Urbem Hierusolymam delevit: The Arch of Titus in the Circus Maximus in Antiquity and the Middle Ages

The focus of this research project is the triumphal arch dedicated in 81 CE in the Vallis Murcia in Rome and commemorating the Flavian capture of Jerusalem. A comprehensive examination of the Arch of Titus in the Circus Maximus has never been attempted, despite the fact that it is one of the most significant building initiatives undertaken by Domitians elder brother during his short but important principate. The Introduction (Chapter 1) outlines the main ideas and provides the rationale for the study. A survey of the information about the first Arch of Titus in various areas of studies highlights the shortcomings and limitations of the existing scholarship on the topic. The bulk of the dissertation is organised in three distinct parts. Part I gathers and examines critically all the evidence on the Arch of Titus in Circo Maximo, in an effort to describe as accurately as possible the form and the general appearance of the structure in Antiquity (Chapter 2) and to trace the survival of the arch well into the Middle Ages (Chapter 3). The most credible hypothesis is that the Flavian arch vanished from the urban landscape of Rome just before the middle of the twelfth century. Part II addresses the ideology of this noteworthy Flavian monument. Chapter 4 concentrates on the honorific inscription from the lost arch. Chapter 5 takes a step back and explores the earlier topographical history of the south-east end of the Circus Maximus (including the republican Fornix Stertinii). Part III deals with yet another major question which so far has been overlooked in scholarship: the specific chronology of the Arch of Titus in the Vallis Murcia. Chapter 6 offers a meticulous analysis of the imperial titulature reproduced in the epigraphic text itself, which leads to the conclusion that the structure was dedicated in the period between May and the 30th of June 81 CE. Finally, Chapter 7 suggests that the Arch of Titus in Circo Maximo was inaugurated in June 81 CE to commemorate the anniversary of the Flavian triumph over the Judaeans.