King of Jewry. He is appointed by Nero in an attempt to pacify the province with a native-born ruler. He flees his rebellious realm after the murder of Nero's ambassadors. The play opens with his arrival in Rome from Jerusalem, when he does homage for his crown to the Emperor. He fails to re-appear afterwards, although a formal charge of treason against him is included in the prosecution of the Seditious Captains in I.iv.
ANANIAS
High Priest of Jerusalem and father of Eleazer. In Agrippa's absence, he tries unsuccessfully to control the city and kingdom. He presides over the trial of Skimeon and Jehochanan for treason, banishing the former and pardoning the latter, to defuse the threat of civil war. He makes arrangements for the defense of the kingdom from the Roman army. He is betrayed by the plots of the former rebels, who now conspire with his own son. Eleazer further defies him publicly and strips him of his patriarchal robes. He takes sanctuary in the Temple but is murdered there by Eleazer's agent, Zareck. Ananias's Ghost later appears to warn Eleazer of his impending doom.
ATTENDANTS to ELEAZER
They keep watch over Eleazer in his madness. They also assist Zareck in further tormenting Eleazer by contriving the disguise of an unwilling Peter as the embodiment of his nightmares. One may be identified as 'Petrusio,' but Eleazer's distraction makes the identification unclear
BOY
The unnamed young son of Lady Miriam. A winsome child, sacrificed and butchered by his mother during the extreme famine. He is served in a pie to the seditious captains.
CAPTAIN of the MECHANICKS
Leader of the mutiny against priestly authority in Jerusalem. A carnivalesque rioter given to exaggerated rhetoric. He is flattered by Zareck into attending the proclamation of anarchy by the Seditious captains.
CHASTITY
A part taken by one of the Roman soldier masquers performing in honour of Titus's Triumph. They appear as Time, Piety, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Constancy and Patience. Their masque underlines the royal virtues of Titus and incites him to judgement of the prisoners-of-war.
CHORUS
Appears twice. First he narrates the dumbshow of Vespatian's coronation and next, speaking as a citizen of Jerusalem, describes the famine in the city.
CONSTANCY
A part taken by one of the Roman soldier masquers performing in honour of Titus's Triumph. They appear as Time, Piety, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Constancy and Patience. Their masque underlines the royal virtues of Titus and incites him to judgement of the prisoners-of-war.
ELEAZER
Prince of Judea and son of the High Priest Ananias. One of the three Seditious Captains who rebel against the religious authority of the older generation. He aspires to the crown of Judea. He gives several impassioned soliloquies debating his ethical and political strategies. His lust for absolute power leads to parricide but results in tormented guilt. This develops into outright madness after his dreams are haunted by Persiphone and the three Furies. He fails to recognize his father's ghost who appears to him during his ravings. He shares in the cannibal feast provided by Miriam, flees in horror, and is killed by Valerio in combat.
FRIENDSHIP
A part taken by one of the Roman soldier masquers performing in honour of Titus's Triumph. They appear as Time, Piety, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Constancy and Patience. Their masque underlines the royal virtues of Titus and incites him to judgement of the prisoners-of-war.
FURIES
Companions of Persiphone. They accompany in her song and dance and drive Eleazer into his guilty insanity.
GHOST of ANANIAS
The ghost of Ananias's attempted haunting of Eleazer is frustrated by the latter's lunatic inability to recognize him.
GORION
Priest of Jerusalem and father of Josephus. He is pious and moderate, but elderly. He remains loyal to the High Priest and his policies, but is captured by the rebels and subjected to humiliation and abuse. Josephus, having taken Rome's side in confronting the rebels, sees his father tortured on the rack. Gorion survives to be welcomed back to freedom by Titus and adds a voice of moderation to the judgement of Miriam.
HOSTILIUS
A Lord in Nero's court.
JEHOCHANAN
One of the three Seditious Captains. Ambitious for personal power but content to conspire with Eleazer and Skimeon in the early stages of the civil war. Pardoned for his previous treasons by the High Priest Ananias and allowed to stay in Jerusalem and lead his own troops. He plots the invasion of the city by Skimeon's forces with the aid of Zareck and defies Josephus's moderate aims in his fanatical opposition to Rome. He later quarrels and duels with Eleazer, but he is apparently reconciled to him. He is the most outspoken of the Captains in persuading the citizens to mutiny. He assaults and bullies Miriam. His demands for food lead to her resort, in desperation, to cannibalism. He gives the order to torture Gorion and later to burn the Temple. Brought as a prisoner before Titus, refused mercy he is condemned to death. His downfall, like the other Captains', is partly contrived by Zareck's rather vague agenda of revenge against them for previous injuries, but Jehochanan remains unaware of this.
