Early Life
Titus
was born on 30 December A.D. 39 in Rome, one of
three children of Vespasian, Roman emperor (A.D.
69-79), and Domitilla I, daughter of a treasury
clerk. .[[1]] The family's circumstances were
modest, but began to improve during the emperorship
of Claudius (A.D. 41-54), under whom Vespasian
advanced rapidly. His ascent likely played a role in
securing the honor of a court education for Titus,
who studied with the emperor's own son, Britannicus.
The two remained close friends until Britannicus'
death in A.D. 55 under Nero. In affection for his
boyhood mate, Titus later preserved his memory by
setting up golden statues of him in the palace and
by routinely accompanying another statue in
processions in the Circus. .[[2]] The intellectual
advantages of a palace education, with its emphasis
on Greek and Latin literature and declamation, and
of a father who had attained the rank of consul,
placed Titus firmly upon the path of a young
senator. His early posts remain obscure but, perhaps
as early as A.D. 61, he served as a military tribune
in Upper Germany and Britain, the same provinces in
which his father had served as a legionary
legate..[[3]] While in Britain, Titus is said to
have saved Vespasian's life; another source records
numerous busts and statues in Britain and Germany
commemorating his achievements. The accounts lack
historical basis but are typical of the fondness of
later historians for exaggerating Titus' qualities
and achievements.. [[4]]
Returning to Rome in the early months of A.D. 64,
Titus practiced law, most likely with the intention
of advancing his own reputation. Little is known of
his political career after his return from Britain.
In all likelihood, he advanced through the offices
typically held by a young senator. It was during
this year that he married Arrecina Tertulla. Her
background remains obscure, and not long after the
marriage, Arrecina died. Soon thereafter, Titus
married Marcia Furnilla. The marriage represented a
notable success for the Flavians, as Marcia was of a
noble family, the granddaughter of a former
proconsul of Africa. Suspicions of political
intrigue were ever present in first-century Rome,
however, and when Marcia's family fell into disfavor
with Nero, the brief marriage ended in divorce. The
sources agree that a daughter, Julia, was born, yet
it is not clear whether she belonged to Titus' first
or second marriage. At any rate, Julia's subsequent
life was miserable; she is said to have died in her
mid-twenties of an abortion forced upon her by
Titus' brother and successor, Domitian, in the late
eighties A.D.[[5]]
Judaean Campaigns
In A.D. 66 Nero granted to Vespasian a special
command in the East with the task of settling the
revolt in Judaea. The immediate cause of the war was
rioting in Cesaraea and Jerusalem, leading to the
slaughter in the latter city of Jewish leaders and
Roman soldiers. In response to the crisis, the
emperor placed the seven legions in Syria under
Vespasian' s authority and named Titus as legate of
the 15th legion of Apollo, the legio XV Apollinaris.
The appointment was unusual, for Titus had not yet
held the praetorship, a judicial post normally held
by a senator before he became a legionary commander.
At the very least, both appointments reflected
Nero's confidence in father and son.
