Titia, a deity among the Milesians.
Titia lex, de magistratibus, by Publius Titius the tribune, A.U.C. 710. It ordained that a triumvirate of magistrates should be invested with consular power to preside over the republic for five years. The persons chosen were Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus.——Another, de provinciis, which required that the provincial questors, like the consuls and pretors, should receive their provinces by lot.
Titiāna Flavia, the wife of the emperor Pertinax, disgraced herself by her debaucheries and incontinence. After the murder of her husband she was reduced to poverty, and spent the rest of her life in an obscure retreat.
Titiānus Atilius, a noble Roman put to death, A.D. 156, by the senate for aspiring to the purple. He was the only one proscribed during the reign of Antoninus Pius.——A brother of Otho.
Titii, priests of Apollo at Rome, who observed the flight of doves, and drew omens from it. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 45.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 602.
Titinius, a tribune of the people in the first ages of the republic.——A friend of Cassius, who killed himself.——One of the slaves who revolted at Capua. He betrayed his trust to the Roman generals.
Titius Proculus, a Roman knight, appointed to watch Messalina. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 11, ch. 35.——A tribune of the people who enacted the Titian law.——An orator of a very dissolute character.——One of Pompey’s murderers.——One of Antony’s officers.——A man who foretold a victory to Sylla.——Septimus, a poet in the Augustan age, who distinguished himself by his lyric and tragic compositions, now lost. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 3, li. 9.
Titormus, a shepherd of Ætolia, called another Hercules, on account of his prodigious strength. He was stronger than his contemporary, Milo of Crotona, as he could lift on his shoulders a stone which the Crotonian moved with difficulty. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12, ch. 22.—Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 127.
Titurius, a friend of Julia Silana, who informed against Agrippina, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13.——A lieutenant of Cæsar in Gaul, killed by Ambiorix.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 5, ch. 29, &c.
Titus Vespasianus, son of Vespasian and Flavia Domitilla, became known by his valour in the Roman armies, particularly at the siege of Jerusalem. In the 79th year of the christian era, he was invested with the imperial purple, and the Roman people had every reason to expect in him the barbarities of a Tiberius and the debaucheries of a Nero. While in the house of Vespasian, Titus had been distinguished for his extravagance and incontinence; his attendants were the most abandoned and dissolute; and it seemed that he wished to be superior to the rest of the world in the gratification of every impure desire, and in every unnatural vice. From such a private character, which still might be curbed by the authority and example of a father, what could be expected but tyranny and [♦]oppression? Yet Titus became a model of virtue, and in an age and office in which others wish to gratify all their appetites, the emperor abandoned his usual profligacy, he forgot his debaucheries, and Berenice, whom he had loved with uncommon ardour, even to render himself despised by the Roman people, was dismissed from his presence. When raised to the throne, he thought himself bound to be the father of his people, the guardian of virtue, and the patron of liberty; and Titus is, perhaps, the only monarch who, when invested with uncontrollable power, bade adieu to those vices, those luxuries and indulgencies, which as a private man he never ceased to gratify. He was moderate in his entertainments, and though he often refused the donations which were due to sovereignty, no emperor was ever more generous and magnificent than Titus. All informers were banished from his presence, and even severely punished. A reform was made in the judicial proceedings, and trials were no longer permitted to be postponed for years. The public edifices were repaired, and baths were erected for the convenience of the people. Spectacles were exhibited, and the Roman populace were gratified with the sight of a naval combat in the ancient naumachia, and the sudden appearance of 5000 wild beasts brought into the circus for their amusement. To do good to his subjects was the ambition of Titus, and it was at the recollection that he had done no service, or granted no favour, one day, that he exclaimed in the memorable words of “My friends, I have lost a day!” A continual wish to be benevolent and kind, made him popular; and it will not be wondered, that he who could say that he had rather die himself, than be the cause of the destruction of one of his subjects, was called the love and delight of mankind. Two of the senators conspired against his life, but the emperor disregarded their attempts; he made them his friends by kindness, and, like another Nerva, presented them with a sword to destroy him. During his reign, Rome was three days on fire, the towns of Campania were destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius, and the empire was visited by a pestilence which carried away an infinite number of inhabitants. In this time of public calamity, the emperor’s benevolence and philanthropy were conspicuous. Titus comforted the afflicted as a father, he alleviated their distresses by his liberal bounties, and as if they were but one family, he exerted himself for the good and preservation of the whole. The Romans, however, had not long to enjoy the favours of this magnificent prince. Titus was taken ill, and as he retired into the country of the Sabines to his father’s house, his indisposition was increased by a burning fever. He lifted his eyes to heaven, and with modest submission complained of the severity of fate which removed him from the world when young, where he had been employed in making a grateful people happy. He died the 13th of September, A.D. 81, in the 41st year of his age, after a reign of two years, two months, and 20 days. The news of his death was received with lamentations; Rome was filled with tears, and all looked upon themselves as deprived of the most benevolent of fathers. After him Domitian ascended the throne, not without incurring the suspicion of having hastened his brother’s end, by ordering him to be placed, during his agony, in a tub full of snow, where he expired. Domitian has also been accused of raising commotions, and of making attempts to dethrone his brother; but Titus disregarded them, and forgave the offender. Some authors have reflected with severity upon the cruelties which Titus exercised against the Jews; but though certainly a disgrace to the benevolent features of his character, we must consider him as an instrument in the hands of Providence, exerted for the punishment of a wicked and infatuated people. Josephus, Jewish War, bk. 7, ch. 16, &c.—Suetonius.—Dio Cassius, &c.