selenak: (Pompeii by Imbrilin)
selenak ([personal profile] selenak) wrote 2025-01-22 10:48 am (UTC)

Wait, Pompeii was during this time?!

Indeed it was. Titus got to show he'd gotten really good at organizing disaster relief. It's one of the reasons why he, who during his Dad's reign was seen as playing often bad cop to Vespasian's good cop in public perception (among other things, Vespasian let him head the Praetorian Guards, which given the Praetorian Guards had become notoriously crucial in new Emperors making it to the throne is a job you really give only to someone you trust, but it's also predestined to make the one having it look like the tough, grim enforcer type), quickly became very popular in his own short reign.

I think Titus will be another fan favorite -- he just has a lot of qualities that make him rather woobie-like, culminating in his tragic death, of course! And his partisans would explain away all the parts that didn't fit their woobie image.

I can see that, always depending on the actor of course, and the chemistry he has with other characters. Otoh, he does have the sacking of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple against him going in already (I mean, if there is one thing Titus is known for outside of people watching Mozart's lesser known operas...), but as you say, depending on his popularity, there will be entire blogs filled with arguments sit was really the fault of Captain what was his name again.

BTW: Fritz was a Titus/Berenice shipper. He wrote in his old age a letter to either Voltaire or Heinrich, I forget which one, in which he mentions having just reread Racine's play about them and crying, and that he never used to cry over love stories in his youth, but now he finds himself doing so and is not ashamed.

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