;o.'i n^' \K./-: -v , ^i; i|§;!j^'??r. i i «■•>',,. ■.■'■„>.; ' > ■.■■■•■ .. ;., ,m:.'^v ^r. • ".>t 'g]^;*^v;.;; ■.->'•■.;■ •I irfi C ^ ( «f .J '' I * J • 1 I ■» \ , I. ■■r.^, ii;.-(l^. -*r'^*-/i': „\w !WftTL>jf l-^M^- '^^^,» . r:^f.'»iv -.1 Qass . \ )G r-'2 Book t-? /^ POMPEII. BOSTON: LILLY, WAIT, COLMAN, AND HOLDEN. 1833. .xO CONTENTS. Page Introduction, i' ^^ CHAPTER I. History of Vesuvius, 1^ CHAPTER n. Historical Notice of Pompeii, 43 CHAPTER in. The Position and Territory of Pompeii, and its destruction and re-discovery, 49 CHAPTER IV. Of the Walls and Gates of Pompeii, 64 CHAPTER V. Public Roads — Streets of Pompeii, 92 CHAPTER VI. Origin and use of Forum. — Architectural Classification of Buildings. — Description of Forum of Pompeii. — Temple - of Jupiter, 102 CHAPTER Vn. Baths excavated in the year 1824, 153 CHAPTER VIII. Theatres, 213 CHAPTER IX. Amphitheatres , 278 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page PLATES. Restoration of Pompeii, To face the Title. Plan of Pompeii, 93 Plan of the Forum, with the elevations of the buildings re- stored, 109 View of the Forum, 151 WOOD CUTS. 1 Vignette from Mazois' view of the City at the gate of Her- culaneum, looking towards StabioB, 11 2 Glass bottle, partially destroyed by the heat of the lava, found in Herculaneum, 18 3 Plan of the Bay of Naples, showing the relative situations of Pompeii and Herculaneum, 43 4 Fac-simile of a rude drawing on the walls of a house in the street of Mercury, illustrating an historical fact mentioned by Tacitus, 47 5 Implements used in building, showing the application of the same forms to the same necessities, 48 6 Implements used in husbandry, 49 7 Supposed appearance of Vesuvius and the face of the country after the eruption, 63 8 Cyclopean Gallery at Nauplia, from Sir W. Cell's Ar- golis, 67 9 Polygonal construction of the walls of a temple in Epirus, from Hughes's Travels in Greece, 68 10 A representation of the construction of the Cyclopean walls, 69 11 A representation of the construction of Etruscan walls — walls of Volterra, 70 12 Walls of Fiesole, 71 13 Walls of Cosa, ' 72 14 Walls of Populonia, 73 ILLUSTRATIONS. IX Page 15 Walls and Gate of Segni, 74 16 Walls of Todi, 75 17 Section showing a restoration of the walls and agger of Pompeii, 76 18 Interior of the battlements of Pompeii restored, ^ 78 19 Walls and Towers of Pompeii as they exist, 79 20 A comparison of the masonry of Pompeii with the Iso- domon or regular masonry of the Greeks, 80 21 Greek wall, similar in construction to the walls of Pom- peii, from DodwelFs Travels in Greece, ib. 22 Greek walls and towers, with battlements at Messena, from Stewart's Athens, 81 23 Gate leading to Herculaneum, restored, 82 24 Balista, from Newton's Vitruvius, 85 25 Balista, with its rest, from ditto, 86 26 Battering ram and tower, from ditto, 87 27 Towers employed by Caesar at the seige of Alesia, 89 28 Spear heads found at Pompeii, 91 29 Entrance to Pompeii through the Gate of Nola, 92 30 Plan of the pavement of Pompeii, showing the ruts form- ed by the wheels of carts and carriages, 99 31 Plan of the stepping-stone in the centre of a crossing in a narrow street, and an elevation of the same with the wheels of the biga or carriage passing between the kirb on either side and the stone in the centre, 101 32 Ancient Biga at Rome, in the Museum of the Vatican, ib. 33 Plan showing the varieties of temples and intercolumnia, 105 34 Bronze figures used as fountains found in Pompeii, 114 35 Bronze cock closing the conduits, found in the island of Capri, 115 36 Equestrian marble statue of Balbus found in Hercula- neum, 116 37 Marble bas-relief found in Pompeii, representing a war- rior preceding his biga, driven by a black slave, 117 38 Painting of an armed galley on the walls of the Pan- theon, 120 39 Pastry-mould of bronze, found in Pompeii, 123 40 Bread, from a painting on the walls of the Pantheon, ib. 41 Gold ring, with an engraved stone, 124 42 Paintings on the walls of the Pantheon, from which it has been supposed to be a large eating-house, 125 43 Ditto, ditto, 126 44 Ditto, ditto, 127 X ILLUSTRATIONS. Page 45 View of the small Temple of Mercury, called by others of Quirinus, 128 46 Bas-relief on the altar representing a sacrifice, 129 47 Utensils used in sacrificing, 130 48 Ornaments of sacrifice on the sides of the altar, 131 49 Representation of a wine-cart, and the manner of filling the amphora, 132 50 Manner of carrying the amphora, 133 51 Urn for warm decoctions drank in the Thermopolia, 135 52 Section of the urn, ib. 53 Representation of the false door, and statue of Eumachia in the Chalcidicum, 137 54 Fountain and reservoir in Triviis, near the house of Sallust, 139 55 Fac-simile inscription, representing the manner of Writ- ing on the walls of the buildings in Pompeii, 140 56 Fac-simile inscription within an album, 141 57 Ditto, ditto, 142 58 Plan showing the construction of the columns of the Basilica, 144 59 Mosaic border in the Temple of Venus ; the centre part is from the Museum at Naples, 147 60 Terminal figure in the Temple of Venus, 148 61 Dwarfish figures painted on the walls of the Temple of Venus, 149 62 Painting of Bacchus and Silenus, in the apartment of the priest in the Temple of Venus, 150 63 Construction in wood and stone of the Araiostyle por- tico of the Forum, 151 64 Representation of a Male Centaur and a Bacchante, from the paintings found at Herculaneum and Pom- peii, 152 65 Ditto, a female Centaur and Bacchante, 153 66 View of the exterior of the Baths as they now exist, 154 67 Fac-simile inscription, announcing the dedication, or formal opening of the Baths, 155 68 Plan of the Baths, 157 69 Section of the Apodyterium and Frigidarium, 160 70 Ornamented frieze in the Apodyterium, 161 71 Glass vases found in Pompeii, 162 72 Transverse section of the Apodyterium, 163 73 Chariot race of Cupids in the Frigidarium, 164 ILLUSTRATIONS. XI Page 74 View of the Tepidarium, 165 75 Telamones in the Tepidarium, 167 76 Brazier found in the Tepidarium, 168 77 Bronze seat found in ditto, ib. 78 Section of the Caldarium, 169 79 Part of the ceiling of the Caldarium, 172 80 Ornament of the Tepidarium, 174 81 Stucco ornaments in the ceiling of the Tepidarium, ib. 82 Ornaments of the Tepidarium, 175 83 Half of the plan of the Baths of Antoninus Caracalla, 183 84 Strigiles used by the Romans to scrape themselves dur^ ing the operation of bathing, 186 85 A slave with a strigil, from an Etruscan vase, ib. S6 Tweezers used to pull out the hairs of the body, after bathing, and vases for the perfumed oils with which they were anointed, 188 87 A representation of Baths from the paintings discovered , in the Baths of Titus, 190 88 Section of the Casteilum of Antoninus Caracalla, 197 89 View of the Temple of Fortune in Pompeii, 206 90 Flat drinking-cup of Terra Gotta, 207 91 Steelyard found in Pompeii, 209 92 Ditto, called Trutinse Campanae, 210 j ■93 Scales, called Librae, or Bilances, 211 i 94 Bronze lamp and stand, 212 95 Figure with a mask, from a painting in Pompeii, 213 96 Masks, dwarf, and dancing monkey, from the paintings on the walls of Pompeii, 216 97 Tragic masks, from the Townley Collection in the Brit- ish Museum, 218 98 Tragic and grotesque masks combined, from the Town- ley Collection, 219 99 Masked figure of Silenus, 220 100 Comic actors performing, from a painting in Pompeii, 221 101 Tragic actors performing, 222 102 Masks, from an ancient manuscript in the Royal Library at Paris, 225 103 Comic Actors, from a painting at Pompeii, 228 104 Ditto, ditto, discovered in the house of the fountains in Pompeii, 229 105 Ditto, ditto, 230 106 Plan of the Greek Theatre, 232 Xll ILLUSTRATIONS. Page 107 Plan of the Roman Theatre, 242 108 Mosaic Choragus, representing the manager directing a rehearsal, 244 109 Plan of the large Theatre at Pompeii, 257 110 A flute-player performing on the double flute, 260 111 View of the large Theatre, taken from the upper part of the Cavea, 261 112 Stone rings and corbels for the masts of the Velarium of the large Theatre at Pompeii, 262 113 Plan of the small Theatre at Pompeii, 263 114 Bisellius, or chair of state used by the authorities in Pompeii, 265 115 View of the small Theatre in Pompeii, 267 116 Helmet supposed to have belonged to the Gladiators, 269 117 Greaves, or shin-pieces, supposed to have been worn by the Gladiators, 270 118 Proportional compasses, calipers, compasses, rule, and weights, for drawing perpendicular lines, and level- ling, found in Pompeii, 271 119 Comic mask on a tile found in Pompeii, 277 120 View of the Amphitheatre, 279 121 Plan of the Velarium, according to Fontana, 290 122 Gladiators preparing to combat, 295 123 Bestiarius, or combatant of wild beasts, 298 124 Bestiarii; combatants of the same class, ib. 125 A Bestiarius equipped in a similar manner to the Mata- dor in the Spanish bull-fights, 299 126 Equestrian Gladiators, 301 127 Gladiators ; the first of the class called Veles, the second a Samnite, 302 128 Ditto, Thrax and Myrmillo, Retiarii and Secutores, 304 129 Light-armed Gladiator and a Samnite, 306 130 Lanista, Myrmillo, and Samnite, ib. 131 Samnite and Myrmillo, 307 132 Wild-boar hunt, ib. 133 Bestiarius and bear, 303 134 Bestiarius and bull, ib. 135 Helmets and greaves of the Gladiators, drawn to a lar- ger scale, 309 130 Plan of the Amphitheatre of Pompeii, 311 137 Helmet of bronze, highly enriched, supposed from the shape to have belonged to a Gladiator, 313 133 Enriched Echinus moulding, 315 POMPEII, Vignette from Mazois' view of the city at the gate of Ilerculaneum. INTRODUCTION. The minute studies of antiquaries have been a very favourite subject of ridicule with those who have not fol- lowed them — sometimes with, sometimes without reason. In this, as in every other pursuit, men are apt to forget the value of the object in the pleasure of the chase, and run down some incomprehensible or untenable theory about some matter that never was and never will be of importance, with a zeal and intensity of purpose which might have been better bestowed upon a better end. But notwithstanding the many jokes, good and bad, deserved and undeserved, which have been levelled at this branch of learning, it is one in which all inquiring minds (and no mind that is not inquiring can be worth much), not entirely engrossed by some favourite occupation, will feel 14 POMPEII. more or less of interest. If we could look into the fu- ture, the past would probably lose much of its importance in our eyes ; and our curiosity would be much more strongly excited to ascertain the state of the world a thous- and years hence, than its state a thousand years ago. But this power is denied us ; and to form an estimate of the character and capabilities of mankind more compre- hensive than the experience of a single generation can afford, we must apply to the retrospect of the past. Not that this curiosity influences none but those who might wish or be expected to draw profit from its gratification ; on the contrary, it seems a temper natural, in greater or less degree, to all alike, reflecting or unreflecting. It is that which causes us to look with pleasure on an antiquat- ed town, to grope among ruins, even where there is evi- dently nothing to repay us for the dirt and trouble of the search, and generally, to invest every thing entirely out of date with a value which its original possessors would be much puzzled to understand. But time works constantly, as well as slowly ; and therefore, however antiquated the appearance, and how- ever old-fashioned and changeless the habits of any place or people may seem to be, they are sure to present a very imperfect type of what they were even a single century ago. We have often wished, in various parts of Eng- land, that we could recall for a moment the ancient aspect of the country ; reclothe the downs of Wiltshire with their native sward, and see them studded with tumuli and Druid temples, free and boundless as they extended a thousand years ago, before the devastations of the plough and Inclosure Acts ; recall the leafy honours of Notting- hamshire and Yorkshire, and repeople the neighbourhood of Shefl[ield and the Don with oaks instead of steam-en- gine and manufactory chimneys ; or renew the decayed splendour of those magnificent monasteries whose ruins still strike the beholder with admiratioQ. If the romantic INTRODUCTION. 15 fictions of the middle ages could be realised, which tell of mirrors framed with magic art to represent what had formerly passed, or was passing, in distant parts of the earth, the happy discoverer might soon make his fortune in this age of exhibitions . What exhibition could be found more interesting than a camera-obscura, which should reflect past incidents of historical or private interest, and recall, with the vividness and minuteness of life, at least the external characteristics of long-past ages. Such fancies are but idle speculations. The past can only be recalled by the imagination working upon such details as the pen or the pencil of contemporaries may have preserved ; yet, in one single instance, the course of events has done more to preserve a Hving picture of a former age — one, too, in which the civilized world is deeply interested — than we could reasonably have hoped for. Deserted places are usually too much dilapidated to convey more than a very imperfect idea of the minutiae of their arrangement, or of the manners of their former occupiers : places which have been preserved by being inhabited, are, of necessity, changed more or less to suit the changing manners of those who tenant them. It was, therefore, matter of no ordinary interest when it was known that a buried Roman city had been discovered ; a city overwhelmed and sealed up in the height of its prosperity, and preserved from the ravages of the barbarian conque- rors of Italy, and the sacrilegious alterations and pillag- ings of modern hands. But the hopes which might rea- sonably have been formed upon the discovery of Hercu- laneum, at the beginning of the last century, were frus- trated in great measure by the depth and hardness of the volcanic products under which that city was buried. The process of clearing it was necessarily one of excavation, not of denudation ; and to avoid the labour of raising the quarried matter to the surface, from a depth of 70 or 80 feet, former excavations have been filled up with the 16 POMPEII. rubbish of new excavations, and now the theatre is the only building open to inspection, and that an unsatisfactory and imperfect inspection by torch-light. Museums have been profusely enriched with various articles of use or luxury discovered at Herculaneum, which might serve to illustrate the Latin authors, and throw light upon the pri- vate hfe of Italy ; but no comprehensive view could be obtained, and consequently no new idea formed of the disposition and appearance of a Roman city. Fortu- nately, the disappointment was repaired by the discovery of Pompeii, a companion city overwhelmed in the great eruption of Vesuvius a. d. 79, together with Hercula- neum, and destined to be the partner of its disinterment as well as its burial. There was, however, this difference in their fate — that, owing to its greater distance from the volcano, the former was not then, and never has been, reached by the streams of lava which have successively flowed over Herculaneum, and elevated the surface of the earth from 70 to 100 feet. Pompeii was buried by a shower of ashes, pumice, and stones, forming a bed of variable depth, but seldom exceeding 12 or 14 feet, loose and friable in texture, and therefore easily removed, so as completely to uncover and expose the subjacent buildings. The upper stories of the houses, which appear to have consisted chiefly of wood, were either burnt by the red- hot stones, ejected from Vesuvius, or broken down by the weight of matter collected on their roofs and floors. With this exception, we see a flourishing city in the very state in which it existed nearly eighteen centuries ago : — the buildings as they were originally designed, not altered and patched to meet the exigencies of newer fashions ; the paintings undimmed by the leaden touch of time ; house- hold furniture left in the confusion of use ; articles, even of intrinsic value, abandoned in the hurry of escape, yet safe from the robber, or scattered about as they fell INTRODUCTION. 17 from the trembling hand, which could not pause or stoop for its most valuable possessions : and, in some instances, the bones of the inhabitants, bearing sad testimony to the suddenness and completeness of the calamity which over- whelmed them. ' 1 noticed,' says M. Simond, ' a strik- ing memorial of this mighty interruption in the Forum, opposite to the temple of Jupiter. A new altar of white marble, exquisitely beautiful, and apparently just out of the hands of the sculptor, had been erected there 5 an enclosure was building all round ; the mortar, just dashed against the side of the wall, was but half spread out ; you saw the long sliding stroke of the trowel about to return and obliterate its own track — but it never did return : the hand of the workman was suddenly arrested, and, after the lapse of 1800 years, the whole looks so fresh and new that you would almost swear the mason was only gone to his dinner, and about to come back immediately to smooth the roughness.' It is unnecessary to expatiate upon the interest of these discoveries : yet notwithstanding their interest the subject has been hardly accessible to the English reader. The excavations have been prosecuted to a considerable ex- tent, since the elegant work of Sir W. Gell was publish- ed, which describes only the buildings, leaving untouched one interesting branch of inquiry connected with the nu- merous articles which have been found, throwing light upon the private life of the Italians in the first century. There are foreign works of great research and magnifi- cence, but these, from their value, are only accessible to a very small class of readers ; and therefore little has been generally known of Pompeii, except what may be gathered from the short and scattered notices of travellers. This work is intended as an attempt to supply the defi- ciency. It is proposed to give a detailed account of the ruins as they now exist, together with a description of their former state, as far as it can be made out ; with 2=^ 18 POMPEII. occasional digressions upon points connected with the history or antiquities of the place, and notices of the most curious and important articles which have been discov- ered. The chief authorities which have been consulted, are — the great work of M. Mazois on Pompeii ; the Museo BorbonicOj a periodical work now in course of publication at Naples ; Sir W. Gell's Pompeiana ; and Donaldson's Pompeii. We have also had the advantage of numerous observations made on the spot by Mr William Clarke, architect, by whom the materials for this work have been collected, and the drawings made, either from the origin- als or from plates in the above works. Glass bottle, partially destroyed by the heat of the lava, found in Herculaneum. CHAPTER I. HISTORY OF VESUVIUS. Before commencing the account of Pompeii itself, it will not be out of place to give a short description of the ancient state of the neighbourhood in which it stood, to- gether with a sketch of the history of Vesuvius. The Bay of Naples, anciently called Crater (the Cup), was known to the ancients at an early period. The re- markable appearance of its shores struck their fancy ; and they named them Phlegra, or Phlegraei Campi, Burnt Fields, from the traces of igneous action every where visible, and accounted for these natural appearances by the fabled battle between the giants and the gods, assisted by Hercules, in which the former were cast down and destroyed by Jupiter's thunderbolts. The earth, riven, scorched, and thunder-stained, bore enduring witness to the destructive power of these weapons. Here was the celebrated lake Avernus, the mouth of hell, according to the Italian poets, over which no bird could complete its flight, but dropped, overcome by the sulphureous ex- halations. This is one, probably, of that numerous tribe of legends which have been framed to fit or to explain a name. Its Greek name is Aornos, literally Birdless ; its dreary and terror -striking appearance, when its precipi- tous sides were thickly clothed with wood, suggested the notion that it was the opening of the nether world ; hence the story of the foetid atmosphere, and its deadly ef- fects. Yet even here there may be some foundation of truth ; for we have the authority of Sir William Hamil- ton for stating, that while wild fowl abound in other pools and lakes in this quarter, they shun Avernus, or 20 POMPEII. pay it but a passing visit. ^ Diodorus derives the name of Phlegra from Vesuvius, which, he says, hke ^tna, used to vomit fire, and still retains traces of its former eruptions. I He spoke from observation of the moun- tain, not from tradition, for tradition recorded no eruption previous to the Christian aera 5 but he probably erred in the derivation of the name. Traces of volcanic action were as evident round Baiae and Puteoli as on Vesu- vius ; and the ancients appear to have had some record of eruptions in this quarter, since they fabled that the giant Typhon, who threw stones to heaven with a loud noise, and from whose eyes and mouth fire proceeded, lay buried under the neighbouring island of Inarime or Pithecusa, now called Ischia.J A similar fable accounted for the eruptions of -^tna. By turns a pitchy cloud she rolls on high. By turns hot embers from her entrails fly, And flakes of mounting flames, that lick the sky. Oft from her bowels massy rocks are thrown. And, shivered by the force, come piecemeal down. Oft liquid lakes of burning sulphur flow, Fed from the fiery springs that boil below. Enceladus, they say, transfixed by Jove, With blasted limbs came trembling from above ; And where he fell the avenging father drew This blasted hill, and on his body threw. As often as he turns his weary sides He shakes the solid isle, and smoke the heavens hides. DrydeNj^ti. lib. iii, 572. We need hardly say that the poets vary in these stories: Ovid places Typhon under ^tna. In the superstitions of the middle ages, Vesuvius assum- ed the character which had before been given to Aver- * Campi Phlegrsei. BTr Lyell is also inclined to admit the story, and adduces instances of similar mephitic exhalations. t iv, 22. 1 Strabo, lib. v. HISTORY OF VESUVIUS. 21 nus, and was regarded as the mouth of hell. Cardinal Damiano relates the following stories, in a letter address- ed to Pope Nicholas II. 'A servant of God dwelt alone, near Naples, on a lofty rock hard by the high- way. As this man was singing hymns by night, he opened the window of his cell to observe the hour, when, lo, he saw passing many men, black as JEthiopi- ans, driving a large troop of packhorses laden with hay ; and he was anxious to ask who they were, and why they carried with them this fodder for cattle ? And they answered, '' We are evil spirits, and this food which we prepare is not for flocks or herds, but to foment those fires which are kindled against men's souls ; for we wait, first for Pandulphus, Prince of Capua, who now lies sick; and then for John, the captain of the garri- son of Naples, who as yet is alive and well." Then went that man of God to John, and related faithfully that which he had seen and heard. At that time the Emperor Otto II, being about to wage war on the Saracens, was jour- neying toward Calabria. John therefore answered, '' I must go reverently and meet the Emperor, and take counsel with him concerning the state of this land. But after he is gone I promise to forsake the world, and to as- sume the monastic habit." Moreover, to prove whether the priest's story were true, he sent one to Capua, who found Pandulphus dead ; and John himself lived scarce fifteen days, dying before the Emperor reached those parts ; upon whose death the mountain Vesuvius, from which hell often belches forth, broke out into flames, as might clearly be proved, because the hay which those demons got ready was nothing else than the fire of that fell conflagration prepared for these reprobate and wicked men ; for as often as a reprobate rich man dies in those parts, the fire is seen to burst from the abovenamed mountain, and such a mass of sulphureous resin flows from it as makes a torrent which by its downward impulse 22 POMPEII. descends even to the sea. And in verity a former prince of Palermo once saw from a distance sulphureous pitchy flames burst out from Vesuvius, and said that surely some rich man was just about to die, and go down to hell. Alas for the blinded minds of evil men ! That very night, as he lay regardless in bed, he breathed his last. There was also a Neapolitan priest, who wished to kno\< more of things not lawful to be known, who, when that in- fernal pit belched flames more fiercely than usual, with presumptuous boldness resolved to visit it. So having solemnized the mass, he went on his way, armed, as it were, with the sacred vestments ; but this rash in- quirer, approaching nearer than men use to go, never reappeared, being unable to return. Another priest, who had left his mother sick at Beneventum, as he trav- elled through the bounds of Xaples, and was intent upon the upstreaming flames, heard a voice of one bewailing, which he perceived evidently to be the voice of his mo- ther. He marked the time, and found it to have been the hour of her death. '^ This passage is taken from a letter from Cardinal Damiano to Pope Nicholas II, written about the year 1060. The superstition was natu- ral enough ; and similar ones were entertained at a much later date concerning JEtna and the island of Stromboh, in which there is a volcano in almost constant activity. There is a stor}' told somewhere of an English captain, who, while lying ofi'the island, saw a London merchant, with whose person he was well acquainted, running round the cra- ter, pursued by certain ominous looking followers, who finally caught him, and plunged with him into the abyss. The captain exclaimed in surprise, ' There is old !' On returning to London, he found that the man was dead. We have no accurate recollection of the story, and do not know where to look for it; but our impres- * Damiani Epistolae, lib. i, 9. HISTORY OF VESUVIUS. 23 sion is that the captain, on relating these circumstances, and of course drawing his own conclusions, was actu- ally prosecuted for libel. Strabo, who wrote some part of his work at least in the reign of Tiberius about the commencement of our era, thus describes the Phlegreean Fields : — ' After doubling Misenum, next comes a lake (now Mare Mor- to), beyond which the coast falls back in a deep bay, where stands Baiae and its warm baths, useful both for purposes of pleasure and for the cure of diseases. The Lucrine lake borders upon Baiae ; within it is Lake Avernus. Here our ancestors placed the scene of Ho- mer's Nekuia;=^ and here, they say, was an oracle, where answers were returned by the dead, to which Ulysses came. Avernus is a deep hollow with a narrow entrance, in size and shape well suited for a harbour, but incapaci- tated for that purpose by the shallow Lucrine lake, which lies before it. It is enclosed by steep ridges, which over- hang it every where, except at the entrance, now highly cultivated, but formerly enclosed by a savage trackless forest of large trees, which threw a superstitious gloom over the hollow. The inhabitants farther fabled, that the birds which flew over it fell down into the water, destroyed by the rising exhalations, as in other places of this sort, which the Greeks call Plutonia, or places sacred to Pluto ; and imagined that Avernus was a Plutonium, and the abode where the Cimmerians were said to dwell. Here is a fountain of fresh water by the sea ; but all persons abstain from it, believing it to be the Styx; and somewhere near was the oracle. Here, also, as they thought, was Pyriphlegethon,| judging from the * The title of the Xlth book of the Odyssey, the scene of which is laid among the dead. t Pyriphlegethon, burning with fire; one of the three rivers which encompassed hell. Styx was another. It is doubtful whether the Acherusia here meant was Avernus, t Lucrine lake, or the Lago 24 POMPEII. hot springs near lake Achernsia. The Lucrine lake in breadth reaches to Baise, being separated from the sea by a mound, about a mile long, and wide enough for a broad carriage-road, said to have been made by Hercules as he was driving Geryon's oxen. Being much exposed to the surf, so as not to be easily traversed on foot, Agrippa raised and completed it. It admits light ships, =^ is use- less as a naval station, but affords an inexhaustible supply of oysters. Here, according to some, was the lake Ac- herusia, but Artemidorus makes it the same with Avernus. Next to Baise come the shores and city of Dicgearchia, formerly a port of the Cumseans, placed on a hill. During the invasion of Hannibal, the Romans colonised, and called it Puteoli, from {Piitei) the wells; or, as others say, they so named the whole district, as far as Baiae and the Cumasan territory, from the stench (pw/or) of its waters, because it is full of sulphur and fire, and hot springs. Some think that this is the reason why the country about Cuma is called Phlegra, and that the thunder-riven wounds of the fallen giants pour out these streams of fire and water. Immediately over it is Vulcan's assembly-room (Hephgesti Agora, now the Solfatara), a level space surrounded by burning heights, with numerous chimney-like spiracles, which rumble loudly; and the bottom is full of ductile sul- phur. Next to Dicoearchia, is NeapoHs ; next to Ne- apolis, Herculaneum, standing on a promontory re- di Fucino, about two miles from Avernus and close to Cuma. There was another lake of the same name in Epirus. * Strabo has before said that Agrippa cut through this mound, and thus established a communication between Avernus and the sea. What he says here is entirely contrary to the later author, Dion Cassius, who asserts that in the hands of Agrippa, Avernus became an excellent port. This whole passage is in many parts very ob- scure, and may be suspected to be corrupt. HISTORY OF VESUVIUS. 25 mark ably open to the south-west wind {Libs), which makes it unusually healthy. This city, and its next neighbour, Pompeii, on the river Sarnus, were originally held by the Osci, then by the Tyrrhenians and Pelas- gians, then by the Samnites, who in their turn were ex- pelled by the Romans. It is the port of Nola, Nuceria, and Acerrse, being situated on the river Sarnus, which is suited for the exportation and importation of cargoes. Above these places rises Vesuvius, well cultivated and inhabited all round, except its top, which is for the most part level, and entirely barren, ashy to the view, display- ing cavernous hollows in cineritious rocks, which look as if they had been eaten in the fire, so that we may sup- pose this spot to have been a volcano formerly, with burn- ing craters, now extinguished for want of fuel.'* It will occur at once to the reader, that this description is totally inapplicable to Vesuvius as it now exists. The general form of the mountain is too well known to need description, and certainly its elevated cone can by no stretch of words be characterised as a level top. It seems probable, from various considerations, that this cone is of comparatively recent origin. It stands within a circular volcanic ridge, called Somma, broken away to the south, where there is still a projection, called the Pedamentina, apparently marking the continuation of Somma. The most experienced observers seem agreed that this ridge is the remains of an ancient volcano, much larger than the existing one, and was once surmounted by a cone like that of ^tna, which, being subject to constant degrada- tion, and requiring constant supplies of fresh materials to maintain its height, sunk down into the earth, in the long period of inactivity which we know to have occurred antecedent to the Christian era. Parallel instances may * Strabo, lib. v. Such parts of the original as do not bear on our subject have been omitted, 3 26 POMPEII. be found in the lakes of Avernus and Agnano, which are evidently the sites of ancient volcanic cones which have fallen in, not craters of eruption. The reawakened fires of Vesuvius soon blew out the mass of materials which choked their former vent, and have formed around that vent a second cone, concentric with and similar to its predecessor, but of smaller dimensions. Instances exact- ly similar to this also occur: we may mention Barren Island, in the bay of Bengal, where an active volcano rises out of the sea, in the centre of what is evidently a sunken cone. The cone of the peak of TeneriflTe also rises in the middle of a circular enclosure, like Somma, and a process analogous to the formation of the cone of Vesuvius may now be frequently observed going on with- in the crater of that mountain, in which, during its peri- ods of activity, a minor mountain is continually rising.^ Finally, some volcanic mountains are known to have fallen in or to have been dispersed, as Papandayang, in the island of Java, which, in the year 1772, was reduced in height from 9000 to about 5000 feet. So also, in the province of Quito, a great part of the crater and summit of Carguirazo fell in during an earthquake in 1698.t Supposing, therefore, that the present cone is based upon the ruins of a larger mountain, it probably did not exist when Strabo wrote the above description, but was thrown up, in the first recorded eruption, in the year 79, or at some later period. This will agree with the neg- ative testimony of other authors, who make no mention of it, or speak cursorily of it ; not as we might expect them to mention so prominent a feature as it now is in the much admired scenery of Baiae and Naples. In Virgil, the name only occurs once ; and then it is intro- * Campi Phlegrsei, pi. 2, where there is a minute representation of the changes thus produced in the form of the mountain, t Lyell, Principles of Geology, ch. xxv, p. 436. 445. HISTORY OP VESUVIUS. 27 duced to commend the fertility of the soil. It was on Vesuvius that Spartacus encamped, with his army of insurgent slaves and gladiators. ' The Romans besieged them in their fort, situate upon a hill that had a very steep and narrow ascent to it, and kept the passage up to them : all the rest of the ground round about it was nothing but high rocks hanging over, and upon them great store of wild vines. Of these the bondmen cut the strongest strips, and made thereof ladders, like to ship-ladders, of ropes, of such a length and so strong that they reached from the top of the hill even to the very bottom : upon those they all came safely down, sav- ing one that tarried above to throw down their armour after them, who afterwards by the same ladder saved himself last of all. The Romans mistrusting no such matter, these bondmen compassed the hill round, assail- ed them behind, and put them in such a fear, with the sudden onset, as they fled every man, and so was their camp taken. '^ This passage also is totally inconsistent with the present state of Vesuvius. Its lofty summit would be ill suited for an encampment, nor could the wild vine ever have flourished there ; but both Plutarch and Strabo will be clear, if we suppose that the even summit of Somma, then probably more perfect than it now is, was the highest part of the mountain, and that it was only accessible by a chasm, such as that which gives admission to Avernus. While the Romans were guarding this spot, they might reasonably feel confident that the enclosed enemy could find no other outlet. After many centuries of repose, the volcano broke out with great violence, and in its first eruption destroyed Her- culaneum and Pompeii. This calamity is described by an eye-witness, the younger Pliny, whose narration will * North's Plutarch, Crassua, 28 POMPEII. form part of the next chapter. It is also mentioned more than a century later by Dion Cassius. The passage seems to indicate, as far as it is intelligible, that the pres- ent cone did not exist when he wrote ; and is further cu- rious, as proving that the old fables of the Battle of the Gods and Giants, and of the inhumation of the latter, were not forgotten even in the third century. ' During the autumn, a great fire broke out in Cam- pania. Vesuvius is a mountain on the coast near Na- ples, which contains inexhaustible fountains of fire; and, formerly, it was all of the same height, and fire rose in the middle of it (for the only traces of fire were in the middle), but the outer parts remain unscathed to this day. Hence, these continuing uninjured, but the centre being dried up, and reduced to ashes, the encircling crags still retain their ancient height : but the burnt part being con- sumed in lapse of time has settled down and become hol- low, so that to compare small things to great, the whole mountain now resembles an amphitheatre. And the top is clothed with trees and vines, but the circular cavity is abandoned to fire; and by day it sends up smoke, and by night flame, so that one would think all sort of incense vessels were burning there. This continues always with more or less violence, and often, after any considerable subsidence, it casts up ashes and stones, impelled by vio- lent blasts of wind, with a loud noise and roaring, because its breathing holes are not set close together, but few and concealed.^ ' Such is Vesuvius, and these things take place in it almost every year. But all eruptions which have hap- pened since, though they may have appeared unusually great to those even who have been accustomed to such sights, would be trifling, even if collected into one, when * This description is not very clear, but neither is the Greek. HISTORY OF VESUVIUS. 29 compared to what occurred at the time of which we speak. Many huge men surpassing human stature, such as the giants are described to have been, appeared wan- dering in the air, and upon the earth, at one time fre- quenting the mountain, at another the fields and cities in its neighbourhood. Afterwards came great droughts and violent earthquakes, so that the whole plain boiled and bubbled, and the hills leapt, and there were noises under- ground like thunder, and above ground like roaring, and the sea made a noise, and the heavens sounded, and then suddenly a mighty crash was heard as if the mountains were coming together, and first great stones were thrown up to the very summits, then mighty fires and immense smoke, so that the whole air was overshadowed, and the sun entirely hidden, as in an eclipse. ' Thus day was turned into night, and light into dark- ness, and some thought the giants were rising again (for many phantoms of them were seen in the smoke, and a blast, as if of trumpets, was heard), while others believed that the earth was to return to Chaos, or to be consumed by fire. Therefore men fled, some from the houses out into the ways, others that were without, into their houses ; some quitted the land for the sea, some the sea for the land, being confounded in mind, and thinking every place at a distance safer than where they were. Meanwhile, an inexpressible quantity of dust was blown out, and filled land, sea, and air ; which did much other mischief to men, fields, and cat- tle, and destroyed all the birds and fishes, and besides buried two entire cities, Herculaneum and Pompeii, while the population was sitting in the theatre.^ For this * The wording leaves it doubtful which theatre is meant. The theatres of both cities have been explored, and no remains found. The eruption may have come on while the people were assem- bled, but they were not destroyed in the theatres. 3* 30 POMPEII. dust was so abundant that it reached Africa, Syria, and Egypt, and filled the air above Rome, and overclouded the sun ; which caused much fear for many days, men neither knowing nor being able to conjecture what bad happened. But they thought that every thing was to be thrown into confusion, the sun to fall extinguished to the earth, the earth to rise to the sky. At the time, however, these ashes did them no harm, but subsequent- ly they produced a pestilential disease.'^ It does not appear that any lava flowed from Vesu- vius ; the ejected matter consisted of rocks, pumice, and ashes, which seem, from the operations at Pompeii and Herculaneum, to have been partly changed into liquid mud by torrents of rain. Being re-awakened, the volcano continued in pretty constant activity. It is ev- ident, from the passage just quoted, that from this year until the commencement of the third century, when Dion wrote, eruptions of more or less violence were contin- ually recurring. Other eruptions are mentioned in the fifth and sixth centuries. Procopius, who died about the middle of the sixth, speaks of the mountain emitting riv- ers of fire.'f* He describes it in terms which corres- pond somewhat with a cone and crater ; and, hke Dion, conveys the idea of its being constantly at work. * Ve- suvius is very precipitous below, encircled with wood above, terribly wild and craggy. In the centre of its summit is a very deep chasm, which we may suppose to reach quite to the bottom of the mountain, and it is possible to see fire in it, if a man dare peep over. Usually, the fire feeds upon itself, (g^' exurnv c-rpiipircct,) without molesting those who live in its neighbourhood, but when the mountain utters a roaring noise, in general it emits soon after a vast body of cinders.' He adds, * Dion Cassius, lib. Ixvi. t Bell. Goth, iv, 35. HISTORY OF VESUVIUS. 31 that these ashes were often carried a vast distance, even to the coast of Africa and Byzantium, in which city so much terror was once caused by the phenomenon, that a solemn suppHcation was established in consequence, and continued yearly .=^ The first stream of lava of which we have authentic ac- count, broke out in the year 1 036, during the seventh erup- tion from the resuscitation of the volcano. Another erup- tion occurred in 1049, another in 1138 or 9; after which there was a pause of 168 years, till 1306. From this year, to 1631, there was a cessation, except one slight eruption in 1500. During this long pause, a remarkable event occurred in another part of the Phlegrsean fields. In little more than twenty-four hours, a new hill, called Monte Nuovo, was thrown up to the height of 440 feet above the level of the sea, its base being nearly a mile and a half in circumference. It stands partly on the site of the Lucrine lake, which has now dwindled into a shallow pool.f Bracini descended into the crater of Vesuvius shortly before the eruption of 1631. He gives the following account of it : ' The crater was five miles in circum- ference, and about 6000 paces deep, its sides were cov- ered with brushwood, and at the bottom there was a plain, on which cattle grazed. In the woody parts boars frequently harboured. In the midst of the plain, within the crater, was a narrow passage, through which, by a winding path, you could descend about a mile among rocks and stones till you came to another more spacious plain, covered with ashes ; in this plain were three little pools, placed in a triangular form, one towards the east, of hot water, corrosive and bitter beyond measure ; * Procop. Bell. Goth, ii, 4. t Lyell, Principles of Geology, chap. xix. 32 POMPEII. another towards the west, of water Salter than that of the sea ; the third of hot water that had no particular taste. '^ This account, in spite of its minute enumeration of pools of water, and points of the compass, is not very intelligible, and may fairly be presumed not to be very ac- curate. Judging from the size which he ascribes to the crater, far larger than any which we know to have ex- isted in the present cone, one would suppose that he meant its boundary to be the ridge of Somma, and that the valley between Somma and Vesuvius, now called Atrio de' Cavalli, the hall of horses, (because it is here that visitors to the summit of the mountain leave their horses to wait while they ascend the cone on foot,) is the plain where cattle grazed. Still this is inconsistent with the farther descent in the centre of that plain, un- less we suppose that where the cone now stands there was then a chasm ; and surely the present cone cannot have grown up within the last two centuries unobserved and undescribed. We have, therefore, but a choice of difficulties in explaining the passage ; and a farther one occurs in the great depth attributed to the crater, which, according to this statement, must have been accessible at a depth far below the level of the sea. Still, so far as we can form any opinion on it, the mountain, after this long pause, appears to have approximated consid- erably to the state in which it afforded a safe refuge to Spartacus, as described by Plutarch, and the passage thus furnishes a fresh presumption that the modern cone did not then exist. We may add Sir W. Hamilton's authority to the reasons already given, for supposing Som- ma to be the ancient Vesuvius. ' 1 have seen ancient lavas in the plain on the other side of Somma, which could never have come from the present Vesuvius. '| A brief period of repose followed the eruption of 1631, * Campi Phlegrsei, page 62. f Campi Phlegraei, p. 63. HISTORY OF VESUVIUS. 