At the top end of the Sacred Way, as it runs up from the Forum in Rome, stands the Arch dedicated to Titus, who in AD 70, as son of the new emperor Vespasian, brought the war with the Jewish rebels to a bloody conclusion and razed the Temple in Jerusalem. Within the arch are reliefs representing the Roman triumphal procession, with soldiers carrying as spoils the paraphernalia of the Temple: the seven-branch candelabrum, the shewbread table, the incense cups, and the trumpets, which along with a copy of the Torah were eventually to become prize exhibits in Vespasian’s ironically named Temple of Peace. The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple was a defining moment in the history of Judaism. It was also an exceptional act of the Romans, who normally did not treat foreign cults in this way. Far from it – their basic principle was that all the peoples included in the empire should continue to worship as their ancestors had done. Indeed, the incorporation of new gods was a strengthening of empire, like adding to one’s insurance policy; getting ever more gods on one’s side was a vindication and bolstering of Rome’s right to rule.

Subscribe or Sign In to read the full article