Arch of Titus

{{short description|Ancient Roman arch, a landmark of Rome, Italy}}

{{About|the main arch of Titus on the Via Sacra|the one by the Circus Maximus|Arch of Titus (Circus Maximus)}}

{{infobox ancient site

|name=Arch of Titus

|location=Regio X Palatium

|built={{circa}} 81 A.D {{age|81}} years ago

|builder=Emperor Domitian

|image=Arch of Titus (Roma).jpg

|caption=The Arch of Titus, showing the "Spoils of Jerusalem" relief on the inside arch

|type=honorific arch

|coordinates={{coord|41|53|26.5812|N|12|29|18.906|E|type:landmark_region:IT|display=it}}

|map dot label=Arch of Titus

|map_label_position=bottom

|map_type=Italy Rome Antiquity

|map_caption=Shown within Augustan Rome

|map_size=270

|image_size=270

|mapframe-frame-width=270

|mapframe=yes

|mapframe-caption=Click on the map for a fullscreen view

|mapframe-zoom=13

|mapframe-marker=monument

|mapframe-wikidata=yes

}}

The Arch of Titus ({{langx|it|Arco di Tito}}; {{langx|la|Arcus Tītī}}) is a 1st-century AD honorific arch,It was not a triumphal arch; Titus's triumphal arch was in the Circus Maximus. located on the Via Sacra, Rome, just to the south-east of the Roman Forum. It was constructed in {{circa}} 81 AD by Emperor Domitian shortly after the death of his older brother Titus to commemorate Titus's official deification or consecratio and the victory of Titus together with their father, Vespasian, over the Jewish rebellion in Judaea.{{cite web |url= http://exhibitions.kelsey.lsa.umich.edu/galleries/Exhibits/Empire2/monument/titus.html |title= The Arch of Titus |website= exhibitions.kelsey.lsa.umich.edu |access-date= 2017-07-06 |archive-date= 2017-11-05 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171105202124/http://exhibitions.kelsey.lsa.umich.edu/galleries/Exhibits/Empire2/monument/titus.html |url-status= live }}

The arch contains panels depicting the triumphal procession celebrated in 71 AD after the Roman victory culminating in the fall of Jerusalem, and provides one of the few contemporary depictions of artifacts from Herod's Temple.The Menorah: From the Bible to Modern Israel, Steven Fine, 2016 Although the panels are not explicitly stated as illustrating this event, they closely parallel the narrative of the Roman procession described a decade prior in Josephus' The Jewish War.{{cite book | title=The Arch of Titus | chapter=Flavius Josephus and the Arch of Titus: Commemorating the Jewish War in Word and Stone | publisher=BRILL | date=2021-06-14 | pages=43–54 | doi=10.1163/9789004447790_006 | isbn=9789004447790 | url=https://www.academia.edu/49438092 | last1=Rocca | first1=Samuele | s2cid=240655021 | access-date=2022-12-31 | archive-date=2023-03-26 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326022542/https://www.academia.edu/49438092 | url-status=live }}{{cite journal | last=DesRosiers | first=Nathaniel | title=Another Temple, Another Vessel: Josephus, the Arch of Titus, and Roman Triumphal Propaganda | journal=Near Eastern Archaeology | publisher=University of Chicago Press | volume=82 | issue=3 | date=2019-09-01 | issn=1094-2076 | doi=10.1086/704960 | pages=140–147| s2cid=204473434 }}

It became a symbol of the Jewish diaspora, and the menorah depicted on the arch served as the model for the menorah used as the emblem of the State of Israel.{{cite web |last= Mishory |first= Alec |url= https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/emblem.html |title= Israel National Symbols: The State Emblem |publisher= Jewish Virtual Library |access-date= 2014-07-30 |archive-date= 2014-07-17 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140717162532/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/emblem.html |url-status= live }}

The arch has provided the general model for many triumphal arches erected since the 16th century. It is the inspiration for the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.{{cite book |author= Diana Rowell |title= Paris: The 'New Rome' of Napoleon I| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CKMAgbmrEFwC&pg=PA43 |date= 23 August 2012 |publisher= Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4411-2883-6 |pages=43–}} It holds an important place in art history, being the focus of Franz Wickhoff's appreciation of Roman art in contrast to the then-prevailing view.Holloway, R. Ross. “SOME REMARKS ON THE ARCH OF TITUS.” L’Antiquité Classique, vol. 56, 1987, pp. 185. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41656878 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231095247/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41656878 |date=2022-12-31 }}. Accessed 31 Dec. 2022.

