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ROMAN SCULPTURE |
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The Arch of Titus - Arcus
Titi
A.D.81
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The Arch of
Titus is a Pentelic marble triumphal arch
with a single arched opening, located on the
Via Sacra just to the south-east of the
Forum in Rome. It was constructed by the
emperor Domitian shortly after the death of
his brother Titus (born AD 41, emperor
79-81), commemorating the capture and sack
of Jerusalem in 70, which effectively
terminated the Jewish War begun in 66
(although the Romans did not achieve
complete victory until the fall of Masada in
73).
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SENATVS
POPVLVSQVE·ROMANVS
DIVO·TITO·DIVI·VESPASIANI·F(ILIO)
VESPASIANO·AVGVSTO
"The Senate and
People of Rome (dedicate this) to the divine
Titus Vespasianus Augustus, son of the divine
Vespasian." |
USA National Memorial Arch
Valley Forge, PA
Am Yisroel Chai
Written by: Richard McBee
I walked slowly away from the Coliseum
in Rome. Completed in 80 C.E. by the Emperor
Titus it was used for almost 500 years for
countless gladiatorial games and bloody
spectacles. Some speculate that it was initially
financed from the booty taken from the Temple in
Jerusalem in the year 70. A murderous monument
to Roman civilization, indeed.
Turning my back on its horrors, I entered the
Via Sacra, the well-worn street that leads to
the Roman Forum and its triumphal entry, the
Arch of Titus. The infamous arch towers over the
ruins of the Forum and echoes the larger Arch of
Septimius Severus at the opposite end. As I
approached the 50-foot high monument on a late
Friday afternoon in July it was swarming with
tourists gawking, snapping pictures and resting
in its shade, preparing for their next
adventure. Few seemed to grasp the gravity of
this site.
The Arch of Titus was built in 81 C.E. by the
Emperor Domitian, the brother of Titus, to
commemorate the victory over the Jewish revolt
and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
It marks the utter military defeat of the Jews
in the face of paganism and what easily could be
seen as the beginning of the creation of the
Christian world. More importantly, it
memorializes the severance between Jews and G-d
that lasts to this day. The Diaspora from our
Land and our
Avodah still gnaws at the Jewish soul.
Arch of Titus, view from Roman Forum
On the inside of the arch looking toward the
Forum are two surviving marble reliefs that face
one another. On the right, Titus is seen
triumphantly entering Rome while the left
parades the spoils from the Temple. The silver
trumpets, the Show Bread Table and finally, the
Golden Menorah, are clearly displayed. I sat
down and covered my eyes in sorrow at our
punishment. Seeing the Arch of Titus and its
relief sculptures I was a direct witness to G-d’s
wrath.
Trying to contain my grief, I realized that this
ancient work of art needed to be seen in its
historical context, just like all works of art.
My immediate personal reaction was only the
first step to uncovering its larger meaning.
What struck me immediately was the extremely
prominent place that the Arch of Titus occupied.
For hundreds of years as Romans approached the
Forum, the heart of their far flung Empire’s
administrative, social and religious life, they
would see the Latin inscription that crowns the
arch just as we see it today:
“The Senate and
The People of Rome [dedicate this to] The Divine
Titus Vespasianus Augustus, [son of] Divine
Vespasian.”
Coliseum, Rome
The proud acknowledgement by the Roman people
and Senate of Titus’s achievement in subduing
the stiff-necked Jews is especially impressive
when we consider how many other worthy foes the
Romans had conquered. Before subduing the Jews,
the Romans had conquered Macedonia, Greece,
Carthage, Spain, Central and Southern Italy,
Sicily, Gaul, Germany and Britain. And yet, it
was this conquest that first greeted the Roman
elite. As an expression of this, the arch is
adorned with multiple figures of the Roman
goddess Victory, proclaiming triumph. On the
façade facing the Coliseum and the façade facing
the Forum two spandrels (triangular shapes above
the archway) boast two giant winged beings
bearing trophies of celebration.
The elaborately decorated soffit (underside) of
the arch shows a central panel depicting the
Apotheosis of Titus, his image carried aloft to
heaven by an eagle. It was common in this era
for the Roman Senate to deify their emperors
once they died (hence ‘Divine Titus’). This
visually crowns the two relief panels on the
inside of the arch. In both relief panels the
figures are moving in the same direction, toward
the Roman Forum, dramatically reenacting the
triumphal procession that actually occurred when
Titus returned from defeating Jerusalem and
Masada in the year 72 C.E.
