Titus

Also known as: Titus Caesar · Family: Roman · Role: son of Vespasian · First appears: Book III, Chapter 1

Titus, also known as Caesar and Titus Caesar, was the son of Vespasian. In Book III, Vespasian sent him from Achaia, where he had been with Nero, to Alexandria for the fifth and tenth legions; Titus brought the forces to Ptolemais and joined them to his father’s army: “he came suddenly to Ptolemais, and there finding his father, together with the two legions, the fifth and the tenth, which were the most eminent legions of all, he joined them to that fifteenth legion which was with his father.” With auxiliaries from Antiochus, Agrippa, Sohemus, and Malchus, he entered Taricheae first, killed the revolt’s leaders, and stopped further slaughter of its inhabitants. He assisted Vespasian at Gamala, was sent against Gischala, and delayed at Cydessa; after Galilee was taken, he supported Josephus and helped persuade Vespasian to preserve him, while Vespasian approved his advice concerning Josephus’s iron chain.

In Book IV, Titus was sent to Mucianus in Syria and later went with Agrippa to Galba. At the beginning of the campaign against Jerusalem, Tiberius Alexander, his friend and counselor, was made general under him, while Trajan commanded his left wing and Domitius Sabinus served as his tribune. Titus escaped a Jewish ambush, fortified camps around Jerusalem, drove back attacks on the Roman legions, pardoned soldiers after their defeat, and intensified the siege against John and Simon. He captured the walls, ordered restraint toward civilians, sent Josephus to urge surrender, and directed the construction of a wall around the city. During the fighting he worked with Antiochus Epiphanes (king of Commagene) and Sextus Cerealis, while Nicanor was wounded among his friends; Castor, Sireoh, and Jesus (son of Shaphat) stood among those opposing him.