Roman salute
340471
226172766
2008-07-17T04:02:23Z
24.19.72.29
/* Early images */
[[Image:David-Oath of the Horatii-1784.jpg|thumb|300px|''[[Oath of the Horatii|The Oath of the Horatii]]'' (1784), by [[Jacques-Louis David]]]]
The '''[[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[salute]]''' is a gesture in which the arm is held out forward straight, with palm down. Sometimes the arm is raised upward at an angle, sometimes it is held out parallel to the ground. Despite the gesture's name, it is unclear whether the Romans used it as a form of [[military courtesy]]; the current interpretation of a "salute" would seem to have evolved over time, more substantially in recent periods.
==History==
===Early images===
[[Image:Serment du jeu de paume.jpg|left|thumb|250px|''The Tennis Court Oath'', by J-L David]]
The salute was supposed to have been used in the [[Roman Republic]], but there is no clear evidence of this. Indeed it is not known whether salutes as military courtesy existed at all in Roman culture. However, a number of images showing similar gestures exist from the Imperial era. These depict Roman leaders addressing their troops ("[[adlocutio]]" scenes). Usually the leader has his arm raised in a rhetorical gesture. In some images a few troops are also depicted with raised arms, possibly suggesting acclamation of the leader. Several such scenes appear on [[Trajan's Column]]<ref>[http://cheiron.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~trajan/images/hi/4.70.h.jpg Photograph] and [http://cheiron.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~trajan/buildcartoon.cgi?13b "cartoon view" explanation] of [[Trajan's Column]], from [[McMaster University]] Humanities department</ref>.
[[Image:Distribution of the Eagle Standards.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A study for ''The Distribution of the Eagle Standards'', by J-L David]]
The association of the gesture with Roman republican culture seems to have emerged in 18th century [[France]] with revolutionary and anti-monarchist movements of the era. Several paintings in the [[neoclassicism|Neoclassical]] style depict Roman heroes adopting variants of the gesture. The most famous and influential of these is [[Jacques-Louis David]]'s painting ''The Oath of the Horatii'' (1784), which illustrates a pledge of loyalty to the Roman republic.{{fix|link=Wikipedia:Contents|text=citation needed}} After the [[French Revolution]] of 1789, David was commissioned to depict the formation of the revolutionary government in a similar style. In the ''[[Tennis Court Oath]]'' (1792) the [[National Assembly (French Revolution)|National Assembly]] are all depicted with their arms outstretched as they swear to create a new constitution. After the [[First French Republic|republican government]] was replaced by [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]]'s [[First French Empire|imperial régime]], David further deployed the gesture in images of Napoleon receiving the acclamation and loyalty of his soldiers. These consciously imitated ancient Roman ''ad locutio'' scenes. The most important of these paintings is ''[[The Distribution of the Eagle Standards]]'' (1810).
As the founder of the French [[academic art|academic]] school of art, David was imitated by many painters during the 19th century, who regularly depicted the straight-arm gesture in scenes of Roman imperial history.
===From oath to salute===
{{main|Bellamy salute|Hitler salute}}
[[Image:germansalute.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A picture from the ''[[Illustrated Exhibitor]]'' (1852) depicting the installation of an early [[German king]]]][[Image:Hitler-car.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Adolf Hitler]] giving the [[Hitler salute|Nazi salute]]]]These early images of the gesture are not strictly speaking salutes, since most actually depict the swearing of oaths. It was with this function that the so-called [[Bellamy salute]] was adopted in the [[United States]] in 1892 as part of the [[Pledge of Allegiance]]. This required that participants should initially bend their right arm with the hand held against the forehead, as in a conventional military salute. The arm should then be "extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the flag." Similar gestures were adopted elsewhere in the late-19th century among both [[nationalism|nationalist]] and [[socialism|socialist]] movements. In the modern [[United States|USA]], when swearing legal oaths and oaths of government office, the affirmant uses the gesture of an upraised arm, bent at the elbow, palm facing outward, which bears resemblance to the Roman Salute.
