Names like Africanus ("the African"), Numidicus ("the Numidian"), Isauricus ("the Isaurian"), Creticus ("the Cretan"), Gothicus ("the Goth"), Germanicus ("the German") and Parthicus ("the Parthian") expressed the triumphal subjugation of these peoples or their territories, or commemorated the locations of general's successful campaigns, equivalent to modern titles like Lawrence of Arabia, and were not indicators of origin.
Other notable holders of such victory titles include Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus, who was replaced by Gaius Marius as command-in-chief of the Jugurthine War; Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus, who commanded Roman anti-pirate operations in the eastern Mediterranean (and was father of Julius Caesar's colleague in his second consulate); Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus in 48 BC), while Marcus Antonius Creticus, another anti-piracy commander, (and father of Caesar's magister equitum, Mark Antony) actually lost in Crete and was called Creticus mockingly, as it also meant "Man made of Chalk".
In a broader sense, the term victory title is sometimes used to describe the repeatable awarding of the invariable style of Imperator (Greek equivalent Autokrator; see those articles), which is the highest military qualification (as modern states have awarded a non-operational highest rank, sometimes instituted for a particular general), but even when it marks the recipient out for one or more memorable victories (and the other use, as a permanent military command for the ruler, became in fact the more significant one), it does not actually specify one.
[citation needed] In the Russian Empire, many victory titles originated in the period between the accession of Catherine the Great (1762) and the death of Nicholas I of Russia (1855).
General Wrangel awarded the last victory-title in Russia (Krymsky – "Crimean") unofficially after the abolition of the monarchy: to the White Lieutenant-General Yakov Aleksandrovich Slashchov in August 1920 for his defence of the Crimea in 1919–1920.
Examples include: During the Regency of Hungary after World War I, the Regent Miklós Horthy was not authorized to grant titles of nobility, but conferred the Order of Vitéz which sometimes but necessarily also carried noble predicates.
Examples commemorating military action include: The Kingdom of Italy under the House of Savoy of Piemonte-Sardinia granted many victory titles.
The practice of bestowing such titles became especially common after the unification of Italy and again after World War I, when the Mussolini government (1922–1943) made a number of nominations.