33 but it lasted only till 1666; from which time to the pres- ent, there has been a series of eruptions, at intervals^ rarely exceeding* ten years, generally recurring much more frequently. Those of 1776 and 1777 are more than commonly celebrated, from having been described at large by an eye-witness, Sir William Hamilton, in his splendid work, entitled ' Campi Phlegrsei.' The erup- tion of 1779 was also described by him, and is remark- able for the beauty and grandeur of its phenomena. Dur- ing the whole month of July, the volcano gave the usual warnings of an approaching paroxysm, by internal rumb- ling noises, and frequent jets of smoke and red-hot stones. On August the 5th it was in a state of violent agitation : white and sulphureous smoke issued continually from the crater, and lay piled up cloud upon cloud, resembling bales of the whitest cotton, until a mass of them was accumu- lated above the summit, four times the height and size of the mountain itself In the midst of this, stones and ash- es were continually shot up to a height of 2000 feet or upwards. At this time a quantity of lava was heaved up high enough to clear the mouth of the crater, and took its passage down the side opposite to Somma. On Friday and Saturday the 6th and 7th of August, the mountain was less violently disturbed, but at twelve o'clock on the night of the latter day, its fermentation in- creased greatly. ' I was watching its motions from the mole of Naples, which has a full view of the volcano, and had been witness to several picturesque effects produced by the reflection of the deep red fire which issued from the crater of Vesuvius, and mounted up in the midst of the huge clouds, when a summer storm, called here a Tropea, came on suddenly and blended its heavy watery clouds with the sulphureous and mineral ones, which were already like so many other mountains piled over the sum- mit of the volcano, At this moment a fountain of fire 34 POMPEII. was shot up to an incredible height, casting so bright a light that the smallest objects could be clearly distin- guished at any place within six miles or more of Ve- suvius. The black stormy clouds passing over, and at times covering the whole or a part of the brisjht column of fire ; at other times, clearing away and giving a full view of it, with the various tints produced by its rever- berated light on the white clouds above, in contrast with the pale flashes of forked lightning that attended the Tropea, formed such a scene as no power of art can ever express.' One of the king of Sicily's game-keep- ers, who was out near Ottaiano in this storm, was sur- prised to find the drops of rain scald his hands and face, a phenomenon occasioned, probably, by the clouds having acquired a great degree of heat in passing by the above- mentioned column of fire. On Sunday, Vesuvius was quiet till towards six o'clock in the evening, when the smoke began to gather over its crater, and the usual jets of stones and ashes com- menced and continued to increase. ' At about nine o'clock, there was a loud report which shook the houses at Portici and its neighbourhood, to such a degree as to alarm the inhabitants and drive them out into the streets ; and, as I have since seen, many windows were broken, and walls cracked by the concussion of the air from that explosion, though faintly heard at Naples. In an instant, a fountain of liquid transparent fire began lo rise, and gradually increasing, arrived at so amazing a height as to strike every one who beheld it with the most awful aston- ishment. I shall scarcely be credited, when I assert that, to the best of my judgment, the height of this stupendous column of fire could not be less than three times that of Vesuvius itself, which rises 3700 feet perpendicular above the level of the sea. ' PuflTs of smoke, as black as can possibly be imagined, succeeded one another hastily, and accompanied the red, HISTORY OF VESUVIUS. 35 transparent, and liquid lava, intercepting its splendid brightness here and there by patches of the darkest hue. Within these puffs of smoke, at the very moment of their emission from the crater, I could perceive a bright, but pale electrical fire, briskly playing about in zig-zag lines. The wind was S. W., and though gentle, suf- ficient to carry these detached clouds or puffs of smoke out of the column of fire, and a collection of them by degrees formed a black and extensive curtain, if 1 may be allowed the expression, behind it ; in other parts of the sky it was quite clear, and the stars were bright. The fiery fountain of so gigantic a size upon the dark ground above-mentioned, made the most glorious contrast imag- inable, and the blaze of it reflecting strongly upon the surface of the sea, which was at that time perfectly smooth, added greatly to this sublime view. The liquid lava, mixed with stones and scoriae, after having mount- ed, I verily believe, at the least 10,000 feet, was partly directed by the wind towards Ottaiano, and partly fall- ing almost perpendicularly, still red hot and liquid on Vesuvius, covered its whole cone, part of the mountain of Somma, and the valley between them. The falling mat- ter being nearly as vivid and inflamed as that which was continually issuing fresh from the crater, formed with it one complete body of fire, which could not be less than two miles and a half in breadth, and ot the extraordinary height above mentioned, casting a heat to the distance of at least six miles around it. The brushwood on the mountain of Somma was soon in a blaze, which flame being of a different tint from the deep red of the matter thrown out by the volcano, and from the silvery blue of the electrical fire, still added to the contrast of this most extraordinary scene.' Another remarkable eruption occurred in 1793, while the late Dr Clarke was at Na[)les, and gave him the op- portunity of making minute and repealed observations on 36 POMPEII. the mountain. No pen is better calculated to explain these great operations of nature, and to describe their awful magnificence. We shall extract a passage of some length from his journal, illustrative chiefly of those phe- nomena which we have not yet noticed. * It was in the month of February that I went with a party to the source of the lava for the first time, to ascertain the real state in which the lava proceeded from the volcano that created it. I found the crater in a very active state, throwing out volUes of immense stones trans- parent with vitrification, and such showers of ashes invol- ved in thick sulphureous clouds as rendered any ap- proach to it extremely dangerous. We ascended as near as possible, and then crossing over to the lava, attempted to coast it up to its source. This we soon found was im- possible, for an unfortunate wind blew all the smoke of the lava hot upon us, attended at the same time with such a thick mist of minute ashes from the crater, and such fumes of sulphur that we were in danger of being suffo- cated. In this perplexity I had recourse to an expedient recommended by Sir W. Hamilton, and proposed im- mediately crossing the current of liquid lava to gain the windward side, but felt some fears, owing to the very liquid appearance the lava there had so near its source. All my companions were against the scheme ; and while we stood deliberating, immense fragments of stone, and huge volcanic bombs, that had been cast out by the cra- ter, but which the smoke had, prevented us from ob- serving, fell thick about us, and rolled by us with a ve- locity that would have crushed any of us, had we been in their way. I found we must either leave our present spot, or expect instant death ; therefore covering my face with my hat I rushed upon the lava, and crossed safely over to the other side, having my boots only a little burni, and my hands scorched. Having once more rallied my forces, I proceeded on^ and in about half an HISTORY OF VESUVIUS. 37 hour gained the chasm through which the lava had open- ed itself a passage out of the mountain. To describe this sight is utterly beyond all human ability. My com- panions shared in the astonishment it produced ; and the sensations they felt, in concert with me, were such as can be obliterated only with our lives. All I had seen of volcanic phenomena before did not lead me to expect such a spectacle as I then beheld. I had seen the vast rivers of lava that descended into the plains below, and carried ruin and devastation with them ; but they re- sembled a vast heap of cinders or the scoriae of an iron foundry, rolling slowly along, and falling with a rat- tling noise over one another. Here a vast arched chasm presented itself in the side of the mountain, from which rushed with the velocity of a flood the clear vivid torrent of lava, in perfect fusion, and totally unconnected with any other matter that was not in a state of complete solu- tion, unattended with any scoriae on its surface, or gross materials of an insolvent nature, but flowing with the translucency of honey, in regular channels cut finer than art can imitate, and glowing with all the splendour of the sun.** ' The eruption from the crater increased with so much violence, that we proceeded to make our experiments and observations as speedily as possible. A little above the source of the lava I found a chimney of about four feet in height, from which proceeded smoke, and sometimes stones. I approached and gathered some pure sulphur, which had formed itself upon the edges of the mouth of this chimney, the smell of which was so powerful, that I was forced to hold my breath all the while I remained there. I seized an opportunity to gain a momentary view down this aperture, and perceived nothing but the glare of the red-hot lava that passed beneath it. We then returned to examine the lava at its source. Sir W. Hamilton had conceived that no stones thrown upon a 4 38 POMPEII. current of lava would make any impression. We were soon convinced of the contrary. Light bodies of five, ten, and fifteen pounds weight, made little or no impres- sion even at the source ; but bodies of sixty, seventy, and eighty pounds were seen to form a kind of bed on the surface of the lava, and float away with it. A stone of three hundred weight that had been thrown out by the crater, lay near the source of the current of lava. I raised it upon one end, and then let it fall in upon the liquid lava, when it gradually sunk beneath the surface and disappeared. If I wished to describe the manner in which it acted upon the lava, I should say it was like a loaf of bread thrown into a bowl of very thick honey which gradually involves itself in the heavy liquid which surrounds it, and then slowly sinks to the bottom. The lava itself had a glutinous appearance, and although it resisted the most violent impression, seemed as if it might easily be stirred with a common walking-stick. A small distance from its source, as it flows on, it acquires a dark- er tint upon its surface, is less easily acted upon, and as the stream gets wider, the surface having lost its state of perfect solution grows harder and harder, and cracks into innumerable fragments of very porous matter, to which they give the name of scoriae, and the appearance of which has led many to suppose that it proceeded thus from the mountain ; itself being composed of materials less soluble than the rest of the lava, lighter, and of course liable to float continually on the surface. There is how- ever no truth in this. All lava at its first exit from its native volcano flows out in a liquid state, and all equally in fusion. The appearance of the scoriae is to be attrib- uted only to the action of the external air, and not to any diflerence in the materials which compose it, since any lava whatever, separated from its channel and exposed to the action of the external air, immediately cracks, be- comes porous, and alters its form. As we proceeded HISTORY OF VESUVIUS. S9 downward this became more and more evident, and the same lava which at its original source flowed in perfect solution, undivided, and free from encumbrances of any kind, a little farther down had its surface loaded with sco- riae in such a manner, that upon its arrival at the bottom of the mountain the whole current resembled nothing so much as a heap of unconnected cinders from an iron- foundry.' Aug. 22, 1793. — ^ There was to-day a most singular appearance in the mountain ; on opening the shutters to view it, I perceived the crater to be in great agitation, puff after puff impelling each other with the greatest vi- oleHce. I could perceive thousands of stones and scoriae thrown into the air, and falling in all directions. The clouds from the crater were as white as the purest snow; on a sudden, as I was looking at these, a column of smoke rushed impetuously out of another mouth behind the cra- ter, as black as the deepest ink; and rising in curling vol- umes to a vast magnitude, formed a pillar perfectly un- connected with the smoke from the crater, and presented a striking contrast by opposing its jet black to the snowy whiteness of the other. These appearances continued at intervals the whole day. Sometimes the two columns of different colours rose together, as if emulating each other, and striving which should rise the highest and display the greatest magnitude, but never mixing or interfering with each other.' . . . Aug. 30th. — ' The lava which was last night so great, this evening suddenly stopped ; hardly a trace of it was visible. But the crater displayed such girandoles of fire, such beautiful columns of light red flame, as I think I never saw before. Millions of red-hot stones were shot into the air, full half the height of the cone itself, and then bending fell all round in a fine arch. As soon as I got home I fixed the telescope. Sometimes in the middle of the clear flame, another and another still more bright and 40 POMPEII. glorious displayed itself, breaking on the eye like the full sun ; so that the interior was always the most luminous. The interior and bright attendants upon the principal col- umn seemed to be lava in perfect fusion, which boiled and bubbled up above the crater's edge; and sometimes falling over it, I could perceive splash upon the cone, and take its course gently down the side of the mountain. Sometimes, and more usually, it fell again into the crater. I write this with the burning mountain now before my eyes. All the top of the cone is covered with red-hot stones and lava. The flame of the crater continues without intervals of darkness, as usual. It is always in flame, or rather the clouds of smoke, tinged with the boil- ing matter within, are like burnished gold, and as bright as fire. Sept. 5. — ' Vesuvius continues to throw most superb- ly ; the lava flows again : at sunset he showed that Tyr- ian hue which he assumes sometimes, and which has a glow beyond description. I had undressed myself and was prepared to get into bed when a violent shock from the mountain agitated the door of my room, so as to star- tle me not a little. 1 went into my sitting-room, and, upon opening the window toward the mountain, I per- ceived all the top of the cone covered with red-hot matter. At the same time such a roaring was heard as made me expect something more than common. In an instant a column of lucid fire shot up into the air, and after ascend- ing above half the height of the cone itself, fell in a glori- ous parabolic girandole, and covered near half the cone with fire. This was followed after an interval of about thirty seconds, by a shock which agitated the doors and windows, and indeed the whole house in a most violent manner ; immediately after this shock, the sound of the explosion reached us louder than the greatest cannon, or the most terrible thunder, attended with a noise like the trampUng of horses' feet, which, of course, was noth- HISTORY OF VESUVIUS. 41 ing more than the noise occasioned by the falling of so many enormous stones among the hard lava. The shock of this explosion was so violent, that it disturbed many things I had left on my table, such as brushes for paint- ing, &c. I dressed myself again, and remained in the balcony above an hour, during which time I had the pleasure of beholding Vesuvius in his terrific grandeur, and more awfully sublime than I had ever before seen him. The consul. Sir James Douglas, has just been ob- serving to me that he never saw the mountain so agitated since the great eruption of 1779.'^ Between the end of the 18th century and the year 1822, the crater of Vesuvius had been gradually filled by the boiling up of lava, and the crumbling down of the upper part of the cone. In place, therefore, of a regular cavity, was a rough and rocky surface covered with blocks of lava and scoriae. But this state of things was totally changed by the eruption of October, 1822, when the whole accumulated mass within the crater, together with a large part of the cone itself, was blown out, so as to leave an irregular gulf about three miles in circumfer- ence, when measured along the winding edge of its mar- gin, but somewhat less than three quarters of a mile in its largest diameter. The depth has been variously esti- mated, from 2000 feet to less than half that quantity. More than eight hundred feet of the cone was carried away during the eruption, so that the mountain was re- duced in height from about 4200 to 3400 feet. Vesuvius now consists of a double mountain, upon an extended base, from thirty to forty miles in circumference. Upon this stands the long ridge of Somma, so often men- tioned, bending in the form of a crescent, with its convex side presented to the N. E., its points to the S. W. The western horn is separated by a deep valley from a lower * Life of E. D. Clarke. 4# 42 POMPEII. mountain, called Cantaroni, which, inclining to the south, meets the lower projection, or terrace, called La Peda- inentina. This is again separated by an excavated val- ley from the eastern horn of Sonima. Between Somma and Vesuvius is the deep valley, called Atrio de' Cavalli, the Hall of Horses, and in the centre of the amphithe- atre rises the cone of Vesuvius itself, dark, sterile, and desolate ; to the eye, a mass of loose scoriae and ashes, without order or coherence. This however on inspection is proved not to be the case. It consists of alternate lay- ers of sand or ashes, scoriae, and lava, inclining outwards at an angle of from 45^ to 30^ with the axis of the cone. The strata of course are partial and irregular in extent and thickness, as circumstances have determined the fall of the ejected matter, or the flow of the lava ; but the ir- regularities of these numerous beds compensate for each other, and the general effect, on viewing the interior of the crater, is one of considerable order and regularity. Even the loose substances, falling together half melted, and continually acted on by the hot vapours which steam upwards in all paits of the cone, soon acquire a consid- erable degree of coherence ; and the solidity of the whole is mainly assisted by dykes of solid lava, injected into the cracks of the mountain, when the molten liquid has boiled up to its summit. Plan of the Bay of Naples, showing the relative situations of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The inner line of coast is the ancient, the outer the modern line. CHAPTER 11. HISTORICAL NOTICE OF POMPEII. Pompeii is situated in that district of Italy, named by the ancients Campania, comprised between the moun- tains of Samnium and the Tyrrhenian sea, and bounded on the north by the river Liris, and on the south by the Silarus. The line of coast included between these points is broken by two far projecting capes, Misenum and the promontory of Minerva, between which lies a 44 POMPEII. deep recess, called from its shape Crater, the Cup, or the Gulf of Cumae, and known in modern times as the Bay of Naples. At the bottom of this bay stood Pompeii, about thirteen miles south-east of Naples, and five from Vesu- vius. Of its history very little is known. It is related to have been founded by Hercules, as well as its neigh- bour and fellow victim, Herculaneum. Solinus says, that the name of Pompeii is derived from Pompe, in allu- sion to the pomp with which Hercules celebrated his victories, while awaiting his fleet at the mouth of the river Sarnus. Being furnished with so respectable and credible an origin, it would be waste of time to enquire any farther. ^ An almost impenetrable darkness hangs over these remote ages ; and when men are driven to take refuge in mythology, it is plain that they can find lit- tle satisfaction in history. Strabo, however, asserts that these towns were founded by Pelasgians and Tyrrhe- nians, t The first inhabitants that w^e can trace on this coast, are the Osci, who appear to have been the same as the Ausones, and of Pelasgian extraction. At an ear- ly, but still an unknown period, a colony from Chalcis in Euboea founded the town of Cumae. Parthenope, af^ terwards called Neapolis, now Naples, was an offset from thence, or from a kindred colony of Eretrians. Pompeii and Herculaneum also fell into their power ; but their establishments seem to have extended no farther in this direction. Campania, where, in Pliny's words, all imaginable delights were in constant rivalry, has always been cele- brated as tempting by its riches the arms of strangers, and punishing the cupidity of its conquerors by enervating, and * An Italian author, who has written an account of Pompeii, has filled a large folio volume with speculations on the origin of the city and its name. t ^-'iebuhr, p. 37, HISTORICAL NOTICE. 45 subjecting them in their turn to some sterner enemy ; in consequence, it has experienced a rapid succession of mas- ters. The Cumaeans were driven out by the Etruscans, who are said to have taken possession of twelve towns con- quered or founded by their predecessors, and to have form- ed a sort of federal repubHc, of which Capua was the cap- ital, and Pompeii a member. About 440, B. c. the Samnites made themselves mas- ters of the coast as far as the Silarus. Capua, then called Vulturnum, made peace, on condition of receiving a col- ony and sharing her territory with the victors. A mixed people thus arose, the first to whom the name of Campa- nians was applied. About eighty years later, the Cam- panians, being pressed in war by the Samnites, threw themselves for protection into the arms of Rome, and of course were swallowed by that all-devouring Charybdis, which sucked up every thing within the circle of its influ- ence, and disgorged nothing. In the second Punic war, B. c. 216, Campania revolted, and joined Hannibal, who proposed to make Capua the capital of Italy. His long stay in this delightful cUmate proved fatal to the discipline even of his victorious troops ; and when he was compelled to abandon Italy, the incensed Romans took a terrible re- venge on their revolted subjects. Neither on this occa- sion, however, nor on their first occupation of the country, is mention made either of Herculaneum or Pompeii. In the Social, or Marsic war, which broke out b. c. 91, the Campanian towns raised the standard of revolt, and \ Pompeii among them. At the end of that war, Capua \ was severely punished : its inhabitants being dispossessed, and a colony sent from Rome to cultivate their fertile ter- ritory. Stabise, a town within four or five miles of Pom- peii, was entirely destroyed, and scattered villas built where it formerly stood ; and we know not by what means Pompeii escaped a similar fate. \ 46 POMPEII. From this time forward it shared the common fortune of the empire, and nothing remarkable is related concerning it, except a quarrel between its inhabitants and those of Nuceria (now Nocera), which originated in certain pro- vincial sarcasms, uttered at a gladiatorial combat, exhib- ited in the amphitheatre of Pompeii. The dispute ter- minated in a battle, and the Nucerians were worsted. Not prospering in the vole du fait^ they went to law, and carried their complaint before the Emperor Nero, who fin- ally adjudged that the Pompeians should be suspended from all theatrical amusements for ten years : a sentence which, according to modern ideas, we can hardly believe to be serious, but which certainly was both meant and felt to be so, and which bears strong testimony to the impor- tance attached by the Romans to all public amusements. There remains to this day upon the external walls of a house in the street of Mercury, as it is called, near the city wall, a caricature or rude drawing scratched on the plaster with a sharp-pointed instrument by some patriotic Pompeian, in commemoration of this squabble, and the victory of his towns-people. We give a fac-simile of it. It seems to be a joint production ; for the armed figure descending the steps is evidently the work of a more skil" ful hand than that which drew the other two figures, if they deserve that term. The figure on the right seems to be meant for a gladiator, cased in armour, descending the steps of the amphitheatre, bearing in his left hand a shield, and in his right a palm-branch, the token of vic- tory. It is observable that his helmet has a complete visor, and apparently resembles the helmet of the mid- dle ages, much more than the usual form of the Ro- man helmet. The abortive figures on the left probably represent one of the victors, on some elevated spot, drag- ging a prisoner, with his arms bound, after him up the ladder which leads to it. It might not have been very easy to decipher all this 5 but like the sign-painter who HISTORICAL NOTICE. 47 48 POMPEII. found it necessary to write under his production, * This is a bear !' the artist or artists have thought it prudent to subjoin the following inscription, which, in point of Latin, is much on a par with the drawing. Campani victoria una cum Nucerinis peristis. which may be interpreted, ^Campanians, you perished in victory together with the Nuceiians.' This occurred a. d. 59. Four years after, an earth- quake nearly destroyed Pompeii, and the inhabitants had scarcely recovered their alarm, and had not restored the buildings damaged by the shock, when it was overwhelmed by that greater calamity, which, consigning it to a tempo- rary oblivion, has communicated to a trivial town of the Roman empire a power to interest, unequalled except by that of the mighty capital itself Ejla^ftElfe^^^ Implements used in building. Implements used in husbandry. CHAPTER III. THE POSITION AND TERRITORY OF POMPEII, AND ITS DESTRUCTION AND RE-DISCOVERY. Pompeii was originally situated close to the sea, al- though, owing to the gradual elevation of the land, it is now at some distance inland. Shells and sea-sand have been found by digging on the side adjoining the coast ; and it is even said that rings have been found close to the ruins, intended, as is supposed, for the mooring of vessels. The authority of Strabo has been quoted to confirm this, but his words go at least equally to prove that the trade of the place was carried on by the river Sarnus, which ran past the city. If so, this stream has shrunk among the other physical changes which have oc- curred in the country ; for it now is nothing more than a rivulet, entirely unsuited to any purposes of trade, which runs at some distance from its ancient course, and falls into the sea between Pompeii and Stabiae. From the position of the town, and the discoveries made by the ex- cavators, it is clear that only three principal roads could have led to it. The first, which was on the w^estern side, 50 POMPEII. led to Naples along the coast through Oplontis, Retina, and Herculaneum ; the second joined the Popilian way at Nola ; and the third crossed the Sarnus, and after- wards divided into two branches, of which the principal led to jVocera, and the other to Stabiae. The city stood on an insulated spot formed by lava which seems to have burst from the ground in that place, as in others around the foot of Vesuvius ; for this coun- try has been affected by subterranean fires from the remot- est antiquity. Thus situated, it appeared to possess all local advantages that the most refined taste could desire. Upon the verge of the sea, at the entrance of a fertile plain, on the bank of a navigable river, it united the con- veniences of a commercial town with the security of a mili- tary station, and the romantic beauty of a spot celebrated in all ages for its pre-eminent loveliness. Its environs, even to the heights of Vesuvius, were covered with vil- las, and the coast all the way to Naples was so orna- mented with gardens and villages, that the shores of the whole gulf appeared as one city ; v.'hile the prodigious concourse of strangers who came here in search of health and recreation, added new charms and life to the scene. But these advantages were dearly purchased. An ene- my at that time unknown, was silently working its destruc- tion : an enemy which from time to time still desolates the modern towns which stand upon the buried and long forgotten cities of antiquity. Seneca has recorded an earthquake already mention- ed, antecedent by sixteen years to the great eruption of Vesuvius, which took place on the 16th February, a. d. 63, threw down a great part of Pompeii, and considerably injured Herculaneum. ^ A herd,' he says, ' of six hun- dred sheep were swallowed up, statues were split, and many persons lost their reason.' The following year another earthquake took place whilst Nero was singing at Naples ; the building, unfortunately, fell immediately ^ ITS DESTRUCTION. 51 after the emperor had left it. Vestiges of the injury done by these shocks may even now be seen in the houses which have been excavated at Pompeii, where the mosaic floors are often much out of their level, twisted and brok- en ; and show the repairs which had been made by the inhabitants themselves. These alarms, the usual presages of a near eruption, were from time to time repeated until the 23d of August, A. D. 79, the day on which, after a cessation of ages, the first recorded volcanic paroxysm of Vesuvius occurred. By an unusual good fortune we are in possession of a faithful narrative, furnished by an eye-witness of the catastrophe which overwhelmed Pompeii, and provided a subject for this volume. It is contained in two letters of Pliny the younger to Tacitus, which record the death of his uncle, who fell a victim to his inquiring spirit and humanity. ' Your request that I would send you an account of my uncle's death, in order to transmit a more exact re- lation of it to posterity, deserves my acknowledgments ; for, if this accident shall be celebrated by your pen, the glory of it, I am well assured, will be rendered for ever illustrious. And notwithstanding he perished by a mis- fortune, which as it involved at the same time a most beautiful country in ruins, and destroyed so many popu- lous cities, seems to promise, him an everlasting remem- brance; notwithstanding he has himself composed many and lasting works ; yet I am persuaded the mentioning of him in your immortal works will greatly contribute to eterni2!e his name. Happy I esteem those to be, whom Providence 'b^s distinguished with the abilities either of doing such actjonsr as are worthy of being related, or of relating them in a manner worthy of being read ; but doubly happy are they who are blessed with both these uncommon talents ; in the number of which my uncle, as his own writings and your history will evidently prove, 52 POMPEII. may justly be ranked. It is with extreme willingness, therefore, I execute your commands ; and should indeed have claimed the task, if you had not enjoined it. He was at that time with the fleet under his command at Misenum. On the 24th of August, about one in the afternoon, my mother desired him to observe a cloud which appeared of a very unusual size and shape. He had just returned from taking the benefit of the sun,* and after bathing himself in cold water, and taking a slight repastj was retired to his study. He immediately arose and went out upon an eminence, from whence he might more distinctly view this very uncommon appearance. It was not at that distance discernible from what mountain this cloud issued, but it was found afterwards to ascend from Mount Vesuvius. | I cannot give a more exact de- scription of its figure, than by resembling it to that of a pine-tree, for it shot up a great height in the form of a trunk, which extended itself at the top into a sort of branches ; occasioned, I imagine, either by a sudden gust of air that impelled it, the force of which decreased as it advanced upwards, or the cloud itself being pressed back again by its own weight, expanded in this manner: it appeared sometimes bright and sometimes dark and * The Romans used to lie or walk naked in the sun, after anoint- ing their bodies with oil, which was esteemed as greatly contribut- ing to health, and therefore daily practised by them. t About six miles distant from Naples. Martial has a pretty epigram, in which he gives us a view of Vesuvius, as it appeared before this terrible conflagration broke out : ' Here verdant vines o'erspread Vesuvius' sides ; The generous grape here pour'd her purple tides. This Bacchus lov'd beyond his native scene ; Here dancing satyrs joy'd to trip the green. Far more than Sparta this in Venus' grace ; And great Alcides once renown'd the place : Now flaming embers spread dire waste around. And Gods regret that Gods can thus confound.* ITS DESTRUCTION. 53 spotted, as it was more or less impregnated with earth and cinders. This extraordinary phenomenon excited my uncle's philosophical curiosity to take a nearer view of it. He ordered a light vessel to be got ready, and gave me the Hberty, if I thought proper, to attend him. t rather chose to continue my studies; for, as it happened, he had given me an employment of that kind. As he was com- ing out of the house, he received a note from Rectina, the wife of Bassus, who was in the utmost alarm at the immi- nent danger which threatened her ; for her villa being situated at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, there was no way to escape but by sea : she earnestly entreated him, there- fore, to come to her assistance. He accordingly chang- ed his first design, and what he began with a philosophical, he pursued with an heroical turn of mind. He ordered the galUes to put to sea, and went himself on board with an intention of assisting not only Rectina, but several others ; for the villas stand extremely thick upon that beautiful coast. When hastening to the place from whence others fled with the utmost terror, he steered his direct course to the point of danger, and with so much calmness and presence of mind, as to be able to make and dictate his observations upon the motion and figure of that dreadful scene. He was now so nigh the mountain, that the cinders, which grew thicker and hotter the nearer he approached, fell into the ships, together with pumice- stones, and black pieces of burning rock: they were like- wise in danger, not only of being aground by the sudden retreat of the sea, but also from the vast fragments which rolled down from the mountain, and obstructed all the shore. Here he stopped to consider whether he should return back again; to which the pilot advising him, " For- tune," said he, '' befriends the brave; carry me to Pom- ponianus." Pomponianus was then at Stabise,* separat- ♦ Now called Castel a Mar di Stabia, in the gulf of Naples. 5* 54 POMPEII. ed by a gulf, which the sea, after several insensible wind- ings, forms upon the shore. He had already sent his baggage on board; for though he was not at that time in actual danger, yet being within the view of it, and, indeed, extremely near, if it should in the least increase, he was determined to put to sea as soon as the wind should change. It was favourable, however, for carry- ing my uncle to Pomponianus, whom he found in the greatest consternation: he embraced him with tenderness, encouraging and exhorting him to keep up his spirits, and the more to dissipate his fears, he ordered, with an air of unconcern, the baths to be got ready; when, after having bathed, he sat down to supper with great cheerfulness, or at least (what is equally heroic) with all the appear- ance of it. In the meanwhile, the eruption from Mount Vesuvius flamed out in several places with much vio- lence, which the darkness of the night contributed to render still more visible and dreadful. But my uncle, in order to soothe the apprehensions of his friend, assured him it was only the burning of the villages, which the country people had abandoned to the flames: after this he retired to rest, and it is most certain he was so little discomposed as to fall into a deep sleep; for being pretty fat, and breathing hard, those who attended without actu- ally heard him snore. The court which led to his apart- ment being now almost filled with stones and ashes, if he had continued there any time longer, it would have been impossible for him to have made his way out; it was thought proper, therefore, to awaken him. He got up, and went to Pomponianus and the rest of his company, who were not unconcerned enough to think of going to bed. They consulted together whether it would be most prudent to trust to the houses, which now shook from side to side with frequent and violent concussions; or fly to the open fields, where the calcined stones and cinders, though light indeed, yet fell in large showers, and threat- ITS DESTRUCTION. 55 ened destruction. In this distress they resolved for the fields, as the less dangerous situation of the two; a reso- lution which J while the rest of the company were hurried into by their fears, my uncle embraced upon cool and de- liberate consideration. They went out then, having pil- lows tied upon their heads with napkins; and this was their whole defence against the storm of stones that fell around them. It was now day every where else, but there a deeper darkness prevailed than in the most ob- scure night; which, however, was in some degree dissi- pated by torches and other lights of various kinds. They thought proper to go down farther upon the shore, to ob- serve if they might safely put out to sea; but they found the waves still run extremely high and boisterous. There my uncle, having drunk a draught or two of cold water, threw himself down upon a cloth which was spread for him, when immediately the flames, and a strong smell of sulphur, which was the forerunner of them, dispersed the rest of the company, and obliged him to rise. He raised himself up with the assistance of two of his servants, and instantly fell down dead; suffocated, as I conjecture, by some gross and noxious vapour, having always had weak lungs, and being frequently subject to a difficulty of breathing. As soon as it was light again, which was not till the third day after this melancholy accident, his body was found entire, and without any marks of violence upon it, exactly in the same posture that he fell, and looking more like a man asleep than dead. During all this time my mother and I, who were at Misenum"^ — But as this has no connexion with your history, so your inquiry went no farther than concerning my uncle's death; with that, therefore, I will put an end to my letter: suffer me only ' to add, that I have faithfully related to you what I was either an eye-witness of myself, or received immediately * See this account continued, in the following Letter. 56 POMPEII. after the accident happened, and before there was time to vary the truth. You will choose out of this narrative such circumstances as shall be most suitable to your pur- pose; for there is a great difference between what is proper for a letter and a history; between writing to a friend, and writing to the public. Farewell !'* ^ The letter which, in compliance with your request, I wrote to you concerning the death of my uncle, has rais- ed, it seems, your curiosity to know what terrors and dangers attended me while I continued at Misenum; for there, I think, the account in my former broke off. ** Though my shocked soul recoils, my tongue shall tell." t ^ My uncle having left us, I pursued the studies which prevented my going with him, till it was time to bathe. Afler which I went to supper, and from thence to bed, where my sleep was greatly broken and disturbed. There had been, for many days before, some shocks of an earth- quake, which the less surprised us as they are extreme- ly frequent in Campania; but they were so particularly violent that night, that they not only shook everything about us, but seemed indeed to threaten total destruction. My mother flew to my chamber, where she found me rising, in order to awaken her. We went out into a small court belonging to the house, which separated the sea from the buildings. As I was at that time but eigh- teen years of age, I know not whether I should call my behaviour, in this dangerous juncture, courage or rash- ness; but I took up Livy, and amused myself with turn- ing over that author, and even making extracts from him, as if all about me had been in full security. While we were in this posture, a friend of my uncle's, who was just come from Spain to pay him a visit, joined us; and ob- serving me sitting by my mother with a book in my hand, * Pliny's Letters, Melmoth's Translation, vi, 16. t Virgil, book ii. ITS DESTRUCTION. 57 greatly condemned her calmness, at the same time that he reproved me for my careless security. Nevertheless, I still went on with my author. Though it was now morn- ing, the light was exceedingly faint and languid; the buildings all around us tottered, and though we stood upon open ground, yet, as the place was narrow and confined, there was no remaining there without certain and great danger : we therefore resolved to quit the town. The people followed us in the utmost consternation, and, as to a mind distracted with terror every suggestion seems more prudent than its own, pressed in great crowds about us in our way out. Being got at a convenient distance from the houses, we stood still, in the midst of a most dangerous and dreadful scene. The chariots which we had ordered to be drawn out, were so agitated backwards and forwards, though upon the most level ground, that we could not keep them steady, even by supporting them with large stones. The sea seemed to roll back upon itself, and to be driven from its banks by the convulsive motion of the earth; it is certain at least the shore was consider- ably enlarged, and several sea animals were left upon it. On the other side a black and dreadful cloud, bursting with an igneous serpentine vapour, darted out a long train of fire, resembling flashes of lightning, but much larger. Upon this our Spanish friend, whom I mentioned above, addressing himself to my mother and me with great warmth and earnestness: ^' If your brother and your uncle," said he, " is safe, he certainly wishes you may be so too; but if he perished, it was his desire, no doubt, that you might both survive him: why, therefore, do you delay your escape a moment? " — We could never think of our own safety, we said, while we were uncertain of his. Hereupon our friend left us, and withdrew from the danger with the utmost precipitation. Soon afterwards the cloud seemed to descend, and cover the whole ocean; as indeed it en- 58 POMPEII. tirely hid the island of Caprea6=* and the promontory of Misenum. My mother strongly conjured me to make my escape at any rate, which, as I was young, I might easily do : as for herself, she said, her age and corpulency ren- dered all attempts of that sort impossible. However she would willingly meet death, if she could have the satisfac- tion of seeing that she was not the occasion of mine. But I absolutely refused to leave her, and taking her by the hand, I led her on : she complied with great reluctance, and not without many reproaches to herself for retarding my flight. The ashes now began to fall upon us, though in no great quantity. I turned my head, and observed behind us a thick smoke, which came rolling after us like a torrent. 1 proposed, while we had yet any light, to turn out of the high road, lest she should be pressed to death in the dark by the crowd that followed us. We had scarce stepped out of the path, when darkness overspread us, not like that of a cloudy night, or when there is no moon, but of a room when it is shut up, and all the lights extinct. Nothing then was to be heard but the shrieks of women, the screams of children, and the cries of men; some calling for their children, others for their parents, others for their husbands, and only distinguishing each other by their voices; one lamenting his own fate, another that of his family; some wishing to die from the very fear of dy- ing; some Hfting their hands to the gods; but the greater part imagining that the last and eternal night was come, which was to destroy the gods and the world together, f Among these were some who augmented the real terrors by imaginary ones, and made the frighted multitude falsely believe that Misenum was actually in flames. At length * An island twenty miles from Naples, now called Capri. t The Stoic and Epicurean Philosophers held, that the world was to be destroyed by fire, and all things fall again into original chaos; not excepting even the national gods themselves from the destruc- tion of this general conflagration, ITS DESTRUCTION. 59 a glimmering light appeared, which we imagined to be rather the forerunner of an approaching burst of flames, as in truth it was, than the return of day. However, the fire fell at a distance from us: then again we were im- mersed in thick darkness, and a heavy shower of ashes rained upon us, which we were obliged every now and then to shake off*, otherwise we should have been crushed and buried in the heap. I might boast that, during all this scene of horror, not a sigh or expression of fear escaped from me, had not my support been founded in that miser- able, though strong, consolation — that all mankind were involved in the same calamity, and that I imagined I was perishing with the world itself! At last this dreadful darkness was dissipated by degrees, like a cloud of smoke; the real day returned, and even the sun appeared, though very faintly, and as when an eclipse is coming on. Every object that presented itself to our eyes (which were ex- tremely weakened) seemed changed, being covered over with white ashes, as with a deep snow. We returned to Misenum, where we refreshed ourselves as well as we could, and passed an anxious night between hope and fear; though indeed with a much larger share of the latter; for the earthquake still continued, while several enthusiastic people ran up and down, heightening their own and their friends' calamities by terrible predictions. However, my mother and I, notwithstanding the danger we had passed, and that which still threatened us, had no thoughts of leaving the place till we should receive some account from my uncle. ^ And now you will read this narrative without any view of inserting it in your history, of which it is by no means worthy ; and indeed you must impute it to your own re- quest if it shall deserve the trouble of a letter ; fare- well.'^ * Pliny's Letters, vi, 20 ; Melmoth's translation 60 POMPEII. Pompeii was not destroyed by an inundation of lavaj its elevated position sheltered it from that fate: it was buried under that shower of stones and cinders of which Phny speaks. Much of this matter appears to have been deposited in a hquid state; which is easily explained, for the vast volumes of steam sent up by the volcano de- scended in torrents of rain, which united with the ashes suspended in the air, or v/ashed them, after they had fall- en, into places where they could not well have penetrated in a dry state. Among other proofs of this, the skeleton of a w^oman was found in a cellar, enclosed within a mould of volcanic paste, which received and has retained a per- fect impression of her form. In the great eruption of 1779, minutely described by Sir Wilham Hamilton, Ottaiano, a small town situated at the foot of Somma, most narrowly escaped similar destruction. The phenomena then ob- served may be presumed to correspond closely with those which occurred at Pompeii. ' On the night of the 8th of August, when the noise increased, and the fire began to appear above the moun- tain of Somma, many of the inhabitants of this town flew to the churches, and others were preparing to quit the town, when a sudden violent report was heard, soon after which they found themselves involved in a thick cloud of smoke and minute ashes; a horrid clashing was heard in the air, and presently fell a deluge of stones and large scorise, some of which scoriae were of the diameter of seven or eight feet, and must have weighed more than one hundred pounds before they were broken by their fall, as some of the fragments of them, which I picked up in the streets, still weighed upwards of sixty pounds. When these large vitrified masses either struck against one another in the air, or fell on the ground, they broke into many pieces, and covered a large space around them with vivid sparks of fire, which communicated their heat to everything that was combustible. In an instant the ITS RE-DISCOVERY. 