It is unclear precisely when the oath gesture became transformed into a quasi-military salute, though it appears in this role in some Davidian paintings, most famously [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]]'s popular ''[[Ave Caesar morituri te salutant|{{lang|la|Ave Caesar! Morituri te salutant}}]]'' (Hail Caesar! They Who Are About to Die Salute You) of 1859. [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/ave.html] [http://artgallery.yale.edu/pages/collection/popups/pc_european/details27.html]. At the same time research by [[Jacques Nicolas Augustin Thierry|Augustin Thierry]] into the rituals of Gallic and Germanic tribes led to the claim that such gestures were associated with ancient [[Aryan race|Aryan]] peoples for whom monarchy was said to be defined more by charismatic prowess than simple inheritance.<ref>According to the ''[[Illustrated Exhibitor]]'', the reconstruction of such ceremonies among the Gauls and Germans was undertaken by Augustin Thierry. ''Illustrated Exhibitor'', 1852, vol. 1., pp.165–6</ref> [[Nordic theory|Nordic ideology]], which was later embraced by the Nazis, claimed that the leading classes of ancient Greek and Roman culture had originated among Germanic peoples, who had migrated south. In consequence it was argued that the gesture was Nordic in origin, expressive of the free acclamation of a leader.
[[Image:Hitlermusso2 edit.jpg|thumb|160px|right|[[Benito Mussolini]] and Hitler, Mussolini giving the Roman salute.]]
By the end of the 19th century, the gesture was recognised as a symbol of communal acclamation, appropriate as a sign of allegiance to be used in several mass movements. A version was adopted as the [[Olympic salute]], with arms raised to the side of the body, as in ''The Oath of the Horatii.'' The gesture was also portrayed as a salute in a number of early films about ancient Rome, such as [[Ben Hur (1907 film)|''Ben Hur'']] (1907), ''[[Nerone (film)|Nerone]]'' (1908), ''[[Spartaco]]'' (1914) and ''[[Cabiria]]'' (1914).
The Italian nationalist writer and adventurer [[Gabriele D'Annunzio]], who had scripted ''Cabiria'', appropriated the salute with a neo-Imperial meaning when he occupied [[Rijeka]] in 1919. <ref>[http://www.apaclassics.org/AnnualMeeting/03mtg/abstracts/Winkler.html The Roman Salute on Film], Martin Winkler</ref> It was later taken up by the Italian [[fascism|fascist]] party to symbolise their claim to have revitalised Italy on the model of ancient Rome. In the Italian version the arm was typically raised quite high above the shoulder with the palm bent outwards, in a rhetorical manner similar to Roman imperial statuary. Other fascist groups also adopted versions of the salute, including the German [[National Socialist German Workers Party|Nazi Party]]'s [[Hitler salute]], in which the arm was raised smartly to the front, at right angles to the chest with the palm turned downwards. Under Fascist rule, these salutes were also in use by the general population in Germany and Italy. [[Achille Starace]], the Italian [[National Fascist Party|Fascist Party]] secretary, pushed for measures to make the use of the Roman salute generally compulsory, denouncing [[handshake|hand shaking]] as effete and foreign.
Because of the similarity between the Bellamy salute and the [[Hitler salute|Nazi salute]], President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] instituted the hand-over-the-heart gesture as the salute to be rendered by civilians during the [[Pledge of Allegiance]] and the [[The Star-Spangled Banner|national anthem]] in the [[United States]], instead of the Bellamy salute. This was done when [[United States Congress|Congress]] officially adopted the [[United States Flag Code|''Flag Code'']] on [[22 June]] [[1942]].
