Roman Bookshelf - Augustus Hare

ARCH OF TITUS
Augustus Hare - Walks in Rome - 1893

Near the church of Sta. Francesca the Via Sacra passes under the Arch of Titus, which, even in its restored condition, is the most beautiful monument of the kind remaining in Rome. Its christian interest is unrivalled, from its having been erected by the senate to commemorate the taking of Jerusalem, and from its bas-reliefs of the seven-branched candlestick and other treasures of the Jewish Temple.
In mediaeval times it was called the Arch of the Seven Candlesticks (septem lucernarum,) from the bas-relief of the candlestick, concerning which Gregorovius remarks, that the fantastic figures carved upon it prove that it was not an exact likeness of that which came from Jerusalem.
The bas-reliefs are now greatly mutilated, but they are shown in their perfect state in a drawing of Giuliano di Sangallo. On the frieze is the sacred river Jordan, as an aged man, borne on a bier. The arch, which was in a very ruinous condition, had been engrafted in the middle ages into a fortress tower called Turris Cartularia, and so it remained till the present century. This tower originally formed the entrance to the vast fortress of the powerful Frangipani family, which included the Coliseum and a great part of the Palatine and Caelian hills; and here, above the gate, Pope Urban II. dwelt in 1093, under the protection of Giovanni Frangipani. The arch was repaired by Pius VII., who replaced in travertine the lost marble portions at the top and sides. ''
The processions of the popes going to the Lateran for their solemn installation, used to halt beside the arch of Titus while a Jew presented a copy of the Pentateuch, with a humble oath of fealty. This humiliating ceremony was omitted for the first time at the installation of Pius IX.