Antiochus IV's Procession at Daphne (166 B.C.): A Roman Triumph? A Case Study in the Relations of Rome and Syria 175-64 B.C.

Sara Raup Johnson

It has often been said that the festival celebrated by Antiochus IV of Syria in Daphne in 166 B.C. was modeled upon the triumph celebrated by L. Aemilius Paullus at Rome in 167 B.C. In fact, Polybius tells us that the festival at Daphne was designed to rival the Hellenistic festival celebrated by Paullus at Amphipolis. A comparison of the festival at Daphne with the Grand Procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus demonstrates that the festival at Daphne is fully intelligible when examined in a purely Hellenistic context. The procession at Daphne owes nothing to the Roman triumph, and cannot be used to support the portrait of Antiochus as an indiscriminate Romanizer.

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