The Arch of Titus. Source of image: www.greatcommission.com.

This triumpal arch, situated on the highest point of the so called Via Sacra, which follows its course through the Forum Romanum, forms the monumental access point to the Forum. The arch is made of Pentelic marble. Its sizes are: 15,4 m high, 13,5 m wide and 4,75 m thick.

This arch was erected to commemorate and celebrate the victory of Titus Flavius Vespasianus (son and later successor of emperor Vespasianus) over the Jews and the capture and sack of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The inscription on the attica, i.e. the upper part of the arch, proves that the arch must have been completed after Titus' death (he died in 81 CE, after having been emperor for only three years), during the reign of his brother Domitianus, who reigned from 81 until 96 CE.

This is a quite simple arch with only one opening, built in the Flavian style and proportions (1). On top of the attica there was a quadriga, i.e. a chariot drawn by four horses, with a statue of Titus Caesar.

Two attempts to reconstruct the Arch of Titus. Source of images: www.ancientcoinmarket.com and www.artec.unirc.it

On both sides of the attica, the same inscription was made:

SENATVS

POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS

DIVO TITO DIVI VESPASIANI F.

VESPASIANO AVGVSTO

From this inscription and the word "divus" herein, we get the information that Titus was a divus, i.e. a deified person and therefore he must have passed away, when the arch was finished. The inscription usually was one of the last items to be put on a building, mostly when the building was initiated or opened to the public. The inscription has to date from at least 81 CE.

The inscription on both sides of the attica of the arch. Source of image: www.ntimages.com.

The arch contains a number of 3/4 columns, 2 flanking the opening of the arch on each side. They are made in a composite style. The capitals have Ionic volutes (i.e. spirals) and Corinthian acanthus leaves, which is a typical Roman blend of the Ionic and Corinthian styles, which possibly started to get in use during the Augustean era.

There are several reliefs on the Arch of Titus. The least known or marked is that on the lowers side or just below the attica, just underneath the inscriptions. It is going around the whole arch, so there are reliefs on the outer sides as well. This relief frieze depicts the sacrificial parade as a part of Titus' triumphus. We can see a suovetaurilia parade, i.e. the usual sacrifice of a boar, a sheep and a bull to the gods, and the parade of people, goods and treasures, taken away from the Jerusalem and its sacked Temple. On a ferculum, i.e. a movable plateau, lies a personification of the river Jordan (Iordanus captus). In the round curves right iover the opening of the arch, there are 4 victoriae flying with trophies in their hands and on the consoles, right over the openings, are Roma, the city goddess, on one side and the Genius Populi Romani on the other.

Inside the arch, the curved ceiling is covered with cassettes filled with flowers. The central cassette shows the deified Titus, sitting on the back of an eagle and flying off to heaven.

The apotheosis of Titus, inside the arch. Source of image: www.dartmouth.edu.

On the left and right wall of the inside of the arch, two important scenes from Titus' triumph are depicted in marble. To the East, we can see Titus in his quadriga followed by 12 lictores. Titus is crowned with laurels by the goddess Victoria or Roma and to the right of the chariot, we can see a male figure in toga, probably the Genius Senatus and a half naked male figure, the Genius Populi Romani. The scene to the West shows another part of the triumph in which the spoils from teh Temple in Jerusalem is carried. We can see the Menorah, silver trumpets and the table of Sacred Breads. The parade is moving towards the porta triumphalis, which is depicted only half. We can also see the tabulae ansatae, so called "announcement boards", on which the people watching the triumph could read who was who and what was what in the parade. These panels and the whole arch, for that matter, were of course painted in antiquity and the whole setting, simple and robust as it may have been, certainly must have been a splendidly looking piece of art as much in those days as it is now. Some reliefs are deep, others are shallow, which provides a very different contrast of light and shadow. This must have created the effect, that some figures on the arch were really moving around. This spatial concept is called Flavian illusionism.

The panels inside of the arch: to the left, the eastern panel: the triumph of Titus, with gods and genii; to the right, the western panel: the spoils from the Temple in Jerusalem. Source of images: www.belpaese.nl and www.rsnt.org.

Notes:

(1) The Flavian style can be recognized by its simplicity and down to the matter appearance. The Flavians considered Roman art and culture as a matter which had gone too far in banality, especially during the reign of emperor Nero. The issue of teh Flavians was to bring culture, daily life and art back to real and "solid Roman" proportions.

Bibliography:

Coarelli, F., Guida archeologica di Roma, Milano, 1994, 105-106.