61 town and country about it was on fire in many parts; for in the vineyards there were several straw huts, which had been erected for the watchmen of the grapes, all of which were burnt. A great magazine of w^ood in the heart of the town was all in a blaze; and had there been much wind, the flames must have spread universally, and all the inhabitants would infallibly have been burnt in their houses, for it was impossible for them to stir out. Some who attempted it with pillows, tables, chairs, the tops of wine-casks, &c, on their heads, were either knocked down, or soon driven back to their close quarters, under arches and in the cellars of their houses. Many were wounded, but only two persons have died of the wounds they receiv- ed from this dreadful volcanic shower: to add to the hor- ror of the scene, incessant volcanic lightning was whisk- ing about the black cloud that surrounded them, and the sulphureous heat and smell would scarcely allow them to draw their breath. In this miserable and alarming situa- tion they remained about twenty-five minutes, when the volcanic storm ceased all at once.'^ It is evident that if the eruption had continued for a brief space longer, Ottaiano must have perished like Pompeii. This last named city, however, was not buried to its present depth by a single eruption. Successive layers are clearly to be traced, (Simond counted eight of them,) and the lowest has evidently been moved, while the others are untouched ; a plain proof that some interval elapsed between their deposition, and that the inhabitants return- ed to seek after their most costly property. That so few articles of intrinsic value have been found, is attributed, with much probability, to this cause. | * Campi Phlegrsei, supplement, p. 19. t Some buildings now completely excavated bear marks of hav- ing been previously searched by the ancients. In such places, all valuable elFects and materials have been carried away, as, for in- 6 62 POMPEII. For 1676 years Pompeii remained buried under ashes. The first indications of ruins were observed in 1689^ but the excavations did not commence till 1755. It is, how- ever, singular that it was not discovered sooner, for Do- minico Fontana,^ having been employed in the year 1592 to bring the waters of the Sarno to the town of Torre delPAnnunziata, cut a subterraneous canal across the site of Pompeii, and often met in his course with the base- ments of buildings. The excavations, to which the atten- tion of .Europe is constantly directed, have produced, and continue to produce the most interesting results. Unfor- tunately some of the most important monuments are rapid- ly perishing; and being already half destroy ed by the burn- ing cinders, shaken by earthquakes, and built originally of the worst materials, oppose but a feeble resistance to the destructive agency of damp and frost. stance, the columns of the portico of Eumachia, a building adjoin- ing the Forum, to be described hereafter, and the furniture of the Basilica. * An eminent architect of the sixteenth century. He executed many splendid works by the commands of Pope Sixtus V. : among which are the library of the Vatican, and an aqueduct, fifteen miles long, supported upon arches. But that which gained him the high- est reputation was the erecting that vast obelisk which stands in front of St Peter's; a feat which many of Sixtus's predecessors had meditated, but none had ventured to attempt. After the death of this pontiff he removed to Naples. ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS. 63 Supposed appearance of Vesuvius and the face of the country after the eruption. CHAPTER IV. OF THE WALLS AND GATES OF POMPEII. The most ancient specimens of fortification with which we are acquainted are the Cyclopean walls of Tiryns, Mycense, and other places in Greece and Italy. Closely akin to these, but of a more artificial structure, are the walls of Cortona, Fiesole, Volterra, and other cities built by the Tyrrhenians, or Etruscans, from whom this se- cond style, though naturally and evidently derived from the former, and of frequent occurrence in Greece as well as Italy, has obtained the name of the Etruscan style. To this a large part of the walls of Pompeii appears to be- long : it will not therefore be irrelevant to prefix to this chapter some account of the peculiarities of this species of architecture. . The Cyclopes are most generally known as mythologi- cal personages serving as journeymen to Vulcan, and chiefly employed in forging Jupiter's thunderbolts. They seem to have enjoyed the same sort of reputation that Ju- lius Csesar and the Devil enjoyed in the middle ages, and much later among the uneducated peasantry of Europe ; that is, most works of remote antiquity and unusual mag- nitude were ascribed to them. Who they really were, and by what race the buildings ascribed to them were erected, are questions which cannot be treated but at considerable length, and in a way not likely to interest the general read- er. We shall therefore proceed at once to describe these remains : which are impressive from the solidity of their construction and the massive grandeur of their parts, and venerable from the extreme antiquity which they boast. WALLS AND GATES. 65 Not less than three thousand years have elapsed since the fortifications of Tiryns and Mycenae were built ; yet they still remain, apparently as perfect as when visited by Pau- sanias sixteen centuries ago, and seem to defy the wasting hand of time, when unassisted by the destructive agency of man. The reader, if at all acquainted with the north of Eng- land, is sure to be familiar with the dry stone walls which serve for fences throughout that district. These walls are used, not merely because stone is the cheapest material, but as the readiest way of disposing of the loose stones which cumber the surface of the earth, especially in the mountainous parts, where we continually see large rocks projecting from the earth, built into, and forming part of the wall, which is composed of fragments of all shapes and sizes laid together without mortar in as close order as the skill of the workman and the tractability of the material has permitted. These are Cyclopean walls in miniature. This term applies properly to a peculiar species of building com- posed of huge polygonal masses of rock piled up on each other, without any artificial adaptation of their sides, but the interstices at the angles filled up with small stones. The most celebrated Cyclopean remains in Greece are those at Tiryns and Mycenae. They consist in both pla- ces of a wall, or fortification, inclosing the summit of a nearly insulated rock, the Acropolis, in the language of later Greece ; the enclosure of which was at once a pal- ace, a fortress, and a temple. The remains of Tiryns seem to be the older of the two. They are related to have been built by the Cyclopes for Prsetus, whose reign is placed, in Blair's System of Chronology, about 1379 b. c. This date is probably much too remote, but they certainly existed anterior to the age of Homer, who adopts the epi- thet ' walled,' =^ as characteristic of the city ; and from the ♦ Wally rather, if the word were legitimate. TipvvQa ti rtiytota-adu II. b. 559. 6* 66 f»OMPEIf. pristine rudeness and solidity of their construction, we can- not doubt the identity of the existing ruins with the fortifi- cations which attracted the poet's admiration in their per- fect state. The enclosure is two hundred and twenty yards in length, and sixty in its extreme breadth. ^ It approximates to a parelielogram, deeply indented on one side, and occupies nearly the whole summit of a low emi- nence, which rises precipitously, but not more than forty or fifty feet above the plain. It had three gates, the prin- cipal one flanked by a solid tower, and accessible only by a flight of steps, which at first running parallel to the wall, turned at right angles before it reached the gate ; thus en- circling two sides of the tower, and giving every facility ot defending this most important point. In several of our earliest specimens of castellated architecture, the entrance is protected in a similar way, the door being elevated sev- eral feet above the ground, and accessible only by a steep and narrow stair. The walls consist chiefly of the un- wrought masonry described above ; yet the art of shaping stones seems not to have been entirely unknown, for cer- tain curious galleries which perforate a considerable part of them, are roofed with a sort of pyramidal arch, formed by cutting away the superincumbent blocks at an angle of about 45^ with the horizon. Pausanias gives the fol- lowing brief account. ' The walls, the only part which remains, are said to have been built by the Cyclopes. They are composed of unhewn stones, f so large that a pair of mules could not move the smallest from its place. Other stones have been fitted in between them, so that the large ones might adhere the better.' This statement respecting the size of each stone is of course to be under- stood only of those masses of rock which form, as it were, ♦ Gell, Argolis, or Itinerary of Greece, p. 56. This work con- tains a detailed account of Tiryns and MycenaB, with numerous plates, to which we have been much indebted. '\ KiBav et^ym, ii, 25. WALLS AND GATES. 67 the skeleton of the building. The largest observable of these is nine feet six inches long, four feet broad, and three feet ten inches deep : the usual dimensions are about seven feet by three. The greatest present height of the wall is forty-three feet ; formerly it appears to have been about sixty feet high, judging from the quantity of displac- ed blocks. A portion of the masonry is represented in page 69, taken from Sir W. Gell's Argolis. Cyclopean gallery at Tiryns. 68 POMPEII. Still more striking are the remains of Mycenae, distin- guished by Homer for the excellence of its building, ^ as well as Tiryns. They now consist of an irregular enclo- sure, in its extreme length and breadth about 330 by 200 yards. In the eastern side a remarkable gateway still ex- ists, called the Gate of Lions, from two lions rudely sculp- tured over the lintel. It is flanked by walls, which form a court about fifty feet deep in front of it, and these, to- gether with the front of the gate, are built with blocks, which evidently have been rudely squared. The back of the gate is said to exhibit the rough masonry J which we have called Cyclopean ; and hence a question may arise, whether the gate itself, with the front walls, were a later structure, or whether the regular and the polygonal con- struction were not employed at the same period, the for- mer for the rough service of war, the latter for edifices of sanctity or splendour. The greater part of the walls con- sists of polygonal blocks, well fitted to each other, as in the following cut, given by Mr Hughes from a temple in Epirus ; J but specimens occur as rude as those at Ti- ryns, and, as we have already said, there is also an ap- proximation to regular masonry of hewn stone. Thus, in Walls of a temple in Epirus. * MyjcMvatf, (UKri/uivcv tttoxuB^oy, U. b. 669. t Dodwell, Travels in Greece, vol. i, p. 241. i Hughes, Travels in Greece, &c, vol. i, p. 214. WALLS AND GATES. 69 this one example we find the two stages of the Cyclopean, and that which is usually called the Etruscan style. The durability of these remains may be estimated from Pausa- nias, who visited them sixteen centuries ago, yet his brief notice might serve a modern traveller : ' A gateway over which stand lions, and other parts of the wall are still left.'* They have defied, not only time, but the still more destruc- tive hand of man ; for when the Argians demolished Ti- ryns and Mycense, b. c. 468, ' they could not break down the walls of Mycenae, by reason of their strength, for they were built by the Cyclopes, after the manner of those of Tiryns.' | The walls of Norba, in Latium, are said to be on a still more gigantic scale. Cyclopean Walls at Tiryns. Of the rudest style of Cyclopean architecture, very few specimens now exist ; the most celebrated one is the cita- del of Tiryns. The second style, which is prevalent at Mycenae, is a natural and obvious improvement of the former. The improvement consists in fitting the sides of polygonal blocks to each other, so that exteriorly the walls may present a smooth and solid surface. Specimens of * ii, 16. t Hughes, Travels iu Greece, vii, 25, 70 POMPEII. this occur in most of the fortified cities of ancient Greece; we may instance, in addition to the unequalled remains of Mycenfe, the walls of Mantineia and Chseroneia, and the Pnyx at Athens.^ In the third style the courses are hori- zontal, with more or less irregularity, but the joints not ver- tical. Cement was not employed in any of these buildings: the massiveness of the parts rendered it unnecessary, even if its use was known to the builders. An approximation to this third style is visible, as we have said, at Mycenae ; but it is seen in perfection in the cities of Etruria, many of which even now retain their ancient walls. We may name Volterra, Fiesole, Cortona, Populonia, Roselle, and others. In all these, according to Micali, t the hori- Walls of Volterra. * Hughes, Travels in Greece, vol. i. t Micali, L'ltalie avant la Domination des Romains, Atlas, Do- seription de Planche X. . % WALLS AND GATES. 71 zontal style prevails ; the only exception, in Etruria, is at Cqsa, which offers a fine example of the second style. It is remarkable that this place, which is characterised by a ruder architecture, appears to be of decidedly later date than those above-mentioned. A short account of Roselle, where vast ruins still exist, may serve as a specimen of all the others. It is situated, like all the ancient cities of this Walls of Fiesole. region, upon a hill, northward of the river Ombrone ; the walls are one mile and two-thirds in circumference, built of enormous masses of travertine, or coarse limestone, having the exterior surface worked to an even plane. Many of them are fourteen or fifteen feet long, and so thick, that two, placed back to back, form the thickness of the wall. Almost the entire walls of Cosa exist near Orbitello to this day. The engravings which we have given will point out the comparative skill with which the surfaces and angles 72 POMPEII. of blocks were joined, and retained in their places without cement. It has been conjectured that this mode of buil- ding was derived from the Egyptians, but it does not re- semble the character of their architecture, nor that of any Walls of Cosa. of the Eastern nations, except the Phoenicians, who built their walls of large stones, but united by cement. This tends to support the theory that the Cyclopes were Phoe- nician artificers, who introduced this method of building into Greece, together with other useful arts, as the forg- ing of metals. Euripides speaks of the walls of Mycenae as built in the Phoenician method.^ While on this subject, we may mention, as among the most remarkable of ancient walls, those of Luna, a mari- time establishment of the Etruscans. They were built with solid blocks of pure white marble, taken probably ♦ Here. Furens, 944. WALLS AND GATES. 73 from the neighbouring quarries of Carrara. Rulihus Numatianus, a writer at the close of the fourth century, praises the white walls of Luna ; and one Cyriac of An- Walls of Populonia. cona, in a letter written in the year 1442, speaks of their remarkable appearance. They are now almost entirely destroyed, to allow their site to be employed for tillage. * It has been suggested, with much appearance of proba- bility, that all these structures are essentially Pelasgic ; that when the Etruscans penetrated into central Italy, and occupied the district named from them Etruria, they formed a nation of miHtary nobility, like the Normans in England, or the Hellenes in Greece, enslaved the ancient Pelas- gian inhabitants, and compelled them to execute the mas- sive works which now bear the Etruscan name. This conjecture is strengthened by the numerous remains of the polygonal style which exist in Latium, at Prseneste, Norba, Segni, and other places. These certainly are not * Micali, vol. i, chap. x. 7 74 POMPEII. Walls and gate of Segni. Etruscan ; probably they belong to the ancient Pelasgian inhabitants, — at least it is a remarkable circumstance that we find these walls nowhere, except where Pelasgians have been. Cosa, in Etruria, has been already mention- ed, where the city, as an Etruscan city, is of comparative- ly late date, yet the walls are of the older construction. Micali argues from hence that the polygonal walls cannot be considered necessarily anterior to the Etruscan style ; but it appears easier to suppose that Cosa was an ancient Pelasgian city, colonized and re-occupied by the Etrus* cans, than that its builders retrograded from a more ad- vanced to a less advanced style of building. The walls of Todi are laid in horizontal courses, and similar to the isodomon or regular masonry of the Greeks. Whatever be the origin of these Etruscan walls, those of Pompeii are evidently of kindred structure. They consist, where the original structure still remains, of courses of stone laid rudely horizontal, but the joints inclined to the perpendic- ular, so that the surface of each stone is usually a rhom- boid or trapezium. Some of the stones are dovetailed into each other, — a distinguishing mark of what is called the Etruscan style. On many of the stones, however, WALLS AND GATES, 75 Walls of Todi. certain characters are found, intended, apparently, as di- rections to the workmen, which are said by M. Mazois to be either Oscan, or the most ancient forms of the Grecian alphabet. If this be so, the walls must be referred to a period antecedent to the Etruscan occupation of this part of Italy ; and we shall have another reason for believing this method of building to be, if not Pelasgic, at all events not necessarily Etruscan. The course of the walls has been traced and ascertained by excavation. They surrounded the city, except upon the western or seaward side, where no remains of them are to be found. For the greater part of their circuit they are curvilinear, avoiding all sharp angles as much as pos- sible, in accordance with the principle of fortification laid down by Vitruvius, that it is desirable to avoid sharp an- gles, as offering more protection to the besiegers than to the besieged. =^ Some of the gates, like the Gate of * PJrectl^ the reverse is recommended by Vegetius, who further 76 POMPEII. Lions at Mycenae, are set considerably back, to give the greatest possible security to these vulnerable and import- ant points. Wiihin this external wall, with towers at in- tervals, the usual defence of the most ancient Italian cities, there was thrown up an agger, or earthen mound, which Vitruvius considered, when properly combined with ma- sonry, proof against the battering-ram, or mining, or any known method of assault. His directions for constructing it are as follows. A ditch is to be dug as large and deep as possible, the sides perpendicular and walled. The earth is heaped up on the inside, and supported both within and without by walls strong enough to bear its thrust, bonded together, for farther security, by internal cross walls, between which the excavated material must be firmly rammed down, that it may still offer substantial resistance, even when the external masonry has been ruined. A considerable breadth is to be allowed for this raised plat- form, so that cohorts may have room to fight along its whole extent, as if ranged for battle. ^ This construction does not extend to the south side of the city, which was less exposed to the attack of military engines, and there- fore required less strength. On the north and north-east, the ramparts of Pompeii consisted of an earthen terrace Restored section of the walls and agger of Pompeii. advises that towers should be placed at the salient angles, for the advantage of taking the enemy in flank. * Vitruv. i, 5. WALLS AND GATES. 77 (B) fourteen feet wide, walled and counter-walled, which was ascended from the city by flights of steps (C), broad enough for several men abreast. The external face, (A) including the parapet, was about twenty-five feet high ; the inner wall was raised some feet higher. There is no appearance of a ditch, which may be accounted for by the agger having been thrown up within the ancient wall. Both walls are built of lava, except the four or five upper layers of the external one, which is of travertine, * the coarse limestone of the country. All the stones are per- fectly well joined, and without mortar. The external wall is inchned slightly towards the city ; the low^er courses, instead of being inclined, are set slightly back, one behind another. The style of masonry we have al- ready described. Both walls were capped with battlements, so that from the country there was an appearance of a double line of defence, but the interior one was useless except to give a more formidable aspect to the fortifications. These battlements were ingeniously contrived to defend the sol- diers, who could throw their missiles through the embras- ure in comparative safety, being protected by a return or shoulder of the battlement projecting inward. The towers appear to be of less ancient date. They are constructed with small rough pieces of tufa, and are stuccoed and de- * Travertine is celebrated as the material of which St Peter's, and some of the grandest works of modern architecture, are built. It is a sort of tufa, a name given to all recent calcareous deposits from water, and to the rocks formed by the consolidation of loose volcanic matter, as mud and ashes. Vast quantities of travertine are deposited by the Anio, and all around Tivoli ; and the lime- stone districts of England furnish a similar rock. The hot springs of volcanic countries usually deposit tufa w^ith great rapidity. Tra- vertine is remarkably durable ; there is now at the end of the Corso of Rome, a monument, called that of Bibulus, the surface of which is as fresh and perfect as the day it was put up. 7# 78 POMPEII. corated on the sides, but plain in front. They are quad- rangular, contrary to the rule laid down by Vitruvius, who says that towers ought to be circular or polygonal. ' Square towers are sooner breached, because the batter- mg-ram breaks their angles ; round ones it cannot hurt^ but merely drives the stones, which should be cut wedge- like, towards their common centre. ' ^ He also recom- mends that they should be placed at no greater intervals than the cast of a javelin, so as to give each other mutual » Vitruv. i. 5. WALLS AND GATES. 79 support, and flank the enemy in case of assault. This principle has been adhered to near the western gate, where they are only eighty paces distant from each other, but towards the east the distance is two, three, and even four hundred and eighty paces. We may suppose, there- fore, that the ground in this quarter presented some diffi- culty to the approach of machines. All of them have archways, allowing a free passage along the agger, and are furnished with a sallyport ; all are alike, and each consists of several stories. The walls and towers are View of the wall and towers from without. much ruined. It is impossible to attribute this entirely to the earthquakes which preceded and accompanied the eruption of 79. The outer wall of the towers seems in- variably to have fallen. Sir W. Gell conjectures that this was done by Sylla at the end of the Social War, as the readiest means of rendering the fortifications useless. Probably the place had been dismantled at different pe- riods, as various breaches and repairs seem to indicate. For some time before its first catastrophe^ defences seem to have been thought unnecessary, for if they ever exist- ed, as most likely they did, on the seaward side, they had been thrown down, and handsome houses, often four or five stories high, erected on their site. The long peace which Italy enjoyed under Augustus and his immediate successors, rendered fortifications useless, and it is proba- 80 POMPEII. ble that during that period it became convenient to enlarge the city even at the cost of its security. The construction of the upper part of the walls, and the battlements of the ramparts, evince an improved knowl- edge in the science of building, and point out a period much more modern than that of the lower part ; being composed of the isodomon, or regular masonry of the Greeks, above the more ancient Etruscan basis. Some portions however of the upper wall consist of masonry of ^^ ZX^I J ^ Masonry of Pompeii. Isodomon, or regular masonry of the Greeks. that kind called by the ancients opus incertum, composed of small rough pieces, placed irregularly, and imbedded in a large quantity of mortar, resembling the flint and rub- ble masonry of our castles and churches. The difference Greek wall, similar in construction to the walls of Pompeii. * * Dod well's Travels in Greece. WALLS AND GATES. 81 of construction observable in the wall and towers shows that the latter are of much later date. This is what we should expect. The most ancient Greek fortifications, 4iose of Tiryns and MycenjB, are without towers ; ^ in those more recent, as at Orchomenus and Daulis, towers occur, but at considerable distances, and of small eleva- 4on. It was not until a much later period that they were built at regular intervals, and of commanding height, as at Platffi, Messene, and other cities.| t Except at Tiryns, where the gale is flanked by a solid tower ; it is hardly more, however, than a projection in the wall. See the Ground Plan, in Gell's Argolis. We give a representation of some remains of Greek walls and towers at Messene, from Stuart's Athens, vol. vi. There are six gates in the length of wall which now exists. The first and most important stood near the sea, at the north-western angle of the city, and led to Hercu- laneum by a branch of the Appian way. For about a furlong from the entrance the road is bordered with tombs, as is the Appian way where it issues from Rome. The gate is double, so that when the first doors had been car- ried, the assailers could be attacked from a large opening above, and destroyed while attempting to force the second. Strong buttresses of stone sustain the lateral pressure of the earthen rampart, which is ascended from the interior by ten very high and inconvenient steps. This gate in its "^ Maziois. • 82 POMPEII. Gate leading to Herculaneum restored. arrangement resembles Temple Bar : there is a large cen- tral and two small side entrances, which, instead of being open to the sky, like the central road, were vaulted through their whole length. The inner gate consisted of folding doors, as the holes in the pavement, in which the pivots turned which served for hinges, evidently show ; the outer defence was formed by a portcullis. The archway is con- structed in brick and lava, in alternate layers, and covered with a fine white stucco. It is evidently a w^ork of the Ro- mans. This, although the principal entrance to the city, is not striking for its beauty, and is small in its dimensions. The stucco is covered with nearly illegible inscriptions of ordinances, &c. The centre archway is in width fourteen feet seven inches, and might, perhaps, have been eighteen or twenty feet in height ; but its arch does not remain. The smaller openings on each side for foot passengers were four feet six inches wide, and ten feet high : in size, there- fore, it scarcely equals Temple Bar. The road rises con- siderably into the city. On the left, before entering the gate, is a pedestal, which appears to have been placed for the purpose of sustaining a colossal statue of bronze, somo WALLS AND GATES. 83 fragments of bronze drapery having been found there. We nnay suppose it to have been the tutelary deity of the city.* Without the gate there is a small niche for a soldier, whose skeleton, still grasping a lance, was found here, together with the usual accoutrements and arms. The other gates are alike, both in plan and construction ; the first leads to Vesuvius, the second has only the upper part excavated, the third led to Nola, the fourth was the gate of Sarnus, and the fifth communicated with Stabiae and Nocera : they Bre for the most part of stone, in a very ruined state, but apparently, from their similarity of construction, coeval with the walls. The gate of Nola is ornamented on the interior with a head in the key-stone, by the side of which is placed an Oscan inscription. '\ Having described the fortifications of the place, it will not be irrelevant to give a short notice of the methods of attack which they were meant to resist. Before the inven- tion of artillery, men who fought behind stone walls pos- sessed a vast advantage over those who fought in the open field ; and after witnessing the pains and expense bestow- ed on these bulwarks, and the magnitude of the result, it might seem hopeless to reduce them except by the slow but certain operation of famine. This, indeed, was not on- ly the last but the frequent resort of a general. Lines were drawn round the invested place, with a prodigality of labour, to which modern soldiers are little accustomed. A double rampart, frequently miles in length, between the inner and outer walls of which the assailing army was en- camped, and thus protected both against assaults from with- out, and from the desperate sallies of the cooped-up gar- rison, deep fosses, both within and without, strong palisades, chevaux de frieze (cippi), pit-falls set with stakes, arrang- ed in rows {lilia), and planks buried in the earth, thick * Sir W. Cell, p. 93. t Engraved by Sir William Cell, p. 138. 84 POMPEII. set with tenter-hooks and iron spikes (stimuli) ; all these were not thought too much to secure the capture of a sin- gle city, impregnable, from the strength of its situation, by open force. =^ At other times, a vast mound was erected against the very walls, and the bravery and in- genuity of both parties were taxed to the utmost to retard or forward its elevation to the level of the battlements, f The first attempt, when the fortifications were such as to offer any chance of success, usually was to carry the place by assault. To this end the Romans surrounded the place with troops, distracted the attention of the gar- rison by a variety of feints, or endeavoured to alarm them by the mingled clamour of men's voices and military mu- sic, and to drive them from the walls by a storm of arrows and javelins. 1 hen the storming column rushed up, their shields held over their heads, and overlapping each other, so as to resemble (testudo) a tortoise, ready to burst the gates, or to undermine, if possible, or scale the walls. If this trial failed, it was necessary to resort to the method of circumvallation already described, or to a scarce less operose and expensive process. Art had not been idle in devising means to render un- availing these massive bulwarks, ahhough no missile wea- pons powerful enough to effect this had yet been invented. The ancients, indeed, had many engines under various names; scorpions, catapultse, balista3, which cast, much farther than the human arm could throw them, weighty javelins, and even large beams of wood headed with iron. These may be briefly described as gigantic cross-bows, the most powerful of which consisted not of a single beam or spring, but of two distinct beams, inserted each * All these methods were employed by Caesar at Alesia. Bell, Gall, vii, 72, 73. t See the Siege of Avaricum, Bell. Gall, vii, 22, seq. ; and that of Plataea, Thucyd. ii, 75 — 77. WALLS AND GATES. 85 into an upright coil of ropes, tightly twisted in such a way, that the ends of the arms could not be drawn towards each other, without increasing the tension of the ropes, so as to produce a most violent recoil. Still mightier were the onagri, and more upon the principle of the sling ; they threw huge stones with force enough to break and Balista. ruin the besiegers' towers. But the use of these wea- pons was chiefly confined to the besieged. As walls, therefore, could not be breached from a distance, as in modern war, it was necessary to employ manual force, and various machines were invented to diminish the assailants' danger, and render their attack more effectual. We may class thesis under three heads ; those meant merely to protect the approach of soldiers, those intended to ruin the walls, and those intended to supersede the process of destruction, by overtopping them. Of the first class are the machines called Vinea, Pluteus, and Mus- culus. The first were covered galleries formed of hur- dles, or wicker-work, stretched on a w^ooden frame, be- neath which the soldier could approach with comparative security, to undermine the walls, or do whatever else was required. Each vinea was eight feet high, seven broad, and sixteen long. Pluteus was a moveable gallery on wheels, for the protection of archers, who were stationed in it to clear the walls with their shot, and thus facilitate 8 86 POMPEII. the approach of storming-parties, and the erection of scaling-ladders. Musculus was a small machine of the same description, sent in advance of the large towers, which are next to be described, to level the way for them, fill up the ditch if necessary, clear away rubbish, remove palisades, and make a solid road to the very foot of the walls. The Romans believed that a close alliance subsisted between the whale (balcena) and a smaller spe- WALLS AND GATES. 87 cies of the same tribe, called musculus, and that when the former became blind, from the enormous weight of its eye-lids dropping over and closing up the organ, the latter swam before, and guided it from all shallows which might prove injurious . ^ Hence this machine was called musculus, as exploring and smoothing the way for the larger engines. All these were covered with raw hides, or some similar material, to obviate the danger of their being set on fire. To destroy the walls they used ter- rebrae, or borers, and falces, crooked irons to draw out stones, when once an opening was made. But the ram was by far the most important and efficacious instru- ment, and the only one which it is worth while to describe. Battering-ram and tower.f It is said to have been first employed, in its most simple form, by the Carthaginians^ to demolish the walls of Cadiz, after they had taken the place. Wanting proper iron tools for this purpose, a number of men took up a beam, and by their united force shook down the masonry. Pephasmenus, a Tyrian artificer, is said to have perceiv-^ * Pliny, Hist. Nat. lib. ix. t From the plates to Newton's Vitruviua. 8 POMPEII. ed the economy of power obtained by suspending the beam from a mast, or triangle. Cetras, of Calchedon, conceived the idea of mounting it on wheels and a plat- form, and protecting those who worked it by a roof and sides. He called it [testudo) the tortoise, from the slow- ness of its motion, or because the ram thrust in and out its head like a tortoise from its shell. To cap the beam with iron was an obvious improvement ; and the way in which a ram huts with its head readily suggested the form usually given to the instrument, as well as its name. Vitruvius gives the dimensions of a tortoise employed by Philip of Macedon at the siege of Byzantium. The body was forty-five feet long, and thirty-four high. Above this, a turret was built four stories high, and not less than eighteen feet wdde; the upper part armed with scorpions and catapults, the lower filled with water lest the enemy should succeed in setting the wood-work on fire. Another was eighty feet long and eighteen wide, the ram one hundred and four feet long, a foot square at the head, and something bigger at the lower end. It was worked by one hundred men. ^ Still more formidable were vast moving towers, often, but not necessarily, combined with the ram. A city was in imminent danger when one of these was brought within reach of the walls. On the ground floor the ram exerted its destructive energy. In the middle was a bridge, the sides guarded by wicker work, constructed so as to be suddenly lowered or thrust out upon the very battlements. In the upper stories soldiers with all sorts of missile wea- pons w^ere placed, to clear the wall and facilitate the passage of their comrades. They were mounted on nu- merous wheels, moved from within ; probably their axles were pierced for levers like a capstan, and fixed in the * Vitruv. Xj 19. WALLS AND GATES. 89 wheels, so t&at when the former were forced round, the latter turned with them. The size of these towers was enormous ; those mentioned by Vitruvius are calculated for the attack of fortifications of a very different scale from those of Pompeii. He directs the smallest of them not to be less than ninety feet high, and twenty-five broad, the top to be a fifth smaller, and to contain ten stories each, with windows. The largest was one hundred and dighty feet high, and thirty-four broad, and contained Towers 90 POMPEII. twenty stories. ^ These engines were emphatically nam- ed Helepoleis, or city-takers, by the Greeks. The methods of defence are less easily described, be- cause they might be varied infinitely according to local circumstances, to the plans of attack, and the ingenuity of the defenders. The siege of Syracuse is especially celebrated for the mathematical and mechanical knowl- edge employed by Archimedes in the defence of his city. The following are some of the means of annoyance. The soldiers were attacked with darts and arrows : the smaller machines, the vineae and plutei, ruined by stones let fall from the battlements or discharged from balistae. The attack of the ram was baffled by suspending wool- packs, or the like, as ' Featherbed twixt castle wall, And heavy brunt of cannon ball,' or nooses were cast over them, and then drawn up by main force, until the ram broke or the tortoise was upset. But more especially they placed their hopes in burning the larger engines, and with this view prepared bundles of hemp and pitch fastened to arrows {malleoli,) and weighty spears tipped with a composition of bitumen, sul- phur, and other combustibles, which, when discharged from the balistae, struck deep into the wood work. They excavated hollows in the path of the approaching towers, leaving a crust of earth apparently solid, yet sure to yield to the weight, and overturn or half-bury the monster in the cavity. Mines were counter-mined : mounds raised against the wall were undermined, so that the upper part continually sunk in, and whatever quantity of fresh mate- * These numbers are so enormous, so much beyond our notion of the height of any wall, that we would suspect error in the read- ing, but for their coherence. One cannot allow much less thaa nine feet for a story. WALLS AND GATES. 91 rial was brought, the work advanced not. And if, in spite of these precautions, a mine was carried within the city, or the gates, or any other point seemed Hkely to be forced, boihng water, oil, pitch, and even less savoury ingredients, ^ were profusely prepared for the salutation of the assailants. Many curious instances of the skill of the engineer are collected by Vitruvius, which are worth the reader's attention, but would lead us into too long a digression from our main object. Spear heads found at Pompeii. * Lib. X, c. 22. Entrance to Pompeii through the gate of Nola, CHAPTER V. PUBLIC ROADS — STREETS OF POMPEII. In going from Naples to Pompeii, the visitor follows the road to Nocera, through Portici, Resina, and Torre del Greco, until he comes to Torre delP Annunziata, dis- tant about eleven miles from Naples, and one mile and a half from the object of his curiosity. From hence he may proceed either by the new road to Salerno which runs close past the southern wall of the city, or go across the country to the northern suburb, called the Street of Tombs. The latter route is in all respects preferable, and the more so, because it was the ancient route from Rome and Her- culaneum, and the chief entrance of Pompeii. From Torre dell' Annunziata he walks across irrigated cotton fields, partially shaded from the burning sun of Italy by patches of the tall Indian corn, or sheltered by umbrag- eous willows on the banks of a water-course, which con- ducts the stream of the Sarnus to fertilize these fields, and supply the wants of Torre dell' Annunziata. Fol- [fiii^^sj^]? ^n^AVA'^m^^m.mM. PUBLIC ROADS AND STREETS. 93 lowing this watercourse, he arrives at the Street of Tombs^ now completely excavated, which rises by an easy ascent up to the city gate. The first striking object, at the very commencement of the excavations, is a house supposed to have belonged to one Arrius Diomedes ; it is of con- siderable extent, and is singular and interesting as the only perfect specimen of a suburban villa. From hence to the gate, called the Gate of Herculaneum, the road is flanked by tombs of much beauty and interest, and other buildings, among which we may specify an inn or hostelry of considerable extent, and another villa, called the suburban villa of Cicero. This has been in part filled up again. Opposite is a large exhedra, or covered seat, of a semicircular form : and a little further on there are others, on the opposite side of the road, and behind them the tomb of Mamia, who erected them for the pub- lic convenience. Adjoining these, and close to the city gate, is a niche for a sentinel. On entering, the visitor finds himself in a street, running a little east of south, which leads to the Forum. To the right, stands a house formerly owned by a musician ; to the left, a Thermo- polium or shop for hot drinks : beyond is the house of the Vestals ; beyond this the custom-house, and a little further on, where another street runs into this one from the north at a very acute angle, stands a public fountain. In the last-named street is a surgeon's house ; at least one so named from the quantity of surgical instruments found in it, all made of bronze. On the right or west- ern side of the street by which we entered the houses are built on the declivity of a rock, sloping down to where the sea formerly came, and are several stories high. The fountain is about one hundred and fifty yards from the city gate. About the same distance, further on, the street divides into two, the right-hand turning seems a by-street, and is but partially cleared, the left-hand turn- A i^iLAUvj f)r TKlg SOVY S)7 POMlPiKii, 3JJlgV701f]© TMl Mi£)@7 IfiJSieElfaT ISJvgAVA^'J'a'aii'Q® Ji^l- 94 POMPEJI. ing conducts you to the Forum. The most important feature in this space is a house called the house of Sallust, or of Actaeon, from a painting in it representing that hunter's death. It stands on an area about forty yards square, and is encompassed on three sides by streets, by that namely which we have been describing, by another nearly parallel to it, and by a third, perpen- dicular to these two. East of this island of houses is an unexcavated space, beyond which is another broad street, running parallel to the first, the limit of the exca- vations in this quarter. Between these two are indications of another street, which is cleared out, south of the transverse street. Still farther south these streets all terminate in another transverse street. Thus the whole quarter already described is divided by four longitudinal and two transverse streets, into what the Romans called islands, or insulated masses of houses. One of these is entirely occupied by the house of Pansa, which with its court and garden is about one hundred yards long by forty wide. The average interval between the western and eastern street is not more than one hundred and fifty yards. The island immediately east of the house of Pansa has three houses of considerable interest, call- ed the house of the tragic poet, from dramatic paint- ings on the walls ; the cloth-dyer's house, from paint-^ ings illustrating the processes and utensils of that trade ; and the house of the mosaic fountains. From the transverse street which bounds these islands on the south, two streets lead to the two corners of the Forum ; between them are the baths, occupying nearly the whole island. Among other buildings are a milk shop and gladiatorial school. At the north-east corner of the Forum was a triumphal arch At the end of the broad eastern street, and higher up in the same street, another triumphal arch is still to be made out, so that this was plainly the way of state into the city. The Fo- PUBLIC ROADS AND STREETS. 95 rum is distant from the gate of Herculaneum about four hundred yards. Of it we shall give a full description in its place. Near the south-eastern corner two streets enter it, one running to the south, the other to the east. We will follow the former for about eighty yards, when it turns eastward for two hundred yards, and conducts us to the quarter of the theatres. The other street, which runs eastward from the Forum, is of more importance, and is called the Street of the Silversmiths. About two hundred yards in length have been excavated, at the end of which a short street turns southwards, and meets the other route to the theatres. On both these routes the houses immediately bordering on the streets are cleared ; but between them is a large rectangular plot of unex- plored ground. Two very elegant houses at the south- west corner of the Forum were uncovered by the French general Championnet, while in command at Naples, and are known by his name. On the western side of the Forum two streets led down towards the sea : the ex- cavations here consist almost entirely of public buildings, which will be described hereafter. The quarter of the theatres comprises a large temple, called the Temple of Hercules, a temple of Isis, a temple of -^Esculapius, two theatres, and two spacious porticoes, enclosing open areas. On the north and east it is bounded by streets ; to the south and west, it seems to have been enclosed partly by the town, partly by its own walls. Here the continuous excavation ends, and we must cross vineyards to the amphitheatre, distant from the theatre about five hundred and fifty yards, in the south-east corner of the city, close to the walls, and in an angle formed by them: on the other sides are traces of walls supposed to have belonged to cattle-markets. Near at hand, a considerable building, called by the Italians the palace of Giulia Felice, has been excavated and fil- led up again. A considerable distance to the westward is 96 POMPEII. the first excavation made near the centre of the city : it is surrounded by vines, which hang in festoons from the poplars on which they are trained ; it is small, and ap- pears to have been abandoned on account of the few coins and vessels discovered. From the amphitheatre, we will return along the Street of Silversmiths, towards the Forum; but before we arrive at the latter, turn up a street running parallel to it. Arriving at the end of it, we turn to the right, and soon reach the triumphal arch of the Forum, having now traversed the whole ex- cavated portion, except a few insignificant streets. The city was anciently surrounded by walls, of which the greater portion has been traced. Six gates and twelve towers may be counted. At the gate of Nola, the third westward from that of Herculaneum, part of the street has been excavated ; but the houses proved to be of the lower class, and it was not prosecuted. The general figure of the city is something like that of an eggj whose apex is at the amphitheatre : its circuit is nearly two miles, the greatest length little more than three quarters of a mile, and the breadth less than half a mile. Even Arrius Diomedes, who lived at the extremity of the suburb, would only have had about six hundred yards to walk to the Forum for his business, and less than a mile to the amphitheatre for his pleasure. The area of the city is about one hundred and sixty-one acres; the excavated part, which forms a slip along the western side, is about a quarter of the whole, and has been eighty- three years in excavating. Portions have been begun and finished with energy and rapidity at different times, especially by the French, who during their occupation of Naples made great exertions ; and to them we are in- debted for the most interesting parts yet discovered. Had Murat retained his throne, probably ere now the whole would have been disinterred. The parsimony of the present royal family, who by a grant of a few hun- PUBLIC ROADS AND STREETS. 