Iconoclasm, or the destruction of images, is very much a part of our culture today, as we have recently seen in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was present everywhere in ancient Rome, because senatorial decrees regularly ordered the destruction of the name and portrait of a disgraced emperor. One of the best examples of this practice stands in front of you- a marble block over five feet high that originally formed part of a monumental statue of the emperor Domitian*, who ruled between 81 and 96 AD. The monument was dedicated to him by the town of Pozzuoli* located near Naples, probably to thank him for helping with new road construction. One side was covered by an inscription listing Domitian's titles, including tribune, consul, censor, and father of his country. These titles, which were standard flattery, did not in any way describe the true character of the emperor: an autocratic ruler who consistently stripped the Senate of its decision-making powers. After his assassination in 96 AD, the Senate ordered the defacement of all monuments that honored him, including this one. A few years after the destruction, the town decided to reuse the stone to honor the emperor Trajan, who ruled between 98 and 117 AD. The Romans were always reluctant to waste a perfectly good piece of marble. If you walk to the other side of the monument, you'll see that they carved what had been the back into a new relief representing the Imperial guard, and the defaced inscription was concealed.