Debunking the 'Roman salute'

Painting: Oath of the Horatii (Jean-Louis David, 1784)

Oath of the Horatii (Jean-Louis David, 1784)

Recently, a prominent social media personality thrust his arm in the air in a straight arm salute that caused an earthquake of reaction, mostly shuddering. For many, it recalled fascists, Nazis and ultra nationalism of every kind. According to legend, this fascist gesture was based on a customary greeting which was claimed to be used in Ancient Rome.

Um, wrong.

No Roman text describes such a gesture, and the Roman works of art that display salutational gestures bear little resemblance to the modern ‘Roman salute’.

So that’s all sorted out.

Let’s unpick a little…

Originating from Jacques-Louis David’s painting The Oath of the Horatii (1784), the gesture developed a historically inaccurate association with (manly) Roman Republican and imperial culture. All this popped up all over the place in other neoclassic artworks.

In the United States, a similar salute for the pledge of allegiance – the Bellamy salute – was created by Francis Bellamy in 1892. The picture of little children in their classroom making a fascist-like salute seems not only bizarre but repugnant to us today. But the gesture rolled on during the late 19th and early 20th centuries into plays and films that portrayed the salute as an ancient Roman custom.

Italian nationalist poet Gabriele d’Annunzio adopted it in 1919 as a neo-imperial ritual when he led an occupation of Fiume. Through his influence, the gesture became  was gradually adopted by the Italian Fascist regime. Then the Nazis made such a gesture compulsory within their movement in 1926 and became the keynote greeting in the Third Reich.

Since the end of World War II, displaying the Nazi variant of the salute has been a criminal offence in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland. Legal restrictions on its use in Italy are more nuanced and use there has generated controversy. Sadly, the gesture and its variations continue to be used in neo-fascist, neo-Nazi, and Falangist contexts.

But what about the Romans saying hi or acclaiming something or somebody?

Augustus, National Museum of Roman Civilisation, Rome (Author photo)

Augustus, National Museum of Roman Civilisation, Rome (Author photo)

Not a single Roman work of art displays a salute like the straight arm fascist one. The gesture of the raised right arm or hand in Roman and other ancient cultures that does exist in surviving literature and art generally had a significantly different function.

The right hand (Latin dextera, dextra) was commonly used in antiquity as a symbol of pledging trust, friendship or loyalty. Sculptures commemorating military victories such as those on the Arch of Titus, the Arch of Constantine, or on Trajan’s Column are the best-known examples of raised arms in art from this period. However, these monuments do not display a single representation of the straight arm Roman salute.

The images closest in appearance to a raised arm salute are scenes in Roman sculpture and coins which show an adlocutio, acclamatio, adventus, or profectio. These are occasions when a high-ranking official, such as a general or the emperor, addresses individuals or a group, often soldiers. Unlike modern custom, in which both the leader and the people he addresses raise their arms, most of these scenes show only the senior official raising his hand. Occasionally, it’s a sign of greeting or benevolence, but usually is used as an indication of power.

An example of a salutational gesture of imperial power can be seen in the statue of Augustus of Prima Porta which follows certain guidelines set out by oratory scholars of his day. For instance,  Quintillian states in his Institutio Oratoria: “Experts do not permit the hand to be raised above the level of the eyes or lowered beneath the breast; to such a degree is this true that it is considered a fault to direct the hand above the head or lower it to the lower part of the belly. It may be extended to the left within the limits of the shoulder, but beyond that it is not fitting.” The Prima Porta does go beyond these dignified limits, but then Augustus was a showman.

That Horatii painting

Jacques-Louis David has a lot to answer for as do people who went on to misinterpret his painting of the three sons of Horatius. They are swearing an oath on their swords, held by their father, that they will defend Rome to the death. It’s based on a historical event described by Livy (Book I, sections 24-6) and elaborated by Dionysius in Roman Antiquities (Book III).

However… the moment depicted in David’s painting is straight from David’s imagination. Neither Livy nor Dionysius mention any oath-taking episode. Dionysius, the more detailed source, reports that the father had left to his sons the decision to fight, then raised his hands to the heavens to thank the gods. But what does historical accuracy matter in art?

In more detail…  In the painting, the brothers’ father faces left with both hands raised. His left hand is holding three swords, while his right hand is empty, with fingers stretched but not touching. The brother closest to us is holding his arm almost horizontally. The brother on the left is holding his arm slightly higher, while the third brother holds his hand higher still. While the first brother extends his right arm, the other two are extending their left arms. The succession of arms raised progressively higher leads to a gesture closely approximating the style used by fascists in the 20th century in Italy, albeit with the wrong arms. Oh dear.

The moving image

Those of us of more mature years grew up with epic films such as the 1951 film Quo Vadis where the Nero character repeatedly uses the full arm salute at mass rallies, meant to imply the fascistic nature of the Roman Empire. Others did the same including Ben-Hur, Spartacus, and Cleopatra. In Gladiator, the salute is notably absent in most scenes and in HBO’s Rome series, the emphasis is on the right hand placed over the heart and then extended horizontally to the front of the body, not a ‘Roman salute’.

So there you have it.

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers –  INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO,  AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO  and RETALIO,  and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories.  Audiobooks are available for four of the series. Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers. JULIA PRIMA,  Roma Nova story set in the late 4th century, starts the Foundation stories. The sequel, EXSILIUM, is now out.

Download ‘Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email update. As a result, you’ll be among the first to know about news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.

 

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