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These two marble sculptures represent a stone version of the “trophy” that was an ornamental display of the captured arms of the defeated foe. Although they became known as the “Trophies of Marius” in reference to now lost “trophies” erected on the Capitoline hill by the Republic general Marius after a victory in 101 BC, they were in fact found decorating the Alexander Severus- era nymphaeum (fountain) in today’s Piazza Vittorio on the Esquiline Hill. These two impressive sculptures that represent a pile of weaponry around a tree stump decorated with a breastplate were brought to the Capitoline Hill in 1590. An inscription under the base of the sculpture dates the monuments to the Domitianic era.
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Cite this page as: Darius Arya, The American Institute for Roman Culture, “Capitoline Trophies (Tropaea Marii)” Ancient Rome Live. Last modified 11/11/2019. https://ancientromelive.org/capitoline-trophies-tropaea-marii/
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