Boog van Titus te Rome - Rijksmuseum public domain dedication image

Originally, the site of the Roman Forum was a lake where waters from the surrounding hills drained. Because of its location, sediments from the erosion of the surrounding hills have been raising the level of the Forum floor for centuries. The low-lying wetland of the Forum was drained in the 7th century BC with the building of the Cloaca Maxima. Roman Forum developed gradually, over many centuries. Forum's long dimension extended from the foot of the Capitoline Hill to that of the Velian Hill. The Forum included a square, the buildings facing it, and, sometimes, an additional area (the Forum Adjectum) extending southeast as far as the Arch of Titus. The Forum functioned as an open-air market but eventually outgrew its marketplace role: political speeches, civil trials, and other public affairs dominated the Forum. An important function of the Forum was to serve as the culminating venue for the Triumphs. Victorious generals entered the city by the western Triumphal Gate (Porta Triumphalis) and circumnavigated the Palatine Hill (counterclockwise) before proceeding from the Velian Hill down the Via Sacra and into the Forum. In 600 BC Forum area was paved for the first time. The earliest basilicas (large, aisled halls) were introduced to the Forum in 184 BC by Marcus Porcius Cato, which began the process of "monumentalizing" the site. In the 80s BC, major work was done on the Forum including the raising of the plaza level by almost a meter and the laying of permanent marble paving stones. During early Imperial times, the economic and judicial business transferred away from the Forum. In the 5th Century AD Rome's population fell from 750,000 to 250,000. The populated areas contracted to leave Forum more or less intact. On 1 August 608, the Column of Phocas, a Roman monumental column, was erected. This proved to be the last monumental addition made to the Forum. By the 8th century, the Forum was surrounded by Christian churches taking the place of the abandoned temples falling apart at that time. During the Middle Ages, its location was called the "Campo Vaccino" or "cattle field." The structures of the Forum were dismantled and used to build towers and castles within the local area, the site became a dumping ground and a quarry for new buildings including the new Saint Peter's Basilica. The papal authorities eventually demolished many medieval structures on the site, to reveal and better display the ancient monuments. The Roman Forum has been a source of inspiration for artists for centuries.

The Romans traced the traditions of the triumph back to their own beginnings. Rome’s legendary founder, Romulus, was the first to celebrate the rite when he defeated and killed Acron, the king of Caenina. The Roman triumph was an ancient martial tradition, a parade with symbolic culmination involved elevating the victorious general (triumphator) to divine status for a single day. The Romans marked his status by staining his face red using the mineral pigment cinnabar. The depictions on the Arch of Titus serve as a visual representation of the Roman victory over the Jewish rebellion and the subsequent devastation of Jerusalem. For many Jewish people, the arch symbolizes the loss of the Second Temple and the dispersion of the Jewish community. It stands as a historical reminder of the Roman conquest and the diaspora that followed. In the summer of 71 C.E. the Roman emperor Vespasian and Titus, his eldest son, had quelled a dangerous revolt in the Roman province of Judea and returned to Rome to celebrate this major accomplishment. Not only that, but the Flavian dynasty (Vespasian and his two sons Titus and Domitian) had succeeded in winning the throne during the year 69 C.E.—a time of bloody civil turmoil known as the “Year of the Four Emperors.” The arch was constructed in 82 CE to commemorate the military victories of the Roman Emperor Titus, particularly his conquest of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The reliefs on the arch depict scenes from the war, including the triumphal procession with Roman soldiers carrying the looted treasures from the Temple, such as the menorah (the seven-branched candelabrum) and the silver trumpets and other spoils of war taken from Jerusalem during the First Jewish-Roman War (66-73 CE).