The dictionary of the R.A.E. defines the verb plunder as «to dispossess something or someone with violence or iniquity » and explains that the etymology of the term comes from the Latin exspoliāre , which in turn originated the word spolia (plural of spolium ) with which the Romans referred to loot, both looting and looting decorative elements from old buildings for new ones. In the first case, there was a very special version applied to the panoply of an enemy who kept his victor after defeating him in single combat:spolia opima .
Spolia opima literally translates to rich loot (opimus spolium singular), although, as we say, it was obtained in a personal duel between two combatants. Something that was not very common because, after all, the Roman army was so powerful that it was usually absurd to risk victory in a challenge of this type. That is why there are only three documented cases in its history, at least in which the protagonist was a high-ranking military officer.
The first of them was neither more nor less than the founder of Rome himself, who is also considered the first legendary king:Romulus. The episode took place around the middle of the 8th century BC. as part of another larger one, the kidnapping of the Sabine women, the one in which the first Romans were short of women and organized a party with the neighboring towns to kidnap theirs. When the facts were completed, the attacked formed an alliance to take revenge but Agrón, the king of the ceninetes, marched on the city without waiting for the others. Rómulo and Agrón faced each other in single combat before the expectation of their respective troops.
The first won, who then also defeated the host of his fallen adversary and conquered his city, Caenina, keeping its inhabitants (who became full-fledged Romans). He also kept Agrón's armor, which he displayed alongside his body in a triumphal parade through the streets. He then placed it on a tree trunk and dedicated the trophy to Jupiter Feretrius, whose temple stood on the Capitoline Hill and is believed to have been the first built in Rome. Plutarch tells it like this in his Parallel Lives :
It is not known whether the adjective Feretrio actually derives from the Latin verb fierere (injure, injure, hit, harm) or fero (offer, take), but the reference in both cases would be the spolia opima . In the plural because the ritual was institutionalized as part of the official religion, framed in the Fasti triumphales, since the offering of Romulus was not a unique case, as we will see below. Plutarch himself explains it immediately after the previous story:
This would have been the origin, more or less legendary, of the Roman triumphs, which is what the military parades were called, half civil, half religious, in which the general who won a battle was applauded. The triumphs began on foot, then, and, according to the author, Rómulo in person took his trophy to the Capitoline temple; later they would happen to realize on carriage. In any case, the next to get spolia opima It was Aulus Cornelio Coso, who was consul in 428 BC. and consular tribune two years later.
The dates are confusing because, according to Tito Livio, the chroniclers of the time placed that consulate in 437 BC. and at that time Coso was still a consular tribune in the army of the dictator Mamerco Emilio Mamercino, so many historians are inclined to think that the events occurred being magister equitum of the aforementioned Mamercine. Chronology aside, the important thing is that Rome was at war with the Etruscan city of Veii and, in this context, Coso killed its king, Lars Tolumnio, in a personal confrontation, snatching his armor and offering it to Jupiter Feretrio.
Livy says that the Roman recognized his enemy in the heat of battle and charged at him, dismounting him with his spear. He then used this to deftly jump off the horse and knock Lars Tolumnio down again with a blow from his shield, then skewered him and lopped off his head; then, the warriors of Veii gave up the clash. Mamercino was distinguished in Rome with a triumph, but the real prominence was taken by Coso thanks to his opimus spolium , consisting of armor, sword and shield of the deceased king, duly offered to Jupiter Feretrio.
The third recorded case of spolia opima mentioned by Plutarch is that of Marcus Claudius Marcellus, who was consul in 222 BC, when he faced the threat of a Gallic invasion. That people had already put Rome in trouble years ago, but things had changed and the Romans had become powerful, defeating several of their tribes, such as the Boii and the Insubrians, who inhabited Cisalpine Gaul. That is why the Gauls sent delegates to negotiate peace.
However, the ambassadors were turned away at the urging of Marcellus and his consulate colleague, Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio (Scipio's uncle the African ), interested in there being a war to crush once and for all that latent danger. Several legions invaded enemy territory and, although they faced an enemy far superior in number, by uniting Gesets and Insubrians, they managed to prevail in Clastidium. The initiative was carried out by the Roman cavalry commanded by Marcelo, who in his charge devastated the opposing lines.
During the fight, Marcelo engaged in single combat with Britomarto, the Gallic chief cited by Plutarch and who is also known as Viridómaro, Britómaro or Virdumaro. As in the previously mentioned cases, the consul received a triumph during which he carried the opimus spolium from the rival to the Capitoline temple in a chariot, as Coso also did. It was not for less, because that put an end to the problem of the Gauls and left Rome free hands to face the Second Punic War.
There could still be two new and heroic chapters in the history of the spolia opima , if not because the first one did not want to recognize Octavio (who had not yet been proclaimed Augustus). It was starred by Marco Licinio Craso (grandson of that famous Crassus who formed the first trinvirate together with Pompey and Julius Caesar), who in the year 29 B.C. He was proconsul of Macedonia and, in the exercise of his position, he organized a campaign against the Bastarni, a Scythian tribe that had occupied the region of Mesia threatening Macedonian territory.
Crassus managed to expel them and, in pursuit of him, collided with them at the confluence of the Cedar River with the Danube, near Ratiaria (a city in present-day Bulgaria), defeating them in a pitched battle. In the middle of the fight, he confronted the Scythian king Deidona and killed him, for which he was entitled to the spolia opima; However, Octavian judged it dangerous for him to acquire too much prestige, given his lineage, and denied it on the grounds that Crassus was only a legate and did not have the supreme command of the army. What he did admit was a triumph, which was celebrated two years later.
That triumph was the last ever granted to anyone outside the imperial family and the fact that it was awarded in the face of denial of the spolia opima reveals its superior category, as well as the very special value that was given to it over other typical loot (banners, ship prows...).
The other possible spolia opima could have been won by Drusus the Elder , adopted son of Augustus (her mother was Livia and hers was her father Tiberius Claudius Nero, her first husband). Apparently, during his brilliant campaign in Germania, he had unique and victorious duels with several bosses (who valued such combat highly), so logic says that he must have been worthy of the distinction. However, he died before he could return to Rome for it.