It is difficult to assess Titus' role in the
campaigns of A.D. 67-68. The main source, the Jewish
Wars by Josephus, a Jew with strong Roman
sympathies, consistently portrays him in highly
favorable terms. Titus did figure prominently in the
subjugation of at least five rebel centers during
this period, but he never wholly subdued any town
that had its own defenses. When stripped of
Josephus' enhancements, therefore, Titus'
accomplishments seem more modest.[[6]] Nevertheless,
he capably performed the tasks assigned to him and,
in the process, projected the image of a daring and
successful military leader. While not entirely
accurate, the portrait is not completely surprising
either, for as the son of the supreme commander
Titus would have enjoyed more attention than was
typically accorded an ordinary quaestorian legionary
legate. With the death
of Nero in A.D. 68, the Flavians methodically
plotted toward the imperial throne. Little is heard
of Titus during this critical period. He likely
helped to consolidate support for the Flavians in
the East by negotiating with the likes of Gaius
Licinius Mucianus, governor of Syria. Even so, it
was Vespasian who remained in charge. By mid-July,
A.D. 69, legions in Judaea, Egypt, and Syria had
declared for him. The Danubian legions soon
followed, and on 21 December, the day after the
emperor Vitellius' death, the senate conferred all
the usual powers on Vespasian. Following these
events, Titus remained in the East to undertake the
siege of Jerusalem, the exploit for which he is most
remembered. Beset by violent factional strife and
internal discord, Jerusalem was a stubborn obstacle
to the Roman pacification of Judaea. Built on two
hills and surrounded by walls, the city's
fortifications were formidable. With four legions
under his command, Titus began an assault on the
city in spring, A.D. 70. In less than four weeks,
his forces had breached the walls of the so-called
New City, or suburb of Bezetha. Only the inner city
and the Temple itself remained to be taken. A siege
wall was quickly built around the city, and the
circumvallation had the desired effect of increasing
starvation. By August, the outer Temple court had
been reached and, in the ensuing attack, the Temple
was burned to the ground and all captives butchered.
Titus was hailed as imperator by his troops. In a
final desecration to the Temple, sacrifice was made
to the Roman standards in the Temple court.[[7]]
Titus' use of defense walls, towers, catapults, and
battering rams in overtaking the city - all
traditional Roman military tactics - demonstrated
that he was a capable, but not an innovative,
military leader. In addition, he had sometimes
displayed a reckless intervention, especially in the
early stages of the siege. .[[8]] These flaws owed
more to inexperience than to military incompetence,
however, and as a counter-balance Titus displayed
remarkable energy in the field and the ability to
inspire deep loyalty in his troops. As a result,
Jerusalem was efficiently, if not brutally, overcome
and the campaign in Judaea was effectively won.
Titus spent the winter of A.D. 70 touring the East
with a splendid retinue of legionaries and
prisoners, presumably to provide a public display of
Flavian military prowess and to underscore the
consequences of rebellion against his father by the
punishments inflicted on Jewish prisoners. Here he
revealed a sympathy for brutality and humiliation,
most evident in the way in which Jews were thrown to
wild beasts or forced to fight each other in shows
for public enjoyment. Indiscretion also played a
part in his activities, particularly in his
dalliance with Berenice, the thrice-married sister
of M. Julius Agrippa II, an Eastern monarch with a
strong allegiance to Rome. Powerful, wealthy, and
experienced in Eastern affairs, Berenice was a
formidable match for Titus. Yet, as Cleopatra's
relationship with Mark Antony had earlier shown,
involvement with an Eastern queen represented a
threat to Roman stability that could not be
tolerated. Marriage remained an impossibility. Even
so, Berenice visited Rome in A.D. 75 with her
brother and openly lived with Titus for a time,
although he dismissed her, with mutual regret, upon
his accession to the throne.. [[9]]
Role Under Vespasian
Titus returned to Rome in June, A.D. 71 and
participated in a lavish joint triumph with
Vespasian to celebrate the Judaean campaign. The
joint celebration was deliberate, as Vespasian
wished to waste no time in establishing an
heir-apparent to the throne. Consequently, Titus
shared in virtually every honor with the emperor
during the seventies A.D., including the tribunician
power, seven joint-consulships, and a share of the
office of censor. In A.D. 72, Titus was also
appointed praetorian prefect with responsibility for
the army at Rome, a particularly important post
since military loyalty was indispensable to the
success of the new regime. It seems clear that not
only did Vespasian need a trusted colleague in this
post but also one who would do his dirty work.
