Titus, Emperor Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus (ad 39–81). Roman emperor, 79–81. Titus was the second Flavian emperor of Rome. Destroyed Jerusalem and the temple during the First Jewish War.

In ad 70, Roman soldiers led by Titus sacked Jerusalem and burned down the temple, ending the First Jewish War. This war had begun four years earlier during the reign of Nero, when the Jews revolted against the Romans because of religious tensions and taxation. Thousands of Jews starved to death during the siege of Jerusalem. Josephus claimed that 1,100,000 Jews died in the siege (Josephus, Jewish War, 6.9.3). During the attack, Roman soldiers looted and burned the temple, though Josephus makes the improbable claim that Titus ordered for the temple to be preserved and his soldiers disobeyed (Josephus, Jewish War, 6.4.3). The victorious legions carried many of the temple’s treasures back to Rome—the Arch of Titus in Rome preserves a depiction of Titus’ conquest, along with the looting itself.

Titus was the first son of the Roman general Vespasian and was educated in the household of Emperor Claudius. In his early 20s, Titus served as a Roman military officer in Britain and Germany. In ad 66, when the First Jewish War began in Palestine, Titus commanded a legion under his father Vespasian’s supervision. Rome experienced political confusion in ad 69 as various men struggled for the title of emperor in the wake of Nero’s suicide. Vespasian headed back to Rome in order to make his bid for emperor, leaving Titus to finish the campaign in Judaea.

Vespasian succeeded in becoming the emperor. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Titus returned to Rome to serve alongside his father. Titus gained a reputation for ruthlessly managing the day-to-day affairs of the state and protecting his father’s interests. It was rumored that he led an extravagant lifestyle and had an affair with Bernice, the Jewish queen.

The public opinion of him changed, however, when he became emperor after his father’s death in ad 79. In his brief two years as emperor, Titus was loved by the Roman people because of his generosity and his management of state affairs. He supplied lavish games and entertainment for the population of Rome. He completed and dedicated the Colosseum, which was started by his father. His short reign was marked by two disasters that he managed well.

Mount Vesuvius erupted in ad 79, destroying Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Oplontis, and the following year a three-day fire burned a sizable portion of the city of Rome. Titus’ generous and compassionate response to these disasters endeared him to the people.

Titus died from a fever at his family’s country home on September 1, ad 81. Not long after he died, the Romans recognized him as a god. Suetonius, the Roman biographer, considered Titus to be one of the good emperors. However, Titus’ favorable reputation may have resulted from a comparison to his brother Domitian whose rule was autocratic and often harsh.