Interior, Titus' Triumphal Arch

Tremendous photograph. Seems just the right angle.....

This photograph seems able to impart a sense of massive size and bulk. What's interesting to me is that there is no visible reference of scale present to trigger this sense. Yet I can still tell just from looking up at it that it's huge. It's needs a rock pick for scale?

Actually, this is probably the smallest of the three around the Forum. The arch of Septimus Severus at the opposite end of the Forum is a triple-arched triumphal arch, whereas this one is just a single archway. And the arch of Constantine that sits next to the Colosseum is not only a triple arch, but easily twice as large in every dimension. But in the middle ages, this one was still large enough to have been incorporated into a wall and fortified. It was restored in the 19th century. You can see the restoration work in this photo - the restorer was very careful to use different materials and finish the replacement parts distinctively so you can tell the difference between original and replacement parts. If you look at the column to the right of the arch, you can see the lower half (the original) is fluted, whereas the upper half is smooth (replacement). The arch had been so badly abused by time and people that the original bits are basically confined to the interior of the arch and the dedicatory inscription, and parts of the legs of the arch.