Triumphator's slave?

[mal...@ibm.net]

The triumphators who returned to Rome for a victorious
procession usually had a slave standing behind them,
holding a laurel over his head and murmuring, "All
glory is fleeting" or "Remember you are mortal".

What was this slave called, specifically? Did he
have an appellation? He couldn't have just been
called "the-slave-who-holds-the-laurel-over-the-victor's-
head-in-the-procession".

I'd appreciate any responses!

Thanks.

Ave!

Mallia

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[Henrik Baarnhielm]

I think this story is a bit apocryphal, perhaps an invention of the
Renaissance. The Latin quotation is "Memento te mortalem esse", but it's
not found in the ancient sources, only an incidental remark in
Tertullianus, Apologeticum 33,4, something like "... it's being shouted
to you from behind, remember you are mortal...". And I guess the image
of the slave on the chariot is confused with the Victoria, holding the
wreath above the triumphator's head. In fact I think the sentiment of
this story is alien to the Roman spirit, possibly invented by Late
antique or Renaissance moral philosphy.
Greetings

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