97 dred dollars out of their privy purse are enabled to ex- cavate a house annually, and whose great ambition it is to carry away in their pockets a few coins, or to put in their ears the rings snatched from the ashes of some defunct Pompeian, may delay the completion of the work for centuries. There are now excavated about eighty houses and innumerable small shops, the public baths, two theatres, two basilicae,. eight temples, the prison, the amphitheatre, and other public buildings of less note, fountains, and tombs. What remains of interest we know not ; but it is reasonable to hope that houses in size and elegance equal to any yet found may exist to reward the enquirer : for public buildings, it is not probable that any still to be discovered are equal in splendour to those around the Forum and the theatres. The chief approach to Pompeii was, as we have al- ready said, through Naples and Herculaneum, along a branch of the Appian way. It is well known that the Romans constructed with great solidity, and maintained with constant care, roads diverging from the capital to the extremities of the empire. The good condition of these was thought to be of such importance, that the charge was only entrusted to persons of the highest dig- nity, and Augustus himself assumed the care of those in the neighbourhood of Rome. The expense of their con- struction was enormous, but they were built to last for ever, and to this day remain entire and level in many parts of the world, where they have not been exposed to destructive violence. They usually were raised some height above the ground which they traversed, and proceeded in as straight a line as possible, running over hill and valley with a sovereign contempt for all the principles of engineering. They consisted of three distinct layers of materials 5 the low- 9 98 POMPEII. est, stones, mixed with cement, {statumen) ;^ the mid- dle, gravel or small stones, {rudera),'\ to prepare a level and unyielding surface to receive the upper and most important structure, which consisted of large masses ac- curately fitted together. It is curious to observe that after many ages of imperfect paving we have returned to the same plan. The new pavement of Cheapside and Holborn is based in the same way upon broken gran- ite, instead of loose earth which is constantly working through the interstices, and vitiating the solid bearing which the stones should possess. A further security against its working into holes is given by dressing each stone accurately to the same breadth, and into the form of a wedge, like the voussoirs of an arch, so that each tier of stones spans the street like a bridge. This is an improvement on the Roman system : they depended for the solidity of their construction on the size of their blocks, which were irregularly shaped, although carefully and firmly fitted. These roads, especially in the neigh- bourhood of cities, had, on both sides, raised foot ways (margines,) protected by curb-stones, which defined the extent of the central part {agger) for carriages. The latter was barrelled, that no water might lie upon it. The most ancient and celebrated of all was the Ap- pian way, called Regina Viarum, the Queen of Roads. It was constructed by the censor, Appius Claudius, in the year of the city 441, and extended from Rome to Capua. Afterwards it was continued to Brundusium. At Sinuessa it threw off a branch called the Domitian way, which ran along the coast to Raise, Neapolis, Her- culaneum-, and Pompeii. Let the reader suppose him- self pursuing this road, then as he approaches the latter * Statumen, that which supports anything. Vitruvius uses it for the coating of a floor. t Rudera, rubble, rough stone, or broken pottery. PUBLIC ROADS AND STREETS. 99 city, both sides of the way, for nearly a furlong before he reaches it, are occupied by tombs and public monuments intermixed with shops, in front of which were arcades. The chariot-way is narrow, seldom exceeding ten feet in width, except within the gate at the commencement of the great street, where it is upwards of twenty feet across ; the footways are two or three feet wide, and elevated from eight inches to a foot above the road, having a curb and guard stones. The traveller, passing through the Street of Tombs, enters the city by the gate of Her- culaneum, already described. Here a long tortuous street presents itself to his view, having on either side broken walls of lava plastered and decorated with arabesques, paintings, mingled with inscriptions written in the pecu- liar letter then in use. The streets are paved with large irregular pieces of lava joined neatly together, in which the chariot wheels have worn ruts, still discernible ; in some places they are an inch and a half deep, and in the narrow streets follow one track ; where the streets are wider, the ruts are more numerous and irregular, as shown in the annexed illustration, presenting a fac-simile of the pavement. In those places where several pieces ^J Plan of the pavement, showing the ruts, &lc. 100 POMPEII. of lava met in one point, and where, in process of time, a hole was made, the ancients have repaired the injury with pieces of iron, which still remain in the angles. This method has generally been adopted throughout the city. In most places the streets are so narrow, that they may be crossed at one stride: where they are wider, a raised stepping-stone has been placed in the centre of the crossing. This, though in the middle of the car- riage way, did not much inconvenience those who drove about in the biga, or two-horsed chariot, because, the Biga, Plan of the stepping stone in the narrow street. width of these streets being only sufficient to admit the carriage, the wheels passed freely in the spaces left be- tween the curb on either side, and the stone in the cen- tre. These curbs are elevated from one foot to eighteen inches, and separate the foot pavement from the road. Throughout the city there is hardly a street unfurnished with this convenience. Where there is width to admit of a broad foot-path, the interval between the curb and the line of building is filled up with earth, which has then been covered over with stucco, and sometimes with a coarse mosaic of brickwork. Here and there traces of this sort of pavement still remain, especially in those streets which were protected by porticoes. The area of the Forum or principal square was not paved like the streets, but was covered with large reg- ular slabs of marble. These were joined together and laid with great accuracy ; but very little now remains, PUBLIC ROADS AND STREETS. 101 and what there is, is so covered with an accumulation of fine ashes blown from the carts which transport the earth from the excavations (the road being through the Forum), that it is scarcely to be discerned. Ancient biga covered with leather, in the Vatican. 9* CHAPTER VI. ORIGIN AND USE OF FORUM. — ARCHITECTURAL CLASSIFI- CATION OF BUILDINGS. DESCRIPTION OF FORUM OF POMPEII. TEMPLE OF JUPITER. In describing a Roman city, our attention is first drawn to the Forum, the focus of business, the resort of pleas- ure, the scene of all political and legal contention. In the early ages of Rome, one open space probably served for all the public meetings of the people, whether for the purposes of traffic, for the administration of justice, or for meetings to deliberate upon public affairs. So in Greek the same word. Agora, derived from ageiro, I collect, signifies equally a market, a place of assembly for citizens, and the assembly itself. As wealth and splendour increased, and business became more compli- cated, it was found inconvenient to have so many different occupadons carried on together, and two classes of fora arose ; -— Venalia, mere markets, as the Forum Boarium, or ox-market, Fiscarium, fish-market, &c, — and Civilia, those devoted to the other purposes of a place of assem- bly, of which, however, until the time of Julius Caesar, there was but one. He built a second of extraordinary splendour, the area alone of which cost the enormous sum of £800,000,^ from which we may imagine the ex- pense and splendour of the superstructure ; and others were atlerwards constructed by the Emperors. For the country, however, at all events in small places like Pom- peii, a single forum continued to be sufficient. Some difference existed between the Greek and Ro- * H. S. millies. Suet. CLASSIFICATION OF BUILDINGS. 103 man fora, derived from the difference of the uses to which they were to be appHed. The Greek were built square, with columns near each other, to give as much shelter as possible. On these was placed a marble architrave, supporting an upper ambulatory, or gallery for walking. This gallery the Romans retained (there appears to have been one at Pompeii) ; but the area, instead of being square, was oblong, and the pillars set at considerable in- tervals. These variations seem to have been made to give the greatest possible convenience for viewing shows of gladiators, v»^hich, previous to the building of amphi- theatres, were exhibited in the Forum. In its simple state, it was merely an open area, surrounded by a colon- nade, a sort of exchange ; but in the period of Roman splendour it was usually encompassed by a series of splendid public buildings, on which all the riches of archi- tecture were lavished. Basilicse, or courts of justice, — curiae, or places of assembly for the senate or local mag- istracy, — tabularia, where the public records were kept, — temples, prisons, public granaries, all things necessary for the public pleasure or convenience, were here collect- ed in immediate neighbourhood to each other. Various trades were exercised under the porticoes ; the money- changers had their stalls below : the management of the public revenue was usually carried on in the gallery above. At one end, or in an adjoining basilica, the praetor usually administered justice ; within, were the rostra from which orators addressed the people. The liveliness and tumult of the scene, where all these em- ployments were carried on, may well be imagined. It may be convenient, however, and may prevent repe- tition, if, before we enter upon a particular description of the buildings which usually composed this quarter of the town, a short account be given of the general struc- ture of temples, the most important and interesting, unless 104 POMPEII. we except the baths, of Roman buildings, together with an explanation of the terms employed by Vitruvius in characterising them. These are universally derived from the disposition of the pillars, the distinguishing feature in all ancient architecture. Technical terms appear hard to those who are ignorant of their meaning; but when once understood, they express much in a small compass, and unless unreasonably multiplied, convey the clearest idea of the object to be described. The body of the temple was usually quadrangular, oblong, and enclosed by walls; this was called cella, the cell: it was adorned on the ex- terior with columns, varying in their proportions and de- sign, forming porticoes on the front, or on the sides, or both : and from the number of columns employed, and the intervals at which they were placed, the building took its architectural denomination. A temple was said to be built in Antis, when square columns {antce) were placed at the angles and along the sides, with two round columns in the front between the antse.^ If built with a detached portico in front, consisting of any number of columns, it was termed Prostyle :| if both ends were thus ornament- ed, it was termed Amphiprostyle ; if the colonnade ex- tended all round, it became Peripteral ;J and Dipteral, when built in the most expensive and magnificent shape, when a double range of pillars ran all round. A variety * Example, St Paul's, Covent Garden. t Prostyle, from Trpo^ before, and o-i-vkq;, a column, with col- umns in front Amphiprostyle, from ct^ac^/j on either side, prostyle at each end. Peripteral, winged all round, from Tngt, round, and TT^i^ov, a wing. Dipteral, double-winged, from cT/?, twice. Pseudo- dipteral, false double-winged, from -{ivS^q, false. Monopteral, nothing but wing, from ^ovc?, only. Pseudoperipteral, falsely wing- ed. Hypsethral, open to the sky, from vtto, under, and fit/6g«, a ser- ene sky. X Examples, the Bourse at Paris, or the circular temple of Vesta at Tivoli. CLASSIFICATION OF BUILDINGS. 105 Pycnostyle . . .Q 1^ # *^ Systyle ® .2 . ® I The five styles of inter- Eustyle ....#• 2|.® V columniation employed Diastyle . . . © . 3 . .@ | in Temples. Arseostyle . @ . 4 . .® U m ANTIS MONOPTERAL PROSTYLE :^ PSEUDO DIPTERAL I'' ' 1 DIrTERAL HYP^THRaL O AMPHIPROSTYLE PERIPTERAL PERYPTERAL 106 POMPEII. of this style was called Pseudodipteral,^ in which the por- ticoes projected as far from the cell as in dipteral temples, but the interior range of columns was omitted. This was considered an improvement, both as giving more room under the portico, and being less expensive. Another variety consisted merely of a circular colonnade, without a cell, but only an altar in the centre, this was called Monopteral ; in another, | where the cell was required to be large, the walls were thrown back, so as to fill up the intercolumniations, whence it was called Pseudope- ripteral. The two latter were especially devoted to sacri- fices. Hypgethral temples were so named, because the cell was open to the sky. These were usually of the largest and most magnificent description. The type of them given by Vitruvius consists of a portico of ten col- umns at either end ; it is dipteral, and has within the cell a double range of columns, one supporting the other, de- tached from the w^all. Folding doors opened into it at each end. There was no example of this style at Rome. J It originated probably in the difficulty of roofing over so large a space, and of sufficiently fighting the interior, windows not being usually admitted in these buildings. The religious ceremonies performed in these vast temples probably did not require much shelter ; and a partial shel- ter was given by the colonnade within the cell, which was ceiled and roofed, and probably was added with a view to this convenience. The building, called the Tem- ple of Jupiter, or by others the Senaculum, may be con- jectured, from its interior colonnade, to have been hypae- thral. Buildings were further classified with regard to the intercolumniations, or space from one column to another. * Example, St Martin in the Fields. t Vitruv. iv, 7. t Vit. iii, 2. CLASSIFICATION OF BUILDINGS. 107 They were called Pycnostile,^ when the columns were placed in the closest order practised, that is, when one and a half diameters apart 5 Systyle, when two diameters apart ; Eustyle, when two and a quarter diameters apart ; Diastyle, when three diameters apart ; and Ara^ostyle when the interval was greater than this. Vitruvius ob- jects to the Systyle arrangement, as inconvenient ^be- cause, when matrons going with their families to the temple have ascended the steps, they cannot pass arm in arm between the pillars, without going sideways.' This objection holds good against the temples of Pompeii, which for the most part are on a small scale. In the diastyle, he thinks that the pillars are too far apart, and that in consequence the stability of the entablature is endangered. The reader is aware, that in Grecian archi- tecture the arch was not used ; neither were the ancients acquainted with the means employed by our own archi- tects, to cramp together separate stones into one solid body. Blocks therefore were required of sufficient size to stretch from the centre of one column to that of the next ; and these, where the interval was large, and the material tender, were subject to break even under their own weight, much more with that of the entablature ad- ded. In the Ar^ostyle neither stone nor marble archi- traves could be used, but beams of timber rested on the columns. Buildings of this description, he says, are low and heavy, and the architraves ornamented with pottery, or brazen mouldings. The portico surrounding the Fo- rum at Pompeii was of this description. The Eustyle was, as its name imports, the most perfect, uniting con- venience, beauty, and strength. In this, the central in- * Pycnostyle, close-columned, from TrvMvog, close, and o-tvkoc^ a column. Systyle, near-columned, from a-vv, together. Eustyle, well-columned, from gy, well. Diastyle, open-columned, from (T/ot, apart. Arseostyle, thinly-columned, from ctpAiog^ scattered. 108 POMPEII. tercolumniation in front of the temple was of three diam- eters, displaying to more advantage the door of the cella, with its ornaments, and affording a more ample space for ingress and egress. ' An essential feature in the temples of Pompeii, as distinguished from those of Greece, is to be observed in the podium,^ or basement, on which they were elevated. In the reUgious edifices of an early age, no such charac- ter appears : they were placed upon two or three steps only, if steps they should be termed, when evidently not proportioned for convenience of access to the interior, but calculated rather with a view to the general effect of the whole structure.'! By thus raising the floor to a level with or above the eye, the whole order, from the stylo- bate, or continuous platform on which the columns rest, to the roof, was brought at once into view. The steps, Vitruvius says, should be of an odd number, that the right foot, being planted on the first step, may also first be placed on the pavement of the temple. To enter with the lefl foot foremost was considered unlucky. With regard to the proportions of the interior within the porti- coes, the breadth is directed to be half the length, and the cell to be a fourth part more in length than in breadth. The building is directed to stand east and west like our churches, and the statue of the presiding deity to be ele- vated above the altar, that the suppliants and priests might decently look up to the object of their worship. Thus an hypsethral temple would present a most splendid scene; the worshippers addressing their vows, the image appar- ently rising to behold them, and the building itself boldly projected on the eastern sky. It will be recollected that these are merely the rules laid down by Vitruvius ; it does not follow that they were always observed. * DiminutivG of Troug, the foot, t Gell, p, 227. ■s Excavated T. Championet a.lmpluvia in the House-5. b. Pedestals for Statues. c. Inclosure in the Pantheon with the Tables for the sale of Provisions. d. Arch leadino into the court of the Granary &- Prison. e. Corn JcWine Measures. The dotted lines in the Elevations shew the supposed Upper Gallery- ly m DESCRIPTION OP FORUM. 109 We now proceed to describe the Forum of Pompeii. Entering at the gate of Herculaneum, the main street of the town leads the visitor to the north-west corner. Here he gains admittance by a flight of steps, leading down- wards through an arch in a brick wall, still partially re- taining the stucco by which it was covered. Remains of iron gates were found at several of the entrances, from whence it is inferred that they were closed at night. There is a smaller passage to the right of the arch just mentioned, and between them a public fountain, attached to the wall. The annexed plate contains a ground -plan of the Forum restored from the remains now existing. An examination of this will afford a correct idea of the arrangement of the several edifices. Upon entering the spectator finds himself in a large area surrounded by columns and the ruins of temples, triumphal arches, and other public buildings, the particu- lar uses of which can in general only be conjectured. The red masses of brick, divested of their marble cas- ings, the brown and yellow tints of the tufa, the frag- ments of white stucco attached to the shattered walls of the difierent edifices, and the pedestals, which once sup- ported statues commemorating those who had deserved well of their country, are all that now remain to attest its former beauty and magnificence. Around the west, south, and east sides there runs a Grecian Doric colonnade, uninterrupted, except on the east, where the porticoes of the surrounding buildings in some instances come flush up to the colonnade, and in some places break the line of the upper gallery, preserv- ing an uninterrupted communication below. Where this was the case, stairs ran up to the gallery : but probably there was also some communication between these several divisions of it, without descending to the ground. True it is, that as no vestige of this upper story remains, it may 10 110 , POMPEII. seem rash to assert its existence so boldly : but the tra* ces of staircases, combined with the authority of Vitruvi- us, are sufficient to warrant us in doing so. Probably it was built of wood ; this would account for its total dis- appearance. The diameter of the colmuns was two feet three and a half inches, their height twelve feet, the in- terval between them six feet ten inches. On the eastern side there still remains a portion of an older arcade, which the inhabitants, at the time of the eruption, were in the course of replacing by the Doric portico. The pillars are of three materials ; of fine white caserta stone, re- sembling marble ; of ancient yellowish tufa ; and of brick plastered. I The wall by which we have entered is connected with I the back of a building called by some the Temple of I Jupiter, by others the Senaculum, or council-chamber. ' It is prostyle, and of the Corinthian order : the columns are pycnostyle, and the portico is pseudo-dipteral and hexastyle, or having six columns in the front. A row of columns runs on each side along the interior of the cella, which, as has been observed, leads us to suppose that it was hypfethral. It is probable that there were two ranges of columns within the cella, one above another, as at Pa3stum, the floor of a gallery resting on the lower tier, since the height of the exterior was such as to require two orders in the interior (where the columns were small- er) to reach the roof, the object of the columns being support, and not mere decoration. A narrow staircase at the back of the temple, concealed behind three small chambers at the end of the cella, the walls of which rise to the height of the first order of columns, confirms the belief that there was formerly a gallery. The clear space of the cell, within these chambers and the colon- nade, was about forty-two feet by twenty-eight feet six DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. Ill inches. The interior has been painted ; red and black are the predominant colours. Diamond-shaped pieces of marble form the centre division of the pavementj which is enclosed within a broad border of black and white mosaic. In the centre of the door-sill there are traces of holes for the bolts of folding-doors. Upon the pavement fragments of a colossal statue were discovered. This temple is placed on an elevated basement or podium, which was ascended by many steps. Those nearest the columns are carried along the whole front of the portico, while the 5teps near the ground are narrow, and sunk in a low parapet forming a basement to the upper flight. Greater breadth of effect and grandeur is communicated to the whole edifice by this mass of solid wall beneath the large columns which it seems to support. A magnificent ex- ample of this method of construction is to be seen in the portico of the London University. The dye^ of the basement incUnes inwards ; it is moulded above and be- low, and in front formed into pedestals, which are oblong, and adapted to receive equestrian statues. Near one of ^em a sun-dial was found. Pedestals were also added m front at the angles of the basement of the portico. On the south-east a side door in the basement leads to vaults beneath the temple. The whole of the building, constructed as it is of stone and lava, has been covered with a fine white cement made of marble, still retaining great hardness. The workmanship does not appear to be very good or exact. The columns, and the spaces be- tween them, vary, none of them being equi-distant. The diameters of the columns are three feet seven inches, and three feet eight inches, making their height, according * The dye is that part of the basement which is placed between ihe under and upper moulding of the whole ; it is generally a plain surface. 112 POMPEII. to the proportions observed, approach to thirty-six feet, about the size of the lower order of St Paul's cathedral, so that the whole height of the building was, including the basement, about sixty feet. Without the walls its breadth was forty-three feet, and its length a hundred to the end of the portico. Add twenty feet for the flights of steps, and the total length is one hundred and twenty feet. Adjoining the south-western end of the basement stand the ruins of an arch, built of brick, and cased with slabs of white marble, fastened on the brick-work by iron cramps. This is conjectured to have been triumphal ; but from its being connected with the temple of Jupiter by a low wall, reaching to the height of the adjoining basement, it is more probable that it was only the en- trance to a court in front of what may have been the public granaries. This wall evidently proves that the whole was constructed, not for show, but use. Had the arch been triumphal, it would have been more solidly built, isolated, and not disfigured by a small piece of wall attached to one side only, disfiguring also the base- ment of the most commanding building in the city. It may be presumed, therefore, to have formed the entrance to a court-yard before the granary and prisons, which are here situated at the north-west corner of the Forum ; such a convenience being almost necessary to the former, for the unloading the grain apart from the crowd in the Forum ; and to the latter as an outlet where prisoners, it may be supposed, were allowed to take exercise under / the eyes of their guards. That the prison stood here / there can be no doubt ; ^ indeed its exact spot is deter- | mined by the skeletons of two men, left to perish in the i general confusion. Their leg-bones were found still / within the shackles, and, with these bracelets, are still * Vide Donaldson's Pompeii. DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 11$ preserved in the Museum at Portici. With regard to the other apartment, there certainly is not such convinc- ing evidence to prove that it was the public granary. It is well suited to such a purpose ; but the strongest evidence of its destination is to be found in the immediate neighbourhood of the public measures. We may further observe, with regard to the arch, that it is not sufficiently substantial for the purpose which is assigned to it, nor would the plane surface on the top be broad enough either for an equestrian statue or a triumphal car. But attached to the north-east angle of the temple of Jupiter there is a gateway, having the character of a triumphal arch. The massive piers, and part of the columns that adorned them, still remain. In each pier were two at- tached fluted Corinthian white marble columns, of good workmanship. In the centre of each pier, between the columns, are square-headed niches, in one of which there was a fountain, as is evident from the lead pipes which were here discovered. Statues, most probably, were placed in the four niches, and the fountain formed in one of them may have flowed through a cornucopia, or some other appropriate vessels, held in the hands of the figure. Statues, applied to these purposes, were com- monly placed at the fountains in Pompeii. Among others have been found two boys of beautiful workmanship, carrying vases on their shoulders, and two others with masks in their hands, the masks and vases resting on pe- destals. Water was conveyed up through the figures, and issued from the masks and vases. These statues, and many others intended for the same use, are made of bronze. Conduits of lead were frequently used in Pom- peii, to conduct the water to the public fountains and pri- vate baths. These, however, the Neapolitan government have caused to be torn up, and sold for their value as old metal. 10* 114 POMPEII. Bronze figures to ornament fountaios. DESCRIPTION OP FORUM. 115 Not the least interesting relic of antiquity, contained in the Museum at Naples, is the bronze cock of a res- ervoir, discovered at Capri during the excavations which were made in the palace of Tiberius. Time having firm- ly cemented the parts together, the water in its cavity has remained hermetically sealed during seventeen or eight- een centuries. Travellers are shown this curious piece Bronze cock found in the island of Capri. of antiquity, which being lifted and shaken by two men, the splashing sound of the contained fluid is distinctly heard. The arch from which this digression has led us, had, without doubt, an attic or low wall abvoe the cornice on which was placed either an equestrian statue or a car, the appropriate finish to such a structure. That either one or the other did surmount the attic, may be inferred from the fragments of a bronze statue of a man, and part of the legs of a horse, of the same metal, having been found in the immediate vicinity. It is built of bricks and lava, and has been covered with thin plates of mar- ble, a method of construction in use among the ancients ; and, from a principle of economy, much practised, not only in Pompeii, but even in Rome, where the brick walls, despoiled of their costly coatings, alone remain. Presuming that the Forum was closed for security, the opening of this arch must have had gates ; these, how- ever, no longer exist : possibly they were of wood, or if of bronze, they may have been carried away by the 116 POMPEII. Pompeians. An additional proof that the Forum was shut up at night is to be found in the small pier attached to the north-west angle of the arch, evidently built to re- ceive the iron or wood-work of a gate closing the foot- entrance by its side. Had it not been necessary to close the Forum, this small pier would have been useless, and the deformity of it would have been avoided. This, leading to the great western gate, and being also con- tiguous to the baths, near which there was another trium- phal arch, may be considered the principal entrance to the Forum, and, as such, was chosen for the site of a public monument. On the triumphal arch near the baths was placed an equestrian figure, the fragments of which were found during the excavation. The figure of the Eqaestrian statue of M. Nonus Balbus from Herculaneum, executed in inarbl«. DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 11*7 man is perfect, with the exception of one leg, but of the horse only two of the feet and the tail were found. The action of the statue resembles that of M. Aurelius in the Campidoglio at Rome, but it is of very inferior workmanship. Here was also found a skeleton, with sixty silver, and two copper coins. Marble bas-relief found in Pompeii, representing a warrior, and a black slave driving his biga. The buildings hitherto described, with the exception of the granary and prisons, form the north side of the Forum. We will now take those on the east side, and, describing them and their probable uses in the order of their succession, proceed along the south and west sides, back to the granary. Adjoining the pedestrian entrance, already mentioned, at the north-eastern angle of the Fo- rum, stands an edifice called^ the Pantheon, from twelve pedestals placed in a circle round an altar in the centre of its area, which are supposed to have supported the statues of the Dii Consentes, or Magni,* the aristocracy of Ital- * Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Vesta, Ceres, Neptune, Venus, Vul- can, Mars, Mercury, Apollo, Diana. These, with others called Dii 118 P03IPEII. ian mythology. The area, one hundred and twenty by ninety feet, is bounded by the back walls of shops on the north and west sides ; by the ^dicula (a small temple, or shrine,) raised to the founder or patron, and two inclosures on the east ; and by the numerous cells belonging to the fraternity of priests on the south. Within, perhaps, a rec- tangular portico or gallery inclosed the twelve pedestals, or they may have been covered with a wooden temple, in the light style of architecture depicted on the walls of Pom- peii. jS traces, however, remain of such constructions ; and if any existed, they must have been destroyed in the fire which consumed the town, of which traces are con- tinually found in the charred timber turned up in the ex- cavations. In front of this building, under the portico of the Forum, are seven shops, possibly the Tabernae Ar- gentarise, or shops of money-changers ; the pedestals of some of the tables still remain. The entrance to the Pantheon is by a small vestibule in the centre of the area. There are four pedestals in front of it, and one at the end of each party wall between the shops. They probably were meant to receive columns. At the end of the shops was a staircase, which may have led to the upper ambu- latories. -Vear the entrance ninety-three brass coins were found. In the centre of the vestibule stood a small altar, which still remains, with doors opening on each side into the area beyond. Behind the ahar was a niche, on which the statue of some one of the gods was placed, so that the devout Roman had an opportunity of leaving his offering Select!, were entitled Dii Majorura Gentium, of the greater tribes ; the rest, Dii Minorum Gentium, of the lesser tribes ; in allusion to the distinction between the senators appointed by Romulus, and those appointed afterwards by Tarquinius Priscus, and others. The former were called Patres Majorum Gentium ; the latter, Patres Minorum Gentium. DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 119 as he entered, and propitiating the presiding deity. On the right side, as you enter, are arranged the cells of the priests ; over these were other apartments, as the holes in the side walls for the reception of joists indicate. Here are also holes in the piers in front of these cells, for the joists and floor of a gallery which gave access to the up- per apartments, as in the old inns still existing in London and elsewhere. The staircase has been entirely destroy- ed, so that its site cannot be ascertained ; it is however most natural to suppose it near the vestibule. There wej'e other entrances ; one in the centre of the north side, and another at the end of the cells, both leading into streets without the Forum. The farther end of this building was divided into three compartments. That in the centre was an aedicula, containing niches, in which were statues of Nero and Messalina. On the right, a door- way, between two columns, gave admission to a refectory for the use of the priests, or, as some have supposed, a place for the sale of such provisions as they had reserved from the sacrifice. Here there is a low platform, round three sides of the room, which may have been meant either for tricliniary couches, or have served as a place on which the provi- sions for sale were exposed.^ Round the inside runs a marble gutter, to carry off the water and refuse when the place was cleansed. On the other side of the sedicula an * The Romans, it is well known, reclined at their meals, appa- rently an inconvenient fashion, but not so inconvenient to persons who used no knives and forks, as to us who require two hands to get our food comfortably to our months. Three couches were usually placed in a dining room, one at each side of the table, leaving the fourth open to the servants. Hence the word triclinium, rguc KKiv:ti, three beds, which is given both to the couches and to the room. The distance between the sides of this podium, and the opening in the east side of it, as represented in the plan, together with the gutter surrounding it, make the second account of it the more probable. 120 POMPEII. enclosure has been formed with columns on the exterior, similar to the entrance of the refectory. Within it is a small sedicula, before which stands an altar. This apart- ment has been twice stuccoed and painted, the first de- sign having been replaced by a series of arabesques. This style of decoration, common to all the public and private buildings of Pompeii, has been condemned by Vitruvius ; yet, even in defiance of his authority, we feel disposed to admire their bold and harmonious colouring, and the lightness, elegance, and variety of their design. The paintings in this edifice are worthy, for their beau- ty, of especial notice ; the various designs are well com- posed, and the colours are as brilliant as when first laid on ; among the figures, not the least interesting is one of the paintress herself, holding in one hand an oval white palette, apparently of silver, in the other, brushes tinged with several colours. Her five fingers appear to grasp the palette, through as many holes perforated in the metal. Painting of a Galley on the walls of the Pantheon. The art of fresco painting is still practised, but the secret of employing a medium so durable as to withstand, first fire, and afterwards the damp of so many ages, is unknown to the moderns. It has been supposed, that the medium employed to liquify the pigments, used in these paintings, was wax mixed with oil. Supposing that wax, than which DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 121 nothing is more lasting, were used, it may be imagined that the object of a silver or metal palette waste retain so much heat as would liquify the menstruum, without being incon- venient to the artist. The paintings consist of architect- ural compositions of long aerial columns, vistas through doorways, showing the ornamented ceilings, an abundant variety of figures and borders of flowers, with an almost endless detail of enrichment, painted for the most part with dazzling colours, among which, bright vermiUon, jet black, deep crimson, azure blue, and golden yellow, usually form the ground. To these are added a variety of mixed tints, more delicate as the objects are supposed to recede from the eye. The latter consist principally of light greys, pink, purple, and green. It must however be confessed, that good taste did not hold exclusive sway in Pompeii ; for in that case a proprietor would hardly have painted the exterior of his house with chequers resembling the sign of a modern alehouse ; or have covered the external walls with a decoration similar to the infantine amusement of a child, who, for the first time in possession of a pair of com- passes and a colour-box, proceeds to describe circles in- tersecting each other, and then fills them with a coloured patchwork. ^ Historical subjects are painted in the cen- tres of the compartments formed by the arabesques ; one of these represents Ulysses in disguise meeting Penelop© on his return to Ithaca. Another theory has been adopted by an ingenious Nea- politan architect. Carlo Bonnucci, with regard to this building. The temple at one end he calls the temple of Augustus, and the remainder he sets apart for the banquets of the Augustals ; and he cites Vitruvius as authority for such a situation as that chosen. Vegetius tells us that ♦ It has been imagined that the occupier was a worker in mosaic, and that this patchwork was a sort of sign. 11 / 122 POMPEII. the Augustals were in high esteem : the order was found- ed by Augustus, and their duty was to lead the troops in battle ; they also presided at the feasts called Augustalia, kept in honour of the founder. The numerous inscrip- tions relative to these personages discovered at Pompeii would lead us to infer that they were of some importance, and from one of these they appear to have been six in number. Sir William Gell, following the opinion of Bon- nucci, saysj ^ that the Augustals were possessed of funds which supplied them with the means of feasting and invit- ing their fellow-citizens to partake in their banquet, for which purpose the building now called Pantheon was so well calculated, that, whether belonging to a particular order, or the common property of all the inhabitants of Pompeii, it may be safely considered as a place of feast- ing or carousal under the protection of some deity, who, from his more elevated sacellum, was supposed to over- look and patronize the banquet. That such was the des- tination of this edifice, and that it differed but little in its uses from that which the Greeks called Lesche, and the modern Italians a trattoria and coffee-house, seems to be rendered more probable by many of its internal decora- tions ; while its proximity to the Forum, the chief resort of the inhabitants of the city, would point out this situation as the most eligible for a place of conversation and refresh- ment.' The shops in the street on the north side of the Pan- theon most probably supplied those who feasted with dain- ties ; and it has been called the Street of Dried Fruits, from the quantity of raisins, figs, plums, and chestnuts, fruit of several sorts preserved in vases of glass, hemp- seed, and lentils. Scales, money, moulds for pastry and bread, were discovered in the shops ; and a bronze statue of Fame, small, and delicately executed, having golden bracelets round the arms. DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 123 Bronze pastry-mould. Bread, from a painting on the walls of the Pantheon. 124 POMPEII. In the northern entrance to the Pantheon the name CELSVM is written on a pilaster ; near it was found in a box a gold ring with an engraved stone set in it, forty- one silver and a thousand and thirty-six brass coins. Here Gold ring with an engraved stone. also on both sides of the walls are representations of Cu- pids making bread. The mill is placed in the centre of the picture with an ass on each side, from which we may infer that these animals were used in grinding the flour. At the entrance to the south a hatchet is painted as ne- cessary for cutting up the meat, and the picture is filled up with boars' heads, fish, hams, Sic. In other parts of the building, above the elegant paintings already men- tioned, are geese, turkeys, * vases of eggs, fowls and game ready plucked for cooking, oxen, sheep, fruit in glass dishes, a cornucopia with various amphorae for wine, and many other accessories for the banquet. In the centre of the court, near the twelve pedestals, is a sink, which was found filled with fish-bones and re- mains of other articles of food. The adjoining building has been supposed by some anti- quaries to have been the place of meeting of the Augus- tals ; by others, a temple dedicated to three deities, on account of three recesses, apparently for statues, in three * It is doubtful whether the turkey was known to the ancients, though meleagris is usually so translated. DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 125 11* 126 POMPEII. From the paintings on the walls of the Pantheon. DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 127 From the paintings in the Pantheon. sides of the building. It may with more probability be considered the Senaculum, or place of meeting for the senate, or town council : its spacious area, eighty-three feet by sixty, adapts it well to this purpose, and the niches in the wall may have been meant to receive statues of dis- tinguished senators and magistrates. The portico of this edifice was composed of tinted white marble columns, of the Ionic order, its front ranging with the portico of the Forum, without interrupting the promenade below. There 128 POMrEII. was a staircase at the north end of it, which probably led to the upper gallery, or ambulatory ; and a passage may also have been formed over the immediate entrance to the Senaculum, communicating with the ambulatory on the other side. The columns of this portico were of course larger and loftier than those of the Forum. Within, the pavement of the area is raised above the level of the por- tico. On each side, upon entering, are two large reces- ses, with pedestals attached to the centre of the back wall, possibly destined to support the effigies of the gods to whom the place was sacred. The altar stands in the centre of the area, nearly in front of each statue. The building is terminated at the end by a semicircular recess, where there is a raised seat for the chief magistrates. At the side of one of the recesses is a chamber for records. This build- ing, for convenience, may have been entirely covered, and the light admitted through the portico. Whether light was also admitted through glass casements in the roof or not must remain conjectural ; but that the ancients were ac- quainted with the use of glass windows, is sufficiently prov- ed by the quantity of flat glass discovered during the exca- vations ; and also by its having been found ingeniously fit- ted (as will be seen in the sequel) to those rare and minute openings which were dignified with the name and office of windows in Pompeii. View of the small temple of Mercury, called by others of duirinus. DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 129 Adjoining to the building last described, within an area fifty-seven feet six inches by fifty feet seven inches, stands a small temple elevated on a basement. It is approached through a narrow covered vestibule, communicating be- tween the court and the Forum. On each side of the basement are steps leading to the platform of the cella; in front of it, in the centre of the court, is an altar of white marble^ bearing an unfinished bas-relief which has been imagined to represent Cicero sacrificing, from a supposed resemblance in the principal figure to that great Bas-relief oa the altar, representing a sacrifice. orator. The victim is led by the servant (popa)y whose office it was to take its life, naked to the waist, bearing his sacrificial axe {malleus ; ) he is clothed round the middle with a short cloth, which does not descend to the knees. The sacrificer appears to be a magistrate 5 he ia crowned with a wreath, and his robes partly cover his head. He holds in his hand a patera, as if about to sprinkle the victim, and thereby cleanse it from its im- purities before offering it to the gods. The popa and an attendant are also crowned with wreaths. A boy follows the principal personage, holding in his hands a vase and patera, or plate, and having the sacred vitta or fillet hanging from his neck ; near him is a figure hold- ing a patera filled apparently with bread. Another figure appears to be sounding the tibia, or double flute, fol- lowed by lictors, with their fasces. The temple is rep- 130 POMPEII. resented in the back-ground decorated with garlands. On the eastern and opposite side is a wreath of oak- leaves bound with the vitta, having on each side young olive-trees sculptured; and on the north and south are the various implements and ornaments of sacrifice, as the vase, the patera, vitta, garlands, the incense box, a Utensils used in sacrificing. ladle, and a spiral instrument, the use of which is un- known, unless it belonged to the haruspex, who inspected the bowels of the victims, and prophesied of the future according to the appearances presented to him. Enrich- ed mouldings decorate both the upper and lower part of the altar. The temple is built of stone and decorat- ed on the outside with pilasters ; its external dimensions are but fifteen feet six inches by thirteen feet eight inches, so as not to admit much more than the statue whose pedestal still remains. The peribolus, or wall surround- ing the whole, is constructed of brick, divided by pilas- ters into compartments, in which are sunk panels, sur- DESCRIPTION OF FCRUM. 