tropaeum

Forms

tropaeum n (genitive tropaeī); second declension^[1] Also spelled trophaeum and tropēum.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τρόπαιον (trópaion, “trophy, victory memorial”).^[4][5][1] Köbler connects the Greek word with τρέπω (trépō, “to turn”), the turning of the enemy to flight.^[3]

Varro explained that the rout of an enemy is called τροπή (tropḗ) in Greek, so that the spoils fixed on stakes are called ⟨tropaea⟩.^[4] Servius gives the same derivation, from the turning back of the enemy, and adds that a general who put the enemy to flight earned a trophy, one who killed them a triumph.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record in the OLD is in the tragedies of Accius, where a speaker finds it fine to carry off a trophy from a brave man.^[4]

Semantic evolution

A trophy was at first a tree trunk or stake hung with the arms taken from the defeated enemy, later a permanent monument of stone decorated with images of spoils.^[4][2][7] The OLD names one such monument, the tropaeum Alpium raised in honour of Augustus in the Maritime Alps, whose inscription Pliny copied.^[4] By transfer it meant a victory itself, as in Cicero's “trophy of Salamis” and Horace's new trophies of Augustus,^[4][8] and more loosely any mark or memorial, as when Cicero asks whether a statue is a sign of greed or a trophy of friendship.^[8][9]

In Christian and Medieval Latin it named the cross as the sign of Christ's victory;^[10][11] Gildas speaks of martyrs fixing the trophies of their martyrdom at the gates of Jerusalem.^[11] Italian trofeo comes from it.^[12]

Timeline

• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius has the first record, of a trophy taken from an enemy.^[4][3]
• 116–27 BC – Varro explains the word from Greek τροπή, the rout of an enemy.^[4][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it both of monuments and of victories.^[4][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder quotes the inscription of the tropaeum Alpium.^[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A trophy set up for the rout of an enemy: arms hung on a stake or tree, later a monument decorated with spoils.^[4][2]
2. tropaeum Alpium: the monument to Augustus in the Maritime Alps.^[4]
3. (transferred) A victory.^[4][2]
4. A mark, token or memorial of something.^[8][9]
5. (Christian and Medieval Latin) The cross, as the sign of Christ's victory.^[10][11]

Word family

• tropaeatus

Related words

• English trophy

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
6. ^ Servius, Commentarii in Vergilii carmina, ed. G. Thilo and H. Hagen, Leipzig 1881–1887 (Perseus Digital Library).
7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company
9. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
11. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
12. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier