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FLAVIUS SABINUS VESPASIANUS TITUS

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 1032 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FLAVIUS SABINUS VESPASIANUS

TITUS  ,
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Roman emperor from A.D . 79-81, son of the emperor
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Vespasian, was born on the 3oth of December A.D . 40 (or 41) . He was educated in the imperial court, and thoroughly accomplished: he could speak Greek fluently and compose verses; he was a proficient in
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music; he could write shorthand, and imitate
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handwriting so skilfully that he used to say that he might have been a most successful forger . He was handsome and commanding, and had a vigorous
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frame, well trained in all the exercises of a soldier . As a young man he served with credit in Germany and in Britain . Soon he had the command of a legion, and joined his
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father in
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Syria, where he took an active
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part in the Jewish War . In 68 he was sent by his father to congratulate the newly proclaimed emperor, Galba; but, hearing of Galba's
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death and of the general confusion in the Roman
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world, he returned to
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Palestine, having in the mean-time consulted the oracle of the Paphian
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Venus and received a favourable answer . In the following
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year Vespasian, having been proclaimed emperor, returned to Italy, and
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left Titus to carry on the siege of Jerusalem, which was captured on the 8th of September 70 . On his return to Rome, Titus and his father celebrated a magnificent triumph, which has been immortalized by the so-called Arch of Titus . He was now formally associated with his father in the government, with the title of Caesar, and during the nine remaining years of Vespasian's reign he was in fact emperor . He was anything but popular; he had the character of being profligate and cruel .

His connexion with

Berenice, the
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sister of the Agrippa of the Acts of the Apostles, also created a
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scandal; both
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brother and sister followed Titus to Rome, and were allowed to reside in the imperial palace . Public opinion was outraged, and Titus, though he had promised Berenice
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marriage, felt obliged to send her back to the East . Vespasian died in 79, leaving his son a safe
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throne and a well-filled
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treasury . The forebodings of the
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people were agreeably disappointed, for Titus put an end to prosecutions for high treason, and the delatores (informers) were scourged and expelled from the city . He assumed the office of
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pontifex maximus, in order that he might keep his hands
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free from
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blood . He forgave his brother Domitian, who more than once plotted against his
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life, and having let a day pass without bestowing a
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present, he exclaimed, " I have lost a day." Titus, like his father, spent
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money in adding to the magnificence of Rome . The Flavian amphitheatre (later called the Colosseum) was completed and dedicated in his reign, with combats of gladiators, shows of wild beasts, and representations of some of the
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great Greek
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naval battles . He gave the city splendid
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baths, which surpassed those of Agrippa and of
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Nero, and supplied the
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mob with every kind of luxury . During his reign, in 79, occurred the eruption of Vesuvius which destroyed
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Herculaneum and
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Pompeii . The emperor visited the scenes and contributed liberally to the
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relief of the distressed inhabitants . During his absence a fire raged for three days at Rome, in which the new temple of
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Jupiter Capitolinus, the library of Augustus, and other public buildings were burnt; then followed a pestilence, and Titus again assisted freely with his purse . Italy and the Roman world were peaceful during his reign .

The only fighting was in Britain under

Agricola, who in the year 8o carried the Roman arms as far as the
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Tay . Titus died on the 13th of September 81 . The verdict of
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history is favourable to him, but the general feeling throughout the Roman world was that he had been fortunate in the briefness of his reign . See Suetonius, Titus: Dio Cassius lxvi . 18-26; C . Beale, Titus et sa dynastie (187o) ; L . Double, L'Empereur Titus (1877) ; Merivale, Hist. of the Romans under the
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Empire (ch . 6o) ; H . Schiller, Geschichte der romischen Kaiserzeit, i. pt . 2 .

End of Article: FLAVIUS SABINUS VESPASIANUS TITUS
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