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| From 2024 12 22 Rome |
Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Arch of Titus in Rome. I've seen photos of this arch in travel books and history books my whole life, but I've never learned its own history. It's a history that reverberates down to today's headlines.
More text and a bonus photo are after the jump.
According to Smarthistory, "In the summer of 71 C.E. the Roman emperor Vespasian and Titus, his eldest son, had quelled a dangerous revolt in the Roman province of Judea and returned to Rome to celebrate this major accomplishment...The honor of the triumph was accorded to them jointly, and the spectacle (as described by Flavius Josephus in his text known as The Jewish War) rivaled anything that Rome had ever seen before: spoils, prisoners, pictorial narratives in abundance. All this was meant to awe the spectators and to transport the viewers to the battlefields of the war in the east. But the ritual of the triumph, its parade—even the semi-divine status accorded the triumphator—was ephemeral. For this reason, the later construction of permanent monuments (like the Arch of Titus) served to make an impact on the urban landscape (and the collective memory of city dwellers) that lasted far longer than the events of the day itself."
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| From 2024 12 22 Rome |
A relief panel on the side of the Arch of Titus shows the spoils of Jerusalem being brought into Rome after the destruction of the Second Temple in 71 CE. If you wonder why modern Israel takes a hard line on protecting the Jewish state today, I think the answer might be found on this triumphal arch. The Jewish people have long memories.
"The arch records it—
empire, war, faith intertwined.
Still today's headlines."
—h/t ChatGPT
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