Illustration of a Roman military triumph, published in Panvinio's treatise on the subject

The Silver Caesars celebrate the Twelve Caesars as successful rulers. This positive interpretation is reinforced by the large number of compositions representing Roman triumphal processions. These scenes rely on motifs derived from this illustration designed by an Italian antiquarian named Onofrio Panvinio. Panvinio dedicated the print to the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, clearly intending to flatter him by drawing a parallel between his sixteenth-century empire and that of the ancient Romans.

The impact of Panvinio’s print can be traced in every triumph scene on the tazze. Motifs such as the bejeweled bulls and their attendants and the bound captives repeat on several dishes, varying slightly from one scene to the next. The detail of the ruler in his chariot in Julius Caesar’s triumph, for example, appears closely adapted from the Panvinio print, whereas on other dishes the goldsmiths changed the chariot’s decoration or shifted the emperor’s gesture.

In the upper right corner of this print, an emperor, seated on a raised platform, distributes money to his people. Panvinio’s inspiration for this image was a damaged ancient Roman relief on the Arch of Constantine. A similar vignette can be found on the Domitian dish, and close examination confirms that the goldsmith relied on Panvinio’s version of the ancient monument, not the monument itself. In fact, there are no images on the Silver Caesars based on firsthand observation of Rome.