A similar form of an elevated right arm prevailed among certain Catholic youth organisations in [[the Netherlands]], [[Belgium]], the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Germany]], e.g. the salute of the members of the [[Grail Movement]]. Their using the Roman salute was however ended in the mid-1930s, as confusion far too often arose over whether their salute form in public was an act of tacit support for Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, or not. [[Anticlericalism|Anti-clerical]] [[left-wing]] publications often used 1920s and early 1930s pictures of bishops and other clergy saluting these Catholic youth movements with the Roman salute, as to imply a "Nazi" or "Fascist" orientation of these bishops and priests, or even the [[Roman Catholic Church]] in general.
==Post-war use==
The association with Nazism and Fascism has been so strong that the use of the salute has been rare since the end of [[World War II]]. There are several exceptions: in [[Portugal]], [[Mexico]] and the [[Republic of China]] ([[Taiwan]]), the salute is still used during the swearing of oaths in inaugurations.
It is also known to be used by the Tamil separatist organization, the [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam|LTTE]], while saluting their leader [[Velupillai Prabhakaran]].<ref>[http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2003/07/13/fea27.html Interview with Black Tigers: Obsession with death], Frances Bulathsinghala, reporting from [[Vanni (Sri Lanka)|Vanni]], ''[[Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka)|Sunday Observer]]'', [[13 July]] [[2003]]</ref>. It is also used by the Lebanese terrorist organization [[Hezbollah]], possibly due to the group's anti-Israeli views. <ref>[http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/july2006/hezbollah_recruits.jpg Picture of Hezbollah members giving Nazi salute]</ref>
In 2005, [[Italy|Italian]] [[football (soccer)|footballer]] [[Paolo Di Canio]] created controversy by using the gesture on several occasions to salute hardcore right-wing [[S.S. Lazio]] fans. Di Canio has also expressed admiration for [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4158591.stm Footballer's "fascist salute" row], Mark Duff, ''[[BBC News Online]]'', [[9 January]], [[2005]]</ref>{{,}}<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/24/wpaolo24.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/12/24/ixworld.html I'm a fascist, not a racist, says Paolo di Canio], Ben Fenton, ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'', [[24 December]], [[2005]]</ref>
The salute continued to be portrayed as a real feature of Ancient Roman culture in some historical dramas about Rome, such as the [[1951 in film|1951 film]] ''[[Quo Vadis (1951 film)|Quo Vadis]]'' and the [[1960 in film|1960 film]] ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]''. It has been used as such as recently as the 2005 TV series ''[[Empire (TV series)|Empire]]'' and the [[HBO]] TV series ''[[Rome (TV series)|Rome]]''.
==Uses in fiction==
The salute appears in [[science fiction]] dramas, usually to suggest either fascist or imperial Roman characteristics in fictional cultures. The [[Romulan]]s in the original ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' television series (1966–69) are depicted, as their name suggests, as a Roman-like culture. They use an upraised arm, palm down salute in several episodes, such as "[[The Enterprise Incident (TOS episode)|The Enterprise Incident]]".
In the video game, [[Mega Man X4]], the fictional military organization, known as the Repliforce, can be seen giving the Roman salute during the early cinematics of the game.
In the Japanese animation series [[Excel Saga]] the main heroines are often seen greeting their superior(s) with a Roman Salute, followed by an overly enthusiastic (if somewhat mispronounced) Nazi-era "heil".
==Footnotes==
{{reflist|2}}
==See also==
{{commonscat|Roman salute}}
*''[[Ave]]''
*[[Clenched fist]]
*[[Hand gesture#Thumbs up, thumbs down|Thumbs-up, Thumbs-down]]
{{Gestures}}
[[Category:Ancient Rome|Salute, Roman]]
[[Category:Gestures]]
[[Category:Greetings]]
[[de:Saluto romano]]
[[it:Saluto romano]]
[[ja:ローマ式敬礼]]
[[pl:Salut rzymski]]
[[ro:Salutul roman]]
[[fi:Roomalainen tervehdys]]
[[sv:Romersk salut]]