Representing the Dynasty in Flavian Rome by Jonathan Davies;

Author:Jonathan Davies; [Davies, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780198883036
Publisher: Oxford University Press USA
Published: 2023-07-05T00:00:00+00:00

4.2 Titus in Jewish War 1–6

We turn now from representations of Vespasian himself in his reign to broader dynastic representation. It seems to have been clear from the very start that the new world order was a family business, and much Flavian representation is insistently dynastic in nature. Some later sources preserve anecdotes which indicate that this was not entirely uncontroversial. Perhaps attracted by the recent innovation of Galba (imposed by necessity, though it had been) of adopting an heir from outside the family, some members of the Senate objected to the reversion to intra-familial succession, prompting Vespasian to proclaim in public that either his son would succeed him or nobody would.295 Certainly, the privileged position of both Titus and Domitian in the state could not reasonably be in doubt. Writing under Vespasian, Pliny pairs Vespasian and Titus together as imperatores.296 This is technically correct, in that both men had been hailed imperator by their armies (Josephus records Vespasian’s salutation at BJ 4.601 and Titus’ at BJ 6.316), but in using this distinctly imperial term in the plural, Pliny emphasizes both the difference between the imperial pair and all other living individuals, and also their proximity to each other in status and power. The celebration of a triumph by an imperial prince must clearly have signalled to all of Rome that Titus was the designated successor; likewise, Domitian’s prominent position riding a horse alongside the triumphatores, a role more usually played by imperial princes at triumphs, must surely have marked him out as the third man in the state.297 Titus held seven ordinary consulships under, and always alongside, his father. Domitian held one ordinary and five suffect consulships well below the normal age limit, and both held the position of principes iuventutis, a mark of successor status since the days of Gaius and Lucius Caesar.298 This strong insistence on dynasty was further emphasized on the money: T. R. Stevenson has demonstrated the unprecedented focus on the succession to be seen in Vespasian’s numismatic output.299 While Titus was never co-ruler, he was, nevertheless, clearly his father’s junior partner in office, holding far more political responsibility than any other individual in Rome besides Vespasian.300 Domitian, in turn, was the spare to Titus’ heir, eclipsing in importance everybody in Rome except for his father and brother.301 This strong focus on dynasty in the reign of Vespasian meant that it is likely that the images of Titus, the imperial heir, and Domitian, the spare, required just as much care and attention from contemporary authors as the presentation of the reigning emperor.

The discussion of Titus’ presentation in these books will proceed at first thematically, as with Vespasian, for Sections 4.2.1–4.2.3. Section 4.2.4, on Titus and the destruction of the Temple, is a break from this procedure. The section will examine a specific portion of the text, BJ 6.232–322 (the destruction of the Temple), which presents uniquely complex and intricate problems of interpretation and which demands to be discussed separately and cannot satisfactorily be treated under the thematic subheadings.

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