131 mounted at the top by a running ornament consisting of a series of triangles and segments of circles placed Ornaments of sacrifice on the sides of the altar. alternately. This brickwork having never been covered w^ith stucco, and the altar being unfinished^ a conjecture has been formed, that the Pompeians were disturbed by the eruption of Vesuvius while they were rebuilding this very temple, which had perhaps been destroyed by the previous earthquake. Here also, as in almost every building destined for religious purposes, were apartments for priests, and in them a store of amphorae was found. These were large earthen vessels in which wine was kept. The liquor was brought to the door in carts, in large skins, and drawn off into these vases. The follow- ing illustrations, taken from a painting on the walls, and from a terra-cotta bas-relief, the sign of a wine-shop in Pompeii, show their form and the manner in which they are carried about. The building next in succession partakes of the nature of a basilica. On the architrave over the side-entrance from the street, which runs nearly at right angles to this side of the Forum, is the following inscription, which has been repeated on large blocks of marble found in the Forum : — 132 POMPEII. DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 133 Manner of carrying the amphora. EUMACHIA. L.F. SACERD: PUBLIC. NOMINE. SUO. ET. M. NUMISTRI. FRONTONIS. FILL CHALCIDICUM. CRYPTAM. PORTICUM. CONCORDIA. AUGUST^E. PIETATI. SUA PEQUNIA. FECIT. EADEMQUE DEDICAVIT. We learn from hence that a female of the name of Eu- machia erected, at her own expense, and in the name of herself and her son, the crypto- portico, or walled gal- lery, ^ and the chalcidicum, or enclosed space at the end of the area,| in the centre of which is a large semi- circular recess. Immediately behind this recess, painted green and red, stands her own statue, five feet four inches in height, on a pedestal placed in a niche in the centre of the wall, with this inscription : EUMACHIA. L.F SACERD. PUBL. FULLONES * A crypto-portico (from xpuTr^o?, hidden) is a gallery, in which the columns on the interior are replaced by walls, merely pierced for windows. t Chalcidica are apartments separated by a partition from the body of a basilica, or other large building. The name, Festus says, is derived from the city Chalcis. Vitruvius directs that chal- cidica should be constructed at the ends of a basilica, if the area is disproportionately long. It seems to signify, also, any large portico. « Avet animus atque ardet in chalcidicis illis magnis atq : in palatiis cceli deos deasq : conspicere intectis corporibus. ' Arno- bius, 1. iii, p. 105. Facciolati. 12 134 POMPEII. from which it would appear that the cloth-scourers * had, in gratitude to Eumachia, erected this statue to her memory. The whole structure consists of a large area, about one hundred and thirty feet by sixty-five, surround- ed by a double gallery, and has in front a pseudo-dipteral portico of eighteen columns, elevated on pedestals. Un- der its centre was the great public entrance, which was closed with folding doors, turning in sockets of bronze, and secured by bolts shot into the holes still remaining in the marble threshold. This entrance was flanked by two large circular recesses, one on each side, and be- yond these again, at the extreme end of the building, by raised platforms, the staircases to which still remain. Hence orators might have harangued an audience shel- tered under the portico, and edicts relative to commerce might have been publicly read. The entrance to the area is through a passage, on each side of which are other passages, with a staircase on the right leading to galleries above. The entrance to the chalcidicum is from the Street of the Silversmiths, forming the southern boundary of the building. Here is a small chamber for the door-keeper, through which is seen a flight of steps -ascending to the floor of the chal- cidicum and crypto-portico ; the walls on each side of the steps are painted in black panels, divided by red pilasters. Under the staircase are the remains of a ther- mopolia, or shop where warm water and warm decoc- tions were sold. | A curious vessel for making these preparations has been discovered something like a modern * A scouring shop has lately been excavated from this place. T Donaldson's Pompeii. DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 135 Urn for w^m decoctions drank in the Thermopolia. Section of the urn. urn, but much more complicated. This figure shows a section of the urn with its conical cover; a a, is the body of 136 POMPEII. the urn, b, a small cylindrical furnace in the centre: it has four holes in the bottom, as shown in the plan at g, meant to let the ashes fall through, and to create a draught; c, a vase-shaped mouth, by means of which the water was poured in, serving also for the escape of steam; cJ, a tube which, by means of a cock, served to let off the fluid. It is placed thus high to prevent the pipe being stopped up by the ingredient decocted, e, a conical cover, the hollow of which is closed by a thin plate some- what concave ; /, a moveable flat cover, with a hole in the middle, which closes the whole urn except the mouth of the small furnace; m m, nuts and screws which fasten this moveable cover on the rim of the urn; i i, rim, con- vex on the outside, and concave within, which, the cover being put on, receives into its concavity the rim of the mouth of the furnace. The edifice erected by Eumachia has a peristyle or uninterrupted colonnade of white marble Corinthian col- umns, admirably executed. Unfortunately, only a small portion of one pillar remains, still their plan and disposi- tion is exactly determined by the marble stylobate, on which they were placed. Their total disappearance has been accounted for, by supposing that the Pompeians themselves had dug up and carried off* these expensive ornaments subsequent to the demolition of their city. Behind this peristyle the crypto-portico ran round three sides of the building, forming the external boundary on the north, south, and east sides. It was lighted by win- dows placed at regular intervals, having marble lintels, to which moveable windows were temporarily fixed ; but these openings do not always front the spaces between the columns of the area. The east end must have been darker than the north and south sides, from the light being intercepted by the chalcidicum ; it appears, however, that this inconvenience was obviated by a borrowed light through that building itself, the back and front of which DESCRIPTtON OF FORUM. 137 were pierced with apertures. There were most probably wooden galleries above the colonnade and crypto-portico, and the upper cornice seems to have projected far into the area, thus protecting numerous little tables built of lava, and covered with marble, which served for the purpose of displaying the goods which were here exhibited and sold; for it appears probable that this building was for the use of the Pompeian manufacturers of cloth, whose gratitude to Eumachia is expressed by the statue and inscription abovementioned. On one side of the niche, where the statue of Eumachia is placed, is a false door, six feet wide, and ten and a half high, painted on the stucco to correspond with the opening on the other side ; it is of a yellow colour, and framed with styles and panels, like those now in use. It is divided perpendicularly into three con> partments. This door may be presumed to be similar to the door at the entrance to the chalcidicum from the Street of Silversmiths. To make the representation more exact, the ring which served for a handle has been imitat- ed. The walls of the crypto-portico are also divided into large panels, painted alternately red and yellow, and deco- rated in the prevalent fashion, not the least singular part of which, as demonstrative of their horticultural taste, are the representations of borders of flowers along the bottom of the walls, representing a plant similar to the iris, except Statue of Eumachia and false door, 12^ 138 FOMPEIl. that the colour of the flower is vermilion. In the centre of each panel is a small figure or landscape. The chalcidicum is raised above the level of the area, and must have had temporary steps of wood ; it is divided into two parts by the recess already mentioned, which may have served for a civil tribunal. Near this was found a statue without the head ; the robe with which it was draped was edged with a gilded or red stripe. There can be no doubt that this part of the building was the chalcidicum mentioned in the inscription, from the passage already quoted from Vitruvius, which directs chalcidica to be cut off from one or both ends of a basilica, if the arej^ is longer than it ought to be. Such an enclosed space was almost necessary, (if we are right in considering it as a sort of cloth-market) for the safe custody of goods which remained unsold ; as were the tables under the projecting cornice for the display of goods, and the crypto-portico, or inclosed gallery for the transaction of business during the winter. The recess in the centre may also have been occupied by a magistrate, who ratified the sale, received the impost, if any was levied, and settled all disputes aris- ing from the commercial transactions. It may be mention- ed here, that the basilica of Paulus jEmihus at Rome had also a semicircular recess at one end for the tribunal. The building appears to have been repairing at the time of the eruption, as a piece of marble was found on the spot, with a line drawn in charcoal, to guide the chisel of the mason. On the external wall of the crypt is a notice of a gladia- torial show, as well as an inscription, tending to prove the opulence of the city ; it is to the effect that ' all the gold- smiths invoked Caius Cuspius Pansa the ^dile.' Along the south side of the chalcidicum runs a broad street, more regularly built than any other in Pompeii. It is called the Street of the Silversmiths, from articles of jewellery having been found in some of the shops. These DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 139 are constructed of masonry, neatly executed, and orna- mented with elegant pilasters. Pilasters also flank the doorways. The style of domestic architecture observable in this street is purely Grecian. The entablature is adorn- ed with dentils, or small oblong blocks, placed at intervals on a horizontal line immediately under the cornice : these dentils were formed originally by the projecting beams which supported the roof and floor of any building. The most singular part of the construction of the houses in this street arises from the courses of masonry, and the mould- ings being inclined with the very gentle slope of the street j 140 POMPEII. this singularity has hitherto escaped the notice of the nu- merous writers on the antiquities of Pompeii. This method appears to have been adopted to avoid breaking the hori- zontal lines of the architecture, and thus ruining the uni- formity of the street. The inclination of the ground fortu- nately is very slight, or the expedient, which is we believe unique, could not have been adopted. The carriage-way up to the Forum is interrupted by the platform under the colonnade being raised one step. The street was supplied with water from two fountains, a luxury so common in Pom- peii, that there is hardly a street without one. They were generally ornamented, and kept constantly supplied from a large reservoir placed near them. We have here given a sketch of one of these fountains in its present state, situated ^ in Triviisy'^ or at the junction of three streets. Tn the passage of one of the houses in the Street of the Silver- smiths there is a coarsely executed painting of the twelve principal Gods and Goddesses, and also a representation of what may be presumed to be Pluto, drawn with black colour on the wall by some indifferent artist ; this latter is^ not unlike the modern vulgar notion of the devil, a fierce black-looking fellow, with horns and cloven feet. The names of the owners are written on their houses. One, belonging to Vettius, has the following inscription, painted Fac-simile inscription on the walls. over another still older and illegible, in the peculiar care« less character then in use. The upper line is part of the older inscription : they were usually done in black or red \ DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 141 some were merely scratched on the wall. The Album of the Latins (levy,(x)^a of the Greeks) is often to be met with on the external walls of the houses of Pompeii exactly as Suidas describes it ; that is to say, a piece of the wall whitened, fit to receive inscriptions relative to the affairs of the citizens. Sometimes the taste of the inscriber led him to inclose this album, or whitened wall, with a border, in the form of the ancient tabellum or tablet used to write on ; which practice has been handed down to us, and may be often seen on the canisters in the shops of grocers, tobacconists, chemists, &lc. One of these inscriptions runs thus : — MARCUM. CERRINIUM. VATIAM. ^EDILEM. ORAT. UT' FAVEAT. SCRIBA. ISSUS: DIGNUS. EST. \i jii VJ.)X^^ iiv I vm . - U-' -'I DlCAJ05-£Sr r^ Fac-simile inscription. Which may be translated — ' The scribe Issus beseeches Marcus Cerrinius Vatia, the ^dile, to patronise him : he is deserving. ' This appears to be equivalent to our ^ Pat- ronised by His Royal Highness,' &c. Faventinus, most probably another scribe patronised by the same ^dile, gives a portrait of himself with his pen behind his ear. At the farthest end of this street was discovered a skeleton, supposed to have been a priest of Isis. It was covered with pumice-stones and other volcanic matter. In the hand* was a bag of coarse linen, not entirely destroyed, * The hand, with the cloth, is now in the Museum at Naples. 142 POMPEII. i VA77mXB0'Vf^ Fac-simile. containing three hundred and sixty silver coins, forty-two of copper, and six of gold ; and near him several figures belonging to the worship of Isis, small silver forks, cups, paterae in gold and silver, a cameo representing a Satyr striking a tambourine, rings set with stones, and vases of copper and bronze. On the south side of this street stands a building, the last on the eastern side of the Forum, de- void of all ornament or inscriptions that might mark its use. The naked walls furnish nothing on which we may evea found a conjecture. A double colonnade runs along the front of this buildino: and the southern end of the Forum. At the south-eastern angle another street runs on to the Forum, but a raised step at the end denies entrance to carriages : on the centre of this step there is a fountain. The names of owners of houses are painted on the stuc- co at the sides of the doors. In several of these houses, skeletons with rings, bracelets, necklaces, and other orna- ments, together with many coins, were found. The kitch- ens were built under ground, which is not common in Pom- peii, and indeed nowhere else observable, except on the side next the sea, where the declivity of the rock is so great that the offices are necessarily placed below the ground floor, to bring that floor to a level. The south end of the Forum is occupied by three buildings, which much resemble each other in their plan, and are nearly of the same size. In the absence of all inscriptions, we have supposed two of these to be curise, or places of as- DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 143 sembly for the magistrates, and the central one an JErari- um, or treasury. They have undoubtedly been highly decorated with marble statues and columns, fragments of which, together with pedestals for the latter, still remain on the floors ; and it is said that many gold, silver, and cop- per coins were found in one of them. The floors are ele- vated above the colonnade, and are reached by steps : they have a circular recess at the end for a tribunal, where a magistrate might preside over the meetings in the curiae, and a quaestor attend to his duties in the public treasury. These buildings strike the eye of the traveller upon first entering the Forum, from the high dark-red masses of brick contrasting with the verdant mountains at their back, and the low, limy buildings around them. We are inclined to think that they were divided into two stories, from traces of stairs which would have led to the upper floor, and also to the wooden gallery above the Forum. There is a narrow passage between the western curia and the aera- rium. On the western side of the Forum are the basilica, a ^emple supposed to be dedicated to Venus, and the public granaries and prisons, which latter have been already no- ticed. The basilica, or court of justice, is the largest building in Pompeii : it is of an oblong form, two hundred and twenty feet in length by eighty, and corresponds in some particulars with the usual ancient description of that building. It is placed on the warmest side of the Forum, at its south-west angle ; and is entered through a vesti- bule having five doorways of masonry, in which grooves have been cut for the insertion of wooden door-jambs. Prom the vestibule the area of the basilica is reached by a flight of four steps, leading through ^ve doorways, as in the vestibule. The roof was supported by a peristyle of twenty-eight large Ionic columns, constructed of brick : thus the space between the exterior walls and the peristyle was converted into a covered gallery, where the suitors 144 POMPEII. Plan showing the construction of the columns of the Basilica. were sheltered from the weather, while the light was ad- mitted hypeethrally from the centre of the peristyle. The tribunal was placed at the farthest end of the building, and on each side of it were two square chalcidica ; a smal- ler order of half columns was attached to the walls, and four whole columns flank and divide the principal entrance; at each corner of the building two columns are joined together, something in the manner of a Gothic pier. This we believe to be a unique example of columns being thus united in Grecian architecture. Upon this smaller order the joists of the upper gallery must have rested at one end: the other most probably was let into the shaft of the larger column, as the smaller is placed immediately behind it. The gallery projected as far as the centre of the large columns. Along the intercolumniations ran a pluteum, or parapet, high enough to prevent persons from falling over : this was most probably repeated all round the back of the gallery, on the face of the lateral walls, upon which, as a basement, a second order was raised. The aggregate height of the two smaller orders was most probably equal to that of the larger order of the peristyle, and the roof Description of forum. 145 Was sustained, as has been before mentioned, by the lateral walls and the columns of the peristyle, which rose to the same height. The second gallery was reached by a staircase, placed without the building ; the roof also may have inclined in- wards, and the water have been carried away by chan- nels sunk round the marble floors ; but there are no re- mains of these floors, and as the place bears evident marks of having been excavated by the ancients, possibly for re- cords of important trials, it would appear that they had, at the same time, availed themselves of the opportunity af- forded them to carry away the pavement of the building, of which only the pozzuolano, in which it was bedded, re- mains. In the centre of the lateral wall are two entran- ces, near which are wells. At the farthest end was raised the tribunal for the prsetor, or judge, which must have been ascended by wooden steps : it is decorated with small col- umns, between which, at the back, were small apertures, and at the sides closets, probably for their robes of office. Beneath were temporary dungeons for the accused ; and there are two holes in the floor, through which orders were transmitted to the person in charge of the prisoners. In front of the tribunal was a pedestal, on which the legs of a bronze statue were found. On each side of the tribu- nal were two enclosed apartments, intended probably for the use of suitors and their advocates, or the officers, lie- tors, and necessary attendants of the courts. The exter- nal walls are quite plain ; but in the interior, courses of masonry are represented in stucco, painted with various colours in imitation of marble. Inscriptions have been faintly scratched on these walls by the loiterers in the courts, by no means remarkable for correctness either in style or sentiment. The large fluted columns which sup- port the roof are singularly constructed with bricks and pieces of tufa, radiating from the centre, as may be seen in the foregoing plan, showing two akernate layers. All, 13 146 POMPEII. whether of stone or brick, are covered, as well as the walls^ with a fine marble stucco of great hardness. The opinion here expressed, that the lateral walls reached to the height of the larger order, varies from that adopted by Sir W. Gell, who thinks that the peristyle alone sup- ported the principal roof, called testudo, and that it rose above the rest of the building. He also thinks that the roof of the gallery, or portico, round the testudo inclined inwards, resting against the shaft of the large columns of the peristyle, and thus cutting in two parts the most im- portant feature of the whole building. We dissent from this, because, had the construction been such as Sir W. Gell supposes, the whole would have been covered ; and such ingenious architects as the Pompeians employed would hardly have built the roof of the surrounding gallery so as to throw its drippings into the area within the peris- tyle, which, being covered, would have been the favourite place of assembly. Next to the basilica, which is an iso- lated building, and separated from it by a street communi- cating with the Forum, is a temple, said to be dedicated to Venus. It is peripteral and amphiprostyle, and is ele- vated on a podium, or basement. The portico in front of the cell is tetrastyle and pseudodipteral, and the columns are set araeostyle. Within the cell, which was very small, part of a female statue, its pedestal, and a beautiful mosaic border, were found : hence it has been called the temple of Venus, a supposition confirmed by the following inscrip- tion : — M . HOLCONIVS. RVFVS. D.V.I.D. TER. C. EGNATIVS. POSTHVMVS. D.V.I.D. TER EX. D.D. IVS. LVMINVM. OPSTRVENDORVM . HS . CO CO 00 REDEMERVNT . COL . VEN . COR . VSQVE . AD . TEGULAS . FACIVND . CCERARVNT . * * Donaldson. DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 147 Mosaic border. ^ Marcus Holconius Rufus, and Caius Ignatius Posthu- mus, duumvirs of justice for the third time, by a decree of the Decurions, bought again the right of closing the openings for three thousand sesterces, and took care to erect a private wall to the college of the incorporated Ve- pereans up to the roof.' It is very possible that these 148 POMPEII. openings were between the thick piers on the side next the colonnade of the Forum^ and that, previous to their being closed, the public could see into the area surround- ing the fane of Venus. It is easy to understand w^hy the magistrates should deem it proper that they should be clos- ed up. The temple stood in an open area, one hundred and fifty feet by seventy- five, surrounded by a wall and portico. At the north end was the priests' apartment, having an out- let into the Forum ; the public entrance was at the south. Opposite the latter, bronze ornaments resembling the heads of large nails were found, with which the door might have been decorated, according to a practice common among the ancients. The columns of the temple were Corinthian, fluted, and in part painted blue ; those of the colonnade were origiaally Doric, but afterwards altered to Corinthian, varying in detail, very ill designed, and badly executed. A perforation has been made in one of the latter to receive a pipe, through which water for the sacrifices flowed into a basin placed upon a circular fluted pedestal. The lower third of them is painted yellow, the rest is white. The details, or characteristic ornaments of the original Doric order, are added with tiles and stucco, and the surface of the architrave is painted with an endless variety of orna- ment. Both a consular and a terminal figure were found here, and it has been supposed that one of the latter was Terminal figure in the temple of Venus. TEMPLE OF POMPEII. 149 Dwarfs, from a painting at Pompeii. placed before each column of the colonnade. Channels were formed round the area, under the cornice of this colonnade, to carry off the water from the roof, which in- clined inwards like a shed. The ascent to the cell of the temple was by a flight of steps, on each side of which were pedestals ; near one of them lies an Ionic votive column, with a tablet carved in relief upon its shaft, meant to re- ceive the inscription, stating by whom, and on what occa- sion it was consecrated. The cell had a pilaster at each of the external angles, and the walls were stuccoed in imi- tation of masonry. In front of the steps was the great altar : a piece of black stone placed upon it has three re- ceptacles for fire, on which the ashes of the victims were found. An inscription on the east side, which is repeated on the west, records that the Quartumviri, M. POR- CIUS, L. SEXTILIUS, CN. CORNELIUS, and A. CORNELIUS, erected the altar at their own ex- pense. The walls under the colonnade are painted in vivid colours, principally on a black ground, representing land- scapes, country-houses, and interiors of rooms with figures. The groups of figures consist of dancers, sacrificers to Priapus, battles with crocodiles, &c ; one represents Hector tied to the car of Achilles, another the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon, and near the ground is a long series of dwarfish figures. In the apartment of the priest was found a very beautiful painting of Bacchus and Silenus. This had been removed by the ancients from some other place, and carefully fastened with iron cramps and cement in its present situation. In a recess, 13* 150 FOMPEir. Painting of Bacchus and Silenus, in the apartment of the priest in the temple of Venus. at the north-east end of the temple, under the colonnade of the Forum, stood the public measures for wine, oil, and grain. These consist of nine cylindrical holes cut in an oblong block of tufa ; there are five large for grain, and four smaller for wine : the former had a sliding bottom, that the grain when measured might be easily removed. The latter are provided with tubes to draw off the liquid. These measures are placed near what we have already supposed to be the horrea, or public granaries. Having thus completed the circuit of the Forum, it only remains to mention a few less important matters. A. portico, as we have often had occasion to mention, sur- rounds three sides of this space ; we now will speak more particularly of its construction. The columns are twelve feet high, and two feet three inches and a half in diameter ; they were set araeostyle, about three and a half diameters, or eight feet six inches apart. It has been already men- tioned as an objection to this width of intercolumniation, that, except where masses of stone of unusual size could be commanded, the architraves were necessarily either flat arches, or beams of wood. (6) Here the latter material was used, and a stone entablature (d) raised upon it, as DESCRIPTION OF FORUM. 151 Construction in wood and stone of the arseostyle portico of the Forum. represented in the annexed engraving. Above this, there probably was a gallery ; ^ such at least, we learn from Vitruvius, was the general practice ; and this gallery was usually appropriated to the use of those who had the man- agement of the public revenue. The area of the Forum was adorned with pedestals, for the statues of those who merited or could procure this distinction. Some are of the proportion adapted to eques- trian statues. They are all of white marble, ornamented with a Doric frieze ; and appear to have been still in pro- cess of erection, to replace an older set of pedestals, at the time when Pompeii was destroyed. At the south end is a small isolated arch,;on which possibly the tutelary, genius of the city might have been placed. Such was the con- struction of a Roman forum ; the reader will not be at a loss to appreciate its combined utility and magnificence. Some surprise may be felt at the expense lavished so prod- igally on public buildings in an inconsiderable town. But the Romans lived in public, and depended on the public for their amusements and pleasure. ' A Roman citizen,' says * In the holes at c the joists of the floor of the upper gallery were most probably fixed. 152 POMPEII M. Simond, ' went out early, and did not return home until the evening repast ; he spent his day in the forum, at the baths, at the theatre, — every where, in short, except at his own home, where he slept in a small room, without windows, without a chimney, and almost without furniture.' Architectural splendour, therefore, both in places of pub- lic business and of public pleasure, was far more studied and of far greater importance than it now is : and money, both public and private, was lavished upon such purposes with a profuseness far more than commensurate, according to modern notions, with the objects to which it was direct- ed. We may add, to explain the motives which induced individuals to bestow their money so freely in increasing the splendour of their city, that there was no surer road to power and influence, either in the capital, or in the smal- ler sphere of a provincial town, than by gratifying the taste of the people for splendour, either in public buildings, or in the amusements of the stage or the amphitheatre. The architecture of Pompeii is not always in the best taste ; yet there is much to admire in it, both for the design and the execution. The restoration of the Forum, which forms the frontispiece to this volume, will convey to the reader some idea at once of the artificial and natural beau- ties of that city. Male Centaur and Bacchante. Female Centaur and Bacchante. CHAPTER VII. BATHS EXCAVATED IN THE YEAR 1824. After the excavations at Pompeii had been carried on to a considerable extent^ it was matter of surprise that no public baths were discovered, particularly as they were sure almost to be placed in the most frequented situation, and therefore probably somewhere close to the Forum. The wonder was increased by the small number of baths found in private houses. That public baths existed, was long ago ascertained from an inscription discovered in 1749, purporting that one Januarius, an enfranchised slave, sup- plied the baths of Marcus Crassus Frugi with water, both fresh and salt. At length an excavation, in the vicinity of the Forum, brought to light a suite of public baths, admi- rably arranged, spacious, highly decorated, and superior to any even in the most considerable of our modern cities. 154 POMPEII. They are fortunately in good preservation, and throw much light on what the ancients, and especially Vitruvius, have written on the subject. BATHS. 156 Inscription in the Court of the Baths. DEDIC ATONE . THERMARUM . MUNERIS . CNiEI . ALLEI . NIGIDII. . MAII . VENATIO . ATHLET^E . SPARSIONES . VELA . ERUNT . MAIO . PRINCIPI . COLONIZE . FELICITER. Fac-simile of the above inscription. DH)ICXri0WEgs ., marm * On occasion of the dedication of the baths, at the expense of Cnaeus Alleius Nigidius Maius, there will be the chase of wild beasts, athletic contests, sprinkling of perfumes, and an awning. Prosperity to Maius, chief of the colony. ' This announcement of a public entertainment is written on a wall of the court of the baths, to the right hand on entering. The provincial towns, imitating the example of Rome, and equally fond of all sort of theatrical and gladiatorial exhibitions of which we shall hereafter speak at length in describing the various theatres of Pompeii, usually solem- nized the completion of any edifices or monuments erected for the public service by dedicating them. This ceremony was nothing more than opening or exhibiting the building to the people in a solemn manner ; gratifying them, at the same time, with largesses and various spectacles. When a private man had erected the building, he himself was usu- ally the person who dedicated it. When undertaken by the public order, and at the public cost, the citizens de- puted some magistrate, or rich and popular person, to per- form the ceremony. In the capital vast sums were expend- ed in this manner, and a man who aspired to become a popular leader, could scarcely lay out his money to better 156 POMPEII. interest than in courting favour by the prodigality of his expenses on these or similar occasions. It appears, then, that upon the completion of the baths, the Pompeians com- mitted the dedication to Cnseus Alleius Nigidius Maius, who entertained them with a sumptuous spectacle. There were combats (venatio) between wild beasts, or between beasts and men, a cruel sport, to which the Romans were passionately addicted; athletic games (athletce)] sprinkling of perfumes {sparsiones) ; and it was farther engaged that an awning should be raised over the amphitheatre. The convenience of such a covering will be evident, no less as a protection against sun than rain, under an Italian sky ; the merit of the promise, which may seem but a trifle, will be understood by considering the difficulty of stretching a covering over the immense area of an ancient amphi- theatre. We may observe, by the way, that representa- tions of hunting, and of combats between wild beasts, are common subjects of the paintings of Pompeii. A combat between a lion and a horse, and another, between a bear and a bull, have been found in the amphitheatre. The velarium, or awning, is advertised in all the inscriptions yet found, which give notice of public games. Athletae and sparsiones appear in no other. We learn from Seneca, that the perfumes were disseminated by being mixed with boiling water, and then placed in the centre of the amphi- theatre, so that the scents rose with the steam, and soon became diffused throughout the building. There is some reason to suppose that the completion and dedication of the baths preceded the destruction of the city but a short time, from the inscription being found perfect on the wall of the baths ; for it was the custom to write these notices in the most public places ; and after a very short season they were covered over by others, as one bill-sticker de- faces the labours of his predecessors. This is abundantly evident even in the present ruined state of the town, espe- BATHS, 157 cially at the corners of the principal streets, where it is easy to discover one inscription painted over another. But to return to the Baths : they occupy a space of about a hundred square feet, and are divided into three separate and distinct compartments. One of these was appropriated to the fireplaces and to the servants of the estabUshments; the other two were occupied each by a set of baths, conti- guous to each other, similar and adapted to the same pur- poses, and supplied with heat and water from the same fur- nace and from the same reservoir. The apartments and passages are paved with white marble in mosaic. It is conjectured that the most spacious of them was for the use Plan of the Batlis. 14 158 POMPEII. of the men, the lesser for that of the women. It appears, from Varro and Vitruvius, that baths for men and women were originally united, as well for convenience as economy of fuel, but were separated afterwards for the preservation of morals, and had no communication except that from the furnaces. The Piscina, or reservoir, is separated from the baths themselves by the street (W), which opens into the Forum. The pipes which communicated between the reservoir and the bath passed over an arch (w) thrown across the street. This arch was perfect when the excavation was made ; now only the shoulders remain, in which the pipes above- mentioned are still visible. There were three entrances to the furnaces which heated the warm and vapour baths. The chief one opened upon a court (r), of an irregular fig- ure, fit for containing wood and other necessaries for the use of the establishment, covered in part by a roof, the raflers of which rested at one end on the lateral walls, and at the other on two columns, constructed with small pieces of stone. From hence a very small staircase led to the furnaces and to the upper part of the baths. Another en- trance led to a small room (/?) {prodfurnium^) into which projects the mouth of a furnace (i.) In this room were the attendants on the furnace, or stokers (fornacmiiy) whose duty it was to keep up the fires. Here was found a quantity of pitch, used by the furnace-men to enUven the fires. The stairs in the room (h) led up to the coppers. The third entrance led from the apodyterium of the men's baths by means of a corridor (x). It is to be remarked that there is no communication between these furnaces and the bath of the women, which was heated from them. The furnace was round, and had in the lower part of it two pipes, which transmitted hot air under the pavements and between the walls of the vapour-baths, which were built hollow for that purpose. Close to the furnace, at the distance of four inches, a round vacant space still remains, in which was t BATHS, 169 placed the copper (caldarium) for boiling water ; near which, with the same interval between them, was situated the copper for warm water {tepidarium) ; and at the dis- tance of two feet from this was the receptacle (k) for cold water (frigidarium^) which was square, and plastered round the interior like the piscina or reservoir before- mentioned. A constant communication was maintained between these vessels, so that as fast as hot water was drawn off from the caldarium, the void was suppUed from the tepidarium, which being already considerably heated, did but slightly reduce the temperature of the hotter boiler. The tepidarium, in its turn, was supplied from the piscina, and that from the aqueduct ; so that the heat which was not taken up by the first boiler passed on to the second, and instead of being wasted, did its office in preparing the contents of the second for the higher temperature which it was to obtain in the first. It is but lately that this princi- ple has been introduced into modern furnaces, but its use in reducing the consumption of fuel is well known. It is necessary to apprise the reader that the terms frigidarium, tepidarium, and caldarium, are applied to the apartments in which the cold, tepid, and hot baths are placed, as well as to those vessels in which the operation of heating the water is carried on. The furnace and the coppers were placed between the men's baths and the women's baths, as near as possible to both, to avoid the waste of heat con- sequent on transmitting the heated fluids through a length of pipe. The coppers and reservoir were elevated consid- erably above the baths, to cause the water to flow more rapidly into them. The men's baths had three public entrances (a, o, and p). Entering at the principal one (p), which opens to the street leading to the Forum, we descend three steps into (in) the vestibule, cortile, or portico of the baths, along three sides of which runs a portico {ambulacrum). The seats which are to be seen arranged round the walls were 160 POMPEII. for the slaves who accv-^mpanied their masters to the baths, and for the servants of the baths themselves, to whom also the apartment {I) appears to have been appropriated, which opens on the court, but extends backward fronj it. In this court was found a sword with a leather sheath, and BATHS. 161 the box for the quadrans, or piece of money which was paid by each visitor. It is probable that the sword be- longed to the balneator or keeper of the Thermse. The door (o) which opens on the street where the temple of Fortune is situated, leads also into the same vestibule. By means of a corridor, we proceed through the passage (2) into the apodyterium, or undressing-room (6), which is also accessible by the corridor (a) from the street now called the Street of the Arch. In this corridor alone were found upwards of five hundred lamps, and upwards of a thousand were discovered in various parts of the baths during the excavations. Of these the best were selected, and the workmen were ordered to destroy the remainder. The greater number were of terra-cotta, some had an im- pression of the graces on them, and others the figure of Harpocrates, — both of inferior execution. The ceiling of this passage is decorated with stars. The apodyterium has three seats, marked (6, d) in the preceding and the fol- lowing section, made of lava, with a step to place the feet on. Holes (a) still remain in the wall, in which pegs were fixed, for the bathers to hang up their clothes. This chamber is stuccoed from the cornice to the ground ; it is highly finished, and coloured yellow. The cornice is of large dimensions, and has something of an Egyptian char- acter ; below it is carved a frieze, composed of lyres, dol- phins, chimerse, and vases, in relief, upon a red ground. Ornamented frieze in the Apodyterium. In the centre of the end of the room is a very small open- ing or recess (c), once covered with a piece of glass : in this recess, as is plain from its smokiness, a lamp has been 14* 162 POMPEII. placed. In the archivolt, or vaulted roof^ immediately over (c) is a window (e) two feet eight inches high and three feet eight inches broad, closed by a single large pane of cast glass, two-fifths of an inch thick, fixed into the v>^all, and ground on one side to prevent persons on the roof from looking into the bath : of this glass many fragments were found in the ruins. This is an evident proof that glass windows were in use among the ancients. The learned seem to have been generally mistaken on the subject of ^ BATHS. 163 glass-making among the ancients, who seem to have been far more skilful than had been imagined. The vast col- lection of bottles, vases, glasses, and other utensils, dis- covered at Pompeii, is sufficient to show that the ancients were well acquainted with the art of glass-blowing. Un- derneath, a large mask is moulded in stucco, with curHng hair and a most venerable floating beard. Water is sculp- Transverse section of the Apodyterium. tured flowing from the locks of hair, and on each side two Tritons, with vases on their shoulders, are fighting ; there are also dolphins, who encircle with their tails the figures of children struggling to disengage themselves. All these are ornaments appropriate to baths, and of a whimsical in- vention to symbolize water and bathing. The floor is paved with white marble worked in mosaic, and the ceiling appears to have been divided into white panels within red borders. It has six doors : one leads to the praefurnium ; (h) another into the small room, perhaps destined for a wardrobe ; the third, by a narrow passage {a) to the Street of the Arch ; the fourth to the tepidarium ; {d) the fifth to the frigidari- um ; (c) and the sixth along the corridor (2) to the vestibule or portico of the bath. The frigidarium, (c) or cold bath, is a round chamber, encrusted with yellow stucco, with indications here and 164 POMPEII. there of green, with a ceilmg in the form of a truncated cone, which appears to have been painted blue. Near the top is a window, (/) from whence it was lighted. In the cornice, which is coloured red, is modelled in stucco a chariot-race of cupids, preceded by cupids on horseback and on foot. Chariot race of Cupids in the FrigJdariura. The plinth or base of the wall is entirely of marble. The entrance is by the undressing-room. There are four niches, {gg) disposed at equal distances, painted red above and blue below. In these niches were seats (scholge) for the convenience of the bathers. The basin (alveus) is twelve feet ten inches in diameter, and two feet nine inches BATHS. 