View source for Biology:Arch of Titus

{{short description|Ancient Roman arch, a landmark of Rome, Italy}}
{{infobox ancient site
|name=Arch of Titus
|location=''Regio X Palatium''
|built={{circa}} AD 81
|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
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|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
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The '''Arch of Titus''' ({{lang-it|Arco di Tito}}; {{lang-la|Arcus Titi}}) is a 1st-century AD honorific arch,<ref>It was not a triumphal arch; Titus's triumphal arch was in the Circus Maximus.</ref> located on the Via Sacra, [[Place:Rome|Rome]], just to the south-east of the Roman Forum. It was constructed in {{circa}} AD 81 by [[Social:Roman emperor|Emperor]] Domitian shortly after the death of his older brother [[Biography:Titus|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.<ref name="Kelsey">{{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}}</ref>

The arch contains panels depicting the triumphal procession celebrated in AD 71 after the Roman victory culminating in the fall of Jerusalem,<ref name="Kelsey"/> and provides one of the few contemporary depictions of artifacts from Herod's Temple.<ref>The Menorah: From the Bible to Modern Israel, Steven Fine, 2016</ref> 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''.<ref>{{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 }}</ref><ref name="DesRosiers 2019 pp. 140–147">{{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 }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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 [[Place:Paris|Paris]].<ref name="Rowell2012">{{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–}}</ref> It holds an important place in [[Art history|art history]], being the focus of Franz Wickhoff's appreciation of Roman art in contrast to the then-prevailing view.<ref>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. Accessed 31 Dec. 2022.</ref>

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

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"].<ref>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 4</ref><ref>For 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]'', Les Belles Lettres, 1984, {{ISBN|9782251333106}}, pages 274–291</ref>

During the [[History:Middle Ages|Middle Ages]], the Frangipani family added a second story to the vault, converting it into a fortified tower;<ref name="LetsGo76">''A Let's Go City Guide: Rome'', p. 76, Vedran Lekić, 2004; {{ISBN|1-4050-3329-0}}.</ref> beam holes from the construction remain in the panels.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> Pope Paul IV (papacy 1555–1559) made it the place of a yearly oath of submission.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

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 [[Earth:Travertine|travertine]] masonry, distinguishable from the original marble. The restoration was a model for the countryside of Porta Pia.<ref name="LetsGo76"/><ref name="Woodward">''The Buildings of Europe: Rome'', page 33, Christopher Woodward, 1995; {{ISBN|0-7190-4032-9}}.</ref>

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 1948, and at a Hanukkah event in 1997 the change was made public.<ref>[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], la Repubblica, 23 December 1997. Accessed 27 July 2019.</ref><ref>[http://www.radioradicale.it/scheda/97317/97664-festa-di-channouka-celebrazione-dei-50-anni-dello-stato-disraele-presso-larco-di Festa di Channoukà]: 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.</ref><ref name=Satin>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!}}</ref> The arch was never mentioned in Rabbinic literature.<ref>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"</ref>

==Description==
===Architecture===
[[File:Arch Titus, Forum Romanum, Rome, Italy.jpg|thumb|Front view]]
[[File:Arch of Titus Detail.jpg|thumb|Detail of the central soffit coffers]]
[[File:04 2022 Roma (Arco di Trionfo di Tito- Bassorilievi) FO228685 bis Photo by Paolo Villa.jpg|thumb|South inner panel, close-up of relief showing spoils from the fall of Jerusalem]]
[[File:04 2022 Roma (Arco di Trionfo di Tito- Bassorilievi) FO228683 bis Photo by Paolo Villa.jpg|thumb|North inner panel, relief of Titus as ''triumphator'']]
The arch is large with both [[Engineering:Fluting (architecture)|fluted]] and unfluted columns, the latter being a result of 19th-century restoration.<ref name="Artus"/>

===Size===
The Arch of Titus measures: 
15.4 meters (50&nbsp;ft) in height, 
13.5 meters (44&nbsp;ft) in width,
4.75 meters (15.5&nbsp;ft) in depth.
The inner archway is 8.3 meters (27&nbsp;ft) in height, and 5.36 meters (17.5&nbsp;ft) in width.
<ref>{{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}}</ref>

===Decorative sculpture===
The [[Engineering:Spandrel|spandrel]]s on the upper left and right of the arch contain personifications of victory as winged women. Between the spandrels is the [[Engineering:Keystone (architecture)|keystone]], on which there stands a female on the east side and a male on the west side.<ref name="Artus"/>

