Wreaths and crowns in antiquity

Cameo of the Roman emperor Tiberius (r. 14–37 AD) wearing a laurel wreath (Kunsthistorisches Museum)
The tyche of Constantinople, wearing a corona muralis, awards Porphyrius, in his quadriga, a laurel wreath in the Hippodrome, carved on a base for a commemorative statue of the charioteer in the Hippodrome itself (Istanbul Archaeology Museums)

In classical and late antiquity wreaths or crowns (Ancient Greek: στέφανος, romanized: stéphanos, lit. 'wreath', 'crown'; Latin: corona, lit. 'wreath', 'garland', 'chaplet') usually made of vegetation or precious metals were worn on ceremonial occasions and were awarded for various achievements. The symbolism of these different types of wreaths depended on their composition; different crowns were worn and awarded for different purposes. Such wreaths or crowns were represented in classical architecture, in ancient Greek art and sculpture, and in Roman art and sculpture. As well as being awarded for merit and military conduct, they were worn by orators, priests performing sacrifices, by the chorus in ancient Greek drama, and by attendees of a symposium.

From Archaic Greece until late antiquity, wreaths were the prizes competed for at the Panhellenic Games – the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian Games – the "crown games", each with a different vegetation crown awarded. In the military of ancient Rome, wreaths were among the traditional Roman military decorations; as a result of the revival in ancient artistic and literary models in the Renaissance they are frequently encountered in Western art and heraldry.

Wreaths of leaves from laurel, olive, oak, myrtle, and celery were particularly symbolically significant, with the laurel wreath the victor's crown at the Pythian Games and at a Roman triumph, and the olive wreath the prize at the Olympic Games. Symposiasts wore crowns of roses, while maenads and other followers of Dionysus wore wreaths of ivy or of vine leaves. The highest martial distinction possible in the Roman state was a wreath of grass. In Classical Greece, gold crowns were commonly sent – and recorded in inscriptions – as tribute to the renowned shrines of Delos and Athens by members of the Delian League. Until Late Antiquity, gold crowns became a tribute demanded by the Roman Empire from cities under its rule. In such cases, an actual crown was frequently never made and the nominal value was often paid in silver.