View source for Ovation

{{Short description|Type of Roman celebration of military victory}}
{{other uses}}
The '''ovation''' ({{langx|la|ovatio}} from ''ovare'': to rejoice) was a lesser form<ref>Oxford English Dictionary</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maxfield |first=Valerie A.|author-link=Valerie Maxfield|title=The Military Decorations of the Roman Army |year=1981 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=978-0-520-04499-9 |pages=104–105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nuex2PW7QR0C&pg=PA104 |access-date=6 October 2011 }}</ref> The Ovation could also be given rather than a triumph when there were extenuating circumstances, such as when  [[Marcus Claudius Marcellus|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 (chariot)|biga]]'', a chariot pulled by two white horses, as generals celebrating triumphs did, but instead rode on horseback in the [[toga praetexta]] of a [[Magistratus|magistrate]].<ref name="Goldsworthy">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3t8hBAAAQBAJ&q=augustus+biography+Thurinus+name|title=Augustus: First Emperor of Rome|last=Goldsworthy|first=Adrian|date= 2014|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-21666-0|language=en|page=121}}</ref>
The honoured general also wore a wreath of [[Myrtus|myrtle]] (sacred to [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]]) upon his brow, rather than the triumphal wreath of [[Bay laurel|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.<ref>G. Rohde. ''Ovatio'', RE XVIII, 1939, pp. 1890–1903</ref>
* 503 BC – [[Publius Postumius Tubertus]] (over Sabins)<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], '' Naturalis Historia'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D15%3Achapter%3D38 15:38]</ref>
* 487 BC – [[Gaius Aquillius Tuscus]]<ref>[[Thomas Robert Shannon Broughton|T. Robert S. Broughton]]. ''The magistrates of the Roman Republic'' [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009351001;view=1up;seq=45 pp. 19–20]</ref>
* 474 BC – [[Gnaeus Manlius Vulso (consul 474 BC)|Gnaeus Manlius Vulso]]<ref name=fasti_1>[http://www.attalus.org/translate/fasti.html Fasti Triumphales]</ref>
* 462 BC – T. Veturius Geminus Cicurinus<ref name=fasti_1/>
* 421 BC – Cn. Fabius Vibulanus<ref>T. Robert S. Broughton. ''The magistrates of the Roman Republic'' [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009351001;view=1up;seq=95 pp. 69–70]</ref>
* 410 BC – C. Valerius Potitus Volusus<ref>T. Robert S. Broughton. ''The magistrates of the Roman Republic'' [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009351001;view=1up;seq=103 p. 77]</ref>
* 390 BC – [[Marcus Manlius Capitolinus]]<ref>T. Robert S. Broughton. ''The magistrates of the Roman Republic'' [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009351001;view=1up;seq=118 p. 92]</ref>
* 360 BC – [[Marcus Fabius Ambustus (consul)|Marcus Fabius Ambustus]]<ref name=fasti_1/>
* 290 or 289 BC – [[Marcus Curius Dentatus|M. Curius Dentatus]]<ref>T. Robert S. Broughton. ''The magistrates of the Roman Republic'' [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009351001;view=1up;seq=209 pp. 183–184]</ref>
* 211 BC – [[Marcus Claudius Marcellus|M. Claudius Marcellus]]<ref>T. Robert S. Broughton. ''The magistrates of the Roman Republic'' [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009351001;view=1up;seq=299 pp. 273–274]</ref>
* 207 BC – [[Gaius Claudius Nero]]<ref>T. Robert S. Broughton. ''The magistrates of the Roman Republic'' [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009351001;view=1up;seq=320 p. 294]</ref>
* 200 BC – [[Lucius Cornelius Lentulus (consul 199 BC)|Lucius Cornelius Lentulus]]<ref>T. Robert S. Broughton. ''The magistrates of the Roman Republic'' [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009351001;view=1up;seq=350 p. 324]</ref>
* 196 BC – Cn. Cornelius Blasius<ref name=fasti_1/>
* 195 BC – M. Helvius<ref name=fasti_1/>
* 191 BC – [[Marcus Fulvius Nobilior (consul 189 BC)|Marcus Fulvius Nobilior]]<ref name=fasti_1/>
* 185 BC – [[Lucius Manlius Acidinus Fulvianus|L. Manlius Acidinus Fulvianus]]<ref>T. Robert S. Broughton. ''The magistrates of the Roman Republic'' [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009351001;view=1up;seq=399 p. 373]</ref>
* 182 BC – A. Terentius Varro<ref>T. Robert S. Broughton. ''The magistrates of the Roman Republic'' [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009351001;view=1up;seq=409 p. 383]</ref>
* 174 BC – Ap. Claudius Centho<ref name=fasti_1/>
* 132 BC – [[Marcus Perperna (consul 130 BC)|M. Perperna]]<ref>[[Publius Annius Florus|Florus]], [[Wikisource:Epitome of Roman History/Book 2|''Epitome of Roman History'', book 2:7–8]]</ref>
* 99 BC – [[Manius Aquillius (consul 101 BC)|M. Aquilius]]<ref>T. Robert S. Broughton. [http://www.sfb600.uni-trier.de/filebase/A2/mrr2.pdf  ''The magistrates of the Roman Republic'', p. 3] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150421071841/http://www.sfb600.uni-trier.de/filebase/A2/mrr2.pdf |date=2015-04-21 }}</ref>
* 71 BC – [[Marcus Licinius Crassus|M. Licinius Crassus]]<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''The Life of Crassus'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html#11 11:8]</ref>
* 44 BC – [[Julius Caesar]]<ref name=fasti_1/>
* 40 BC – [[Augustus]]<ref name=fasti_1/>
* 40 BC – [[Mark Antony|Marcus Antonius]]<ref name=fasti_1/>
* 36 BC – Augustus<ref name=fasti_1/>
===Principate===
* 11 BC – [[Nero Claudius Drusus]]<ref>Lendering, Jona, ''[https://www.livius.org/ro-rz/rome/rome_arch_drusus.html Arch of Drusus]''</ref>
* 9 BC (approved in 11 BC) – [[Tiberius]]<ref>[[Suetonius]], ''The Life of Tiberius'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Tiberius*.html#9 9]</ref>
* 20 – [[Drusus Julius Caesar]]<ref>Alan K. Bowman, Edward Champlin, Andrew Lintott. ''The Cambridge Ancient History: The Augustan Empire, 43 B.C. – A.D. 69'', p. 554</ref>
* 40 – [[Caligula]]<ref>Suetonius, ''The Life of Caligula'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Caligula*.html#49 49]</ref>
* 47 – [[Aulus Plautius]]<ref>Tacitus, "Annales" (xiii. 32)</ref>
* 55 – [[Nero]]<ref>Alan K. Bowman, Edward Champlin, Andrew Lintott. ''The Cambridge Ancient History: The Augustan Empire, 43 B.C. – A.D. 69'', p. 224</ref>
* 93 – [[Domitian]]<ref>John Donahue, ''[http://www.luc.edu/roman-emperors/domitian.htm Titus Flavius Domitianus (A.D. 81–96)]''</ref>
== See also ==
{{Portal|Ancient Rome}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Ovation |volume=20 |short=x}}
* [[Roman Triumph]]
* [[Roman triumphal honours]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}
[[Category:Military awards and decorations of ancient Rome]]