#tropaion

Tropaeum of Hippo Regius (Trophy)

Hippo Regius (currently Annaba, Algeria)

1st century BCE

Leuctra Tropaion (Victory Monument)

Leuctra, Boeotia, Greece

371 BCE

After the defeat of Cleombrotus' forces in the Battle of Leuctra, a tropaion was set up on the battlefield by the Thebans to commemorate their victory. The tropaion was later replaced by a permanent monument, an unprecedented move by the Thebans as tropaia were designed to be ephemeral. The original appearance of the monument is attested by contemporary coins of the period and showed that it took the form of a tree trunk mounted upon a cylindrical pedestal carved with metopes, triglyphs, and a series of stone shields. On the tree trunk itself is affixed the shields, weapons, and armor of the defeated Spartans. The base of the monument still survives to this day

While Xenophon, the only contemporary historian, described the building of a trophy immediately after the battle and before the Spartans were allowed to collect their dead (Hell., 6.4.15), the trophy was most likely a makeshift one made from captured arms and armour attached to a stake.

The fragmented monument we see today was constructed well after the battle and it included a bronze statue on top, now lost to history. Cicero was so offended by such a permanent structure that he emphasized the temporary nature of war trophies, which were meant to be remembered “for the present” and “not remain foreve”.

In addition, ancient historians such as Diodorus stated explicitly that the temporary nature of battle monuments was the custom of victorious Greek armies (13.24.5).

Luckily for us, the Boeotians did not stop an offending bronze statue, as coins still exist from the region, sporting the bronze trophy of a soldier.

Battle of Leuctra in Wikipedia