The work combines on the one hand a classic theme of the total power of the victorious emperor, crowned by Victory, whose universal rule is synonymous with peace and prosperity, and on the other hand the theme of Christian victory brought by Christ's patronage and blessing of the emperor.
In 274, the victorious emperor turned his attention to the west, and the "Gallic Empire" which had already been reduced in size by Claudius II.
Throughout the 830s, Theophilos launched a series of moderately successful campaigns against the Caliphate, allowing him to portray himself in the traditional Roman way as a victorious emperor.
An explicit parallel was drawn between the victorious charioteers and the victorious emperor.
Christian art produced for the church generally avoided battle scenes, although a rare Late Antique motif shows Christ dressed as a victorious emperor in general's dress, having conquered the devil, in Christ treading on the beasts and other iconographies.
A drawing of George W. Bush in the guise of a victorious Roman emperor, flanked by Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf (with Napoleon and sundry imperialists nearby), leaves nothing to the imagination.
The most characteristic was the triumphal entry of a victorious emperor, who entered the city through the Golden Gate and followed the Mese to the Great Palace, while jubilant crowds lined along the street would greet him and the imperial army back home.
One of Ahmad Shah's first acts as chief was to adopt the titles Padishah-i-Ghazi ("victorious emperor"), and Durr-i-Durrani ("pearl of pearls" or "pearl of the age").
Consequently, the emperor began to publicly associate himself with the memory of the militarily successful iconoclast emperor Constantine V (r. 741-775), and issued a new type of the copper follis coin, minted in huge numbers, which portrayed him as the archetypical victorious Roman emperor.
The painting shows Henry parading into Paris as a victorious Roman emperor holding an olive branch, the symbol of peace.