One of the most impressive scenes in ancient Rome was the moment when some victorious General entered the city of Caesars in triumph.
For the capital to provide the most glorious reception, 2 conditions had to be met:
1) That the General had won a just war (the bellum iustum).
2) That at least 5.000 enemies had died in the confrontation.
The troops that were to participate in the march were organized in the Mars field, from where, in procedural parade, they entered Rome through the Arc de Triomphe. After traveling the Via Sacra, they reached the Capitol and paid homage to Jupiter. There, at Caesar's feet, the victorious troops showed the people the treasures brought from the conquered lands and the long line of captured prisoners.
That day, Rome was filled with excitement and euphoria.
The garlands and flowers were little to congratulate the victorious army.
The triumphal parade, in fact, was a prize in itself, since the military was not allowed to walk around the city in the everyday.
But the tribute was centered in the person of the victorious general, who was crowned with laurel and dressed in a tunic studded with gold. He was received as if he were a god, to such an extent that that day his popularity and power overshadowed those of the emperor himself.
Surely for this reason, Julius Caesar, perhaps fearful that some of his heroes would want to dispute their power spaces, and so that the general would not forget that this situation was transitory, ordered that behind the hero, and almost glued to his back, he would always parade a slave who, raising the crown of the Capitoline Jupiter above his head, was whispering in the General's ear: Respice post, hominen te esse memento (look back and remember that you are only a man).