Roman triumphs and early modern English culture

"A Roman triumph was the procession of a victorious general through the city. The festivity combined religious thanksgiving, political legitimation, and carnival release. Early modern England, from the Armada period of the 1580s to the Cromwellian Protectorate in the 1650s, revived and appropriated the Roman model in a wide variety of forms. The result is a characteristic product of early modern culture." "English use of the triumph included ceremonies, stage performances, and poetic or pictorial representations. This book gives particular attention to the researches of humanist antiquarians, the vigorous tradition of pamphlet triumphs, and the literary or dramatic versions produced by Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Marvell and Milton, as well as by non-canonical writers. It discloses the ways in which all these texts are implicated in contemporary political conflicts and discourses. The book also discusses adaptations such as the subversive triumph of love, the paradoxical triumph of peace, and Christian triumphs of humility and patience."--Jacket.