JOSEPHUS
The Jewish hero of the play. He is priest on his father's side and of royal blood on his mother's. He is loyal to the moderate rule of Ananias. Appointed to lead the defense of Galilee, he doubts the wisdom of defying Rome. He wins honour in the first battle but is wounded. His men despair and commit mass suicide, which Josephus shrewdly avoids. He negotiates a safe conduct to Vespatian and is welcomed by the Romans. He attends Vespatian's coronation and is taken as an honorable hostage to Rome. He returns to partner Titus in negotiations with the rebels within Jerusalem. The rebels reject his moderation, denounce him as a traitor, torture his father in front of him and stone him from the city walls. He is hurt but rescued by Titus and re-appears in the final scene of Roman Triumph. He advises Titus in judging the prisoners-of-war and Titus henceforward commits power in the city to him.
MIRIAM
A Jewish noblewoman and the play's only heroine. She sings a lament for the city and is victimized by the starving Captains, particularly Jehochanan. She contemplates suicide to escape the famine and decides to kill her young son and serve him in a cannibal feast to placate her enemies. She is brought to Titus for judgement and, though she desires nothing but death, is shown great compassion. Her predicament allows Titus to show great magnanimity: his mercy for her closes the play.
NERO CAESAR
Emperor of Rome at the start of the play. He is faced with wars in several parts of his Empire, most recently Judea. He is characterized by his attention to superstitious ritual and his emotional tirades. He confirms the crown of Judea to Agrippa and sends his best general, Vespatian, to wage war on the rebellious province. He does not re-appear. His death and the brief reigns of intervening Emperors are glossed over before the succession of Vespatian.
NICANOR
A Roman Captain, paired with Valerio in service to Vespatian and later Titus Caesar. The more humorous and disgruntled of the pair, but loyal and efficient. Both Captains conduct the search for Josephus after his defeat at Jotapata and take his honorable surrender. They are equally active in ceremonial and combat scenes. Titus interrogates them closely after the massacre of refugees but accepts their innocence. Nicanor initiates the performance of the masque to placate Titus and with Valerio is active in the capture of Skimeon, whom he identifies beneath his disguise.
OLIVER
Senior member of the Jerusalem Watch. He is a garrulous fool. His eccentric vocabulary during his explanations of the treason trial and the duties of a watchman provide comic relief. The Watch's dereliction of duty in guarding the city gates during a thunderstorm allows Zareck more easily to admit the traitor Skimeon and his forces.
PATIENCE
A part taken by one of the Roman soldier masquers performing in honour of Titus's Triumph. They appear as Time, Piety, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Constancy and Patience. Their masque underlines the royal virtues of Titus and incites him to judgement of the prisoners-of-war.
PENNEL
Also spelled Penuel. A Carter by trade, with a marked rustic idiom. He is a bantering friend of Peter, Miriam's servant. After the rebels' proclamation, he is picked from the crowd by Eleazer to participate in the humiliation of Ananias. He is dressed in the High Priest's robes and ceremoniously led away, still whistling.
PERSIPHONE
Queen of Hell. She appears to Eleazer in the nightmare which drives him into guilty madness. She is accompanied in her song and dance by the three Furies.
PETER
Lady Miriam's zany manservant. He meets his friend Pennel when the rebels' proclamation is given out. Already tempted to desert his mistress and join the fight, the rebels' promises of freedom and wenches persuade him to join the mob. He is made Gorion's warder and shows a cruel streak; he is caught up in violence and returns to his mistress with a broken head. He is unable to keep Jehochanan from assaulting his mistress and is beaten again. Sent out to scavenge for food, he is interrogated at length by Zareck. Zareck later involves Peter in a plan to torment the mad Eleazer. Peter, bound and in black, is presented to Eleazer to enact the personification of Conscience and haunt the madman. He later unwittingly serves up the cannibal pie for Miriam's feast and is nauseated at its revelation. Brought before Titus for punishment for his abuse of Gorion, they both pardon him for Miriam's sake, and he is restored to her service.
PETRUSIO
Eleazer appears to identify one of his Attendants by this name, although his madness and lack of other confirmation make the identification far from certain.
PIETY
A part taken by one of the Roman soldier masquers performing in honour of Titus's Triumph. They appear as Time, Piety, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Constancy and Patience. Their masque underlines the royal virtues of Titus and incites him to judgement of the prisoners-of-war.
