Episode 94. Titus

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Episode 94. Titus

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Works Cited Primary Sources Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 25, verse 23. Used in Part Two for the early biographical context of Berenice. She appears at Caesarea with her brother Agrippa II to hear Paul's defence before the Roman governor Festus, establishing her as a recognised political figure in the eastern Mediterranean from her early adulthood.Aurelius Victor. Liber de Caesaribus, Chapter 10. The fourth-century historian's characterisation of Titus as the only emperor whose reign was universally praised. Documents the consolidation of the friendly tradition in the later Latin sources; used in Part Eight.Cassius Dio. Roman History, Books 65.15 and 66.18 through 66.26. The principal narrative source for the 79 to 81 reign, surviving through the eleventh-century epitome of John Xiphilinus. The treatment of the delatores at 66.19, the fire of 80 at 66.24, and the poisoning rumour at 66.26 all derive from the Xiphilinus epitome. The Berenice-as-Titus's-wife reference at 65.15 establishes the contemporary perception of the relationship before the dismissal.Josephus. The Jewish War, Book 7. Used in Part Two for the Berenice background and the Jewish royal family's position during the war. Josephus also provides background for the Flavian dynastic establishment that Titus inherited.Martial. Epigrams, Book 1, and Liber Spectaculorum. The contemporary literary voice from within the reign itself. Liber Spectaculorum (Spect. 29) preserves the Priscus and Verus combat with the dual rudis decision. Epigrams Book 1, published probably in 86 CE but containing earlier material, includes poems written during Titus's reign. Martial would later write comparably favourable poems for Domitian, and the modern reader should read the Titus poems with awareness of his professional flattery.Pliny the Younger. Panegyricus and Letters. The Panegyricus of 100 CE, delivered for Trajan, contains retrospective characterisations of Titus that document the consolidation of the friendly tradition by the end of the first century. The Letters mention Titus incidentally in several passages but do not provide major narrative material.Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Book 4.1.19. Quintilian's incidental mention of a case he argued before Berenice in a Roman judicial proceeding establishes that she had taken on a partly official position in legal and administrative matters during her time in Rome from 75 CE onward.Suetonius. Life of Titus, in The Twelve Caesars. The principal biographical source for the reign. Suetonius writes within the broader Flavian-favourable tradition but preserves enough material from independent sources to allow critical reading. The amici diem perdidi anecdote (Titus 8), the dimisit invitus invitam phrase on Berenice (Titus 7), the stripping of imperial decorations during the fire response (Titus 8), and the death scene with the regretful final words (Titus 10) all come from this source. The amor ac deliciae generis humani epithet that defined the friendly tradition derives from Titus 1.Tacitus. Histories. The text breaks off in late 70 CE; Tacitus's coverage of Titus's reign is lost. The loss is one of the most consequential gaps in the surviving Latin tradition. The episode operates within this constraint and acknowledges it explicitly in Part Eight.Archaeological Evidence The Arch of Titus, Forum Romanum, Rome. CIL VI 945. The principal monumental memorial of the reign. Begun by Domitian shortly after Titus's death in 81 CE and dedicated probably around 85 CE. The reliefs show the Flavian triumph of 71 CE with the Temple spoils, including the menorah that has become one of the most famous images from the entire Roman tradition. The inscription names Titus as the deified emperor and son of the deified Vespasian.The Baths of Titus, Esquiline Hill, Rome. Built on a portion of the Domus Aurea site, now largely lost but documented in Renaissance and early modern descriptions. The structure represented the continuing Flavian conversion of Neronian private space to public use, a programme Vespasian had begun and Titus continued.The Colosseum dedicatory inscription, Rome. CIL VI 40454a (reconstructed). The fragmentary inscription suggesting ex manubiis funding from the Jewish War spoils. The reconstruction is contested in detail, but the manubial funding claim is widely accepted. Establishes the explicit connection between the destruction of Jerusalem and the Colosseum building project that Titus inherited from his father and dedicated as emperor.Coinage of the reign, 79 to 81 CE. The IUDAEA CAPTA series continued from Vespasian's reign, memorialising the destruction of Jerusalem. The dedicatory issues for the Colosseum. The concordia and pietas issues from 79 and 80 documenting the public face of the reign. The consecratio issues from 81 documenting the Senate's response to the death.The Pompeii and Herculaneum archaeological record. The eruption of 79 falls within Titus's reign. The recovery operations he...

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