ARCH OF TITUS
The fifteen meter (about 50ft) tall arch is located at the Forum Romanum, at the highest point of the Via
Sacra. It is the oldest surviving example of a Roman arch.
At the inside of the arch are two panels with reliefs. One depicts the triumphal procession with the spoils
taken from the Second Temple in Jerusalem - the seven-branched candelabrum or Menorah, the silver
trumpets and the Table of the Shewbread. The other one shows Titus in a chariot accompanied by the
goddess Victoria and the goddess Roma.
The inscriptions in the frieze which mean 'The Roman Senate and People to Deified Titus, Vespasian
Augustus, son of Deified Vespasian' were originally in bronze. The reliefs were also colored and the arch
was topped by a bronze quadriga.
In the eleventh century the Arch of Titus was integrated into a fortress built by the Frangipani family,
which helped the preservation of the monument. In 1821 the arch was restored by Giuseppe Valadier.
Sections of the outer sides were rebuilt between 1822 and 1823 in travertine instead of marble, so they
would be distinguishable from the original.
: Visit and take a Picture in THEM.