Category:Titus (subject)

Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus (39 – 81 CE), was the second ruler of the Flavian dinasty, from 79 to 81 CE.

< Events : Jewish War -- Titus & Berenice >

< People : Vespasian -- Berenice -- Josephus -- Herod Agrippa II -- Domitian >

< Artifacts : Arch of Titus -- Judea Capta Coin >

• This page is edited by Samuele Rocca, Israel

Titus, son of Vespasian, followed his father in Judaea in 67 CE. Titus’s siege and conquest of Jerusalem resulted in the destruction of the city and the razing of the Temple. Titus succeeded to his father as emperor from 79 till 81 CE as the second ruler of the Flavian dynasty.

Early Career

Titus was born in Rome in 39 CE. He was the elder son of Vespasian and Domitilla. He was soon introduced to Claudius’s imperial court, where he was educated together with Britannicus, the emperor’s son. His cursus honorum prior to his appointment to his father’s staff in Judaea included the position of military tribune in 61 CE in Britannia and in 63 CE in Germania. In 64 CE Titus married Arrecina Tertulla, daughter of a former prefect of the praetorians, who died in 65 CE. Titus was married once more to Marcia Furnilla. Their only offspring was a daughter, Iulia Titi. In 67, Titus followed his father in the East, as legatus of the Legio XV Apollinaris. Titus took part in the military operations in Galilee, at the orders of his father in 67 CE. There he had the occasion to meet Berenice, the sister of the allied Herodian client – King Agrippa I, who allegedly became his lover. When Vespasian left for Rome, Titus was appointed commander in chief in Judaea in 69 CE. His main task was to besiege Jerusalem. His staff was under the command of Tiberius Iulius Alexander, and it included Flavius Josephus. Titus conquered Jerusalem in the summer of 70 CE. The city was destroyed and the Temple burned down. Titus celebrated his victory with games held at Caesarea Maritima and Berytus, where Jewish prisoners were slaughtered in gladiatorial games. He then travelled to Zeugma on the Euphrates, where he met Vologases I of Parthia. In 71 CE, he was back in Rome, where he was awarded a triumph together with his father. During his father’s rule, Vespasian he occupied the position of pretorian prefect, although he hold Senatorial rank. Titus held seven consulships during Vespasian's reign. It is in this period that Titus was joined at Rome by his former lover Berenice and her brother Agrippa II. It seems that Titus resumed his former relationship with Berenice.

Imperial Succession

Titus succeeded to his father in 79 CE. His short rule is mostly known for the eruption of the Vesuvius in 79 C.E., when the cities of Pompeii, Herculanum, and Stabiae were utterly destroyed. The following year, in 80 CE, a fire devastated Rome. Titus had Tiberius Iulius Alexander, his former chief of staff during the siege of Jerusalem, appointed as the praetorian prefect. However Titus, once emperor, had to send back Berenice. The liaison was seen in a negative light by the population of Rome, which compared the beautiful Jewish queen to a new Cleopatra. Titus stopped the treason trials, punishing the delatores. No senator was ever sentenced to death during his rule. At Rome, Titus erected on the former site of Nero's Domus Aurea, his own huge baths, the Thermae of Titus, and continued the building of the Colosseum, which was inaugurated with a long series of games in 80 CE. Titus died in 81 CE, and was succeeded by his brother Domitian. The Senate deified him after his death.

Titus ended the Jewish War with the conquest of Jerusalem, and the destruction of the Temple. Therefore for the Jews, Titus is seen as the responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Temple. In Rabbinic literature, a legend report that Titus died killed by a fly which had entered his brains as consequence for his wicked actions. However Titus was in fact the patron of Joseph ben Mattatihu, who was freed by Vespasian at Titus’s insistence, and followed his patrons in Rome, becoming a Roman citizen under the name of Titus Flavius Josephus. Josephus lived in the house occupied by the Flavians, prior to their ascension to the imperial throne. Josephus was not the only Jew to whom Titus showed his patronage and favor. Most notably, Agrippa II and his sister Berenice enjoyed the imperial favor. Probably for a while, first in Judaea, and then in Rome, Berenice became his lover; see Titus & Berenice. Titus as well promoted Tiberius Iulius Alexander to the position of praetorian prefect, the pinnacle of the equestrian career. Titus continued to mint Judaea Capta coins to celebrate the victory in the Jewish War and to levy the Fiscus Iudaicus.

Related categories

• Roman Emperors / Vespasian
• Josephus

External links

• Wikipedia
• Jewish Encyclopedia (1906)

The "rediscovery" of Josephus brought about a new interest in the figure of Titus and his role in the destruction of Jerusalem (see, notably, Poussin's paintings). With Madeleine de Scudéry's novel, Lettres de Bérénice à Titus (1642), the emphasis shifted from politics to romance. The love story of Titus and Berenice was at the center of a long series of works of fiction. In the 17th century we had a series of play, culminating in Racine's play in 1670. The 18th cent. was the golden age of operas on Titus. It was a sequel, however, that took central stage, La clemenza di Tito by Pietro Metastasio, set to music by more than 40 composers.