165 deep, and is entirely lined with white marble. Two mar- ble steps facilitate the descent into it, and at the bottom is a sort of cushion (pulvinus), also of marble, to enable those who bathed to sit down. The water ran into this 166 POMPEII. bath in a large stream, through a spout or lip of bronze four inches wide, placed in the wall at the height of three feet seven inches from the edge of the basin. At the bot- tom is a small outlet, for the purpose of emptying and clean- sing it ; and in the rim there is a waste-pipe, to carry off the superfluous water. This frigidarium is remarkable for its preservation and beauty. The tepidarium, {d) or warm chamber, was so called from a warm, but soft and mild temperature, which prepar- ed the bodies of the bathers for the more intense heat which they were to undergo in the vapour and hot baths ; and, vice versdy softened the transition from the hot bath to the external air. It is divided into a number of niches, or compartments, by Telamones,^ two feet high, carved in high relief, placed against the walls, and supporting a rich cornice. These are male, as Cariatides are female sta- tues, placed to perform the office of pillars. By the Greeks they vt^ere named Atlantes, from the well-known fable of Atlas supporting the heavens. Here they are made of terra-cotta, or baked clay, incrusted with the finest marble stucco. Their only covering is a girdle round the loins ; they have been painted flesh-colour, with black hair and beards ; the moulding of the pedestal, and the basket on their heads, were in imitation of gold ; and the pedestal itself, as well as the wall behind them and the niches for the reception of the clothes of the bathers, was coloured to resemble red porphyry. Six of these niches are closed up, without any apparent reason. The ceiling is worked in stucco, in low relief, with scat- tered figures and ornaments of little flying genii, delicately relieved on medallions, with foliage carved round them- The ground is painted, sometimes red and sometimes blue. The room was lighted by a window two feet six inches * So called from the Greek T;i«v:t/, to endure. The etymology of Atlas is the same. BATHS. 167 C high, and three feet wide, in the bronze frame of which were found set four very beautiful panes of glass fastened by sniall nuts and screws, very ingeniously contrived, with a view to their being able to remove the glass at pleasure. In it was found a brazier, seven feet long and two feet six 168 POMPEII. inches broad, made entirely of bronze, with the exception of an iron lining ; the two front legs are winged sphinxes, terminating in lion's paws ; the two other legs are plain, being intended to stand against the wall. The bottom is Brazier in the Tepidarium. formed with bronze bars on which are laid bricks support- ing pumice-stones for the reception of charcoal. There is a sort of false battlement worked on the rim^ and in the middle a cow to be seen in high relief. Three bronze benches also were found, alike in form and pattern They are one foot four inches high, one foot in width, and about One of the three bronze seats found in the Tepidarium. six feet long, supported by four legs, terminating in the cloven hoofs of a cow, and ornamented at the upper ends with the heads of the same animal. Upon the seat is inscribed, M. NIGIDIUS. VACCULA. P. S. Varro, in his book upon rural affairs, tells us that many of the sur- names of the Roman families had their origin in pastoral life ; and especially are derived from the animals to whose breeding they paid most attention. As, for instance, the BATHS. 169 Porcii took their name from their occupation as swine- herds ; the Ovini from their care of sheep ; the Caprilli, of goats ; the Eqimrii, of horses ; the Tauri, of bulls, &c. We may conclude, therefore, that the family of this Mar- cus Vaccula were originally cowkeepers, and that the figures of cows so plentifully impressed on all the articles no POMPEII. which he presented to the baths, are a sort of canting arms, to borrow an expression from heraldry, as in Rome the family Toria caused a bull to be stamped on their money. A doorway led from the tepidarium into the caldarium, or vapour-bath. It had on one side the laconicum, were a vase (c) for washing the hands and face was placed, called labrum. On the opposite side of the room was the hot-bath (q) called lavacrum. Here it is necessary to refer to the words of Vitruvius as explanatory of the struc- ture of the apartments, (cap. xi, lib. v). ^ Here should be placed the vaulted sweating-room, twice the length of its width, which should have at each extremity, on one end the laconicum, made as described above, on the other end the hot-bath.' This apartment is exactly as described, twice the length of its width, exclusively of the laconicum at one end and the hot-bath at the other. The pavement and walls of the whole were hollowed to admit the heat. Vitruvius never mentions the laconicum as being separated from the vapour-bath ; it may, therefore, be presumed to have been always connected with it in his time, although in the Thermae constructed by the later emperors it ap- pears always to have formed a separate apartment. In the baths of Pompeii they are united, and adjoin the tepi- darium, exactly agreeing with the descriptions of Vitruvius. The laconicum is a large semicircular niche, seven feet wide, and three feet six inches deep, in the middle of which was placed a vase or labrum. The ceiling was formed by a quarter of a sphere ; it had on one side a circular open- ing (a), one foot six inches in diameter, over which, ac- cording to Vitruvius, a shield of bronze was suspended, which, by means of a chain attached to it, could be drawn over or drawn aside from the aperture, and thus regulated the temperature of the bath. Where the ceiling of the laconicum joined the ceiUng of the vapour-bath, there was, immediately over the centre of the vase or labrum, a window (g"), three feet five inches wide ; and there were BATHS. 171 two square lateral windows in the ceiling of the vapour- bath, one foot four inches wide and one foot high, from which the light fell perpendicularly on the iabrum, as re- commended by Vitruvius, ^ that the shadows of those who surrounded it might not be thrown upon the vessel. ' The labrum (c) was a great basin or round vase of white marble, rather more than five feet in diameter, into which the hot water bubbled up through a pipe (6) in its centre, and served for the partial ablutions of those who took the vapour-bath. It was raised about three feet six inches above the level of the pavement on a round base built of small pieces of stone or lava, stuccoed and coloured red, five feet six inches in diameter, and has within it a bronze inscription, which runs thus : GNiEO . MELISSiEO . GN^I . FILIO . APRO . MARCO . STAIO . MARCl . FILIO . RUFO . DUUMVIRIS . ITERUM. lURE . DICUNDO . LABRUM . EX DECURIONUM DE CRE- TO . EX. PECUNIA . PUBLICA . FACIENDUM . CURARUNT . CONSTAT . SESTERTIUM . D.C.C.L. Relating that ^ Gnseus Melissseus Aper, son of Gnseus Aper, Marcus Staius Rufus, son of M. Rufus, duumvirs of justice for the second time, caused the labrum to be made at the public expense, by order of the Decurions.' It cost 750 sesterces, about 6/.^ There is in the Vati- can a magnificent porphyry labrum found in one of the imperial baths ; and Baccius, a great modern authority on baths, speaks of labra made of glass. This apartment, like the others, is well stuccoed, and painted yellow ; a cornice, highly enriched with stucco ornaments, is supported by fluted pilasters placed at irreg- ular intervals. These are red, as is also the cornice and ceiling of the laconicum, which is worked in stucco with little figures of boys and animals. The ceiling of the room itself was entirely carved with transverse fluting, like that * Museum Borbonicum, vol. il 172 POMPEII. Part of the ceiling of the Caldarium. of enriched columns, a beautiful ornament, and one but little used for this purpose ; no other instance occurring except in certain ruins of villas on the shores of Castel- lone, the ancient Formise. The hot-bath (/ on the plan) occupied the whole end of the room opposite to the laco- nicum and next to the furnace. It was four feet four in- ches wide, twelve feet long, and one foot eight inches deep, constructed entirely of marble, with only one pipe to intro- duce the water, and was elevated two steps above the floor; while a single step let down into the bath itself, forming a continuous bench round it for the convenience of the bathers. The Romans, who, according to Vitruvius, called their vapour-baths caldaria or sudationes concameratae, con- structed them with suspended or hollow floors and with hollow walls* (d), communicating with the furnace, that the smoke and hot air might be spread over a large surface and readily raise them to the required warmth. The tem- perature was regulated by the clypeus or bronze shield al- ready described. In the Pompeian bath the hollow floors are thus con- structed. Upon a floor of cement made of lime and pound- ed bricks, were built small brick pillars (o), nine inches square, and one foot seven inches high, supporting strong tiles fifteen inches square. The pavement was laid on * The Italians call these floors vespajo, from their resemblance to a wasp's nest. BATHS. 173 these, and incrusted with mosaic. The hollow walls, the void spaces of which communicated with the vacuum of the suspended pavement, were constructed in the following manner. Upon the walls, solidly stuccoed, large square tiles were fastened by means of iron cramps. They were made in a curious manner. While the clay was moist some circular instrument was pushed through it, so as to make a hole, at the same time forcing out the clay and making a projection or pipe about three inches long, on the inside of the tile. These being made at the four corners, iron clamps passed through them and fastened them to the wall, the interval being regulated by the length of the projections. The sides of the apartments being thus formed, were after- wards carefully stuccoed and painted. The vacancy in the walls of the Pompeian baths reaches as high as the top of the cornice, but the ceilings are not hollow, as in the baths which Vitruvius described, and which he distin- guishes for that reason by the name of concamerat^. The following wood-cuts will convey an idea of the style of or- nament which is lavished upon the ceilings of the apart- ments which we have just described. The first is a winged child or genius, riding on one sea-horse and accompanied by another, preceded by a similar child guiding two dol- phins. This occupies the centre of the ceiling of the te- pidarium. Other ornaments are dispersed around it, from which we have selected some of those that are best pre- served. The design is generally better than the workman- ship, for they have not been carefully finished, on account, perhaps, of the height at which they were to be placed. A curious piece of economy is visible in these decorations. Those low down on the walls are executed in relief, but the higher ones are painted as it were in a very liquid stucco ; so that the child who sounds a cymbal (see next page) in one of the medallions, has one leg, one arm, and the head of stucco, while the wings, the other leg, and the cymbal, which, if also executed in stucco, would 15* 174 POMPEII. BATHS. 175 Ornaments of the Tepidarium. * have been in lower relief, are either laid on with a brush in this liquid stucco, or left white when the ground was painted. It is so done, that at a certain distance, and to one who does not consider it with nicety, the whole ap- pears to be relieved. The same is to be observed in the bow, which has the two ends formed of goats' heads. The women's bath resembles very much that of the men, and differs only in being smaller and less ornamented. It is heated, as we have already mentioned, by the same fire, and supplied with water from the same boilers. Near the entrance is an inscription painted in red letters. All the rooms yet retain in perfection their vaulted roofs. In the vestibule {v) are seats similar to those which have been described in the men's baths as appropriated to slaves or servants of the establishment. The robing-room {t) con- tains a cold-bath ; is painted, with red and yellow pilas- ters alternating with one another, on a blue or black ground, * The latter ornament has been employed with success by the King's architect at Naples, in the vaulted ceiling of a ball-room. 176 POMPEII. and has a light cornice of white stucco, and a white mosaic pavement with a narrow black border. There is accom- modation for ten persons to undress at the same time. The cold-bath is much damaged, the wall only remaining of the alveus, which is square, the whole incrustation of mar- ble being destroyed. From this room we pass into the te- pidarium (s), about twenty feet square, painted yellow, with red pilasters, lighted by a small window far from the ground. This apartment communicates with the warm- bath (w), which, like the men's, is heated by flues formed in the floors and walls. There are in this room paintings of grotesque design upon a yellow ground ; but they are much damaged, and scarcely visible. The pavement is of white marble laid in mosaic. The room {u) in its general arrangement resembles the hot-bath of the men ; it has a labrum {y) in the laconicum, and a hot-bath contiguous to the furnace, as may be seen by the plan. The hollow pavement and the flues in the walls are almost entirely destroyed ; and of the labrum, the foot, in the middle of which was a piece of the leaden conduit that introduced the water, alone remains. On the right of the entrance into these women's baths is a wall of stone of great thick- ness and in a good style of masonry. These baths are so well arranged, with so prudent an economy of room and convenient distribution of their parts, and are adorned with such appropriate elegance, as to show clearly the intellect and resources of an excellent architect. At the same time some errors of the grossest kind have been committed, such as would be inexcusable in the most ignorant workman ; as, for instance, the sym- metry of parts has been neglected, where the parts corre- spond ; a pilaster is cut ofl* by a door which passes through the middle of it : and other mistakes occur which might have been avoided without difficulty. This strange mixture of good and bad taste, of skill and carelessness, is not very easily accounted for, but it is of constant recurrence in Pompeii. BATHS. 177 Vitruvius recommends the selecting a situation for baths defended from the north and north-west winds, and forming windows opposite the south, or if the nature of the ground would not permit this, at least towards the south, because the hours of bathing used by the ancients being from after mid-day till evening, those who bathed could, by those win- dows, have the advantage of the rays and of the heat of the declining sun. For this reason the Pompeian baths hitherto described have the greater part of their windows turned to the south, and are constructed in a low part of the city, where the adjoining buildings served as a pro- tection to them from the inconvenience of the north-west winds. Having thus minutely described the baths, as they exist at Pompeii, we shall proceed to consider the subject more generally, and give some account of those far more splendid edifices which were constructed in the great cities of the empire, and especially in Rome itself The subject is one of considerable interest, for it is intimately connected with ancient manners ; and an acquaintance with it will explain very many passages in the Latin authors. To them and to their countrymen the bath was a daily necessary, rather than a luxury, though it was combined with luxury to the greatest possible extent. In the magnificent Thermae * erected by the emperors, edifices in which architectural magnificence appears to have been carried to its extreme point, not only was accommodation provided for hundreds of bathers at once, but spacious porticoes, rooms for ath- letic games and playing at ball, and halls for the public lectures of philosophers and rhetoricians were added one to another, to an extent which has caused them, by a strong figure, to be compared to provinces, and at an expense * 06g|Uflt/, hot springs, so named because they were principally constructed with a view to warm bathing, though furnished with cold baths also. 178 POMPEII. which could only have been supported by the inexhaustible treasures which Rome drew from a subject world. There were many of these establishments at Rome, built mostly by the emperors^ for few private fortunes could suffice to so vast a charge. They were open to the public at first on the payment of the fourth of an as {quadrans)^ which is less than a farthing. Agrippa bequeathed his gardens and baths to the Roman people, and assigned particular estates for their support, that the public might enjoy them gratuitously. The splendid edifice now known as the Pantheon, served as the vestibule to his baths. At a later period the bathers in some Thermae were supplied gratui- tously even with unguents ; probably it was so in all those built by the Emperors. The chief were those of Agrippa, Nero, Titus, Domitian, Antoninus Caracalla, and Diocle- tian; but Ammianus Marcellinus reckons sixteen of them, and other authors eighty. These edifices, differing of course in magnitude and splendour, and the details of the arrangement, were all constructed on a common plan. They stood among exten- sive gardens and walks, and often were surrounded by a portico. The main building contained extensive halls for swimming and bathing ; others for conversation ; others for various athletic and manly exercises ; others for the declamation of poets and the lectures of philosophers; in a word, for every species of polite and manly amusement. These noble rooms were lined and paved with marble, adorned wiA the most valuable columns, paintings and statues, andTurnished with collections of books for the sake of the studious who resorted to them.^ Their costly decorations have long vanished, and the gradual accumu- lation of earth and ruins has choked up the vaults, and buried the floors ; yet enough still remains to enable us to * We are told that the Ulpian library, founded by Trajan, was afterwards transferred to the baths of Diocletian. BATHS. 179 trace the general distribution of their parts with tolerable accuracy, and to intimate that the descriptions of ancient writers are not exaggerated. Those in the best preser- vation are the baths of Titus, Antoninus Caracalla, and Diocletian. Their present state is thus described by an eloquent modern writer : — ^ Repassing the Aventine hill, we came to the baths of Antoninus Caracalla, that occupy part of its declivity, and a considerable portion of the plain between it, Mons Coeliolus, and Mons Ccelius. No monu- ment of ancient architecture is calculated to inspire such an exalted idea of Roman magnificence, as the ruins of their Thermae or baths. Many remain in a greater or less degree of preservation, such as those of Titus, Diocletian, and Caracalla. To give the untravelled reader some no- tion of these prodigious piles, I will confine my observa- tions to the latter, as the greatest in extent, and as the best preserved ; for though it be entirely stripped of its pillars, statues, and ornaments, both internal and external, yet its walls still stand, and its constituent parts and prin- cipal apartments are evidently distinguishable. The length of the Thermae was 1840 feet, its breadth 1476. At each end were two temples, one to Apollo, and another to ^sculapius, as the tutelary deities {genii tiitelares) of a place sacred to the improvement of the mind, and the care of the body. The two other temples were dedicated to the two protecting divinities of the Antonine family, Her- cules and Bacchus. In the principal building were, in the first place, a grand circular vestibule, with four halls on each side, for cold, tepid, warm, and steam baths : in the centre was an immense square for exercise, when the weather was unfavourable to it in the open air ; beyond it a great hall, where 1600 marble seats were placed for the convenience of the bathers ; at each end of this hall were libraries. This building terminated on both sides in a court surrounded with porticoes, with an Odeum, for mu- sic, and in the middle a spacious basin for swimming. 180 POMPEII. Round this edifice were walks shaded by rows of trees, particularly the plane ; and in its front extended a gymna- sium, for running, wrestling, &c, in fine weather. The whole was bounded by a vast portico opening into exedrae or spacious halls, where the poets declaimed and philoso- phers gave lectures to their auditors. This immense fa- bric was adorned within and without with pillars, stucco- work, paintings, and statues. The stucco and paintings, though faintly indeed, are yet in many places perceptible. Pillars have been dug up, and some still remain amidst the ruins ; while the Farnesian Bull, and the famous Her- cules, found in one of these halls, announce the multipli- city and beauty of the statues which once adorned the Thermse of Caracalla. The flues and reservoirs of water still remain. The height of the pile was proportioned to its extent, and still appears very considerable, even though the ground be raised at least twelve feet above its ancient level. It is now changed into gardens and vineyards, its high massive walls form separations, and its limy ruins, spread over the surface, burn the soil and check its na- tural fertility.' * ' Proceeding over the Esquiline mount, we stopped at the Baths of Titus, an edifice once of unusual extent and magnificence, though on a smaller scale than the Thermee of Caracalla. Part of the theatre, of one of the temples, and one of the great halls, still remain above, and many vaults, long galleries, and spacious ruins, under ground. Some of these subterraneous apartments were curiously painted, and such is the firmness and consistency of the colours, that notwithstanding the dampness of the place, the lapse of so many ages, and the earth which has filled the vaults for so long a time, they still retain much of their original freshness. Many of the figures are scratched on the plaster, and supposed to have been so originally, to * Eustace, vol. i, p. 226. BATHS. 181 imitate basso-relievo ; but on a close examination, the little nails, which fastened the gold, silver, and bronze that cov- ered these figures, are perceptible, and seem to prove that they were all originally coated over in a similar manner. Many of the paintings are arabesques, a fanciful style of ornament, observed on and reprobated as unnatural and ill-proportioned by Vitruvius, but revived and imitated by Raphael Titus's Baths are, as I have ob- served before, inferior in extent to those of Caracalla and Diocletian ; but, erected at a period when the arts still preserved their primeval perfection, they must have sur- passed all later edifices of the kind in symmetry, decora- tion, and furniture. Every person of taste must therefore lament that they are not cleared and opened. The famous group of Laocoon was found in an excavation made there not many years ago, and several pillars of granite, alabas- ter, and porphyry, have since been discovered in many partial researches. What precious remnants of ancient taste and magnificence might we find, if all the streets of this subterraneous city (for so these Thermae may be cal- led) were opened, and its recesses explored. At present, the curious visitor walks over heaps of rubbish, so high as almost to touch the vault, — so uneven, as to require all his attention at every step ; and whilst he examines the painted walls by the faint glare of a taper, he is soon oblig- ed by the closeness of the air to retire and content himself with a few cursory observations. To these baths belong the Sette Salle (seven halls), vast vaulted rooms of one hundred feet in length by fifteen in breadth and twenty in depth, intended originally as reservoirs to supply the baths, and occasionally the Coliseum, with water, when naval engagements were represented From the Es- quiline hill we passed to that elevated site which, as it ad- vances westward, branches into the Viminal and Quirinal hills. On it stands one of the grandest remains of ancient splendour, — a considerable portion of the baths of Diocle- 182 POMPEII. tian, now converted into a convent of Carthusians. The principal hall is the church, and though four of the side recesses are filled up, and the two middle ones somewhat altered ; though its pavement has been raised about six feet to remove the dampness, and of course its proportions have been changed, it retains its length, its pillars, its cross- ribbed vault, and much of its original grandeur. It was paved and incrusted with the finest marble by Benedict XIV, who carried into execution the plan drawn up origi- nally by Michael Angelo, when it was first changed into a church. It is supported by eight pillars, forty feet in height and five in diameter, each of one vast piece of granite. The raising of the pavement, by taking six feet from the height of these pillars, has destroyed their propor- tion, and given them a very massive appearance. The length of the hall is three hundred and fifly feet, its breadth eighty, and its height ninety-six. Notwithstand- ing its magnificence, the mixture of Corinthian and Com- posite capitals shows how much the genuine taste of archi- tecture was on the decline in the time of Diocletian.'* The annexed plan, which comprises one half of the baths of A.ntoninus, will convey to the reader an idea of their general arrangement. * Eustace, vol. i, p. 231. BATHS. 183 Half of the plan of the baths of Antoninus Caracalla. A. A circular room called the Solar Cell, used to contain the numerous labra of the baths, 111 feet in diameter. Spartianus describes it thus: — * Caracalla l«ft magnificent Thermse, which went by his own name ; the solar cell of which could not be equalled by the best architects of that age. The window lattices are said to have been overlaid with brass or copper, of which materials the whole vault was made ; and so vast was its extent that learned mechanicians declare it impossible to make one like it.' B. The Apodyterium. C. Xystos, or portico, for the athletaB to exercise under in bad weather. D. Piscina, or large reservoir for swimming. E. Vestibule for spectators, and the clothes of those who were bathing. F. Vestibules on entering the Thermae : on each side were libraries. GG. Rooms where the athletaB prepared for their exercises. H. Peristyle, having in the middle a Piscina for bathing. I. Ephebium, or place for exercise. K. ElsBothesium, or room for oils- LL. Vestibules. M. Laconicum. 184 POMPEII. N. Caldariura. O. Tepidarium. P. Frigidarium. Q, d Q,Cl. Various halls or recesses, for the use of those who frequented the baths. R. Exedrse, or large recesses, for the use of the philosophers. W. Rooms for conversation. Y. The Conisteriura. The other half of the building is exactly similar to this. An extensive enclosure surrounds the whole, in which are temples, a vast theatre, academies, numerous covered baths, for those who wished to bathe more privately ; and a variety of accommodations which we cannot particular- ize. In this enclosure, and at some distance from the main building, was the castellum, or furnace for heating the wa- ter, of which we shall speak largely hereafter. On entering the Thermae, where there was always a great concourse of people, the bathers first proceeded to undress, when it was necessary to hire persons to guard their clothes : these the Romans called Capsarii. They next went to the unctuarium, where they anointed all over with a coarse cheap oil before they began their exercise. Here the finer odoriferous ointments, which were used in coming out of the bath, were also kept, and the room was so situated as to receive a considerable degree of heat. This chamber of perfumes was quite full of pots like an apothecary's shop : and those who wished to anoint and perfume the body received perfumes and unguents. In a representation of a Roman bath, copied from a painting on a wall forming part of the baths of Titus, the elaeothe- sium appears filled with a vast number of vases. These vases contained perfumes and balsams, very different in their compositions, according to the different tastes of the persons who perfumed themselves. The rhodinum, one of those liquid perfumes, was composed of roses ; the liri- num of lily ; cyprinum of the flower of a tree called cypria, which is believed to be the same as the privet; baccarinum, from the foxglove ; myrrhinum was composed of myrrh. BATHS. 185 Perfumes were also made of the oil of sweet marjoram called amaracinum ; of lavender, called nardinum ; of the wild vine, called senanthinum. There was also the cina- mominum, made of cinnamon, the composition of which was very costly ; oil made from the iris, called irinum ; the balaninum, or oil of ben ; the serpyllinum, wild thyme, with which they rubbed their eyebrows, hair, neck, and head ; they rubbed their arms with the oil of sisymbrium or watermint, and their muscles with the oil of anarcum, or others which have been mentioned. An amusing story relative to this practice of anointing is related by Spartia- nus. ' The Emperor Hadrian, who went to the public baths and bathed with the common people, seeing one day a veteran whom he had formerly known among the Ro- man troops, rubbing his back and other parts of his body against the marble, asked him why he did so. The veter- an answered that he had no slave to rub him, whereupon the Emperor gave him two slaves and wherewithal to maintain them. Another day several old men, enticed by the good fortune of the veteran, rubbed themselves also against the marble before the Emperor, believing by this means to excite the liberality of Hadrian, who perceiving their drift caused them to be told to rub each other.' When anointed, they immediately passed into the sphaeris- terium, a very light and extensive apartment, in which were performed the many kinds of exercises to which this third part of the baths was appropriated ; of these, the most fa- vourite was the ball. When its situation permitted, this apartment was exposed to the afternoon sun, otherwise it was supplied with heat from the furnace. Both Pliny and Lucian speak of this part of the baths as considerably warm at this time of day. After they had taken what degree of exercise they thought necessary, they went immediately to the adjoining warm bath, wherein they sat and washed themselves. The seat was below the surface of the water, and upon it they used to scrape themselves 16^ 186 POMPEII. Strigiles. with instruments called strigiles, most usually of bronze, but sometimes of iron ; or this operation was performed by an attendant slave, much in the way that ostlers treat horses when they come in hot. It was not a very agree- able operation ; and Suetonius mentions that the Emperor Augustus was a sufferer by having been too roughly used. * Slave with a strigil, from an Etruscan vase. * The Turks use a sort of bag or glove of camel's hair, which without pain peels off the perspiration in large flakes, and leaves the skin in a most luxurious state of softness and polish. — Sir TV. Gell, BATHS. 1 87 In the collection of Vases found lately on the estate of Lucien Bonaparte at Canino, there is one which exhibits the use of the strigil so plainly, that we shall describe it. The vase of which we speak is one of those large shallow cups commonly called tazze by the Italians. Both within and without there are paintings representing persons em- ployed in bathing and in the use of the strigil. Within, there are only two figures in the centre surrounded by a border, one of which standing upright stretches out one arm while he throws the other over his shoulder and rubs his back with his hand ; the other stoops a little forward, resting his body on one leg, and rubs his outstretched arm with the other hand. On the under-side of the vase there are ten figures of bathers, five on each side of the han- dles of the cup. The first is scraping his outstretched arm with a strigil, the second stands idle with one hand resting on his hip, the third is feeling the edge of a strigil with the finger of the other hand to ascertain its sharpness 5 from which we may infer that the instrument was by no means blunt. The fourth figure is scraping his throat. The fifth and last figure in the group stands with his strigil hanging in his hand, having to all appearance completed the operation. On the other side of the handles we are introduced to the bath-room, where those who have been scraped are being finally washed either by means of a small labrum on legs, or by having water poured over them. The bathers are represented with the attendants : one of the former stands with his arms folded ready to be washed, while another is on his knees receiving the water poured over him by an attendant from a vase or pitcher with a handle moveable like that of a pail. Two other figures stand near the labrum, apparently conversing. None of these figures have the strigil. There is also a long shal- low vase near the labrum, from which the attendants prob- ably supplied themselves with water, and not from the la- brum, which it is supposed was only used for the face. Thus we learn from the drawings on this vase, that the 188 POMPEII. bathers used the strigils themselves, after which they rub- bed themselves with their hands, and then they were washed from head to foot, by pails or vases of water be- ing poured over them. * They were then carefully dried with cotton and linen cloths, and covered with a light shaggy mantle, called gausape. Effeminate persons had the hairs of their bodies pulled out with tweezers, when Tweezers. they were thoroughly dried, and their nails cut : young slaves then came out of the elgeothesium carrying with them little vases of alabaster, bronze, and terra-cotta, full of perfumed oils, with which they had their bodies anoint- ed, by causing the oil to be slightly rubbed over every part, even to the soles of their feet. After this, they Vases for perfumes. resumed their clothes. On quitting the warm bath they went into the tepidarium, and either passed very slowly through, or staid some time in it, that they might not too suddenly expose their bodies to the atmosphere in the * We regret that we caDnot give a drawing of these curious scenes from the jealousy of the proprietors, who are of opinion tha^ the publication by a drawing would injure their value ; the cut given has the same kind of strigil as the vases. BATHS. 189 frigidarium ; for these last rooms appear to have been used chiefly to soften the transition from the intense heat of the caldarium to the open air. It does not appear that the water of either the tepidarium or frigidarium was used for bathing in these larger baths, although it probably was so used where the accommodation, as at Pompeii, was on a more contracted scale ; but merely as an easy means of keeping the rooms at the required temperature. The proper meaning of the word Laconicum has been much disputed. In describing the baths of Pompeii, we applied it, as the reader will remember, to a circular recess in the chamber which contained the warm bath ; in de- scribing the baths of the emperors, we have spoken of it as a separate chamber, highly heated, and intended to produce violent perspiration. The Marquis Galiani speaks of it in the following terms : ^ The laconicum, as far as I know, has been, up to the present time, esteemed by all a great chamber, in which the people entered for the purpose of sweating.' Came- ron adds to this, ' I for myself hold it certain that the apartment for this purpose has been by some authors im- properly termed, — the laconicum is nothing more than a little cupola which covered an aperture in the pavement of the hot bath, through which the vivid flame of the hypo- caustum or furnace passed and heated the apartment at pleasure. Without this means the hot bath would not have had a greater heat than the other chambers, the tempera- ture of which was milder ; I have been induced to form this opinion, not only from the ancient paintings found in the baths of Titus, but also by the authority of Vitruvius, who says that the hot bath (concamerata sudatio) had within it, in one of the corners, or rather ends, the laco- nicum. Now if the laconicum was in the corner of the hot bath, it is clear that it is not the bath itself, but merely a part of it ; and if, as others have thought, it was the hot bath itself, to what purpose served the concamerata suda- tio ?' Probably an explanation of these inconsistencies 190 POMPEII. may be found in supposing the word to have been differ- ently used at different times. In the later baths, calculated for the accommodation of enormous numbers, it might be necessary to have a distinct room dedicated to a purpose for which a part of the hot bath was sufficient in the time of Vitruvius. The ancient painting above alluded to, dis- covered in the baths of Titus, in some degree corroborates the opinions of both Cameron and Galiani. It represents the several apartments which we have described ; but has BATHS. 191 the bath in a chamber separate from the laconicum, or concamerata sudatio ; while at the same time the laco- nicum itself is represented as a small cupola^ as described by Cameron. And as the number of figures makes it evident that the painting is intended for a pubhc bath, we may draw from hence a further reason for supposing that the laconicum and hot bath itself (which Vitruvius calls concamerata sudatio) were separated in consequence of the increasing numbers who attended them. The Russian baths, as used by the common people, bear a close resemblance to the laconicum of the Romans. They usually consist of wooden houses, situated, if possi- ble, by the side of a running stream. In the bath-room is a large vaulted oven, which, when heated, makes the paving-stones lying upon it red hot ; and adjoining to the oven is a kettle fixed in masonry for the purpose of hold- ing boiling water. Round about the walls are three or four rows of benches one above another, like the seats of a scaffold. The room has little light, but here and there are apertures for letting the vapour escape ; the cold water that is wanted being let in by small channels. Some baths have an antechamber for dressing and undressing ; but in most of them this is done in the open court-yard, which on that account has a boarded fence, and is provided with benches of planks. In those parts of the country where wood is scarce, they sometimes consist of wretched cav- erns, commonly dug in the earth close to the bank of some river. In the houses of wealthy individuals, and in the palaces of the great, they are constructed in the same manner, but with superior elegance and convenience. The heat in the bath-room is usually from 32"^ to 40^ of Reau- mur, or 104° to 122'' of Fahrenheit, and this may be much increased by throwing w^ater on the glowing hot stones in the chamber of the oven. Thus the heat often rises, espe- cially on the uppermost bench, to 44° of Reaumur, equi- valent to 132° Fahrenheit. The persons that bathe lie 192 POMPEII. quite naked on one of the benches, where they perspire more or less in proportion to the heat of the humid atmo- sphere in which they are enveloped ; while to promote per- spiration and more completely open the pores, they are first rubbed, then gently flagellated with leafy bunches of birch. After remaining for some time in this state, they come down from the sweating-bench, and wash their bodies with warm or cold water, and at last plunge over head in a large tub of water. Many persons throw themselves immediately from the bath-room into the adjoining river, or roll them- selves in the snow, in a frost of ten or more degrees. The Russian baths are therefore {concamerata sudatio) sweating-baths ; not of a moderate warmth, like the Ro- man tepidaria or caldaria, but very violent sweating-baths, which, to a person unhabituated to the practice, bring on a real, though a gentle and almost voluptuous swoon. They are vapour-baths, not water nor yet dry sweating- baths ; differing in this respect from all the baths of anti- quity, as well as from those of the modern orientals ; and in this consists their essential excellence, that they are be- neficial in such a variety of cases, where hot-water baths would be useless or even pernicious. They are farther salutary as they promote cleanliness, assist the perspira- tion, and render the skin soft and smooth. Neither do the same objections apply to them which may be alleged against the Greek and Roman baths. All the inventions of effeminacy and luxury are entirely obviated ; and of anointing after the use of the bath, indispensable in those, the Russian is wholly ignorant. Instead of this, the sud- den transition from heat to a rigorous frost hardens his body, and adapts it to all the severities of climate, and to every vicissitude of weather ; a transition which seems to us unnatural or dangerous, merely from the prejudices of a soft and effeminate age. ^ * Tooke's Russia. BATHS. 193 Mr Tooke adds, that without doubt the Russians owe their longevity, their robust state of health, their little dis- position to certain mortal diseases, and their happy and cheerful temper, mostly to these baths ; though climate, aliment, and habits of living, likewise contribute. It ap- pears also that even the savage tribes of America are not wholly unacquainted with the use of the vapour-bath. Lewis and Clarke, in their voyage up the Missouri, have described one of these in the following terms : — ^ We observed a vapour-bath, or sweating-house, in a different form from that used on the frontiers of the United States or in the Rocky Mountains. It was a hollow square of six or eight feet deep, formed in the river bank by dam- ming up with mud the other three sides, and covering the whole completely, except an aperture about two feet wide at the top. The bathers descend by this hole, taking with them a number of heated stones and jugs of water ; and after being seated round the room, throw the water on the stones till the steam becomes of a temperature suffi- ciently high for their purposes. The baths of the Indians in the Rocky Mountains are of different sizes, the most common being made of mud and sticks, like an oven ; but the mode of raising the steam is exactly the same. Among both these nations it is very uncommon for a man to bathe alone ; he is generally accompanied by one, or sometimes several of his acquaintances ; indeed it is so essentially a social amusement, that to decline going in to bathe when invited by a friend, is one of the highest indignities that can be offered to him. The Indians on the frontiers gene- rally use a bath which will accommodate only one person, and is formed of wicker-work, about four feet high, arched at the top, and covered with skins. In this the patient sits till, by means of the heated stones and water, he has perspired sufficiently. Almost universally these baths are in the neighbourhood of running water, into which the Indians plunge immediately on coming out of the vapour- 17 194 POMPEII. bath, and sometimes return again and subject themselves to a second perspiration ; and the bath is employed by them either for pleasure or health, being in esteem for all kinds of diseases.' But to return to the baths of the Romans. Below is the hypocaustum, or furnace, which has not yet been de- scribed ; at the side are the boilers, as described by Vitruvius. A far different apparatus was required to sup- ply the rivers of water consumed in the baths of Anto- ninus Caracalla and Diocletian. The laconicum at Pom- peii however does not exactly correspond with the laconi- cum represented in this picture, and described by Vitru- vius : there is no cupola, or aperture in the floor, although the flue in the hypocaustum runs beneath it ; and the brazen shield is applied to regulate the escape of heat through the roof, not to admit or exclude the smoke and flame coming direct from the furnace ; a clumsy and dirty way of heating a room, and strangely at variance, if it were really prac- tised, with the finished elegance and luxury prevailing in every part of the Roman baths. Where this cupola did not exist, the room probably was heated, as at Pompeii, by a large brazier. The one found there has been de- scribed ; it seems to have been filled with braize, or small charcoal, which was lighted without, and, when it burnt clear and bright, brought into the concamerata sudatio, and placed under the opening in the hemispherical ceiling of the laconicum. It is probable that the Romans resorted to the thermae for the purpose of bathing, at the same time of the day that others were accustomed to make use of their private baths. This was generally from two o'clock in the afternoon till the dusk of the evening, at which time the baths were shut till two the next day. This practice, however, varied at different times, as we shall have occasion to remark hereafter. Notice was given when the baths were ready BATHS. 