History

Based on the style of sculptural details, Domitian's favored architect Rabirius, sometimes credited with the Colosseum, may have executed the arch. Without contemporary documentation, however, attributions of Roman buildings on the basis of style are considered shaky.{{Citation |title=Triumphal Arch of Titus | date=17 January 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POCW8QVjA28 |access-date=2023-09-05 |language=en |archive-date=2023-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905131505/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POCW8QVjA28 |url-status=live }} The brother and successor of Titus built the arch despite being described as hateful towards Titus by Cassius Dio.{{cite web | url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/cassius_dio/67*.html | title=Cassius Dio — Epitome of Book 67 | access-date=2022-06-04 | archive-date=2020-06-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606183820/http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/67*.html | url-status=live }}

The medieval Latin travel guide Mirabilia Urbis Romae noted the monument, writing: "the arch of the Seven Lamps of Titus and Vespasian; [where Moses' candlestick is having seven branches, with the Ark, at the foot of the Cartulary Tower"].In English https://archive.org/stream/marvelsromeorap00nichgoog#page/n50/mode/2up; in Latin: "Arcus septem lucernarum Titi et Vespasiani, ubi est candelabrum Moysi cum arca habens septem brachia in piede turris cartulariae", [https://archive.org/stream/OEXV384_P3#page/n9/mode/1up Mirabilia Urbis Romae], page 4For a review of historical references to the Arch of Titus, see: Élisabeth Chevallier, Raymond Chevallier, [https://books.google.com/books?id=kWpoAAAAMAAJ Iter Italicum: les voyageurs français à la découverte de l'Italie ancienne] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164823/https://books.google.com/books?id=kWpoAAAAMAAJ |date=2023-03-26 }}, Les Belles Lettres, 1984, {{ISBN|9782251333106}}, pages 274–291

During the Middle Ages, the Frangipani family added a second story to the vault, converting it into a fortified tower;A Let's Go City Guide: Rome, p. 76, Vedran Lekić, 2004; {{ISBN|1-4050-3329-0}}. beam holes from the construction remain in the panels.{{cite book |last1=De la Croix |first1=Horst |last2=Tansey |first2=Richard G. |last3=Kirkpatrick |first3=Diane |title=Gardner's Art Through the Ages |date=1991 |publisher=Thomson/Wadsworth |isbn=0-15-503769-2 |edition=9th |page=[https://archive.org/details/gardnersartthrou00gard/page/232 232] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/gardnersartthrou00gard/page/232 }} A chamber was built in the upper half, and the roadway was lowered to expose the travertine foundations.

Pope Paul IV (papacy 1555-9), having established the Roman Ghetto in the bull Cum nimis absurdum, made the arch the place of a yearly oath of submission, forcing Jewish elders to kiss the feet of each newly-crowned pope.{{Cite book |last=Stille |first=Alexander |url=https://archive.org/details/jewsinitalyunder0000unse/mode/2up |title=Jews in Italy under Fascist and Nazi rule, 1922-1945 |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-84101-6 |page=24}}

In 1716, Adriaan Reland published his De spoliis templi Hierosolymitani in arcu Titiano Romae conspicuis, in English: "The spoils of the temple of Jerusalem visible on the Arch of Titan at Rome".

It was one of the first buildings sustaining a modern restoration, starting with Raffaele Stern in 1817 and continued by Valadier under Pius VII in 1821, with new capitals and with travertine masonry, distinguishable from the original marble. The restoration was a model for the country side of Porta Pia.The Buildings of Europe: Rome, page 33, Christopher Woodward, 1995; {{ISBN|0-7190-4032-9}}.

