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mods: Triumph in defeat military loss and the Roman Republic Clark, Jessica Homan 1980- creator author. text bibliography Electronic books. History Military history nyu 2014 monographic eng remote 1 online resource (xviii, 240 pages) : maps This book examines the implications of Rome's many military defeats during the Roman Republic. Tracing responses to defeat from the Second Punic War through the second century B.C.E., it reconsiders the triumphalist narratives that have sometimes dominated studies of the culture of politics and commemoration at Rome. It argues that Roman experiences in the Second Punic War led to the articulation of a particularly fraught relationship to defeat, which informed strategic priorities and commemorative activities in the aftermath of that war. A range of mechanisms developed to control the reception of military activities at Rome, and as long as the Roman Senate maintained its construction of consensus, defeats could be plotted within the larger narratives of victory created through its decisions on triumphs and diplomacy. Thus this book proposes that, while Rome did sometimes win its wars through unequivocal battlefield success, at other points senatorial decisions ended wars, redefining the terms and timelines of victory. Alternate interpretations of Rome's military record could call into question the validity of the Senate's verdicts, however, and thus also challenge the authority that underlay those verdicts. Ultimately, Rome's approach to defeat was rendered unsustainable by the recurring wars fought by succeeding generations, the advancement of multiple narratives on particular conflicts, and the mismanagement of the public apprehension of the costs and consequences of Rome's overseas involvements. Introduction -- When in Rome : remembering and reevaluating defeat -- Costs and benefits : winning the Second Punic War -- Managing defeat : the Senate and the triumph, 201-167 -- Alternative endings : responding to repeated defeat, 156-130…