Part of the genius of the Arch of Titus is that the deep carvings of the arch are set to give you a real sense of movement. Hence the table is rather shallow, but the menorah is rather deep. This bas-relief as it's called, gives you a sense of moving into the city and through the arch. But there's more to it than that. Because of the topography, the arch is set at about a 30 degree angle off of due west. Which means that when the sun hits the arch and the shadows at various times of the day are formed, you almost feel as if the characters are moving. The Romans walking through the arch on their procession going forward into triumphant Rome. Now the other place you can sense this is Josephus Flavius's description of the great triumphal march. Josephus describes this event in incredible detail. But he does it, you would not be surprised with a great deal of discomfort. Where in most places throughout his book he describes whatever he's describing whether it will be the Temple or Biblical characters or whatever with great enthusiasm. Can you imagine how the Jewish general Josephus who had transferred his allegiance from the Jewish army, which he was the general of in the Galilee to Vespasian, felt as his people were being humiliated and the celebration of their humiliation went forth. Now for Romans this was a great thing. This is going to the parade. This is a place to go and meet girls. This was a public event of the first order. Josephus describes it, but he describes it with a bit of ambivalence, let me share some of it with you. He writes in book seven of his magnificent Jewish war describing the Jewish revolt against Rome as follows. Nothing in the procession excited so much astonishment as the structure of the moving stages. Indeed their massiveness afforded ground for alarm and misgivings, as to their stability, many of them being three or four stories tall. And I'll skip. For many were enveloped in tapestries interwoven with gold and all had a framework of gold and wrought ivory. The war was shown by numerous representations. In separate sections, afforded a very vivid picture of what happened, of the episodes. And they're of course manned with the people who actually fought in these battles. For to such sufferings were the Jews destined when they plunged into wars, says Josephus. And the art and magnificent workmanship of these structures now portrayed the incidents to those who had not witnessed them. Rome is bringing home its victory. It's behaving with what we would do on television. What we would have done in World War II with a newsreel. He's, it's reenacting the great battles. It's reenacting the great victories. On each of the stages was stationed the general of one of the captured cities. And the attitude in which he was taken. A number of ships followed. But these were followed by the spoils of the Jerusalem temple, and he says these consisted of a golden table, we've talked about that. Many talents in weight, a lamp stand, meaning the menorah, likewise made of gold, but constructed on a form that I've never seen before. At least that you Romans have never seen before. And then he goes on to describe the shape of this very strange Jewish lamp stands. And then he concludes that the objects, the parade concluded at the Temple of Jupiter of the Capitoline, where it ended. And then, the general of the Jewish rebels. A fellow named Simon son of Giora, who had just figured in the pageant among the prisoners and then with a halter thrown over him and scourged meanwhile by his conductors had been hailed to the spot. Had been hauled to the spot abutting the forum, where Roman law required that the malefactors, meaning this Simon, condemned to death, should be executed. Thus ends the parade, with the death of the leaders of the attack on the Roman peace. And then the objects were taken off, he says, to that temple of peace down the road, which has been partially excavated. Quite an event.
