The trophy itself was called
an offering to Jupiter Feretrius; for the Romans call to strike,
_ferire_, and Romulus prayed that he might strike down his enemy. The
spoils were called _spolia opima_, according to Varro, because _opim_
means excellence. A more plausible interpretation would be from the
deed itself, for work is called in Latin _opus_. This dedication of
_spolia opima_ is reserved as a privilege for a general who has slain
the opposing general with his own hand. It has only been enjoyed by
three Roman generals, first by Romulus, who slew Acron, king of the
Ceninetes, second by Cornelius Cossus, who slew the Tyrrhenian
Tolumnius, and, above all, by Claudius Marcellus, who killed Britomart,
the king of the Gauls. Now Cossus and Marcellus drove into the city in
chariots and four, carrying the trophies in their own hands; but
Dionysius is in error when he says that Romulus used a chariot and four,
for the historians tell us that Tarquinius, the son of Demaratus, was
the first of the kings who introduced this pomp into his triumphs.
Others say that Poplicola was the first to triumph in a chariot.
However, the statues of Romulus bearing the trophy, which are to be seen
in Rome, are all on foot.
[Footnote A: The habit of erecting trophies on a field of battle in
token of victory appears to have been originally confined to the Greeks,
who usually, as in the text, lopped the branches off a tree, placed it
in the ground in some conspicuous place, and hung upon it the shields
and other spoils taken from the enemy.
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