At an unknown date, a local ban on Jews walking under the arch was placed on the monument by Rome's Chief Rabbinate; this was rescinded on the foundation of the State of Israel in 1947, and at a Hanukkah event in 1997 the change was made public.[https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1997/12/24/sotto-arco-di-tito-la-festa.html Sotto l' arco di Tito la festa degli ebrei] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129013220/https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1997/12/24/sotto-arco-di-tito-la-festa.html |date=2018-11-29 }}, la Repubblica, 23 December 1997. Accessed 27 July 2019.[http://www.radioradicale.it/scheda/97317/97664-festa-di-channouka-celebrazione-dei-50-anni-dello-stato-disraele-presso-larco-di Festa di Channoukà] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129012730/http://www.radioradicale.it/scheda/97317/97664-festa-di-channouka-celebrazione-dei-50-anni-dello-stato-disraele-presso-larco-di |date=2018-11-29 }}: Celebrazione dei 50 anni dello Stato d'Israele presso l'Arco di Tito alla presenza delle autorità e della Comunità israelitica romana. On Radio Radicale website, 23 December 1997. Accessed 27 July 2019.Morton Satin, a division director at the Food and Agriculture Organization published an article in The Forward, stating that he had successfully "stirred up had triggered considerable deliberation within Rome's Jewish community" for a public end to the ban: {{cite web|last=Satin|first=Morton|url=http://forward.com/articles/188460/one-mans-campaign-against-the-arch-of-titus-and/?p=all|title=One Man's Campaign Against the Arch of Titus — and How It Changed Italy's Jews|work=The Forward|date=2013-12-01|access-date=2014-07-30|quote=According to an ancient ban placed on the monument by Rome's Jewish authorities, once a Jewish person walks under the arch, he or she can no longer be considered a Jew... the chief rabbi of Rome had told the Israeli Embassy that the original ban was no longer valid, since an independent State of Israel had been established. Unfortunately, no one who knew about the ban had ever been informed of its abrogation!|archive-date=2014-12-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224053027/http://forward.com/articles/188460/one-mans-campaign-against-the-arch-of-titus-and/?p=all|url-status=live}} The arch was never mentioned in Rabbinic literature.Steven D. Fraade, The Temple as a Marker of Jewish Identity Before and After 70 CE: The Role of the Holy Vessels in Rabbinic Memory and Imagination, p. 246. "the Arch of Titus is never mentioned in rabbinic sources... there are several references to second-century rabbinic viewings of captured Temple objects in Rome"

Description

=Architecture=

File:Arch Titus, Forum Romanum, Rome, Italy.jpg

File:Arch of Titus Detail.jpgs]]

File:04 2022 Roma (Arco di Trionfo di Tito- Bassorilievi) FO228685 bis Photo by Paolo Villa.jpg showing spoils from the fall of Jerusalem]]

File:04 2022 Roma (Arco di Trionfo di Tito- Bassorilievi) FO228683 bis Photo by Paolo Villa.jpg

The arch is large with both fluted and unfluted columns, the latter being a result of 19th-century restoration.

=Size=

The Arch of Titus measures:

15.4 meters (50 ft) in height,

13.5 meters (44 ft) in width,

4.75 meters (15.5 ft) in depth.

The inner archway is 8.3 meters (27 ft) in height, and 5.36 meters (17.5 ft) in width.

{{cite web |url=http://www.aviewoncities.com/buildings/rome/archoftitus.htm |title=Arch of Titus, Rome - Building Info |publisher=Aviewoncities.com |access-date=2018-04-05 |archive-date=2018-03-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311145251/http://www.aviewoncities.com/buildings/rome/archoftitus.htm |url-status=live }}

=Decorative sculpture=

The spandrels on the upper left and right of the arch contain personifications of victory as winged women. Between the spandrels is the keystone, on which there stands a female on the east side and a male on the west side.

