Rome had never seen anything like it: Caesar paraded captives, plunder, and elaborate floats depicting his campaigns across four consecutive celebrations, cementing his image as the most powerful man in the Republic. The triumphs included lavish public feasts for the entire population and gladiatorial games, but also stoked resentment among senators wary of one man's accumulating glory and power, tensions that would culminate in his assassination less than two years later.
For ten days spread across the late summer, Caesar staged a spectacle Rome had never witnessed: four separate triumphs celebrating his conquests in Gaul, his intervention in Egypt, his defeat of King Pharnaces in Pontus, and his victory over Numidian forces in Africa. Elephants reportedly lit the way at night with torches strapped to their tusks, and wagons rolled through the streets bearing placards proclaiming the names of conquered peoples and captured treasure.
He distributed enormous sums to his soldiers and staged public banquets said to have fed the entire population of Rome across thousands of tables, along with theatrical performances and a mock naval battle on an artificial lake dug for the occasion. But the spectacle came with a darker undertone: among the captives paraded in chains was Vercingetorix, the Gallic chieftain who had led the great rebellion against Rome, who was executed after the procession. The sheer scale of self-glorification unsettled many senators, feeding the resentments that senators harbored toward a man who seemed to be positioning himself above the Republic itself.