Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1172

Rh 116*0 TITUS. ing of the higher destiny to which he was called. Titus managed to reconcile Mucianus the governor of Syria, and his father, and thus he contributed greatly to Vespasian's elevation. [Mucianus, LiciNirs.] Vespasian was proclaimed emperor on the 1st of July, a. d. 69, and Titus accompanied him to Alexandria in Egypt. He returned to Pa- lestine to prosecute the siege of Jerusalem, during which he showed the talents of a general with the daring of a soldier. The siege of Jerusalem, one of the most memorable on record, was concluded by the capture of the place, on the 8th of Septem- ber, A. D. 70, and Titus received from the acclama- tions of his soldiers the title of Imperator. The most complete account of the siege and capture of Jerusalem is by Josephus. He did not return to Italy for eight months after the capture of Jerusa- lem, during which time he had an interview with the Parthian ambassadors at Zeugma on the Eu- phrates, and he paid a visit to Egypt, and assisted at the consecration of the bull Apis at Memphis. (Sueton. Titus^ c. 5.) On his journey to Italy he had an interview with Apollonius of Tj'ana, who gave him some very good advice for a youth in his elevated station. Titus triumphed at Rome with his father. He also received the title of Caesar, and became the associate of Vespasian in the government. They also acted together as Censors. Titus undertook the office of Praefectus Praetorio, which had hi- therto only been discharged by Roman equites. His conduct at this time gave no good promise, and the people looked upon him as likely to be another Nero. He was accused of being exces- sively addicted to the pleasures of the table, of indulging lustful passions in a scandalous way, and of putting suspected persons to death with very little ceremony. A. Caecina, a consular whom he had invited to supper, he ordered to be killed as he was leaving the room ; but this was said to be a measure of necessary severity, for Titus had evi- dence of Caecina being engaged in a conspiracy. His attachment to Berenice also made him un- popular. Berenice was the sister of King Agrippa II., and the daughter of Herodes Agrippa, some- times called the Great. She was first married to Herodes, king of Chalcis, her uncle, and then to Polemon, king of Cilicia. Titus probably became acquainted with her when he was in Judaea, and after the capture of Jerusalem she followed him to Rome with her brother Agrippa, and both of them lodged in the emperor's residence. It was said that Titus had promised to marry Berenice, but as this intended union gave the Romans great dissatisfaction, he sent her away from Rome after he became emperor, as Suetonius says, but in his father's lifetime according to Dion. The scanda- lous story of Titus having poisoned his father at a feast (24th June, A. D. 79) is not believed even by Dion, who could believe any thing bad of a man. The year A. D. 79 was the first year of the sole government of Titus, whose conduct proved an agreeable surprise to those who had anticipated a return of the times of Nero. His brother Do- mitian, it is said, was dissatisfied at Titus being sole emperor, and formed the design of stirring up the soldiers ; but though he made no decided at- tempt to seize the supreme power, he is accused of having all along entertained designs against his brother. Instead of punishing him, Titus endea- TITUS. voured to win Domitian's aflfection, and urged him not to attempt to gain by criminal means that power which he would one day have in a legiti- mate way. During his whole reign Titus displayed a sincere desire for the happiness of the people, and he did all that he could to relieve them in times of distress. A story is told, that one even- ing, recollecting that he had given nothing during the day, he said, " My friends, I have lost a day." He assumed the office of Pontifex Maxiraus after the death of his father, and with the purpose, as he declared, of keeping his hands free from blood ; a resolution which he kept. Two patricians who were convicted by the senate of a conspiracy against him, were pardoned and treated with kind- ness and confidence. He checked all prosecutions for the crime of laesa majestas, which from the time of Tiberius had been a fruitful source of false accusations; and he severely punished all informers. He also removed from about him many young men, whose acquaintance had damaged his reputa- tion, and he associated only with persons of good repute. At the close of this year Titus repaired one of the Roman aqueducts, and he assumed the title of Imperator on the occasion of the successes of Agri- cola in Britain. This year is memorable for the great eruption of Vesuvius, which desolated a large part of the adjacent country, and buried with lava and ashes the towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Plinius the elder lost his life in this terrible ca- tastrophe ; the poet Caesius Bassus is said to have been burnt in his house by the lava, and Agrippa the son of Claudius Felix, once governor of Judaea, perished with his wife. Dion Cassius (Ixvi. 21, &c.) has described the horrors of this terrible cala- mity ; and we have also the description of thera in a letter addressed to Tacitus by the younger Plinius. [Tacitus.] Titus endeavoured to re- pair the ravages of this great eruption : he sent two consulars with money to restore the ruined towns, and he applied to this purpose the property of those who had been destroyed, and had left no next of kin. He also went himself to see the ra- vages which had been caused by the eruption and the earthquakes. During his absence a fire was burning at Rome for three days and three nights A. D. 80 : it destroyed the Capitol, the library of Augustus, the theatre of Pompeius, and other public buildings, besides many houses. The em- peror declared that he should consider all the loss as his own, and he set about repairing it with great activity : he took even the decorations of the im- perial residences, and sold them to raise money. The eruption of Vesuvius was followed by a dread- ful pestilence, which called for fresh exertions on the part of the benevolent emperor. In this year he completed the great amphi- theatre, called the Colosseum, which had been com- menced by his father; and also the baths called the baths of Titus. The dedication of these two edifices was celebrated by spectacles which lasted one hundred days ; by a naval battle in the old naumachia, and fights of gladiators : on one day alone five thousand wild animals are said to have been exhibited, a number which we may reason- ably suspect to be exaggerated. He also repaired several aqueducts, and paved the road from Rome to Rimini (Ariminum). In the year a. d. 81 Agricola was employed in securing his conquests in Scotland soutli of the