Tradition records that Titus was skilled as a
forger. We also learn that he was "somewhat arrogant
and tyrannical" in that he tried suspicious
characters in the theater and camp "by popular
pressure and not by trial.". [[10]] A certain amount
of bad press was to be expected for the regime's
enforcer, but only a single instance of justice of
this kind survives, making any further evaluation of
Titus' role difficult.[[11]] On the other hand,
Titus was also portrayed during these years as a
capable and diligent administrator who attended
senate meetings, requested advice, and generally
mixed well with all parties. At the same time, the
sources offer no indication that he was ever
considered a "co-ruler' with Vespasian, and it was
only upon the latter's death on 24 June, A.D. 79
that Titus assumed full imperial powers.
Titus' Reign
Before becoming emperor, tradition records that
Titus was feared as the next Nero, a perception that
may have developed from his association with
Berenice, his alleged heavy-handedness as praetorian
prefect, and tales of sexual debauchery.. [[12]]
Once in office, however, both emperor and his reign
were portrayed in universally positive terms. The
suddenness of this transformation raises immediate
suspicions, yet it is difficult to know whether the
historical tradition is suspect or if Titus was in
fact adept at taking off one mask for another. What
is clear, however, is that Titus sought to present
the Flavians as the legitimate successors of the
Julio-Claudian dynasty. Proof came through the
issuing of a series of restoration coins of previous
emperors, the most popular being Augustus and
Claudius. In A.D. 80 Titus also set out to establish
an imperial cult in honor of Vespasian. The temple,
in which cult (the first that was not connected with
the Julio-Claudians) was housed, was completed by
Domitian and was known as the Temple of Vespasian
and Domitian.
Legitimacy was also sought through various economic
measures, which Titus enthusiastically funded. Vast
amounts of capital poured into extensive building
schemes in Rome, especially the Flavian
Amphitheater, popularly known as the Colosseum. In
celebration of additions made to the structure,
Titus provided a grand 100-day festival, with sea
fights staged on an artificial lake, infantry
battles, wild beast hunts, and similar activities.
He also constructed new imperial baths to the
south-east of the Amphitheater and began work on the
celebrated Arch of Titus, a memorial to his Jewish
victories.. [[13]] Large sums were directed to Italy
and the provinces as well, especially for road
building. In response to the eruption of Vesuvius in
A.D. 79, Titus spent large sums to relieve distress
in that area; likewise, the imperial purse
contributed heavily to rebuilding Rome after a
devastating fire destroyed large sections of the
city in A.D. 80. As a result of these actions, Titus
earned a reputation for generosity and geniality.
Even so, his financial acumen must not be
under-estimated. He left the treasury with a
surplus, as he had found it, and dealt promptly and
efficiently with costly natural disasters. The Greek
historian of the third-century A.D., Cassius Dio,
perhaps offered the most accurate and succinct
assessment of Titus' economic policy: "In money
matters, Titus was frugal and made no unnecessary
expenditure.". [[14]] In other areas, the brevity of
Titus' reign limits our ability to detect major
emphases or trends in policy. As far as can be
discerned from the limited evidence, senior
officials and amici were well chosen, and his
legislative activity tended to focus on popular
social measures, with the army as a particular
beneficiary in the areas of land ownership,
marriage, and testamentary freedom. In the
provinces, Titus continued his father's policies by
strengthening roads and forts in the East and along
the Danube. Death and
Assessment
Titus died in September, A.D. 81 after only 26
months in office. Suetonius recorded that Titus died
on his way to the Sabine country of his ancestors in
the same villa as his father.. [[15]] A competing
tradition persistently implicated his brother and
successor, Domitian, as having had a hand in the
emperor's demise, but the evidence is highly
contradictory and any wrongdoing is difficult to
prove..[[16]]Domitian himself delivered the funeral
eulogy and had Titus deified. He also built several
monuments in honor of Titus and completed the Temple
of Vespasian and Titus, changing the name of the
structure to include his brother's and setting up
his cult statue in the Temple itself.
