Set on the highest point of the Sacred Way as it climbs out of the Roman Forum toward the Palatine Hill, the Arch of Titus is the oldest surviving honorific arch in Rome. Erected in 81 AD by the emperor Domitian to commemorate his recently deceased older brother Titus and the suppression of the Jewish revolt in 70 AD, the arch is single-bayed and decorated with some of the finest sculptural reliefs to survive from the early empire. The two great panels on the inner walls of the arch are the most famous part of the structure. One shows Titus in his triumphal chariot, accompanied by personifications of victory and the Roman people, processing through the city. The other shows Roman soldiers carrying the spoils of Jerusalem, including the great seven-branched menorah, the sacred trumpets and the table of showbread taken from the Temple. The reliefs are remarkable for their depth of carving and the sense of movement they convey, with the figures stepping out of the marble background as if caught in mid stride. The menorah panel is the source of one of the most famous images in Jewish history, and a copy of it is engraved on the modern state seal of Israel. The keystone above the inner arch shows the deification of Titus, with the eagle of Jupiter carrying his soul up to heaven, a visual statement of the official cult of the deceased emperor familiar from many other monuments of the imperial age. The arch survived the centuries in part because it was incorporated into a medieval fortress of the Frangipani family, and the rough patching from those later additions is still visible. A restoration in the early nineteenth century, supervised by the architect Giuseppe Valadier, replaced lost portions with travertine left deliberately undecorated to distinguish the new work from the old. Now framing the dramatic view down the Forum toward the Capitol, the arch is one of the most photographed monuments in Rome, and its central position on the route through the Forum means that every visitor passes beneath it on the way out toward the Colosseum.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Via Sacra, Rome, Italy

Opening Date: 01/01/0081