritualistic affair in the archaic hoplite-age (see Hanson, The Western Way of War for further elaboration of this idea), the monument was used to reinforce the symbolic capital of the victory in the Greek community.
Another interpretation of the tropaion is that it was a monument dedicated to the slaughter of the enemy. Key passages describe that the tropaion was the last stage of battle, following the critical rout and chase of the enemy.Thuc. 5.10.12Thuc. 6.70.3 A critical passage of Thucydides suggests that the tropaion was set up to celebrate the enemy killed in battle.Thuc. 7.54.1
Ancient sources attest to the great deal of significance that early Greek cities placed upon symbols and ritual as linked to warfare – for example, the story in Herodotus 1, involving the bones of Orestes that greatly exceeds the ritualistic properties to even magically 'guaranteeing' the victory, displays the same sort of interest in objects and symbols of power as they relate to military success or failure.Herodotus, 1.67
The symbolic effectiveness of the tropaeum became so well recognized that, in later eras, Romans chose to display sculpted reliefs of them for an enduring record of their victories rather than the fleeting presence of one constructed in the traditional fashion (see image and Tropaeum Traiani).
==Gallery==
|
|
