ŎVĀTĬO

a le er triumph. The circumstances by which it was distinguished from the more imposing solemnity [ Triumph us ] were the following:—The general did not enter the city in a chariot drawn by four horses, but on foot: he was not arrayed in the gorgeous gold-embroidered robe, but in the simple toga praetexta of a magistrate; his brows were encircled with a wreath, not of laurel but of myrtle; he bore no sceptre in his hand; the proce ion was not heralded by trumpets, headed by the senate, and thronged with victorious troops, but was enlivened by a crowd of flute players, attended chiefly by knights and plebeians, frequently without soldiers: the ceremonies were concluded by the sacrifice, not of a bull but of a sheep. The word ovatio seems clearly to be derived from the kind of victim offered. An ovation was granted when the advantage gained, although considerable, was not sufficient to constitute a legitimate claim to the higher distinction of a triumph, or when the victory had been achieved with little bloodshed; or when hostilities had not been regularly proclaimed; or when the war had not been completely terminated; or when the contest had been carried on against base and unworthy foes; and hence when the servile bands of A then i on and Spartacus were destroyed by Perperna and Cra us, these leaders celebrated ovations only.