The soffit of the axial archway is deeply coffered with a relief of the apotheosis of Titus at the center. The sculptural program also includes two panel reliefs lining the passageway within the arch. Both commemorate the joint triumph celebrated by Titus and his father Vespasian in the summer of 71.

The south inner panel depicts the spoils taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. The golden candelabrum or Menorah is the main focus and is carved in deep relief.{{cite web |url= http://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/archoftitus.htm |title= Arch of Titus, Rome |last= Ermengem |first= Kristiaan Van |website= A View On Cities |language= en-us |access-date= 2017-07-06 |archive-date= 2017-07-15 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170715173231/http://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/archoftitus.htm |url-status= live }} Other sacred objects being carried in the triumphal procession are the Gold Trumpets, the fire pans for removing the ashes from the altar, and the Table of Showbread.{{Cite book

|first= Paul

|last= Artus

|year= 2006

|title= Art and Architecture of the Roman Empire

|publisher= Bellona Books

|isbn= 978-0-9582693-1-5

|pages= 45–48}}

These spoils were likely originally colored gold, with the background in blue. In 2012 the Arch of Titus Digital Restoration Project discovered remains of yellow ochre paint on the menorah relief.{{cite web |url=http://yu.edu/cis |title=Center for Israel Studies | Yeshiva University |publisher=Yu.edu |access-date=2018-04-05 |archive-date=2018-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406040811/https://www.yu.edu/cis |url-status=live }}

The north inner panel depicts Titus as triumphator attended by various genii and lictors, who carry fasces. A helmeted Amazonian, Valour, leads the quadriga or four horsed chariot, which carries Titus. Winged Victory crowns him with a laurel wreath. The juxtaposition is significant in that it is one of the first examples of divinities and humans being present in one scene together. This contrasts with the panels of the Ara Pacis, where humans and divinities are separated.

The sculpture of the outer faces of the two great piers was lost when the Arch of Titus was incorporated in medieval defensive walls. The attic of the arch was originally crowned by more statuary, perhaps of a gilded chariot. The main inscription used to be ornamented by letters made of perhaps silver, gold or some other metal.

=Inscriptions=

==Original inscription==

File:Arch.of.Titus-Inscription.jpg

The original inscription is attached to the east side of the Arch. It is written in Roman square capitals and reads:

SENATVS

POPVLVSQVE·ROMANVS

DIVO·TITO·DIVI·VESPASIANI·F(ILIO)

VESPASIANO·AVGVSTO

(Senatus Populusque Romanus divo Tito divi Vespasiani filio Vespasiano Augusto),CIL 6.945 which means

The Senate and the Roman people (dedicate this) to the deified Titus Vespasian Augustus, son of the deified Vespasian."

==1821 inscription==

The opposite side of the Arch of Titus received new inscriptions after it was restored during the pontificate of Pope Pius VII by Giuseppe Valadier in 1821. The restoration was intentionally made in travertine to differentiate between the original and the restored portions.

The inscription reads:

INSIGNE · RELIGIONIS · ATQVE · ARTIS · MONVMENTVM

VETVSTATE · FATISCENS

PIVS · SEPTIMVS · PONTIFEX · MAX(IMVS)

NOVIS · OPERIBVS · PRISCVM · EXEMPLAR · IMITANTIBVS

FVLCIRI · SERVARIQVE · IVSSIT

ANNO · SACRI · PRINCIPATVS · EIVS · XXIIII

File:Arc_de_Triomphe_de_Titus_-_Rome_-_Fonds_Famille_Tessier.jpg

(Insigne religionis atque artis, monumentum, vetustate fatiscens: Pius Septimus, Pontifex Maximus, novis operibus priscum exemplar imitantibus fulciri servarique iussit. Anno sacri principatus eius XXIV), which means

(This) monument, remarkable in terms of both religion and art,

had weakened from age:

Pius the Seventh, Supreme Pontiff,

by new works on the model of the ancient exemplar

ordered it reinforced and preserved.

