What the Arch of Titus teaches us about what to do with Confederate statues
For some reason, the Civil War has broken out all over again in the 21st century, almost 160 years after the Confederacy surrendered. Civil War 2.0, has manifested itself in people vandalizing statues of famous Confederate generals such as Robert E. Lee and demanding that these edifices, some having stood for over a century, be taken down. In some cases, Confederate statues have been taken down by local authorities under pressure from activist groups.
The idea of tearing down statues of any kind has not sat well with me. Let me say from the outset that I feel deep loathing for the Confederacy, the lost cause, and a war sparked over the evil institution of slavery. With all due respect to my ancestors who wore the gray, I have to ask what in the name of God were they thinking? Taking up arms to break up the country to defend an institution that was fading anyway seems to me to be a supreme act of folly.
My objection to tearing down statues is two-fold.
First, I don’t like tearing down any historical monument. It smacks too much of what the Taliban did when they blew up the statues of Buddha when they first took over Afghanistan. History, no matter how painful, should be preserved.
Second, it hasn’t stopped with dead Confederates. We have heard demands to tear down the statues of founding fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Christopher Columbus is also a target for the sin of discovering America. Even Abraham Lincoln, who freed the slaves, and Teddy Roosevelt are not safe from the modern-day vandals. Where do you draw the line?
I understand why the sight of a statue honoring a dead Confederate may be painful to many people, particularly African Americans. But the horrors of slavery, the Civil War, and Jim Crow will not go away simply because we destroy reminders of them.
Recently, an event took place in Rome that suggests a better way of dealing with statues of dead Confederates. On the occasion of the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’av, which mourns the destruction of both the First and Second Temple in Jerusalem, a large crowd of Jews gathered at the Arc of Titus and sang, “If I Forget Thee, O Jerusalem.”
They did this because of the problematic relationship between the Roman Empire and Jewish people. Most people in the West regard Rome as a glittering civilization that brought law and peace to the known world. However, Jewish people remember Rome as an oppressor.
It all started in the year 63 BC when the Roman general, Pompey the Great, took Jerusalem by siege and desecrated the Holy of Holies in the Great Temple. Judea lasted as a semi-independent client state until AD 6, when the Romans made it into a province ruled directly by a Roman governor.
The people of Judea, understandably, resented being occupied by Rome. In AD 66, they rose in open revolt. The Roman general Titus put the revolt down, taking Jerusalem and sacking the Great Temple. He carried off many Jews into bondage to Rome where, later, they were forced to build the Colosseum, the site of many a gladiatorial contest made famous by the Russell Crowe movie, Gladiator,
In gratitude for the great victory over the Jewish rebels, Rome built a great triumphal arch, which lasts to this day as the Arch of Titus, located in the middle of the Roman Forum. It is a must-see place for any tourist visiting the Eternal City. However, for any Jewish person, the Arch is as painful to see as a Confederate statue is for any descendent of slaves. The monument commemorates the beginning of almost 19 centuries of persecution that climaxed with the Nazi Holocaust.
Some have suggested that the Arch of Titus be torn down, just as many want statues of dead Confederates destroyed. Michael Weiner, a Straus Scholar and senior at Yeshiva University, made that demand in an article in Forward. The opinion is decidedly in the minority. It would not be accepted by the Italian government or people, and, considering the size of the edifice, suggests an action that is totally impractical.
The sentiment that Weiner expressed makes what happened on Tisha B’av of 2023 all the more remarkable. Instead of forming an angry mob to desecrate or destroy the Arch of Titus, a group of Jewish people gathered around the monument and — — sang.
“If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget her cunning.
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,
if I remember thee not;
if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy.”
The song is heartfelt and filled with the yearning that Jewish people felt during the centuries of exile from their ancestral homeland. It, in this context, is a middle finger extended to the long dead Roman general. “Look., Titus, we are still here, despite what you and many centuries of oppressors threw at us. Indeed, Israel lives again as a thriving, rich, and powerful nation. Contemplate that in whatever afterlife you inhabit.”
The chorus under the Arch of Titus suggests a far more effective way to deal with statues to dead Confederates. Instead of tearing them down or throwing paint on them, let people gather around them every April 9, the anniversary of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, and sing The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword,
His truth is marching on.”
And especially:
“In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me;
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.”
Such an occasion would serve notice that for all their bravery and obstinance, the men in gray failed to break the United States apart and failed to maintain the odious institution of slavery. They lost. Let us all celebrate.
Mark Whittington, who writes frequently about space policy, has published a political study of space exploration entitled Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon? as well as The Moon, Mars and Beyond, and, most recently, Why is America Going Back to the Moon? He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner. He is published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Hill, USA Today, the LA Times, and the Washington Post, among other venues