195 by the ringing of a bell ; the people then left the exercise of the sphaeristerium and hastened to the caldarium, lest the water should cool. But when bathing became more universal among the Romans, this part of the day was in- sufficient, and they gradually exceeded the hours that had been allotted for this purpose. Between two and three in the afternoon was, however, the most eligible time for the exercises of the palaestra and the use of the baths. It must be understood that we are now speaking of the days about the equinoxes ; for as the Romans divided their day, from sunrise to sunset, into twelve hours, at all seasons of the year, the hours of a summer's day were longer, and those of a winter's day shorter, than the mean length, — continually varying, as the sun approached or receded from the solstice. Hadrian forbade any but those who were sick to enter the public baths before two o'clock. The thermae were by few emperors allowed to be continued open so late as five in the evening. Martial says, that after four o'clock they demanded a hundred quadrantes of those who bathed. This, though a hundred times the usual price, only amounted to about nineteen pence. We learn from the same author, that the baths were opened sometimes earlier than two o'clock. He says, that Nero's baths were exceeding hot at twelve o'clock, and the steam of the water immoderate. Alexander Severus, to gratify the people in their passion for bathing, not only suffered the thermae to be opened before break of day, which had never been permitted before, but also furnished the lamps with oil for the convenience of the people. From this time it appears that the Romans continued equally attached to the practice of bathing until the remov- al of the seat of empire to Constantinople ; afler which we have no account of any new thermae being built, and may suppose that most of those which were then frequented in the city of Rome, for want of the imperial patronage, gra- dually fell into decay. It may likewise be remarked, that 196 POMPEII. the use of linen became every day more general ; that great disorders were committed in the baths, a proper care and attention in the management of them not being kept up ; and that the aqueducts by which they were supplied with water were many of them ruined in the frequent in- vasions and inroads of the barbarous nations. All these causes greatly contributed to hasten the destruction of the baths. Nothing relating to the thermae has more exercised the attention of the learned, than the manner of supplying the great number of bathing vessels made use of in them with warm water. For supposing each cell of Diocletian's baths large enough to contain six people, yet, even at that moderate computation, 18,000 persons might have been bathing at the same time ; and as no vestiges remain of any vessels in the thermse, to give the least foundation for conjecturhig in what manner this was performed, it has been generally believed that the method described by Vitru- vius was that in use. Baccius has more professedly treat- ed this matter than any modern author ; he imagined that the water might be derived from the castella, which he ob- served to be situated without the thermae ; but as those castella were upon a level with the thermae themselves, he thinks for that reason they were obliged to make use of machines to raise the water to the height at which it ap- pears to have been delivered in the ruins of Diocletian's baths. Baccius was induced to form this opinion by the number of pipes which he saw dug up under the open area, where there had never been any buildings, all of them surrounded with flues from the hypocaustum. He there- fore imagined that the water was heated on the outside of the thermae ; but this supposition appeared so full of diffi- culties, as upon reflection to discourage him from enquiring any farther into the subject. By the assistance of two sections of the castella of Antoninus, given by Piranesi, we hope to be able to clear up this mystery, and to show BATHS. 197 that the Romans, from the time of the invention there de- scribed, could be under no difficulty in heating the greatest bodies of water that their most extensive thermie required. To have a clear conception of the manner in which this 17* 198 POMPEII. was executed^ it will be necessary to refer to the engrav- ings of these two sections. The castellum of the thermae of Antoninus Caracalla was supplied with water by the aqueduct of Antoninus, under part of which passed the Via Appia ; two of the arches of this aqueduct are represented at A. B is a cistern which received the water from the aqueduct. C is an aperture for permitting the descent ot the water from the receptacle to the chambers below. D is a reservoir tvith a mosaic pavement, wherein the water was exposed to the heat of the sun. E. is another aper- ture through which the waters passed into the lowest cham- bers placed immediately over the hypocaustum. F the hypocaustum. O O doors for introducing the fuel. A transverse section through the middle of the castellum is given at H. By the plan of this castellum it appears that there were twenty-eight of these vaulted rooms placed over the hypocaustum ; they were arranged in two rows, fourteen on a side, and all communicated with each other. The sections show that over these were twenty-eight other rooms, having likewise a communication with each other, although only one of them had any communication with the chambers below, through the aperture at E already mentioned. Upon the top of all was a spacious reservoir, not very deep, but extending the whole length of the cas- tellum, in which the water was considerably heated by the influence of the sun, before it passed into the several chambers. This reservoir received its water from the cistern B, and not immediately from the aqueduct. This arrangement seems to have been meant to promote a more gentle flow of the water into the reservoir, that its surface might not be ruffled, nor the power of the sun to heat its contents diminished. When there was no efflux from the inferior chambers, there could be no demands for water from the reservoir, which would have been liable to over- flow but for an aperture in the side of the cistern, through which the waste water ran off* in a different direction from BATHS. 199 that which was used for bathing. The twenty-eight vaulted chambers placed immediately over the hypocaustum would now begin to be heated, which heat they would acquire so much the quicker as only one of them had any commu- nication with the external air by the apertures C. and E. Flues (N N) also ran up through the side and party-walls of these chambers, to increase the facility of heating so vast a body of water. The chambers (HH) were also supplied with flues from the hypocaustum, and served as a reservoir of tepid water for those below. The water they received was likewise heated by the sun. When the time for bathing was come, the cocks were turned to admit the hot water from the lower chamber into the labra of the baths, to which it would run with great velocity, and ascend a perpendicular height in the thermae, level with the sur- face of the receptacle inthecastellum. The current would be accelerated by the expansive force of the steam confined in the castellum. To prevent the water cooling as it passed through the tubes under ground, they were all carefully surrounded with flues from the prsefurnium ; and always considerably heated before the water entered them. Each of these chambers was, within the walls, forty-nine feet six inches long, by twenty-seven feet six inches wide, and about thirty high, the number of superficial feet in the whole floor of twenty- eight rooms being 38,115. If we allow thirty feet for the mean height, the whole quantity of water in these lower rooms will amount to 1 , 1 43,450 cubic feet. And the like quantity must be allowed for the upper rooms, making the whole quantity heated by fire 2,^86,900 cubic feet, sufficient, allowing eight ^~ cubic feet of hot water to * This is Cameron's estimate, from whom this whole account is taken. Whether eight cubic feet was sufficient for a man, would of course depend mainly upon the temperature to which the water was heated ; and therefore these numbers cannot be relied on to any degree of accuracy. His own estimate is evidently numerically in- 200 raimii. each man, for the accommodation of 285,862 persons. We have no intimation from the ancients when they first fell upon this expedient for heating such large bodies of water; whether it was an invention of the Romans or brought from the East. We may reasonably suppose, that, as it was not necessary before the public warm-baths were built in Rome, it was not more ancient than the time of Augustus, in whose reign, we are told by Dion Cassius, ^ that Mae- cenas first instituted a swimming-bath of warm water, or a cahda piscina. — {See Cameron on Baths.) The hypocaustum (O O) was a fiimace under ground, the bottom of which formed an inclined plane : its internal side sloping gradually to the mouth of Uie fiirnace, where the fiiel was put in. The reason which Virtruvius gives for this method of construction is, that the heat might be more equally conveyed to the vessels above. There were communications from the back of these furnaces to the several rooms of the baths, by means of flues fixed in the walls (P), which were more or le^ numerous as the pur- poses to which the rooms were appropriated required. These flues all proceeded from the back, or roof of the furnace, which was supported by pillars of brick (M) two feet high. The construction will be explained by com- paring the following description of a Roman hypocaustum discovered in England with the section of the castellum of Antoninus. It resembles that which remains at Pom- peii. ' At Wroxter in Shropshire was discovered a small square room, set with four ranks of small brick pillars, t eight inches square, laid in a strong sort of very fine red clay ; each pillar resting upon a foot-square tile or quarry correct ' The water,' he continues, • would gradually cool as it flowed in firom the opper chambos,' — not if the fire in the bypo- canstnm were kept np. ♦ 1. iv. p. 553. f A model of dmilar rooms discovered in England may be seen in the entrance chamber of the society of Antiqnanes in London. BATHS. 201 of brick : upon the head of every pillar was fixed a large tile (L) of two feet square, hard almost as flint, as most of the Roman bricks are : these pillars supported a double floor (K) of very strong mortar mixed with coarse gravel and bruised or broken bricks : the first of these floors was laid upon the large tiles, and when dry, the second floor was laid upon it; but first there was a range or rank of tunnel bricks fixed with iron cramps to the wall within, the lower ends of which were level with the under sides of the broad tiles, the upper ends with the surface of the upper floor ; and every tunnel had alike two opposite mortice holes, one in each side, cut through for a passage to dis- perse the heat across them all.' In the antique baths at Rome, where the church of St Cecilia in Trastevere now stands, the flues are still to be seen : they are of copper, and appear to have been gilt. The thermae were constructed with this splendour, and at so vast an expense, principally for the use of the poorer classes, although all ranks frequented them for the sake of the various conveniences which they contained. But few Roman citizens in easy circumstances were without the luxury of a private bath. These, of course, varied in their construction, as much as the tastes or prodigality of the owner ; but the following description may be taken as a sample of their general arrangement. Passing through the atrium you entered an open court of moderate dimen- sions, surrounded by a portico, towards one end of which stood a baptisterium, or basin for cold bathing. The sides of the portico were usually painted with trees loaded with fruits ; those of the basin with fish of different species, upon a blue ground, which seen through the water, appeared to be swimming in their native element. The court was paved in mosaic. Hence the bathers entered the apodyte- rium, where their garments were given to the attendant slaves called Capsarii. Next to the apodyterium was a lofty and spacious apartment, the frigidarium, containing a 202 POMPEII. second cold bath, intended to be used when the weather made it unpleasant to bathe in that exposed to the open air . The lower end of this room was left vacant ; the upper end, in which the bath was placed, was semicir- cular, and in the centre of the semicircular part was placed the basin. This portion of the wall was decorated with pilasters and niches, in which were placed statues (to be seen represented on the painted svalls of the baths of Titus,) and two raised steps, called scholse, ^ or places of waiting, ran around it for the use of spectators, or per- sons waiting for their turn. This part was lighted from above, that no shadow might be cast upon the bath itself. Before bathing they used various exercises to heat and render supple the body, as lifting heavy rings, kneeling on the pavement, and bending backwards till their heads were brought in contact with their feet, and similar tricks, which women practised as well as men. The tepidarium came next in succession ; it was nearly square, and also was encircled by two steps, or platforms, which however were not intended only for bystanders, but served for the bathers to dry themselves, or to repose when they left the adjoining apartment, the caldarium, or hot bath. This was of a circular form, surrounded by three steps, with niches in the wall containing seats. The walls and floor were pierced with flues from the hypocaustum, as seen in the section of the Concamerata Sudatio at Pompeii. On one side of the sudatorium stood either a brazier, or a sort of stove heated from below, called laconicum, which gave its name to that part of the room. In the centre of the coni- cal ceiUng was a clypeus of bronze, resembling a round shield, I and forming a valve, which was raised or lowered by means of a chain, and increased or diminished at will * Hence the term school, because the philosophers frequented those places where they were sure of an audience. — Petronius, Sat., cap. 17. t Vitruv., lib. vi, cap. 10. BATHS. 203 the degree of heat. In wealthy families^ the females usu- ally had baths separate from those of the men, but adjoining them, that they might be heated by the same fire. The hypocaustum has been described in public baths : in private baths it was similar, but on a smaller scale. It is worth while to remark, that Vitruvius gives directions how to make wooden floors to the caldaria, so peculiarly liable to accidents by fire. They are to be rendered secure by a lining of tiles, laid upon iron bars and plastered over. The method of heating the water was similar to that at Pompeii, where three boilers are employed, as represented in the painting found in the baths of Titus. Another method, highly approved of as precluding all chance of the water being smoked, was to twist thin copper pipes into a spiral form, like the worm of a distillery, and expose them to the fire. The water entered at the top and ran out at the lower end, and became thoroughly heated in its passage. There is a letter of Seneca, contrasting his own times with the period of the republic's manly vigour, which illustrates the subject on which we are now employed so much that we shall extract a considerable part of it. ' 1 write you from the very villa of Scipio Africanus, having first invoked his spirit, and that receptacle in which, as I believe, that great man was buried. I see a villa built of squared stone, the wall of which encloses a wood, and has towers in the style of a fortification ; below the build- ings and w^alls is a reservoir large enough for the use of an army. The bath is small and dark, after the old fashion, for our forefathers thought nothing hot that was not obscure. Great was my pleasure as I compared the manners of Sci- pio with our own. In this nook did that dread of Carthage, to whom our city is indebted that it was taken but once, bathe his limbs, wearied with rustic labour ; for he tilled his own ground, according to ancient custom : he lived under this mean roof, he stood upon this paltry pavement. But 204 POMPEII. who would now submit to bathe in this fashion ? That per- son is now held to be poor and sordid whose walls shine not with a profusion of the most precious materials, the marbles of Egypt, inlaid with those of Numidia ; unless the walls are laboriously stuccoed in imitation of painting ; unless the chambers are covered with glass ; unless the Thasian stone, formerly a rare sight even in temples, sur- rounds those capacious basins, into which we cast our bodies, weakened by immoderate sweats, and the water is conveyed through silver pipes. As yet, I speak only of plebeian baths : what shall I say when I come to those of our freedmen ? What a profusion of statues ! What a number of columns do I see supporting nothing, but plac- ed as an ornament merely on account of the expense ! What quantities of water murmuring down steps ! We are come to that pitch of luxury that we disdain to tread on anything but precious stones. In this bath of Scipio are small holes, rather than windows, cut through the wall so as to admit the light without weakening it as a fortifica- tion ; but now we reckon a bath fit only for moths and vermin if its windows are not so disposed as to receive the rays of the sun during its whole course ; unless we are washed and sunburnt at the same time ; unless from the bathing vessel we have a prospect of the sea and land : so that what brought crowds together to admire it when first built, is now rejected as antiquated, so inventive is luxury in finding new things to obliterate her own works. Formerly the baths were few in number and not much ornamented, for why should a thing of such little value be ornamented, a thing invented for use and not for the pur- poses of delicacy ? The water in those days was not poured down in drops like a shower, neither did it run al- ways fresh as from a hot spring ; nor was the clearness of it considered as a matter of consequence. Yet, O good Gods, how pleasant was it to enter these baths, though dark and covered with common plaster, which you BATHS, 205 knew that Cato, in his ^dileship, or Fabius Maximus, or one of the CorneUi, had tempered with his own hand ! For the most noble ^diles performed this duty of enter- ing those places which the people frequented, to require cleanliness, and see that they were kept at a useful and wholesome temperature ; not as has lately been invented, at a heat like a furnace, so that a slave convicted of some crime, might, as a punishment, be bathed alive. It now seems to make no difference whether a bath be warm or burning.' Between the Forum and the baths is a small Corinthian temple, dedicated to Fortune by a private person, one M. TulHus. It has been cased with marble both within and without, and is accessible by a flight of steps, broken in the middle by a podium or low wall. The lower flight consists of three, the upper of eight steps. There is an altar placed upon the podium, which was protected from wanton intrusion by an iron railing running along the side- margins and in front of the steps. Holes for the recep- tion of the uprights still remain, together with pieces of iron. The portico has four columns in front and two at the sides, and the external walls of the cella are decorated with pilasters. At the end of the building is a semicircular niche, containing a small temple of the Corinthian order, richly finished and designed, under which the statue of the goddess was placed. This Marcus Tullius, who appears from an inscription on the architrave to have erected this temple, has been supposed to be a descendant of the great Cicero. But the belief seems to rest entirely on the circumstance of a sta- tue, the size of life, bearing some resemblance to the busts of that distinguished orator, having been found in the interior of the building. He is represented clothed in the toga prsetexta, the robe of office of the Roman mag- istrates ; and, which adds value and singularity to the statue, this robe is entirely painted with a deep purple vio- 18 206 POMPEtl. let colour. This seems to givfe reason for believing that the prsBtexta, instead of being a garment with only a pur- ple hem, as it is usually explained, was entirely dyed with this precious colour ; at least in the later times of the re- public, in which the influx of wealth had introduced an extravagant scale of expenditure. The price of this pur- ple was enormous ; the violet, though the less costly sort, TEMPLE OF FORTUNE. 207 is said by Pliny to have been worth 100 denarii (about £S, 4s y 11 dj) the pound ; the red is valued by the same authority at ] 000 denarii. It was obtained from the mu- rex, a shell-fish found in various parts of the Mediterra- nean. The species which produced the violet dye was found in considerable quantity near Tarentum ; the red was chiefly brought from the neighbourhood of Tyre, whence the common name of Tyrian purple. Cochineal has now entirely superseded these dyes, but we may still perhaps trace the estimation anciently set upon them in the colours appropriated to the Romish hierarchy, in which the prelates are dressed in violet, and the cardinals in scarlet. A female statue, the size of life, was also found within the cella, clothed in a tunic falling to her feet, and above it a toga. The border of the former is gilt ; the latter is edged with a red purple bandeau, an inch and a quarter wide ; the right arm is pressed upon the bosom, with the hand elevated to the chin, while the left hand holds up the toga. The face of this figure has been sawn off*. Some have supposed this a piece of economy of the Pom- peians, who, wishing to pay a compliment to some dis- tinguished person, had thought that the cheapest way of doing it was to substitute her face for that originally belong- ing to the statue. It is manifest that the ancients have made excavations on this spot, and carried away the columns of the temple, and the marble with which it was covered, both within and without. Some of the capitals however remain to show the order of its architecture, and enou£;h is pre- FJat drinking-cup. 208 POMPEII. served to assure us that it was rich in ornament and highly finished. The street running from the Temple of Fortune to the Forum, and called the Street of Fortune, has furnished an unusually rich harvest of various utensils. A long list of these is given by Sir W. Gell, according to which there were found no less than two hundred and fifty small bottles of inferior glass, with numerous other articles of the same material, which it would be tedious to particularize. A marble statue of a laughing faun, two bronze figures of Mercury, the one three inches and the other four inches high, and a statue of a female nine inches high, were also found, together with many bronze lamps and stands. We may add vases, basins with handles, patera?, bells, elastic springs, hinges, buckles for harness, a lock, an inkstand, and a strigi 1 ;gold ear-rings, and a silver spoon 5 an oval cauldron, a saucepan, and a mould for pastry, and a weight of alabaster used in spinning, with its ivory axis remaining, he catalogue finishes with a leaden weight, forty-nine lamps of common clay ornamented with masks and ani- mals, forty-five lamps for two wicks, three boxes with a slit to keep money in, in one of which were found thirteen coins of Titus, Vespasian, and Domitian. Among the most curious things discovered, were seven glazed plates found packed in straw. There were also seventeen un- varnished vases of terra-cotta and seven clay dishes, and a large pestle and mortar. The scales and steelyard which we have given are said to have been found at the same time. On the beam of the steelyard are Roman TEMPLE OF FORTUNE. S09 numerals from X to XXX ; a V was placed for division between each X^ smaller divisions are also marked. The inscription is IMP. VESP. AVG. IIX. T. IMP. AVG. F. VI. C. EXACTA. IM. CAPITO. which is translated thus : — ^ In the eighth consulate of Vespasian Emperor Augustus, and in the sixth of Titus Emperor and son of Augustus, Proved in the Capitol.' This shows the great care taken to enforce a strict uni- formity in the weights and measures used throughout the empire : the date corresponds with the year 77 of our era, only two years previous to the great eruption. The 18* 210 POMPEIf. Steelyard, called Trutinae Carapanae, with part of the beam and inscription on a larger 8cale. TEMPLE OF FORTUNE. 211 steelyard found was also furnished with chains and hooks, and with numbers up to XXX. Another pair of scales had two cups, with a weight on the side opposite to the material weighed, to mark more accurately the fractional weight ; this weight was called by the Ancients ycavcov^ ligula, and examen. Gell tells us that the skeleton of a Pompeian was found here, ^ who apparently, for the sake of sixty coins, a small plate and a saucepan of silver, had remained in his house 212 POMPEII. till the street was already half filled with volcanic mat- ter.' He was found as if in the act of escaping from his window. Two others were found in the same street. Bronze Lamp and Stand. Figure with a mask, from a painting in Pompeii. CHAPTER VITI. THEATRES. Next in importance to the excavation which has laid open the Forum, is that of the quarter of the Theatres. It is approached either by the street of the silversmiths, already described, on the eastern side, or by the street leading out at the south-eastern corner of the Forum ; both routes are now completely excavated. The space here cleared comprises two theatres of unequal size ; a square called by some the provision market, but more usually the soldiers' quarters ; a temple dedicated to Isis ; another called the Greek temple, or the temple of Her- cules, with other buildings of minor importance. It will be well to preface the description of these edifices by a general account of the form and distribution of a Greek or Roman theatre, the nature of the pieces to be repre- sented, and the method of representing them. In all these points, the ancient and modern drama differ so widely, that 214 POMPEII. without some previous knowledge of them, we could hardly hope to be intelligible to the reader. It is a curious and interesting subject : it is also a very complicated and exten- sive one. Our account of it, therefore, must necessarily be very short and imperfect ; it will be enough to indicate the leading features which run through the Greek, and its descendant the Roman drama, without pretending to characterise the varying practice of successive ages, or to point out accurately the different usages of the one coun- try or the other. We shall presume that the reader is already acquainted with the leading peculiarities of the Greek stage ; that it did not admit more than three inter- locutors at once ; that it deals much more in set speeches, and runs less into natural broken dialogue, than the Eng- hsh ; that, as a general rule, there was no change of scene during the piece; and that a body called the Chorus, bear- ing no analogy to anything in the modern drama, was intro- duced, a sort of medium between actors and spectators, who took little share in the action of the piece, but rather re- flected upon what was going on, than promoted the catas- trophe, and did not come upon the stage, but occupied the orchestra (a term which will be fully explained hereafter,) at times taking part in the dialogue, at times varying it by choral songs and dancing. Both in Greece and Rome, dramatic entertainments, instead of being, as they now are, matter of private specu- lation, formed a part of the public expenditure, or were exhibited gratuitously by some wealthy and liberal, or am- bitious person. At Athens, in particular, they were strictly religious ceremonies, and formed the most important part of some of the chief festivals annually celebrated. The theatres therefore were necessarily of immense size, for they were meant to contain the male population of great cities. Instead also of being open nightly, and forming the recreation of the people when the labour of the day was over, they were only open at certain times, and then THEATRES. 215 by day, and the whole day, as the amusement of the holi- day. The performances therefore took place by daylight, and usually in an uncovered theatre : always, we believe, in Greece, for awnings were a late invention of Roman luxury. These two circumstances, combined with its reli- gious origin, appear to have exercised a powerful influence over the drama. In explaining that influence, we shall speak only of tragedy, because the growth of comedy is comparatively little known ; and because, tragedy having first assumed a regular form, comedy naturally adapted itself to that form, so far as the method of representation and peculiarities of ornament were concerned. In tragedy, then, the dramatis personse were invariably taken from the mythic ages, from a class whom time and fable had invested with preternatural grandeur ; men either the immediate oflfepring or the descendants of gods, and accustomed to see and converse with gods upon earth ; capable alike of greatly daring, or of greatly enduring, and exalted above the common run of humanity in the qualities of both mind and body. Every thing therefore was to be great, but calm : the violent passions, the stormy scenes, which in the hands of our own dramatists produce such powerful effects, would^ not have found favour with an Athenian audience. The dialogue therefore was regular and sus- tained, the speeches long and rhetorical, and good recita- tion was of more importance than good acting. But the nature of the theatres contributed also to produce this effect. In their huge area, the expression of the face, the modulation of the voice, together with all that we term by- play, would have been lost to far the larger part of the audience. With these excellences, the greatest part of an actor's merit, they were unacquainted, and therefore could not try to preserve them ; their object was to see and hear, not minutely, but to see and hear : and to increase the splendour of the spectacle, and enable the voice to pene- trate the most distant parts of the building, they had re- course to contrivances which to us appear singular enough. 216 POMPEII. In the rude songs, or farces, from which the drama arose, the clown (such, rather than actor, is the proper term) smeared his face with wine-lees, or assumed some other coarse disguise, to enjoy a more unlimited and fearless range of huffoonery. This practice of hiding the face appears never to have been laid aside, ^schylus, the father of Grecian tragedy, invented the maskj whether because custom rendered it imperative that the performer's face should be hidden, or that he did not appreciate the advantages to be derived from the breach of this rule. We have not the means, nor would it be to the purpose, to describe the earliest form of the mask, or to trace its progress. Ultimately, it was formed of brass, or some sonorous material, or the mouth at least lined with metal, so as to collect and reverberate the voice with something like the power of a speaking-trumpet. The Greeks called it TTQoaojTieiov, the Latins persona, a personando, from re- sounding, ^ because the head and mouth being entirely covered by it, and only one passage left for the voice, this cannot be dissipated, but being collected into a body, is thus rendered clearer and more sonorous.' ^ They were made to contain the whole head, covered with hair of colour suitable to the characters they were meant to repre- sent, and seem to have been coloured, for minute direc- Masks, Dwarf, and Monkey, from a painting. tions are given as to the complexion, and smooth or wrin- kled character of the face. No doubt can exist as to * Aul. Gell. V. 7. THEATRES. 217 the minute attention paid to this subject by the Greeks, for Julius Pollux enumerates no less than twenty-six clas- ses of tragic masks, distinguished each by what appa- rently is its technical name. He divides them into the ranks of men, young men, slaves, and women, and names six of the first, eight of the second, three of the third, and nine of the last. As a sample of the arrangement, we give the first class, which consists of ' The shaven man, the white, the grey, the black, the brown, the deeper brown :' * the other classes are similarly subdivided, and to each is attached a short description of the character of face which it should pourtray. ' The shaven man is the oldest of all, his hair quite white and collected upon the foretop (oyxog). The foretop is the upright projection above the face, in shape like the letter A. His beard is close shaven, and his cheeks pendulous. The black man is named from the darkness of his complexion, his hair and beard are curling, his face rough, and his foretop large.' f Such is the exact detail continued through the four classes, and these seem merely to have been the regular stock of the theatre or mask maker : for he afterwards enumerates extraordinary personages, as Actaeon with his horns, or many-eyed Argus, or Tyro with bruised cheeks, as intro- duced by Sophocles, or Gorgon or Death, or a Fury, and a host more of mythological personages, or Thamyris, with one eye blue, and the other black. This last is the most extraordinary. It appears from the marble masks still extant, that the white of the eye was imitated, leaving only the aperture of the iris to see through ; but the irides themselves of Thamyris's eyes must have been imitated : an extraordinary instance of minute attention to propriety, when two-thirds of the spectators probably could not tell ^ttvBog, civn^ ^atvQoTg^oc. iv. t Pollux Onomasticon, iv, 19. 19 218 POMPEII. whether he had any irides at all. The same may be ob- served of Tyro's black and blue face. There are two very striking tragic masks in the Town- ley gallery. The male is remarkable for the great eleva- tion of the hair {oyaog) to give increased stature and dig- nity to the actor ; its features are stern and exaggerated. Those of the female are regular and beautiful, and bear a wild, intense, inspired expression of terror, such as Cassan- dra may have worn while darkly presaging her own fate, THEATRES. 219 and the evils about to fall on the house of Atreus. The comic masks are still more numerous than the tragic, and there are others devoted to the satyric drama. ^ This was something of a medium between tragedy and comedy; in spirit and cheerfulness it resembled the latter, but its ex- ternal form was derived from the former, and its subject was mythological. Its distinctive mark was a chorus of satyrs, who accompanied such heroic adventures as were of a more cheerful hue, with lively songs, gestures, and movements. The immediate cause of this species of drama was derived from the festivals of Bacchus, in which satyr masks were a common disguise. In these representations, therefore, the severe beauty of the tragic mask, softened in its features and expression, was combined with, and oppos« ed to the grotesque character usually given to Fauns and Sileni ; and the ancient sculptors seem to have been fond Tragic and Grotesque Masks. * The original is in the Townley Gallery ; but it is very diffi cult to convey the expression of a mask by an engraving. 220 POMPEII. of thus contrasting them. There are some instances of this in the Townley gallery, from which a drawing is given above. We also give a masked figure of Silenus from the same collection. The only existing satiric drama is the Cyclops of Euripides. J\I asked figure of Silenus, "The tragedians rarely travelled out of the mythic age : indeed there are only three known instances of subjects being taken from a more recent period, the capture of Mi- TflEATRES. ^1 letus, by Phrynichus, and the Phoenissae, by Phrynichus, and the Persae, by j3Eschylus, both written in commemo- ration of the overthrow of Xerxes. Hence the same per- sons, Achilles, Hercules, Orestes, Theseus, were continu- ally re-appearing on the stage. We know that a peculiar costume was assigned to them, as Priam was always shav- en, Ulysses dressed in a cloak, that being the Ithacan habit ; Achilles and Neoptolemus were introduced with diadems. It is not improbable, therefore, that they had a traditionary cast of features assigned them, and if Mr Flax- man's assertion be correct, that the Grecian artists had for each of their principal deities an ideal model to which they always conformed, we may be sure that when introduced on the stage the orthodox countenance was strictly followed The nature of their characters, therefore, created^ farther inducement to retain and improve the mask, rather than to cast it aside, as a rude and mean appendage of the art in its infancy. Devoted as the Greeks were to beauty, an ugly or plebeian Prometheus, or Agamemnon, or Achil- les, would have been intolerable ; but an ugly Apollo would inevitably have been hooted off the stage. Many imitations of masks carved in marble still exist, which dis- play great beauty and excellence of workmanship. We know much less of the minutiae of the Roman than of the Greek theatre ; it appears, from a passage in Cicero, that Comic Scene from a Paintings at Pompeii. 19* 222 POMPEli: the celebrated Roscius sometimes played without his mask, and that this was preferred by his audience. It is evident that the heads of the actors must have ap- peared disproportionately large. To remedy this, and to raise their stature to the heroic standard, a thick-soled boot was invented, called e/u^ag^ and JcoOogvog, from which the words buskin and cothurnus have become almost con- vertible with tragedy in the Augustan age of Latin, and that which has been called the Augustan age of English Trcigic Scene from a Painting at Pompeii. literature. Both the cothurnus and the oyy.og above-men- tioned are represented in the annexed outline of a painting found in Pompeii. Distinguished from these was the comic shoe, 8jLi^aTr]g, in Latin soccus. The proportion of the figure, thus increased in height, was preserved by length- ening the arms with gloves, and by stuffing and padding the body, so as to convey the idea of superhuman size and strength. How all this was consistent with any thing like natural speech or action, it is not easy to imagine. Distance certainly at once rendered the increase of bulk THEATRES. 223 more necessary, and softened the awkwardness of such made-up figures ; still, in spite of the acknowledged purity of Grecian taste, and of the exquisite art and splendour lavished on their adornment, they must surely have seemed constrained and unnatural to any eye and ear not habitu- ated to such spectacles. It is evident, that while this method of representation continued, tragedy could never lose its uniform and measured character. If the author had thought it consistent with the dignity of the occasion, and of his subject, to introduce those tumultuous scenes, that abrupt and impassioned dialogue, which in the hands of our elder dramatists produce such astonishing effect, they would have been lost in the delivery. Not less minute directions ^ are given respecting cos- tume than respecting masks. Tiresias had a peculiar dress, like a net. Atreus and Agamemnon, and such characters, had a peculiar upper garment. Bacchus, a saffron robe, with a broad embroidered band around his breast. Tele- phus and Philoctetes, who were represented in great dis- tress, were clothed in rags. And the fondness of Euri- pides for introducing such subjects, and raising compassion for bodily suffering, is a constant subject for the ridicule of Aristophanes, who regarded it as an effeminate and unworthy deviation from the loftier style of his predeces- sors, -S^schyius and Sophocles. In the Acharnians, when Dicaeopolis is to plead his cause before the Chorus, he has recourse to Euripides for the means of moving their pity : — Good Euripides, Give me the rags from some old tragedy. Eurip. Whose rags wilt have? those in which OEneus here, That wretched old man, used to play his part ? DiccBop. Not those of CEneus, but one poorer still. Eurip. Blind Phcenix, then ? DiccBOp No, still you miss the mark : Think of some other, much worse off than PhcDnix. * Pollux, iv, 13. 224 POMPEII. JEurip. Whose rags, in the devil's name, does this man want ? Perhaps you mean the beggar Philoctetes ? DiecBop. There's yet another doubly beggarly. Eurip. Wilt have the looped and windowed raggedness Of lame Bellerophon ? Dices op. No : yet my friend Was lame, exacting, with large gifts of tongue. Eurip. 1 know the man — the Mysian, Telephus, Accordingly he turns to his servant, and bids him reach down Telephus's rags ; they lie up there between those of Thyestes and Ino. All the persons here named were characters in lost tragedies of Euripides. The Telephus, for some reason or other, was a standing joke among the comic poets. Dicseopolis continues his suit for all the apparatus of beggary, — a staff, a bucket with a hole burnt in it, a cup with a broken lip, a few leaves to garnish his bucket. Euripides complains that the man is robbing him of a whole tragedy, but complies with his wishes, until driv- en off by an insulting request which touches the honour of his parentage. ^ Pollux is equally exact in his directions for comedy. Tbe dress of the old man was of some grave colour ; pur- ple belonged to young men ; countrymen were distinguish- ed by a scrip, a staff, a goatskin tunic ; parasites wore black, or some dark colour ; slaves, different ranks of women, had each their costume : but these rules proba- bly belong to the last style, the New Comedy, as it is called, which came into fashion during the fourth century B. c. From Greece it was introduced at Rome ; it form- ed the regular comedy of the Roman stage, and, lost in the original language, still survives in the works of Plau- tus and Terence. The Old Comedy of Athens overleap- ed all rule. As the furniture of the tragic muse was cal- culated to elevate the mind of the spectator, and prepare it for scenes of action and suffering above the lot of ordi- * Acbarnians, 415 — 430. THEATRES. 225 nary humanity, so the furniture of the comic muse was intended to reverse this effect. The Old Comedy was in fact a parody upon tragedy in great measure ; at least the comedians most readily seized the opportunity of a fling either at the persons or the pieces of their graver hrethren, and still more of each other. As in the one, every thing was exalted, so in the other every thing was degraded and made ridiculous, not even excepting the gods, who meet with very scurvy treatment from Aristophanes. * The masks partook of the general character of the exhibition, and were made with grinning mouths, flat noses, distorted as best suited the fancy of the artificer, or the author's pur- pose. Until near the end of the Peloponnesian war, living persons were brought on the stage in character, with por- trait-masks, of course not over-flattering likenesses. In the New Comedy this license and the general extrava- gance of the old style was abridged, yet still a trace of it survived in the masks. Youthful characters were re- presented with regular and youthful features ; but aged persons and slaves still retained a most grotesque character of face, The annexed masks belong to some of Terence's characters i tliey are given by Mad. Dacier, on the au- thority of a very ancient manuscript in the Royal Library at Paris, and serve to illustrate the varieties of countenance considered applicable to diflferent characters, We have been more particular in this account of the Grecian drama than may appear to belong to the subject, because the Roman regular theatre was formed upon it, and because our knowledge of the latter is much less accu- * See more especially the Birds and Frogs, 226 POMPEII. rate and extensive. The regular drama was not of indi- genous growth, and never took firm root in Italy. It was unknown until ahout two centuries and a half before Christ, when Grecian literature began to be cultivated, and never rose to be more than a feeble transcript of the original. The Romans were first led to theatrical amusements as a means of appeasing the anger of the gods, having been before only acquainted with gymnastic exercises and cir- cus races. During a desolating pestilence, which seemed proof against all remedies, they sent for hislriones from Etruria, a. m. c. 391 : these, however, seem to have been merely dancers, or tumblers rather, such as are represented on the Etruscan monuments. The oldest spoken plays, the Fabulae Atellanae, were borrowed from the Osci, of whom we often have had to speak, and appear to have been rude improvisatory attempts at rustic satire. It was more than 500 years after the sera usually assigned to the foundation of Rome, that Livius Andronicus first attempted to imitate the Grecian tragedy. He was followed by En- nius and Nsevius, and, later, by a number of writers in the Augustan age, and under the Emperors ; but, with the exception of some fragments, and the tragedies ascrib- ed to Seneca, all their works are lost. This is the less to be lamented, because it does not appear that a single Ro- man tragedy was ever composed upon a Roman subject. In the comic department they displayed more originality. The Fabulae Atellanse were so popular, that youths of noble family engaged in the representation of them ; and, in con- sequence, the professional actors employed in them were exempted from the ignominy which attached to other thea- trical artists. Similar to these, probably, but more polish- ed, were the Mimi. These were composed in verse, in the Latin language, and sometimes were delivered extem- pore. Laberius and Syrus are the two most celebrated writers of them. The former was compelled by a request, equivalent to a command, from Julius Caesar, to appear on THEATRES. 227 the stage, although his compliance was attended with the loss of civil rights ; and the prologue which he spoke on this occasion is still extant, and expresses nobly and feel- ingly his sense of the injury. Time has left us no speci- mens of either of these species of composition ; and the scanty notices which remain concerning them do not ena- ble us to form a clear idea of their nature. The regular comedy of the Romans, which is preserved to us in Plautus and Terence, was for the most part pal- liata, that is, it appeared in a Grecian dress, and repre- sented Grecian manners. But they had also a comoedia togata, so called from the Roman dress which was worn in it. Afranius was the principal writer in this walk. We have no remains whatever of his writings, nor can we de- termine whether the togatcB were original comedies of new invention, or merely Grecian comedies adapted to Roman manners. The latter case is the more probable : yet it is not easy to conceive how Attic comedies could well be adapted to local circumstances of so different a nature. The way of living of the Romans was in general serious and grave, during the republic : the diversity of ranks was politically marked in a very decided manner, and the wealth of private individuals was frequently not inferior to that of princes ; women lived much more in society, and acted a much more independent part with them than among the Greeks ; and from this independence they fully shared in the general refinement of manners, and the corruption by which that refinement was accompanied. In these points, Athenian were the antipodes of Roman habits ; and with such essential differences between them, an original Ro- man comedy would have been a most valuable production, and would iiave given us that insight into the private feel- ings and private life of this remarkable people, which is of all knowledge the most curious and important. That this, however, was not accomplished in the comcedia iogata, the indifferent manner in which it is mentioned by the ancients 228 POMPEII. Comic Scene Irom a Painting at Pompeii. will hardly allow us to doubt. Quintilian himself informs us that the Latin literature ' was lamest in comedy.' * But this lameness was purely metaphorical. So far as the activity of the outward man can make up for the slug- gishness of the inner, the Roman stage might hear com- parison with any other. To the lamenters over the degen- eracy of modern taste, it might be some comfort, perhaps, to look at the awful list of hard words which Bulinger has collected in his erudite treatise ' De Theatro,' and if they have courage and perseverance to wade through the eigh- teen chapters devoted to explaining them, he will find rea- son to believe that an Easter spectacle is at least as ration- al and elevated an amusement as a Roman interlude. There would be little use in troubling the reader with the explanation of petauristse, petaminarii, crotochoreutse, and such cacophonous polysyllables ; it is enough that there is not a species of extravagance or buffoonery exhibited in pantomimes, or elsewhere, during the last fifteen years, — not Madame Saqui, II Diavolo Antonio, or the man who walked like a fly upon the ceiling of Drury Lane, who * The above sketch of the Roman theatre is compressed from Schlegel's Lectures on Dramatic Literature, sect. viii. THEATRES. 