The [[Engineering:Soffit|soffit]] of the axial archway is deeply [[Engineering:Coffer|coffer]]ed with a relief of the [[Religion:Apotheosis|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Artus">{{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}}</ref> 
These spoils were likely originally colored gold, with the background in blue.<ref name="Artus"/> In 2012 the Arch of Titus Digital Restoration Project discovered remains of yellow ochre paint on the menorah relief.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yu.edu/cis |title=Center for Israel Studies &#124; Yeshiva University |publisher=Yu.edu |access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref>

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

The sculpture of the outer faces of the two great piers was lost when the Arch of Titus was incorporated in medieval defensive walls.<ref name="Artus"/> The [[Engineering:Attic style|attic]] of the arch was originally crowned by more statuary, perhaps of a gilded chariot.<ref name="Artus"/> 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|thumb|The inscription]]
The original inscription is attached to the east side of the Arch. It is written in [[Social:Roman square capitals|Roman square capitals]] and reads:

<blockquote>SENATVS<br>
POPVLVSQVE·ROMANVS<br>
DIVO·TITO·DIVI·VESPASIANI·F(ILIO)<br>
VESPASIANO·AVGVSTO</blockquote>
(Senatus Populusque Romanus divo Tito divi Vespasiani filio Vespasiano Augusto),<ref>''CIL'' 6.945</ref> which means

<blockquote>The Senate and the Roman people (dedicate this) to the deified Titus Vespasian Augustus, son of the deified Vespasian."<ref name="Becker"/></blockquote>

====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 [[Earth:Travertine|travertine]] to differentiate between the original and the restored portions.

The inscription reads:

<blockquote>INSIGNE · RELIGIONIS · ATQVE · ARTIS · MONVMENTVM<br>
VETVSTATE · FATISCENS<br>
PIVS · SEPTIMVS · PONTIFEX · MAX(IMVS)<br>
NOVIS · OPERIBVS · PRISCVM · EXEMPLAR · IMITANTIBVS<br>
FVLCIRI · SERVARIQVE · IVSSIT<br>
ANNO · SACRI · PRINCIPATVS · EIVS · XXIIII </blockquote>
[[File:Arc_de_Triomphe_de_Titus_-_Rome_-_Fonds_Famille_Tessier.jpg|thumb|Arch of Titus, photographed around 1880.]]
(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

<blockquote>
(This) monument, remarkable in terms of both religion and art, <br>
had weakened from age: <br>
Pius the Seventh, Supreme Pontiff, <br>
by new works on the model of the ancient exemplar <br>
ordered it reinforced and preserved. <br>
• In the 24th year of his sacred rulership. • </blockquote>

==Architectural influence==
Works modelled on, or inspired by, the Arch of Titus include:
* façade of the Basilica di Sant'Andrea di Mantova by [[Biography:Leon Battista Alberti|Leon Battista Alberti]] (1462)<ref name="Becker"/>
* Arc de Triomphe (Paris, 1806)<ref name="Becker"/>
* Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch (Brooklyn, 1892){{citation needed|date=July 2019}}
* Washington Square Arch by Stanford White (Manhattan, 1892)<ref name="Becker"/>
* the temporary Dewey Arch (Manhattan, 1899)<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* Fusiliers' Arch (Dublin, 1907)<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* National Memorial Arch in Valley Forge National Historical Park by Paul Philippe Cret (Pennsylvania, 1910)
* India Gate by Edwin Lutyens (New Delhi, 1921)<ref name="Becker">{{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}}</ref>

==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:Titusbuen i Rom.jpg|1839 by Constantin Hansen
}}

==See also==
{{external media |width= 210px |float= right |video1=[http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/arch-of-titus.html Smarthistory - Arch of Titus]<ref name="smarth">{{cite web | title =Arch of Titus | publisher =Smarthistory at Khan Academy | url =http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/arch-of-titus.html | access-date =December 19, 2012 | archive-date =October 8, 2014 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20141008035153/http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/arch-of-titus.html | url-status =dead }}</ref> }}
:'''Related to the Jewish revolt'''
*Judaea Capta coinage
*Menorah (Temple)
*Showbread
:'''Related to Roman triumph and the Arch'''
*Ancient Roman architecture
*Arch of Titus (painting)
*List of Roman triumphal arches
*Roman triumph

==References==
{{Reflist|33em}}

==Further reading==
*R. Ross Holloway. "Some Remarks on the Arch of Titus". ''L'antiquité classique''. 56 (1987) pp.&nbsp;183–191.
*M. Pfanner. ''Der Titusbogen''. Mainz: P. von Zabern, 1983.
*L. Roman. "Martial and the City of Rome". ''The Journal of Roman Studies'' 100 (2010) pp.&nbsp;1–30.

==External links==
*[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
}}
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