The Spoils of Jerusalem

Rome, AD 71: Vespasian and Titus ride in a joint triumph, and among the spoils they carry objects from the Temple in Jerusalem.

Transcript

Rome, AD seventy-one. The Senate has voted father and son two separate triumphs. They choose one, together.

At dawn they come out in purple and laurel wreaths. First the father, then Titus. Beside them, the younger son, Domitian, on a fine horse.

The old emperor soon has enough. The procession crawls along, and he mutters under his breath: serves me right, old man. Wanting a triumph, at my age.

Gold, silver and ivory flow through the city. On stages three and four stories high they carry scenes of the war.

Among the spoils they carry objects from the Temple in Jerusalem: a golden table, the seven-branched lampstand and the book of the Law.

So the procession was remembered by the sculptor of the arch still standing by the Forum.