Josephus might have had sufficient time to include the description of the triumphal ceremony in the Aramaic version of the Jewish War, likely as the crescendo of the entire book. It is probable that Josephus was by then already in Rome and viewed the triumphal parade first-hand, as he had followed the Roman general back to Italy. Although Josephus focuses only on selected episodes and leaves out important information, his is the only known account of a triumphal procession in the early Empire. In fact, the leading authority on the arch of Titus, Professor Steven Fine also confirms that Josephus’s description of Titus’s triumph is the most complete depiction of a triumphal parade in all of classical literature. However, Rocca explains that Josephus published an early version of the Jewish War in Aramaic in the spring of 71 CE, hoping to influence attitudes toward Rome among the Jews of the Parthian Empire and the Roman East. According to Rocca, “We do not know the contents of that Aramaic version, which Josephus mentions in the introduction to his later Greek work. It is likely that the Aramaic version already included a description of the triumph of the Flavians. In addition, according to the later Greek version, the triumphal ceremony was celebrated soon after Titus’s return to Italy in 71 CE. In the seventh book of the Jewish War, Josephus describes in detail the Flavian triumph held in the spring of 71 C.E. In addition, the two triumphal arches, were part of a larger plan of urban reform through which the Flavians, sought to immortalize their power.
Rocca says they used this ceremony as a political and ideological platform to legitimize the new dynasty and the procession left a deep mark and was evoked in a vast range of images placed on coins and monuments, both instruments of Roman propaganda. The relief depicting the triumph and the golden menorah is without a doubt universally renown, while the second arch, whose existence has been known since the Middle Ages and of which fragments have survived, was located on the eastern edge of the Circus Maximus had completely vanished from collective memory.
These two monuments, built when Titus had already died, do not simply celebrate the Roman victory on over the Jews, but also stand as a glorification of the whole Flavian family, Vespasian, and his two sons and heirs, Titus and Domitian, explains eminent historian Samuele Rocca.Īccording to Roman tradition, in 71 C.E., Vespasian and his son Titus celebrated their triumph over the Jews in the capital of the empire. One once stood in the Circus Maximus and the other stands still on the Velia hill. In Rome, two arches built by the last Flavian ruler, Domitian, are the main memento of the Roman triumph on Judaea. A Jewish scholar and a Jewish tour guide narrate references from the original Hebrew texts of the Torah, Talmud, Mishna, Gemara and the Zohar on how the Jews who came from Israel, over 2,000 years ago, before Christianity ever started, contributed to the foundation of the Eternal city, a treasured fact often omitted from our history books. In my volunteer efforts and my contributions to articles and blogs, I tell a Jewish story by interviewing prominent Jewish scholars of the Torah. I feel a responsibility to insist on re-writing, re-documenting, re-photographing, re-investigating the Jewish history in Rome. Original Stone fragments from the lesser known Arch of Titus at Circus Maximus, June 2022Īs a historic preservationist and licensed tour guide in Rome who passionately advocates the history of the Jews of Rome, I have an academic duty to draw international attention and awareness to Jewish Scholars and Rabbis from around the globe.
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