Location

Giacoma Lauro, Splendore dell'antica e moderna Roma. 1612-1640. Special Collections, Wellesley College.

The Arch of Titus sits on the edge of the Roman Forum near the Colosseum, as shown in Giacomo Lauro’s 17^th century engraving of Rome.¹ Importantly, the Arch of Titus stood directly in the path of the triumphal parade and framed a view of the Temple to Jupiter Best and Greatest (now lost) on the Capitoline Hill.² A Roman general hoping for victory would make vows and sacrifices to Jupiter at this temple before leaving on campaign. If successful, he would have the honor of staging a triumph, an elaborate parade winding through the streets of Rome and concluding with a sacrifice at the same temple. By marking and framing key points on the triumphal route, the arch helped preserve memory of Titus' accomplishments.

CLD

¹ Giacomo Lauro, Splendore dell’antica e moderna Roma, 1612-1640, Special Collections, Wellesley College.

² Diane Favro, “Moving Events: Curating the Memory of the Roman Triumph,” in Memoria Romana: Memory in Rome and Rome in Memory, ed. Karl Galinsky (Rome: American Academy in Rome, 2014), 91.