Titus was the beneficiary of considerable
intelligence and talent, endowments that were
carefully cultivated at every step of his career,
from his early education to his role under his
father's principate. Cassius Dio suggested that
Titus' reputation was enhanced by his early death.
[[17]] It is true that the ancient sources tend to
heroicize Titus, yet based upon the evidence, his
reign must be considered a positive one. He capably
continued the work of his father in establishing the
Flavian dynasty and he maintained a high degree of
economic and administrative competence in Italy and
beyond. In so doing, he solidified the role of the
emperor as paternalistic autocrat, a model that
would serve Trajan and his successors well.
Bibliography
The bibliography on Titus is far more comprehensive
than can be reasonably treated here. As a result,
the works listed below are either main treatments of
Titus or have direct bearing on the issues discussed
in the entry above. A more complete listing of
bibliographical sources can be found in Jones
(1984), 181-205.
- Atti congresso internazionale di studi
Flaviani, 2 vols. Rieti, 1983.
- Bastomsky, S.J. "The Death of the Emperor
Titus: A Tentative Suggestion." Apeiron 1
(1967): 22-23.
- Bengston, H. Die Flavier. Vespasian, Titus
und Domitian. Geschichte eines römischen
Kaiserhauses. Munich, 1979.
- Bosworth, A. B. "Vespasian and the
Provinces: Some Problems of the Early 70's A.D."
Athenaeum 51 (1973): 49-78.
- Bradley, K. R. Suetonius' Life of Nero: An
Historical Commentary. Brussels, Collection
Latomus no. 157, 1978.
- Buttrey, T. V. Documentary Evidence for the
Chronology of the Flavian Titulature.
Meisenheim, Beitrage zur Klassischen Philologie
112, 1980.
- Crook, J. "Titus and Berenice." AJPh 72
(1951): 162-175.
- D'Espèrey, S. Franchet. "Vespasien, Titus et
la littérature." ANRW II.32.5: 3048-3086.
- Gilliam, J. F. "Titus in Julian's Caesares."
AJPh 88 (1967): 203-208.
- Grant, M. The Roman Emperors. A Biographical
Guide to the Rulers of Rome 31 B.C. - A.D. 476
(New York, 1985), 55-59.
- Jones, B. W. "Titus and Some Flavian Amici."
Historia 24 (1975): 453-462.
- ________. The Emperor Titus. London, 1984.
- ________. "The Reckless Titus." In Studies
in Latin Literature and Roman History 6 (1992):
408-420.
- ________. The Emperor Domitian. London,
1992.
- Levi, M.A. "I Flavi." ANRW II.2: 177-207.
- McCrum, M. and Woodhead, A.G. Select
Documents of the Principates of the Flavian
Emperors Including the Year of Revolution.
Cambridge, 1966.
- Morford, M. P. O. "The Training of Three
Roman Emperors." Phoenix 22 (1968): 57-72.
- Richardson, L. A New Topographical
Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Baltimore, 1992.
- Rogers, P. M. "Titus, Berenice and
Mucianus." Historia 29 (1980): 86-95.
- Scarre, C. Chronicle of the Roman Emperors.
The Reign-by Reign Record of the Rulers of
Imperial Rome. London, 1995.
- Yavetz, Z. "Reflections on Titus and
Josephus." GRBS 16 (1975): 411-432.
Notes
[[1]] The main ancient sources for Titus' life are:
Suet. Tit.; Dio 66.17-26; Jos. BJ. On his birthdate,
see Philocalus in CIL I, p. 356; for December 28:
PIR2 F 399. Suetonius assigns the date to the year
of Gaius' assassination (24 Jan. A.D. 41), but later
contradicts himself at Tit. 11. Dio is more
accurate, recording that Titus was 39 years, five
months and 25 days on his accession (24 June A.D.
79).
