About

"Titus Get the Cross" is a multi-pane image macro series typically featuring variations of the phrasal template "X get the Y." The original image depicts a Roman soldier ordering his comrade Titus to retrieve a cross, which is often used as a reaction image as an expression of anger or frustration.

Origin

In 2013, Many Barrow published the images of the Roman soldier in a posted on the website Primary Homework Help. ^[10]

Spread

On January 17th, 2016, the Greater Slovakiaball Facebook ^[2] page posted an image of a Roman solider above a zoomed in picture of his face with the caption "Titus / get the cross" (shown below).

On April 17th, 2016, the Rough Roman Memes Facebook^[4] page reposted the original "Titus Get the Cross" image. On September 16th, the Rough Roman Memes Facebook^[3] page posted a similar image macro in which a Roman military leader orders his subordinate to retrieve "the cross" (shown below, left). Within five months, the post gained over 2,300 reactions and 250 shares. That same month, a photo of a man holding a "behead those who say Islam is violent" sign above the "Titus Get the Cross" image was posted to iFunny (shown below, right).^[6]

On January 5th, 2017, the site Memes.com^[7] posted a picture of a man costumed as a Roman soldier with the caption "Titus / Get the cross" (shown below, left). On January 25th, the Enclave Facebook^[5] page posted a photograph of a man dressed as a Roman soldier seated in a gun-mounted vehicle with caption "Titus, forget the cross / Grab the fifty" (shown below).

Hans, Get the Luger

As the meme became more popular, variations of the format "X, Get The Y" grew in ubiquity. One of the more popular variations, "Hans, Get the Luger," featured a Nazi as a replacement the knight. The earliest known usage of the variation was posted by MemeCenter^[8] user Thuran, who posted an image of the Nazi officer Otto Skorenzy (shown below).^[9]

The format invited numerous variations, placing the line on different images of Nazi soldiers, as well as using different Nazi specifics, trading the Luger gun for the use poisonous gas (examples below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References