December 16, 2014: Horses in Rome Advent Calendar

Horses from the Arch of Titus

The Arch of Titus is a 1st-century monument located on the Via Sacra in the Roman Forum. It was constructed in 82 AD by the Roman Emperor Domitian to commemorate the victories of his older brother Titus, including the conquest of Judea in 70 AD.

An interesting note (tomorrow is the first night of Hanukkah):
"For centuries, Jews avoided the Arch of Titus, refusing to walk under it and thus to give honor to Titus. The Arch symbolized the debasement of Judaism and the beginning of our woes. This situation was reinforced by the Church, for which the Arch came to symbolize the transfer of Divine authority from Jerusalem to the Church of Rome, and with it, the Divine punishment imposed upon the Jews for rejecting Jesus. Things began to change in the modern world. From the nineteenth century on, Jews came to see the Arch’s Menorah in a much more positive light, as a symbol for Judaism. For Jewish traditionalists and Zionists, its unique form symbolized a hope for national restoration in the Land of Israel. The only “archaeologically accurate” representation of the Temple vessels then known, the Arch was reimagined as a Jewish treasure and a link to a glorious past. Jews reproduced the Arch of Titus Menorah within synagogues and many other communal contexts. After long deliberation, in 1949, the Arch of Titus Menorah was chosen as the symbol for the new State of Israel. Bringing the Menorah “home,” at least figuratively, Israeli authors and artists saw the Menorah as a metaphor for the entire Jewish people, and its reappropriation as Israel’s national symbol as part of the “ingathering of exiles” that the new State saw as its mission." - Dr. Steven Fine, Yeshiva University, New York