IN HONOR OF THE LIBERATION OF ROME, June 4, 1944

IN HONOR OF

THE LIBERATION

OF ROME

June 4, 1944

LONG AGO NOW

TWO MEN MEET BESIDE

THE ARCH OF TITUS

ON THE VIA SACRA

LEADING TO THE ROMAN FORUM

It is, we are told, "The oldest surviving arch in Rome"; it is also "the simplest, has only one opening, and is perhaps most well-proportioned of the arches still standing." It is the model for the Arc de Triomphe, "which maintains the exact proportions of the Arch of Titus, though several times larger." (Two academic discussions of the Arch of Titus here and here.)

The Narva Triumphal Arch in St. Petersburg, in turn, was designed in answer to the Paris Arc de Triomphe, and in celebration of the Russian victory over Napoleon.

Rome was the first of the three Axis capitals to be captured by the Allies in World War II.

I ended up photographing the Roman Forum on an excursion from Germany as an Army brat in the Cold War. Who the two men by the arch were and what they were so engrossed in discussing is one of the retrospective mysteries of photography.