Arch of Titus,
detail
Facing the Forum, the right side shows Titus
standing in a
quadriga (4-horse chariot) that is led by
the goddess Roma. Just behind him, a winged
Victory crowns the general with a laurel wreath
while alongside the chariot he is accompanied by
a youth, representing the Roman people and an
old man representing the venerable Senate. The
four horses impatiently stride forward, their
passion in sharp contrast to the calm dignity of
the marching soldiers and
lictors
carrying ceremonial fascia of royal office. The
conquering Titus seems impenetrable and
undefeatable. In fact, Titus died at the age of
40, a mere 11 years after he defiled the holy
Temple. The
Gemara in
Gittin
56b famously relates how G-d tortured Titus with
a tiny gnat that knocked around in his brain for
seven painful years until he died. Not
surprisingly, no trace of his real future is to
be found in the proud marble depiction of
triumph.
Opposite the triumphant Titus is the relief of
the spoils taken from the Temple. The men
carrying the Golden Menorah have hoisted it up
on long poles. They have pillows on their
shoulders and laurel wreaths on their heads as
they stride forward. There seems to be 12 men
carrying the Menorah and another eight carrying
the Show Bread Table. In front of the Table two
silver trumpets are also carried. It is notable
that many more individuals are shown in this
procession than in the triumphal entry of Titus.
We see behind the figures, four placards held
aloft that proclaim the victories, conquered
cities and peoples of Titus.
Menorah, Show Bread Table; Marble Relief
This procession is much more animated
than the staid Titus opposite, and it marches
purposefully to enter into a carved arch at the
extreme right. This depiction of the
Porta
Triumphalis uncovers the deeply religious
nature of the triumphal procession. The passage
through the Porta Triumphalis was meant to
purify the returning soldiers of the bloodguilt
incurred in battle. Additionally, the presence
of the victorious general passing through this
gate was thought to bring a blessing upon the
Roman capital itself. The victory march would
then make a ritual procession to a series of
sacrifices and dedications of the spoils. The
entire ceremony would culminate in the Roman
Forum at the Temple of Jupiter
Optimus Maxiums,
offering additional spoils, sacrificing “white
oxen to Jupiter, laying a laurel branch and
wreaths in the lap of the god’s statue.” The
triumphant general and the Senate would then
share in a sacred feast. What we are seeing in
this relief is not just a victory parade; it is
an aspect of pagan worship using the sacred
objects from the holy Temple.
The tragic aspect of the Arch of Titus did not
cease with the collapse of the Roman Empire in
the end of the fifth century. In 1555 Pope Paul
IV ghettoized the Roman Jews and forced them to
swear an “oath of submission to the Pope” under
the still standing Arch of Titus. This arch
carries the full weight of G-d’s anger at His
people and the cruelty of His agents.
And yet, as I looked around the arch on that
July afternoon, I realized that this sordid
history was not the whole story. The Arch of
Titus, now presiding over what is left of the
Roman Forum, is a complete and utter ruin.
Uncovered and restored in the 19th century out
of archeological curiosity and, more recently
touted to foster tourism, for 1,500 years both
the arch and the Roman Forum were abandoned; the
Forum at best put to use as a cow pasture and
quarry, the arch incorporated as part of
medieval fortifications.
Triumph of Titus; Marble Relief
The Jews meanwhile had set about reconstituting
themselves, forging an authentic Jewish life
without a Temple, somehow surviving without its
degree of holiness. We were wildly successful as
we codified the
Mishnah and
Gemara,
codes of Law built upon generations of pious
practice and rebuilding of countless
communities. Our journey since Titus has been
arduous to be sure, filled with tragedy as well
as triumph, but we cannot deny that we live in a
blessed generation – yeshivas filled to
overflowing, Jewish communities blossoming
around the world and our nation repossessing our
Land. As we look at the Golden Menorah on the
Arch of Titus we can rise above the sorrow that
we feel and know that this same image adorns the
seal of the sovereign and proud State of Israel.
Years ago, when I first visited the Arch of
Titus, I remember seeing graffiti scribbled in
chalk under the relief-
Am Yisroel Chai
(The People of Israel Live). That is how
I still understand what this ancient monument
means.
References to Roman religion and triumphal
celebrations are from “The Origins of Roman
Historical Commemoration in the Visual Arts” by
Peter J. Holliday (California State University,
Long Beach) Cambridge University Press, 2002.
There is also a lesser-known
Arch of Titus. It is a triple arch erected
by the east end of the Circus Maximus by the
Senate in 81 AD, in honour of Titus and his
capture of Jerusalem in the First Jewish-Roman
War. Few traces remain.
Sir Lawrence Alda-Tadema:
Triumph of Titus, AD71
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