ŎVĀTĬO, a lesser triumph. The circumstances by which it was
distinguished from the more imposing solemnity [TRIUMPHUS] were the
following:--The general did not enter the city in a chariot drawn
by four horses, but on foot: he was not arrayed in the gorgeous
gold-embroidered robe, but in the simple toga praetexta of a
magistrate; his brows were encircled with a wreath, not of laurel
but of myrtle; he bore no sceptre in his hand; the procession was
not heralded by trumpets, headed by the senate, and thronged with
victorious troops, but was enlivened by a crowd of flute players,
attended chiefly by knights and plebeians, frequently without
soldiers: the ceremonies were concluded by the sacrifice, not of a
bull but of a sheep. The word _ovatio_ seems clearly to be derived
from the kind of victim offered. An ovation was granted when the
advantage gained, although considerable, was not sufficient to
constitute a legitimate claim to the higher distinction of a triumph,
or when the victory had been achieved with little bloodshed; or when
hostilities had not been regularly proclaimed; or when the war had
not been completely terminated; or when the contest had been carried
on against base and unworthy foes; and hence when the servile bands
of Athenion and Spartacus were destroyed by Perperna and Crassus,
these leaders celebrated ovations only.