![]() ![]() In modern times, the Arch of Titus became a symbol both of newfound Jewish rootedness in Europe and a place of pilgrimage where Jews, religious and not, could proclaim, “Titus you are gone, but we’re still here. For Jews, the arch was a symbol for their own defeat and exile, even as some took solace by claiming that its magnificence was proof that Israel had once been a “powerful nation” and formidable foe. For Christians, the Arch became a place to celebrate Christian triumph over Judaism and the imperial power of the Catholic Church. Titus had not defeated a foreign power but put down a pesky rebellion by a small province. The Arch of Titus, too, is a complex monument whose meaning shifted over time. One of the more enduring photographs of the liberation shows American troops marching under the arch. ![]() Hitler did, after all, celebrate his own victory there, and France did not exactly emerge victorious by its own power. French victory in World War II, for example, was hardly unequivocal. Subsequent events have complicated the meaning of the arch, which was intended to commemorate French military prowess. Napoleon and those who came after him borrowed the design of this Roman triumphal arch, transferring the glory of Rome to the French nation. The spoils of the Jerusalem Temple, including its menorah, are borne aloft by Roman soldiers. This arch, located on the Sacred Way in the ancient center of the Roman Empire, commemorates the victory of the Roman general Titus in the Jewish War of 66-74 C.E.īuilt circa 82 C.E., its deeply carved reliefs show the general, soon emperor, parading through Rome in a triumphal procession. The Arc de Triomphe is a larger version of another triumphal arch, the Arch of Titus. Part of the power of this central place of memory resides in the architecture itself. Another arch dedicated to Titus, triumphal in its nature, was located in the valley of the Circus Maximus-but this arch only survives in the form of scattered sculptural fragments and a Medieval transcription of its dedicatory inscription. Recent archaeological excavations (2015) in the Circus Maximus have revealed previously unknown remains of this “lost” arch, including elements of its foundations.French historian Pierre Nora spent his life describing and explaining “places of memory,” sites commemorating significant moments in the history of a community that continue to resonate and transform from generation to generation.įor the French Republic, the Arc de Triomphe is one such “place of memory.” Begun by Napoleon and completed in 1836, the Arc is a place of French pride and memory, where war dead from the Revolution to the present are recalled and military triumph exalted. This arch, built as an honorific monument, honored Titus posthumously and was a project executed by his younger brother and imperial successor, Domitian (emperor, 81-96 C.E.). Many triumphal parades had passed along this route for many centuries, thus the choice to place a permanent triumphal monument astride the route was not accidental but, rather, deliberately evocative of the fact that the triumph as a ritual both created and reinforced collective memory for Romans. Furthemore, the Arch of Titus commands a key point along the triumphal route ( via Triumphalis)-one that visually links the valley of the Flavian amphitheater (known to us as the Colosseum) to the valley of the Forum Romanum and the Capitoline Hill beyond. The Arch of Titus is located in Summa Sacra Via, the highest point of the Sacra Via, Rome’s “Sacred Way” that served as its main processional street. ![]()
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