A River of Gold – Vespasian #24

We’re covering the triumph of Vespasian and Titus, and our eyewitness is Josephus…. a Jewish priest who watched Rome parade the looted contents of his own temple down the street and somehow managed to keep it together enough to write one of the most vivid accounts of a Roman triumph we have. The menorah, the multi-storey floats, rivers of gold and ivory, Jewish prisoners dressed in finery to hide how emaciated they were. It’s an extraordinary document from an extraordinarily compromised man.