[[2]] Suet. Tit. 2, where it is also recorded that
Titus was present at the poisoning of Britannicus
and tasted the cup in affection for his friend. On
the poisoning of Britannicus, see also Suet. Nero
33.2-3; Tac. Ann. 13.15-17; Dio 61.7.4; Jos. AJ
20.153; Eutropius 7.14.3; Herodian Hist. 4.5-6.
[[3]] The date of the military tribunate is
difficult to establish, but Jones argues sensibly
for A.D. 61: The Emperor Titus (London, 1984),
14-16. [[4]] On the
saving of Vespasian's life: Dio 61.30.1; busts and
statues: Suet. Tit. 4.1.
[[5]] The account of Titus' offspring is confusing.
Suet. Tit. 4.2 says that Titus divorced Marcia
"after she had borne a daughter." Yet the girl is
not named, and Philostratus (Vit. Apoll. 7.7)
contends that Titus had more than one daughter. It
has also been argued that Arrecina Tertulla, Titus'
first wife, was Julia's mother. See H. Castritius,
"Zu den Frauen der Flavier," Historia 18 (1969):
492-502. On the death of Julia: Suet. Dom. 22.
[[6]]Jos. BJ 3-4. For a useful listing of the sieges
of A.D. 67 and 68 and Titus' role in them see Jones,
The Emperor Titus, 41-42.
[[7]] Titus is cited by almost every ancient author
who discusses him or the city: Jos. BJ passim; Hist
5.1; Dio 66.7; Aurelius Victor De. Caes. 11.11;
Orosius 7.9; Eutropius 7.21. On the siege of the
city itself, Josephus is the only surviving
substantial surviving account. See BJ 5-6.
[[8]] For instances of rash behavior: Jos. BJ 5.88,
332-339. [[9]] On the
brutality to prisoners at public shows: Jos. BJ
7.23, 36, 39-40. On Berenice, a useful account
appears at Acts 25, in which Paul meets the two
Jewish royals. Josephus frequently mentions her
wealth (BJ 2.426), her men and arms (BJ 2.312), and
her relationship with her brother Agrippa (BJ
2.310), but he avoids mentioning her in relationship
to Titus. [[10]] As
praetorian prefect: Suet. Tit. 6; on forgery: ibid.,
Tit. 3. [[11]] The
single piece of evidence concerns Aulus Caecina, an
ex-consul, whom Titus ordered stabbed at an imperial
dinner on the suspicion of treason. See Suet. Tit.
6. [[12]] On the
praetorian prefecture, see notes 10, 11 above; on
Berenice, note 9 above; on Titus' sexual profligacy:
Suet. Tit. 7. [[13]]
Flavian Amphitheater and public celebration: Dio
66.25; Suet. Tit.7; baths: Suet. Tit. 7, but likely
finished by Domitian, according to the Chronographer
of 354: Chron. Min. 1, p. 346; other references to
Amphitheater: Martial Ep. 3.20.15, 3.36.6; Arch of
Titus: CIL 6.944 for the dedicatory inscription,
which reveals that the structure was dedicated after
Titus' death. See also L. Richardson, Jr., A New
Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Baltimore,
1992) s.v. "Arcus Titi," 30.
[[14]] Dio 66.19.3.
[[15]] Suet. Tit. 10.1.
[[16]] The ancient sources are quite inconsistent
concerning Titus' death. Suetonius records that
Domitian ordered Titus to be left for dead when he
was ill, and Dio says that Domitian submerged his
brother in packed snow while he was still alive in
order to hasten his end: Suet. Dom. 2.3; Dio
66.26.2-3. Suetonius also reports an unidentified
final regret by Titus (Tit. 10.1), which Dio
interpreted as his failure to eliminate his brother
(66.26.2-3). Later writers consistently vilified
Domitian as the poisoner of Titus: Aurelius Victor,
De Caes. 10.11; Philostratus, De Apoll. 6.32.
According to Plutarch, Titus died because he
unwisely used the baths when ill: De Sanitate Tuenda
3. [[17]] Dio 66.18.3. |