The Digital Companion to Roman Antiquity

Neptune’s Trident: The Weapon That Shook the World

Golden trident on a Roman seaside temple terrace at sunset, with ocean waves, shells, marble columns, and a statue of Neptune.

The trident was forged by the Cyclopes alongside Jupiter’s thunderbolt and Pluto’s helmet of invisibility. It struck the Acropolis in a contest Neptune lost to Minerva. It was carried by gladiators in the Roman arena. And it eventually became the weapon of British imperial sea power. The history of this single object spans three thousand years.