Triumphs, by the way, have been a curse to Rome. How many unnecessary wars have been fought because generals wanted the glory of riding crowned through the streets of Rome with enemy captives led in chains behind them, and the spoils of war heaped on carnival wagons? Augustus realized this: on Agrippa’s advice, he decreed that henceforth no general, unless a member of the Imperial family, should be awarded a public triumph.
