![]() ![]() The building in the background is likely the Temple. In the depiction, Roman soldiers and slaves, the latter probably Jewish, are seen tramping through the ruins of Jerusalem. The bas-relief for which the Arch of Titus is most famous depicts the looting of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. A later engraving dating from the 19th century signifies the arch’s rededication by the Catholic Church. It is covered with bas-reliefs, scrollwork and engravings celebrating the great victory of Vespasian and Titus in Judea. Completed at the end of the 1st century AD, the arch has remained in remarkably good condition, though it did undergo substantial restoration in the 1700s. At fifty feet in height, it is one of the largest surviving monuments of ancient Rome. It stands inside the Forum near to the Palatine Hill. The Arch of Titus is part of the ruins that mark what was once downtown Rome. This tradition was broken in 1948, when thousands of Italian Jews marched beneath the arch in celebration of Israel’s independence. For nearly two-thousand years it was tradition among Jews not to walk beneath the arch. It is most famous for its depiction of the sacking of the Second Temple and the theft of its great golden menorah. The Arch of Titus is one of the most complete surviving monuments of ancient Rome. To commemorate the victory, the Romans constructed a triumphal arch in honor of Emperor Titus. In the ensuing days, the city was sacked, and its treasures hauled back to Rome as booty. It soon lay in ruins, along with the rest Jerusalem. Towards the end of the fighting, the Temple of Herod was set on fire. ![]() Jerusalem’s defenders, the Zealots, fought back ferociously, but in vain. The Romans laid siege to the holy city of the Jews. ![]() ![]() General Vespasian, hand picked by Emperor Nero, systematically crushed the Jewish revolt throughout the countryside, then turned his sights on Jerusalem. After some brief Jewish victories in 66 and 67 AD, the Romans regrouped and invaded Judea with the most powerful army the region had ever seen. The first rebellion, also known as the Great Revolt, is the one that is most horribly etched in the collective memories of all Jews. In the end, they were forced to put down three major rebellions. Due to perpetual restlessness, the Romans were forced to maintain large standing armies in the province. However, foreign rule did not sit well with the Jews. By the time the people and leaders of Judea realized what had happened, it was too late, and Judea was a client kingdom of Rome. Soon afterward, the Romans began playing off the various factions against each other, until Judea’s rulers were little more than puppets. Pompey sent in his legions and restored order. One of the two claimants to the throne, Aristobulus II, sent an envoy to Pompey asking for his aid. In 63 BC, the people of Judea were engulfed in civil war even as the Romans arrived on their doorstep. The Seleucids, weakened by their wars with Persia and by rebellions in Judea, were defeated, leaving the rest of the east wide open to the Romans. From Macedonia and Greece and Asia Minor they pressed eastwards, climaxing in a titanic struggle against the Seleucids, the most powerful of Alexander’s successor states. After centuries of warfare and expansion in Italy, the Romans were beginning to absorb the tiny city-states and small nations that had emerged in the break-up of Alexander’s Empire in the east. In the mid-2nd century BC, even as the Maccabees struggled for independence from the decaying Seleucid Empire, a new power was rising in the west. The Arch of Titus is part of the Historic Center of Rome UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is believed to be the only surviving contemporary visual record of Jerusalem and the Great Temple in the 1st century AD. This arch bears what the most famous engraving in ancient Jewish history: the sack of the Great Temple. By the end of the Great Revolt, they mistakenly believed that Jewish aspirations for automony were crushed forever, and the emperor prematurely celebrated this final victory by erecting a triumphal arch in Rome. The Romans spent the next two centuries fighting an endless succession of wars in an effort to subjugate this most rebellious province in the empire. In the year 63 BC, the Roman General Pompey was invited to intervene in Judea’s internal power struggles. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |