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XIV. Titus
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160 with his highest-ranking men. They trampled and captured the men they came to. They struck and brought disgrace to the enemy lands, all of which they burned. Then, full of high and wild spirits, they turned toward the Roman Empire. When the lordly army arrived back in Rome, the Romans came on foot and rode from the city: Owî! How well they received their king! For a fact, I am telling you that King Hylas was thrown into the dungeon. They said that his guilt deserved death. He had fiercely violated Roman rights; however, Titus, that man of noble spirit, saved him from death and sent him from Rome back home to his Empire. Vespasian lived the royal life—the book tells us for a fact—eight years and ten months until he died of a hemorrhage. XIV Titus Titus (r. 70–81), Vespasian’s son, served with his father and took command of Roman forces in Judea when Vespasian returned to Rome upon being chosen emperor. As emperor in his own right following Vespasian’s death, Titus became famous for moderation and clemency. He put a stop to frequent indictments for treason and did not exact vengeance when he learned that his brother, Domitian , was plotting against him. It was clemency—in spite of holding nearly absolute power—that marked Titus’ reputation through the Middle Ages. Our author is aware of clemency as a major element in the image of Titus and praises it, but with his own propensity to extol law and order he lets his Titus learn the lesson that too much clemency is badly misplaced. He admires Titus more for his commitment to rule by the Imperial Law. Titus 161 since the Empire was without a head, the Romans said that Titus was compassionate and brave, fully noble enough that it would be well fitting to make him ruler and judge. They hesitated no longer and elected Titus. They wanted their will carried out through him. Titus called for the Imperial Law to be brought out. He never wanted to hand down judgments except according to the Imperial Law. There were some foolish lords at Rome who were supposed to give privy advice to the king for maintaining his honor; however, they really wanted to assassinate him. The king was warned about them, and they were in grave peril. Mighty Titus displayed great wisdom. He sent word to them quickly that he was coming to his chamber. When he saw their leader, he spoke to him in a very conciliatory way. “From the moment I took over the Empire, I relied on you as a man loyal to me. What have I ever done to hurt you? Or what are you accusing me of doing? Tell me now upon your honor—you will never have cause to regret it—what would you want to do if you wielded over me the power I now have over you? Reveal to me what you would have wanted to do. Would you have wanted to let me live? You should confess the real truth.” Then Ariolus, the guilty man, answered him, “I will tell you the truth. If I had your power and you came to me in secret, you would have lost your life. You would not have been able to survive, for you would have lost your life at my hands. You are too strict as a judge, we have no love for you, and for that reason we want to kill you. The judgments that you make injure us.” Mighty Titus then spoke with great wisdom. “If I judge the people rightly by the Imperial Law in a way that makes you want to kill me, the guilt cannot be great. If you want to take my life, I will give you my gold.” He ordered that he be given without delay as much red gold—he did not even weigh it—as he could carry. He told him to leave the chamber and had him escorted home to his own house. Soon after that he sent for the others and treated these conspirators the same way until he found out the truth from them. He gave his gold to all of them, asking each one individually to choose how he wanted to relate to him—that they could be friends or enemies, whichever suited him better. [54.221.159.188] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 03:59 GMT) 162 Chapter Fourteen The twelve...