SIMEON
Also spelled Skimeon. One of the three Seditious Captains. He is equally motivated to rebellion by his hatred of the ruling priests and the common people. Tried for treason along with Jehochanan and sentenced to exile by Ananias for his part in the murder of the Roman legate and the ensuing mutiny. He conspires again with Jehochanan to invade Jerusalem with his army of ten thousand men and is assisted to enter the city by their treacherous go-between, Zareck. He defies the authorities and proclaims rebellion in Eleazer's name, which is not initially successful. His anarchic proclamation offering liberty to servants, debtors and criminals wins more support, and the High Priest is deposed. The conspirators quarrel and Skimeon is prepared to duel with Eleazer when they are interrupted by news of the Roman army's arrival to parley. He is wounded in the first skirmishes. Skimeon is active in the torture of Josephus's father in defiance of Josephus's attempts to mediate between sides. When the war is lost he flees and attempts to surrender disguised in royal robes but is identified. He is brought before Titus, still wearing a crown and is sentenced to death along with Jehochanan.
SOLDIERS, ROMAN
Otherwise unnamed masquers performing in honour of Titus's Triumph. They appear as Time, Piety, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Constancy and Patience. Their masque underlines the royal virtues of Titus and incites him to judgement of the prisoners-of-war.
TEMPERANCE
A part taken by one of the Roman soldier masquers performing in honour of Titus's Triumph. They appear as Time, Piety, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Constancy and Patience. Their masque underlines the royal virtues of Titus and incites him to judgement of the prisoners-of-war.
TIME
A part taken by one of the Roman soldier masquers performing in honour of Titus's Triumph. They appear as Time, Piety, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Constancy and Patience. Their masque underlines the royal virtues of Titus and incites him to judgement of the prisoners-of-war.
TIMOTHY
A member of the Watch in Jerusalem and sidekick to the comic Oliver.
TITUS
Son and colleague to Vespatian. He embodies the Roman martial virtues and is a heroic protagonist. He accompanies his father to pacify Judea, remaining there to continue the wars after his father's accession as Emperor. He fights Josephus, then befriends him as an honorable prisoner-of-war. He later welcomes Josephus back from exile as a partner in diplomatic attempts to negotiate peace in Jerusalem. When that fails, he fights all three Seditious Captains in single combat, is wounded, but escapes. He is furious at the massacre of Jewish refugees, and later he grieves at the destruction of the Temple. He presides in judgement in the final scene after being entertained with a Masque performed in his honour by his soldiers. He entrusts authority in Jerusalem to Josephus, condemns Jehochanan and Skimeon, pardons Peter and shows great compassion for Miriam.
VALERIO
A Roman Captain in the service of Vespatian and later Titus, paired through the play with Nicanor.
VESPATIAN
Nero's heroic General and afterwards Emperor. He returns to Rome with the news of his victories in Persia, Spain, Gallia and Britain and is sent to pacify Judea, accompanied by his son Titus. He conquers Jotapata and Galilee. On Nero's death he is proclaimed Emperor and crowned. He remains in Rome and delegates the campaign for Jerusalem to his son, assisted by Josephus.
WIFE of GORION
A "ghost character." Mother to Josephus and Gorion's elderly wife. She is not named and never appears, but her safe release from captivity is mentioned by Titus in the final scene.
ZARECK
A poor Jew. He is the Machiavellian villain of the play. Zareck first appears as a ragged malcontent and is employed by Jehochanan as go-between for the Seditious Captains. He betrays the city by giving admittance to Skimeon's rebel army during a thunderstorm that drives the watch away. He incites civil disobedience by winning over the Captain of the Mechanicks and reading out Skimeon's anarchic proclamation to the mob. His loyalty to the Captains is revealed to be a pretense, as he secretly seeks revenge for his father's previous ruin at their hands. He delights in their growing rivalry and seeks to exploit it. He murders the High Priest Ananias for his son Eleazer, and gloats when guilt over the act drives Eleazer insane. To torment Eleazer further, he forces Peter, in disguise, to confront him as a figure from his nightmares. He is captured and brought to Titus for trial. Josephus blames him for the play's atrocities: the Captains' mutiny, the murder of Ananias, the destruction of the Temple and persecution of Miriam. He denies nothing and is condemned to torture and death, unrepentant and gloating to the last.
ZARECK'S FATHER
A "ghost character." His ruin before the play opens prompts Zarek, the Machiavellian villain of the play, to pretend loyalty to the seditious Captains while seeking their demise.