The Arch of Titus (; ) is a 1st-century AD honorific arch, located on the Via Sacra,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, just to the south-east of the

Roman Forum A forum (Latin: ''forum'', "public place outdoors", : ''fora''; English : either ''fora'' or ''forums'') was a public square in a municipium, or any civitas, of Ancient Rome reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, alon ...

. It was constructed in 81 AD by

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

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 Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

, over the Jewish rebellion in Judaea. 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. 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''. It became a symbol of the

Jewish diaspora The Jewish diaspora ( ), alternatively the dispersion ( ) or the exile ( ; ), consists of Jews who reside outside of the Land of Israel. Historically, it refers to the expansive scattering of the Israelites out of their homeland in the Southe ...

, and the menorah depicted on the arch served as the model for the menorah used as the emblem of the State of Israel. The arch has provided the general model for many

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

es erected since the 16th century. It is the inspiration for the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. It holds an important place in

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

, being the focus of Franz Wickhoff's appreciation of Roman art in contrast to the then-prevailing view.

History

Based on the style of sculptural details, Domitian's favored architect Rabirius, sometimes credited with the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

, may have executed the arch. Without contemporary documentation, however, attributions of Roman buildings on the basis of style are considered shaky. The brother and successor of Titus built the arch despite being described as hateful towards Titus by

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

. The medieval Latin travel guide ''

Mirabilia Urbis Romae ''Mirabilia Urbis Romae'' (“Marvels of the City of Rome”) is a grouping of hundreds of manuscripts, incunabula, and books in Latin and modern European languages that describe notable built works and historic monuments in the city of Rome. M ...

'' noted the monument, writing: "the arch of the Seven Lamps of Titus and Vespasian; here Moses' candlestick is having seven branches, with the Ark, at the foot of the Cartulary Tower" During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, 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; . beam holes from the construction remain in the panels. 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. 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 Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

, 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; . 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 Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in 1947, and at a Hanukkah event in 1997 the change was made public.Morton Satin, a division director at the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

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: The arch was never mentioned in

Rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire corpus of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era (70–640 CE), as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic ...

Description

Architecture

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.

Decorative sculpture

The

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame, between the tops of two adjacent arches, or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fil ...

s 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

in the summer of 71. The south inner panel depicts the spoils taken from the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

. The golden candelabrum or Menorah is the main focus and is carved in deep relief. 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. 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. 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 The term victory (from ) originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a strategic vi ...

crowns him with a

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...

. 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 An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building. It is also known as a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's t ...

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

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), 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

Arc_de_Triomphe_de_Titus_-_Rome_-_Fonds_Famille_Tessier

(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 Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, Catholic priest, priest, linguistics, linguist, philosopher, and cryptography, cryptographer; he epitomised the natu ...

(1462) *

(Paris, 1806) * Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch (Brooklyn, 1892) * Washington Square Arch by Stanford White (Manhattan, 1892) * the temporary Dewey Arch (Manhattan, 1899) * Fusiliers' Arch (Dublin, 1907) * National Memorial Arch in Valley Forge National Historical Park by Paul Philippe Cret (Pennsylvania, 1910) *

India Gate The India Gate (formerly known as All India War Memorial) is a war memorial located near the Rajpath (officially called Kartavya Path, Kartavya path) on the eastern edge of the "ceremonial axis" of New Delhi, India, New Delhi. It stands as a m ...

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

(New Delhi, 1921)

Gallery

References

External links

Samuel Ball Platner, ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'':
Arch of Titus

History and photos
YU-CIS: The Arch of Titus Digital Restoration ProjectOne Man's Campaign Against the Arch of Titus — and How It Changed Italy's Jews, by Morton Satin
*High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images o
Arch of Titus , Art Atlas
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arch of Titus 1st-century establishments in Italy Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire Latin inscriptions 2nd-century inscriptions Titus Palatine Hill Rome R. X Campitelli 80s establishments in the Roman Empire Titus Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)