• In the 24th year of his sacred rulership. •

Architectural influence

Works modelled on, or inspired by, the Arch of Titus include:

façade of the Basilica di Sant'Andrea di Mantova by Leon Battista Alberti (1462)
Arc de Triomphe (Paris, 1806)
Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch (Brooklyn, 1892){{Cite web |date=2018-06-21 |title=Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch |url=https://hdc.org/buildings/soldiers-and-sailors-memorial-arch/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240714034812/https://hdc.org/buildings/soldiers-and-sailors-memorial-arch/ |archive-date=2024-07-14 |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=Historical Districts Council |language=en-US |quote=The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch is reminiscent of the Arch of Titus in Rome, and it is made of light colored granite with a base-course of dark, polished granite.}}
Washington Square Arch by Stanford White (Manhattan, 1892)
the temporary Dewey Arch (Manhattan, 1899){{cite news |title=The Dewey Arch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/135238134/ |access-date=12 August 2021 |publisher=Rochester New York Democrat and Chronicle (via newspapers.com) |date=29 September 1899 |archive-date=12 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812183725/https://www.newspapers.com/image/135238134/ |url-status=live }}
Fusiliers' Arch (Dublin, 1907){{cite web|url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ireland/dublin/sights/monument/fusiliers-arch |title=Fusiliers' Arch in Dublin, Ireland |publisher=Lonely Planet |access-date=2012-08-02}}
National Memorial Arch in Valley Forge National Historical Park by Paul Philippe Cret (Pennsylvania, 1910)
India Gate by Edwin Lutyens (New Delhi, 1921){{cite web |title= The Arch of Titus |author= Dr. Jeffrey Becker |website= Khan Academy website |url= https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/roman/early-empire/a/the-arch-of-titus |access-date= 27 July 2019 |archive-date= 7 October 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191007071500/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/roman/early-empire/a/the-arch-of-titus |url-status= live }}

Gallery

{{Gallery

|title=The Arch in Art

|File:Giovanni Paolo Pannini - Ideal Landscape with the Titus Arch - WGA16970.jpg|c.1740 by Giovanni Paolo Panini

| File:Canaletto (I) 054.jpg |1744 by Canaletto

|File:Piranesi-17022.jpg|1748-74 by Giovanni Battista Piranesi

|File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Forum Romanum, for Mr Soane's Museum - Google Art Project.jpg|1826, Forum Romanum by J. M. W. Turner

|File:Titusbuen i Rom.jpg|1839 by Constantin Hansen

}}

References

External links

{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Arch of Titus |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}{{wikisource|Philoctetes (Sophocles)|Philoctetes}}

[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/.Texts/PLATOP*/Arcus_Titi.html Samuel Ball Platner, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome:] Arch of Titus
[https://web.archive.org/web/20041109232033/http://www.inrometoday.it/phototour/romanforum/titusarch/index.htm Arch of Titus] History and photos
[http://yu.edu/cis/activities/arch-of-titus/ YU-CIS: The Arch of Titus Digital Restoration Project]
[http://forward.com/articles/188460/one-mans-campaign-against-the-arch-of-titus-and/ One Man's Campaign Against the Arch of Titus — and How It Changed Italy's Jews, by Morton Satin]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20141021223447/http://www.go-2-nice-places.com/2014/07/arch-of-titus.html The Arch of Titus history and photos]
High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images of [https://mcid.mcah.columbia.edu/art-atlas/ancient-and-early-christian-sites-rome/arch-titus Arch of Titus | Art Atlas]
{{cite news |url=http://www.jta.org/?s=%22arch+of+titus%22&orderby=date&order=desc |title=You searched for 'arch of titus' |newspaper=Jewish Telegraphic Agency}}
{{cite book |first=M. |last=Lucentini |title=The Rome Guide: Step by Step through History's Greatest City|date=31 December 2012 |publisher=Interlink |isbn=9781623710088 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=laMDAQAAQBAJ}}

{{Sequence

| prev = Arch of Septimius Severus

| list = Landmarks of Rome

| curr = Arch of Titus

| next = Arcus Novus

}}

Category:1st-century establishments in Italy

Category:Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire

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Category:2nd-century inscriptions

Titus

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