Ovation

Ovation a lesser triumph among the ancient Romans. The name seems to have been derived from the animal sacrificed on the occasion, which was not a bull, but a sheep (ovis). In an ovation the general entered the city on foot, clothed not in gorgeous robes, but simply in the toga praetexta of a magistrate. The wreath with which his brow was girt was composed not of laurel, but of myrtle. He carried no scepter in his hand. The procession by which he was attended consisted not of senators. and a victorious army, but of knights and plebeians. No trumpets heralded the general's entry into the city in the case of an ovation, but simply a band of flute-players.