229 might not find their performances rivalled, if not anticipat- ed, in this catalogue of rope-dancers, tumblers, jugglers, merry-andrews, walkers upon stilts, and the like. We may mention as a single instance of Roman excellence, that elephants were taught to dance on the tight-rope, with riders and litters on their back, a feat beyond the powers even of the elephant at the Adelphi. It is time, however, to return to the buildings them- selves ; and we shall first describe the Greek theatre, the original model, and afterwards notice those points in which the Roman theatre differed from it. Thespis performed on a wagon : this was soon succeeded by a moveable wooden structure, which was put up and removed when required. It is said that the first stone theatre was erect- ed in consequence of the wooden building having given way under an unusual crowd. However this may be, it was erected by Themistocles, not long after the defeat of Xerxes, in the seventy-fifth Olympiad. Minute direc- Comic Scene from a Painting at Pompeii. tions, strongly illustrative of the importance of the subject, are given for choosing a proper situation. * When the Forum is finished, a healthy situation must be sought for, wherein the theatre may be erected to exhibit sports on the festival days of the immortal gods. For the specta- 20 230 POMPEII. tors are detained in their seats by the entertainment of the games, and remaining quiet for a long time, their pores are opened, and imbibe the draughts of air, which, if they come from marshy or otherwise unhealthy places, will pour injurious humours into the body. Neither must it front the south 5 for when the sun fills the concavity, the inclosed air, unable to escape or circulate, is heated, and then ex- tracts and dries up the juices of the body. It is also to be carefully observed, that the place be not dull (surdus,) but one in which the voice may expand as clearly as possible.'* It is probable that the natural sweep of some dell, hol- lowed out in a hill-side, furnished the original design of a theatre ; and the Greeks always availed themselves, if pos- sible, of a hill-side, or some locality which lightened the labour of the building. At Nyssa the theatre occupies an angle in a ravine partially filled up ; and it is said that the only instances now known of Grecian theatres built in a plain, are those of Mantineia and Megalopolis, and a small one in Asia Minor, t The Roman theatres, on the other hand, were usually elevated upon arches, wherever a suita- ble situation could be found, without regard to economical considerations. When the nature of the ground allowed, the Greeks hewed seats out of the Hving rock, and perhaps Comic Scene from a Painting at Pompeii. * Vitruv. V. 3. t Stuart's Athens,' vol. iv ; On the Greek Theatre, p. 36. THEATRES. 231 lined them with marble ; when it was of softer materials, they excavated to a depth suitable to their purpose, and formed rows of stone benches round the hollow. The building itself we may divide into two parts — the y^odov^ — in Latin, cavea, the part for the audience ; and that devoted to the business of the play, which is again sub- divided into the o^/7/(7T^a, and (7ki]vi]j the orchestra and stage. So far as the former is concerned, the description is short and simple, and may serve equally well both for Greek and Roman architecture. The y^odov was bounded by two concentric circular arcs, one of which separated it from the orchestra, the other form- ed its extreme outer limit. The Romans seldom suffered the arc to exceed a semicircle, or if it did, the excess was formed by two straight lines drawn from the ends of the semicircle perpendicular to its diameter. The Greeks commonly wsed a larger arc, bounded by radii converging to the centre. It was composed of a succession of seats, rising sufficiently to afford each tier an uninterrupted view, divided into two or more flights by dia'QM^aja, or prsecinc- tiones, a sort of landing, or broad step, which ran round the whole, and facilitated the access from one part to ano- ther. These were again sub-divided into negKideg, cunei, or wedges, by stairs, ^h^aasg, converging to the centre of the orchestra, and leading from the bottom to the top of the building. When the theatres were large, there were com- monly intermediate staircases, to facilitate the assent to the upper and broader portion of these cunei. The lowest seats, of course, were the best, and were reserved for the magistrates, and those who, by their own or their ances- tors' services, had acquired a right (^nQoedgux) to have places reserved for them. The Roman arrangement was different in this particular, as we shall hereafter notice. The whole was surrounded and surmounted by a portico, to confine sound and give shelter from a passing storm ; the upper line of wall being continued, at the same level,. 232 POMPEII. to meet the back of the stage, that the voice might spread evenly over the whole building, without opportunity to escape from one part sooner than from another. Still fur- ther to increase the resonance of the voice, brazen vases (^/em), resembling bells, were placed in different parts of the theatre. It is well known that when two instruments in harmony are placed within the sphere of each other's influence, if one be struck the other will vibrate the corre- sponding chord, and the vibration of the second will of course increase and strengthen the sound of the first. ^ Acting on this principle, which particularly suited the recitative in which dramatic compositions were delivered, THEATRES. 233 the ancients had echeia of earth and metal, modulated to the intervals of the different notes of the voice, placed in small cells under the seats, in one, two, or three rows, ac- cording to the extent of the theatre. Hence it resulted that the voice, passing from the scene as the centre, ex- panded itself all round, and striking the cavity of those vases, produced a clearer and more distinct sound by means of the consonance of these different modulated tones, and extended the powers of the speaker to the ut- most limits of the cavea. The vases were in the shape of a bell, placed in an inverted position, the side towards the audience resting on a pedestal not less than half a foot high, in all other respects quite free from contact ; and in order to allow the vibration of the sound, a small aperture was left in the front of the seat, about two feet long and half a foot high. It is remarkable that no writer has been able to adduce an existing example in confirmation of the principles, for the echeia and their cells, laid down by Vitruvius.'* The Roman architect lays down minute and abstruse rules for their arrangement, depending entirely on mathematical and musical principles, unintelligible with- out considerable acquaintance with both sciences, and sub-. ject to be misunderstood even by the most learned. The wonder that none of them have been found, is partly ex- plained by Vitruvius himself, from whom we learn that they were far from being universally used. ' It may be said that many theatres are built yearly at Rome, in none of which are these contrivances used. But all public theatres have many boarded surfaces, which resound by nature. We may observe this from singers, who, when they wish to raise a loud note, turn to the doors of the scene, and thus receive a help to their voice. But when the theatres are built of solid materials, as stone or marble, which are not sonorous, then these methods are to be em- * Stuart's ' Athens,' vol. iv ; On the Greek Theatre, p. 39. 20* 234 POMPEII. ployed. If it is asked in what theatre they are made use of, we have none at Rome ; but in different parts of Italy, and in the Greek provinces, there are several. We have also the authority of L. Mummius, who destroyed the thea- tre of Corinthj and brought the brazen vases to Rome, and dedicated them in the temple of Luna. And many skilful architects, who build theatres in small towns, use earthen ware vases, to save expense, which, when properly arrang- ed, have an excellent effect. '"^ It is said that a very com- plete example of these echeian chambers has been dis- covered at the theatre of Scythopolis, in Syria, by W. Bankes, Esq. The rest of the building is not quite so easily disposed of The orchestra, or dancing station, from ogxeo/um, to dance, we have already said was bounded towards the audience by a circular arc. Suppose the circle complet- ed, and a square inscribed in it, the side of the square farthest from the audience fixes the position of the front of the stage. A tangent to the circle, drawn parallel to this side, determines the depth of the stage. The position of the stair-cases is determined by the angles of two other squares inscribed in the circle. Again, draw a diameter through the centre of the orchestra, parallel to this side of the square, and from each end of it, with radius equal to the diameter of the orchestra, describe a portion of a cir- cle, cutting the side of the square produced. Thus, by this delineation of the orchestra about three centres, greater breadth was given both to it and the stage, which is a shal- low platform, elevated ten or twelve feet, behind which rose the Gv.Tjvri, or scene, a lofty wall, which terminated the spectators' view, usually adorned with architectural de- signs, but susceptible of variation, to suit the plot of the drama to be performed. Opposite to the centre of the stage stood the thymele. The real meaning of this term * Vitruv. V. 5. THEATRES. 235 m very doubtful. Bulinger appears to designate by it all that part of the orchestra which the chorus actually occu- pied. Others say that it was an altar, on which sacrifices were offered to Dionysius. Pollux describes it ambigu- ously, as ^an altar or raised platform for speaking.'* It appears, according to the best opinion we can form among conflicting authorities, to have been an elevated platform in front of the stage, approached by steps, and very pro- bably containing an altar, on which the coryphaeus, the spokesman, or leader of the chorus took his stand, when it was not singing, in an intermediate situation between the stage and his comrades, so as, without mixing in the ac- tion, to be ready to take his share in the dialogue. The rest of the chorus took their station, and performed their evolutions, in the orchestra, where lines were drawn on the floor, to mark their station. They seem not to have ranged over the whole area, in which case they would often have been concealed from a great part of the spectators, by the basement wall of the Ttodov, The space to which their motions did not extend, is called Tioi^iarga^ the arena, or place of sand ; but we know not its precise limit, nor whether the rest of the orchestra was elevated above it. The whole area was kept scrupulously clear of spectators, the Greeks considering that the presence of a single per- son would impede the equable diffusion of sound. The chorus did not enter over the stage, but by passages which led from behind the scene, under part of the auditory. In tragedy it usually contained fifteen persons, and entered and took its station either in three rows of five each, or in five rows of three : in comedy it consisted of twenty-four members, and was ranged in ranks of four, or six. Usu- ally it remained in the orchestra during the whole piece ; but sometimes it withdrew. It was preceded and regulat- ed by a flute-player. Sometimes it divided itself into two * Lib. iv, 19. 236 FOMPEII. parts, called i\uixoQia^ semi-chomsses, which ranged them- selves on opposite sides of the orchestra, and took part in the dialogue, each by its o\^ti cor}'phoeus. We now come to the cry-j^rj;, the most complicated and obscure division of the theatre. The stage, we have said, was elevated ten or twelve feet above the orchestra ; the wall, which supported it, was called inoay.r^nov, and was reUeved by statues, pillars, and other architectural orna- ments. Some consider all that was under the staore, or the whole stage itself, comprised in this term; * but it seems almost hopeless to ascertain satisfactorily the exact meaning of this, or several other technical words. Very probably the terms remained the same while the construc- tion varied ; and another reason for the confusion which exists may be found in the practice of translating Greek words into Latin words, which were already apphed to the Roman theatre, but to parts not exactly identical with those of the Greek. The stage itself was, as we have said, a broad shallow platform, called by the Greeks '/.oyetor, or TTQoaxr^viov, by the Romans pulpitura. Behind it rose the scene. The word ^Qouyipiov again is of doubtful signifi- cation. Schlegel describes it as a recess in the central part of the scene. Bulinger says that ^ in Greece, the scene was higher than the proscene, and the proscene than the pulpitum (the thyraele, that is), which stood in the orchestra.' By A itruvius, it seems to be used for the whole space in front of the scene, as its etymology would indicate, and we inchne to think this most extended signi- fication of the word correct. In this case the proscenium may be divided into three parts, the )>oyeioi\ the narrow portion opposite the centre of the scene where the actors stood and spoke, and two broader portions, at either end,- which extended from the scene to the seats of the specta- tors. In front of the stage was a recess in the floor meant * See Bulinger and Stuart's Athens, toI. iv. THEATRES. 237 to contain a curtain, which was drawn up previous to the performance, to conceal the scene. A flight of steps, called xh^axTTiQeg^ led up from the thymele to the stage, not for the use of the chorus, who never quitted their proper station in the orchestra, but for the characters of the play, who, when they were supposed to come from a distance, often entered by the orchestra. There was also a flight of steps concealed under the seats of the specta- tors, called Charon's staircase {^Xagmviov y.U^ay.sg^^ by which ghosts entered, and proceeded up the thymele to the stage. The scene, as we have said, was a wall, which rose to the level of the portico surrounding the aodov. Its width was double the diameter of the orchestra. ^ There are threa kinds of scenes, each different and dissimilar to the other. The tragic is composed of pillars, pediments, statues, and other princely ornaments. The comic has the appearance of private houses, with windows, &c. The satyric is ornamented with trees, caves, mountains, and other rustic objects, to resemble a landscape.'* ^ There are three doors in the scene, f the centre one representing a palace, a cavern, or whatever is the proper entrance for the chief character of the piece. The se- cond character enters through the right-hand door ; that on the left, which belongs to the least important person, is a ruined temple, or a solitary view. In tragedy, the right-hand door belongs to guests ; the left is a prison.' In front of the central door stood an altar, dedicated to Apollo Agyieus, presiding over ways. There were also entrances at the side, and, as we have said, in the orches- * Vitruv. V. 8. t There were also five doors in the scenes of some theatres, the rnins of which exist in Greece. The scene of one of these is not less than two hundred and fifty feet in length, five times longer than the scene of the theatre of San Carlo at Naples, the largest modern theatre in Europe. 238 POMPEII. tra. This appropriation of particular entrances to parti- cular people was facilitated by the small number of cha- racters usually introduced in tragedy. The actors rarely crossed each other on the stage, but remained where they first came on. By this arrangement the business of the piece was always carried on in the open air, usually in the vestibule of a palace, or before a temple ; but often, as in the Prometheus or Philoctetes, among the grandest ob- jects of nature. This practice, not without its inconsist- encies and inconveniences, was rendered necessary by the habits of the Greeks, who, like most southern nations, lived much in the open air, and admitted strangers very sparingly into their houses. They had contrivances, how- ever, by which the interior could be represented if neces- sary. These doors led into a room behind the scene {nuQu(jy.i]Viov) in which those incidents were supposed to take place, which the genius of the drama did not allow to be exhibited to view, as the murder of Clytemnestra in the Choephoroi, or of Agamemnon, when his dying excla- mations are heard from within. The recesses, if we may so call them, at each end of the stage, were occupied partly by a frame consisting of three scenes, revolving on a pi- vot, thence called negmxTogj suitably ornamented, behind which there were lateral transverse entrances, through which messengers or travellers, or sometimes sea and river gods, were introduced on the stage. Behind the scene spacious porticos, sometimes enclosing gardens, were erected, for the audience to retire to if sudden rain should interrupt the shows, and also as a convenient place for the chorus to rehearse their part. Such was the construction of the Greek stage ; inferior to the modern stage in the illusions produced by perspec- tive, and by the exquisite skill which has raised scene- painting from a term of reproach to an important branch of art ; inferior in splendour of decoration, so far as the gorgeous processions, and the crowds of mutes and dan- THEATRES. 239 cers with which we love to crowd the boards, deserve the name of decorations ; above all, inferior, according to our notions, in the style of acting to which their observances confined them. Yet, never was there more enthusiasm displayed in favour of theatrical amusements than at Athens. The wealthy choragi, at whose expense the decorations were provided, the chorus trained and re- hearsed, and the whole piece brought out, vied with each other in magnificence as eagerly as did the authors in poetic excellence ; and the same tripod which recorded that Phrynichus gained the prize, bore testimony also that his success was partly owing to the liberality and taste of Themistocles. In truth, the spectacle, though somewhat stiff and formal, and partaking, as Schlegel has observed, somewhat of the nature of a bas-relief, was of a grand and elevating character ; and where the nature of the piece was favourable to such display, left nothing to be wished for on the score of simple magnificence. The opening of the (Edipus Tyrannus, where a multitude of citizens knelt in supplication before the altar in the palace vestibule 5 or the scene in Prometheus, where the Titan, chained among the rocks of Caucasus, is visited by the fifty air-borne daughters of Ocean, or the conclusion, where, unterrified by the threats of Hermes, or the anger of Zeus, they crowd round him, resolute not to abandon their friend, while the earth quakes, the lightnings flash thick around them, and conflicting winds mingle air and sea, might probably compare, for mere effect, with the most successful productions of modern machinists. Nor were the Greeks unskilled in the use of stage machinery. There was the eyy.vxhi^ia, or s^MaTQ(x, intended to remedy the inconvenience of conducting all the action of the piece in the open air, by representing the interior of edifices, and transactions passing in them. It appears to have been a revolving portion of the scene, level, and seemingly a solid part of it, or presenting a recess capable of contain- 240 POMPEII. ing at least one actor, as one side or the other was pre- sented to the audience. Thus in the Acharnians, just before the passage above quoted, DicseopoHsj on present- ing himself before the house of Euripides, is informed that the poet cannot be seen. ' Euripides/ he exclaims, ' Eu- ripides I' ^ I have no time,' is the answer. ^ At least turn round to me.' ' It is impossible.' ' Only this fa- vour.' ' Well, I will turn round, but I have not time to descend ; ' and the encyclema, turning round, shows hira seated upon the first floor.=^ Different from this was the £iazv'Ar]jiia, or rolling platform for sea-gods. Many oth- er contrivances are named without being described, as q)QvxTO)Qiov, the beacon tower, raised probably above the scene, required in the Agamemnon ; y.eQawocrxoTtstov, a lofty machine to produce lightning ; ^qovtblov^ a vessel filled with stones, and rolled along sheets of brass, to imi- tate thunder ; yeqavog^ and aiuqai^ the crane and ropes by which actors were borne into the air ; deoloyeiov^ the sky platform, on which the celestial deities appeared aloft ; fir]/avr]^ the machine by which they descended ; with others to facilitate their appearance from above, or the assent of the infernal gods and spirits from below. With so excitable and impetuous an audience as the Athenians the task of an actor was by no means easy. Their theatre, as we have said, was open to the whole people, however poor, for originally the performances were gratuitous ; and when a price was charged for admission it was furnished from the public funds to any person who applied for it. In the time of Plato it would hold about thirty thousand persons ; and this immense audience ex- pressed their satisfaction, or still more their displeasure, with an energy, compared to which the first night of a new piece is decorum. Not content with hooting and pelting with figs and apples, the legitimate expression of theatrical * Acharn. 406. THEATRES. 241 opinion in all ages, they sometimes compelled an unlucky actor to take off his mask, drove him from the stage, and summoned another to supply his place. That -Eschines had been an actor, and a bad one, is one of the things objected to him by Demosthenes in the celebrated oration for the crown. ' You played a third-rate part, and I hooted you. You were driven from the stage ; and I hissed.' Again : ' You hired yourself out to actors, to play third-rate parts, collecting figs, grapes, and olives, like a fruit-seller, from other men's orchards, receiving more wounds thus than in the conflicts which you, Athen- ians, have waged concerning your lives ; for between you and your audience there was truceless, irreconcilable war. Therefore, having taken many wounds at their hands, you may justly mock those as cowards who are untried in such dangers.'^ The profits of the stage were enormous, though the profession was not in high repute. Polus, a celebrat- ed Greek actor, is said to have sometimes made a talent (about 225/) in two days. At Rome, also, the profession was lucrative. Roscius and ^sopus, the most celebrated of Roman actors, are known to have amassed vast wealth. In the Roman theatre, the construction of the orchestra and stage was different. The former was still bounded towards the cavea by a semicircle. Complete the circle, draw the diameters BB, HH, perpendicular to each oth- er, and inscribe four equi lateral triangles, whose vertices shall fall severally upon the ends of the diameters ; the twelve angles of the triangles will divide the circumference into twelve equal ^jortions. The side of the triangle oppo- site to the angle at B will be parallel to the diameter HH, and determines the place of the scene, as HH determines the front of the stage, or pulpitum. By this construction the stage is brought neaier to the audience, and made considerably deeper than in the Greek theatre, its depth * Demosth. de Corona, p. 200 ; Schacfer. 21 242 POMPEII. Plan of the Roman Theatre. being determined at a quarter of the diameter of the or- chestra, which itself was usually a third, or somewhat more, of the diameter of the whole building. The length of the stage was twice the diameter of the orchestra. The in- creased depth of the stage was rendered necessary by the greater number of persons assembled on it ; the chorus and musicians being placed here by the Romans. A further consequence of the construction is, that the circum- ference of the cavea could not exceed one hundred and eighty degrees. Sometimes, however, the capacity of the theatre was increased by throwing the stage further back, and continuing the seats in right lines perpendicular to the diameter of the orchestra. This is the case in the great theatre at Pompeii. Within the orchestra were cir- cular ranges of seats for the senate and other distinguish- ed persons, leaving a level platform in the centre. The seven angles which fall within the circumference of the orchestra mark the places at which staircases up to the first prgecinctio, or landing, were to be placed ; those leading from thence to the second, if there were more THEATRES. ^43 than one, were placed intermediately opposite to the cen- tre of each cuneus. The number of staircases, whether seven, five, or three, of course depended on the size of the theatre. In the great theatres of Rome, the space between the orchestra and first praecinctio, usually consist- ing of fourteen seats, was reserved for the equestrian or- der, tribunes, &.c : all above these were the seats of the plebeians. Women were appointed by Augustus to sit in the portico, which encompassed the whole. The lowest range of seats was raised above the area of the orchestra one-sixth of its diameter : the height of each seat is direct- ed not to exceed one foot four inches, nor to be less than one foot three. The breadth is not to exceed two feet four inches, nor to be less than one foot ten. The stage, to consult the convenience of those who sit in the orches- tra, is only elevated five feet, less than half the height given to the Grecian stage. The five angles of the trian- gles not yet disposed of determine the disposition of the scene. Opposite the centre one are the regal doors ; on each side are those by which the secondary characters entered. Behind the scene, as in the Greek theatre, there were apartments for the actors to retire into, and the whole was usually surrounded with porticos and gardens. The square at Pompeii, called the soldiers' quarters, appears to have been an appendage to the great theatre. These buildings, being under cover, served better for the pur- poses of rehearsal than the open stage. A very beautiful mosaic has been found in a house in Pompeii, represent- ing the Choragus, ^ or master of the chorus, instructing his actors in their parts. He is represented as sitting on a chair in the Choragium, or place devoted to these rehear- sals, surrounded by performers : at his feet, on a stool, * The Romans termed Choragus the person whom the Greeks named Chorodidascalus, the maitre dii ballet. The Choragus, in the proper sense of the word, was the person at whose expense the chorus and decorations were provided. 244 POMPEII. are the various masks which were used ; another is behind him, on a pedestal ; these he seems about to distribute. One of the actors, assisted by another, is putting his arms through the sleeves of a thick shaggy tunic ; while the Choragus appears to be addressing him who has lifted his THEATRES. 245 mask, that he may show by the expression of his counte- nance his attention to what is being said. En the middle of the picture is a female, crowned with a wreath, playing on the double flute, or perhaps tuning the instrument. Two of the figures are merely covered round the loins with goat skins. Behind the figures are represented the Ionic columns of the portico, with its entablature ; above this is a kind of gallery, decorated with figures and vases ; and garlands are also hung, in festoons, between the col- umns. This mosaic is composed of very fine pieces of glass, * and is esteemed one of the most beautiful that has yet been discovered. The earliest theatres at Rome, as at Athens, were mere temporary buildings of wood, removed when the immediate occasion for them was over. Stage-plays, as we have said, were first introduced a.m. 391. For two hundred years the Romans continued satisfied with standing-room ; for, in the year 599, the Censors Valerius Messala, and Caius Cassus, wishing to build a permanent theatre, were prevent- ed by the senate, at the instance of Scipio Nasica; and at the same time an order was made that no person should provide seats at public spectacles within a mile of the city, ^ that the manly habit of standing, combined with mental relaxation, might be the peculiar mark of the Roman peo- ple ;' or, according to Tacitus, ' lest, if the people sat, whole days might be spent in idleness.' i Mummius, the destroyer of Corinth, transported the furniture of the Co- rinthian theatre to Rome, and, at his triumph, represented plays in the Grecian manner, for the first time, about the year 610. The first permanent theatre was built by Pom- * Until lately it was supposed that the small and fine mosaics found at Pompeii were made of stone, but it has since been ascer- tained that they are made of glass, in a similar manner, and with similar materials, to the modern Roman mosaics now so celebrated, t Val. Max. lib. ii, 4; Tacit. Ann. xiv, 20. 21* 246 POMPEII. pey, and finished in 699. Up to that time, the aediles, or other persons who exhibited theatrical amusements, con- structed edifices on purpose, at an enormous expense, and with such splendour as would have seemed meant to hand down the name and magnificence of the founder to the lat- est posterity, instead of serving merely for a passing pa- geant. But money lightly earned is generally prodigally spent ; and extreme magnificence in works of ornament is seldom consistent with the happiness of those at whose expense in reality they are constructed. The immense wealth which supplied these costly entertainments was the firuit of unjust conquest, or the spoils of subject provinces, and was thus prodigally lavished merely to obtain favour in the people's eyes, and procure other and more lucrative appointments. Celebrated above all others are the thea- tres of Scaurus and Curio, which are minutely described by Pliny, and will show how far the prodigality and splen- dour of ancient Rome surpassed all that modern extrava- gance has ventured, or modern means supplied. ' Howbeit, as sumptuous in this kind as either C. Cali- gula or Nero was, yet shall they not enjoy even the glorie of this fame; for I will shew that all this pride and excesse of theirs in building their pallaces (princes though they were and mighty monarchs) came behind the privat workes of M. Scaurus, whose example in his ^dileship was of so ill consequence, as I wot not whether ever there were any- thing that overthrew so much all gord manners and order- lie civilite ; in such sort, as hard it is to say whether Sylla did more damage to the state in having a sonne in law* so rich and mightie, than by the proscription of so many thousand Romane citizens. And in truth, this Scaurus, when he was ^dile, caused a wonderfull peece of worke to be made, and exceeding all that had ever been knowne wrought by man's hand, not only those that have been * Sylla married the mother of Scaams. THEATRES. 247 erected for a month or such a thing, but even those that have been destined for a perpetuitie; and a theatre it was: the scene had three stories, one above another, wherein were three hundred and threescore columnes of marble (a strange and admirable sight in that citie, which in times past could not endure six small pillars of marble, hewed out of the quarry in Mount Hymettus, in the house of a most honourable personage, * without a great reproach and rebuke given unto him for it) ; the base and the nether- most part of the scene was all of marble, the middle of glasse (an excessive superfluitie, never heard of before or after) ; as for the uppermost, the boards, plankes, and floores were guilded ; the columnes beneath were fortie foot high, wanting twaine ; and between these columnes (as I have shewed before) there stood of statues and ima- ges in brasse to the number of three thousand. The thea- tre itself was able to receive fourscore thousand persons, to sit well and at ease. | Whereas the compass of Pom- peii's Amphitheatre (notwithstanding the citie of Rome, so much enlarged and more peopled in his time) was devised for to containe no greater number than fortie thousand seats at large. As touching the other furniture of this theatre of Scaurus, in rich hangings, which were cloth of gold ; pictures, plaiers' aparell, and other stufTe meet for to adorne the stage, there was such abundance there- of, that there being carried backe to his house of pleasure at Tusculum the surplusage thereof, over and above the daintiest part, whereof he had daily use at Rome, liis ser- vants and slaves there, upon indignation of this wast and monstrous superfluities of their maister, set the said coun- trey house on fire, and burnt as much as came to a hun- * L. Crassus. t We may more than suspect error here. It is calculated that, to contain this nuiriber, the theatre must have been 700 feet in diameter — ei«^hty feet more than the greatest dianieter of the Coli- seum. 248 Pompeii. dred million of sesterces.* Certes, when I consider and behold the monstrous humours of these prodigall spirits, my mind is drawne away still from the progresse of mine intended journie, and forced I am to digresse out of my way, and to annex unto this vanitie of Scaurus as great foilie of another, not in masonrie or marble, but in carpen- trie and timber : and C. Curio it was, bee who in the civile warres between Caesar and Pompey, lost his life in the quarrell of Caesar. This gentleman, desirous to shew pleasure unto the people of Rome at the funeral of his father deceased, as the manner then was, and seeing that he could not outgoe Scaurus in rich and sumptuous furni- ture (for where should he have had such a father-in-law againe as Sylla ? Where could he have found the like mother to Dame Metella ? who had her share in all for- feitures and confiscations of the goods of outlawed citizens.'* And where was it possible for him to meet with such ano- ther father as M. Scaurus, the principall person of the whole citie so long together, who parted stakes with Ma- rius in pilling and polling of the provinces, and was the very receptacle and gulfe which received and swallowed all their spoils and pillage?) And Scaurus himselfe verily, if he might have had all the goods in the world, could not have done as he did before, nor make the like theatre againe, by reason that his house at Tusculum was burnt, where the costly and rich furniture, the goodliest rare orna- ments which he had gotten together from all parts of the world, were consumed to ashes ; by which fire yet this good he got, and prerogative above all other, — that no man ever after him was able to match that sumptuositie of his theatre. ' This gentleman (I say) Curio, all things considered, was put to his shifts and devised to surpass Scaurus in wit, since he could not come neare him in wealth. And what * Upwards of 80,000/. THEATRES. 249 might his invention bee ? Certes it is worth the knowl- edge, if there were no more but this, that we may have joy of our owne concerts and fashions, and call ourselves worthily as our manner is Majores, =^ that is to say, supe- rior every way to all others. To come then to C. Curio, and his cunning devise, he caused two theatres to be fram- ed of timber, and those exceeding big, howbeit so as they might bee turned about as a man would have them approach neare one to the other, or be removed farther asunder as one would desire, and all by the means of one hinge a piece. Now he ordered the matter thus ; that to behold the sev- erall stage plaies, and sliewes in the forenoone before din- ner, they should be set backe to backe, to the end that the stages should not trouble one another : and when the peo- ple had taken their pleasure that way, hee turned the thea- tres about in a trice against the aflernoone, that they af- fronted one another : insomuch, as by the meeting of the homes or corners of them both together in compasse, he made a fair round amphitheatre of it ; and there in the middest betweene, he exhibited indeed unto them all joint- ly, a sight and spectacle of sword-fencers fighting at sharpe, whom he had hired for that purpose : but in truth, a man may say more truly, that he carried the whole peo- ple of Rome round about at his pleasure, bound sure ynough for stirring or remooving. Now let us come to the point, and consider a little better of this thing. What should a man wonder at most therein, the deviser or the devise it- selfe } The workeman of this fabricke, or the maister that him on worke ? Whether of the twaine is more admirea- ble, either the venterous head of him that devised it, or the bold heart of him that undertooke it ? to command such a thing to be done, or to obey and yield to goe in hand with it } But when we have said all that we can, the follie of * The Romans delighted much in this word, Maiores, as may appear by their More Majorum, &c. Holland. 250 POMPEII. the blind and bold people of Rome went beyond all ; who trusted such a ticklish frame, and durst sit there in a seat so moveable. Loe where a man might have seen the bodie of that people, which is commander and ruler of the whole earth, the conquerour of the world, the disposer of kingdoms and realms at their pleasure, the divider of coun- tries and nations at their will, the giver of lawes to forraine states, the vicegerent of the immortall gods under heaven, and representing their image unto all mankind : hanging in the air witnin a frame, rejoicing and readie to clap hands at their owne daunger. What a cheape market of men's lives was here toward ! What was the loss at Can- nae to this hazard, that they should complaine so much as they doe of Cannae ? How neare unto a mischeife were they, which might have happened hereby in the turning of a hand ? Certes, when there is newes come of a cittie swallowed up by a wide chinke and opening of the earth, all men generally in a publicke commiseration doe greeve thereat, and there is not one but his heart doth yearne ; and yet, behold the universal state and people of Rome, as if they were put into a couple of barkes, supported be- tweene heaven and earth, and sitting at the devotion onely of two hinges. And what spectacle doe they behold, a number of fencers trying it out with unrebated swords ? nay, ywis, but even themselves rather entered into a most desperat fight, and at the point to breake their necks every mother's son, if the scaffold failed never so little, and the frame went out of joint : and by this hanging of the tribes in the air is favour carried at the election for tribunes. What a mightie man with them might bee bee (thinke you) preaching unto them from the Rostra ? What would not he dare to propose, having audience in that public place before them, who could persuade them thus as he did, to sit upon such turning and ticklish theatres. And in truth, if we will consider this pageant upright, we must needs confesse and may be bold to say, that Curio had all the THEATRES. 251 people of Rome to performe a brave skirmish and combat indeed to honour and solemnize the funerals of his father before his tombe. And yet here is not all : for he was at his chaunge and varietie of magnificent shewes : and when he perceived once that thehookes of his frame were stretched ynough and began to be out of order, bee kept them still close together round in forme of a perfect am- phitheatre, and the very last day of his funerall solemni- ties, upon two stages just in the middest, he represented wrestlers and other champions to performe their devoire, and then all on a suddaine, causing the said stages to be disjoined and haled one from another a contrary way, he brought forth the same day the fencers and sword players who had woon the prize, and with that shew made an end of all. See what Curio was able to doe ! and yet was he neither king nor Kesar: he was not so much as a gene- rall or commaunder of an armie ; nay bee was not named for any great rich man : as whose principall state depend- ed upon this, that when the great men of the citie, Caesar and Pompey, were skuffling together by the eares, bee knew well how to fish in a troubled water.' ^ The first permanent theatre was constructed by Pom- pey, after he returned from Asia, at the close of the Mith- ridatic war. Plutarch says, that, stopping at Mitylene, on his way home, he attended some dramatic representa- tions there, and was so much struck with the building, that he determined to erect one on the same plan, but with greater splendour, at Rome. It was not completed until his second consulship, in the year 699; and even in that luxurious age, either the ancient jealousy of permanent theatres still remained, or he was afraid of raising envy, and prejudicing his popularity, by giving his own name to so magnificent and proud a structure ; for he built a tem- ple of Venus Victrix, the Conqueress, at the highest part * Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxiii, 24. 252 POMPEII. of the cavea, and dedicated the whole to her, stating in the edict by which he summoned the citizens to the dedication, that he had built a temple to Venus, ' under which,' he said, ' I have placed tiers of seats, to behold spectacles.' It would contain 40,000 spectators. Subjoined to this building, and as it were a part of the establishment, were his own house, a portico, basilica, and curia. It was in the latter that Caesar was slain, after which it was shut up. It was splendidly ornamented with statues by eminent ar- tists ; among them were the images of fourteen nations, those, perhaps, whom he claimed to have conquered. Near it, in later times, stood a remarkable colossal statue of Jupiter, erected by the Emperor Claudius. Being injured by fire in the reign of Tiberius, it was repaired by Caligula, and was again burnt, and restored by Claudius. It was burnt a third time in the reign of Titus. Nero gilded the scene, the theatre, and every thing employed in the performance, to make an exhibition of his magnifi- cence to a royal visitor, Teridates, king of Armenia ; the very awning was purple, studded with golden stars, repre- senting the heavens, and in the centre was an embroidered representation of himself, as the sun guiding his chariot. The next permanent theatre was built by Augustus, and named by him after his favourite, Marcellus, who died be- fore it was completed. It stood on the declivity of the Capitol, near the Tarpeian rock, on the spot where Julius Caesar had proposed to build one of surpassing magnitude. It is called by Ovid the marble theatre, either from being built of that material, or because four columns, of remark- able size, taken from the atrium of Scaurus's house, stood in it. Vitruvius is generally reported to have been the architect of this building, which would contain 30,000 per- sons. A third theatre was built by Cornelius Balbus, at the instance of Augustus. These three all stood in the neighbourhood of the Circus Flamrnius ; traces of them still remain, which will be found in the map of ancient THEATRES. 253 Rome. We do not read of any more separate theatres being built ; but they were sometimes placed as append- ages to the magnificent Thermae, which about this time it became the fashion to construct. To roof these vast areas was probably beyond the archi- tectural skill of the Romans, nor, if thus covered, could they well have been properly and sufficiently lighted. Smaller theatres, however, were sometimes roofed, as was the lesser one at Pompeii ; and the celebrated Herodes Atticus built two roofed theatres, one at Athens, the other at Corinth ; this, however, was at a much later period. Originally, the Romans defended themselves from the sun by broad brimmed hats, called causise, or pilei Thessalici ; and from the rain by. mantles or hoods. It was the Cam- panians, who carried to the highest pitch every refinement of luxury, who first devised the means of covering their theatres with awnings, by means of cords stretched across the cavea, and attached to masts which passed through perforated blocks of stone, deeply bedded in the solid wall. But we shall treat this subject more fully in the chapter which relates to amphitheatres. We now proceed to describe the quarter of the theatres, which is inferior only to that of the forum in the variety and beauty of its buildings. As the latter was especially dedicated to business, so was the former to pleasure ; and we here find ample provision made for the gratification of the citizens, not only by dramatic entertainments, but by spacious porticos, and large areas, which probably were planted and adorned with flowers. It was in such places as these, under the shade of colonnades, or in the open air, as the weather might invite, in each other's company, that the Italians loved to take the mild exercise which suit- ed the climate ; or when they engaged in more violent exercise, it was in athletic games, or similar pursuits : to take a walk, in the English acceptation of the term, was a thing that no one ever thought of doing for pleasure. The 22 254 POMPEII. theatres themselves, of course, are small and plain, com- pared with those magnificent edifices at Rome, which we have described ; yet they bear the remains of considerable magnificence, and the larger at least would be considered of great size in any modern capital. The approach to them must have combined convenience and beauty in no common degree. Just at the point where the two routes from the forum unite, there stands a propyleum, or vesti- bule, of eight Ionic columns in Jlntis^ raised upon two steps, one foot nine inches in diameter, and thirteen feet four inches high. In the mouldings of the entablature an artifice has been employed by the architect, to produce an effect as if black lines had been painted. This is done by cutting deep narrow lines under the projecting mould- ings, allowing of no reflection, and consequently produc- ing a sharp and black shadow. In front of one of the columns is a fountain, that never-absent article of Pom- peian comfort, supplied with water through a mask sculp- tured in stone. A marble basin or patera is also attached to one of the columns of the portico, facing you as you enter, which was fed by pipes carried up through the cen- tre of the column. In this vestibule some articles of gold and silver were found, together with an emerald ring. This leads into an extensive colonnade of the Doric or- der ; between the pillars of which were iron bars, to con- fine the crowd within them. It is not completely cleared out, and the dimensions, therefore, not accurately known ; but in form it is triangular, and the greater side appears to have been about 450 feet in length, and the other two about 250 or 300 feet. Within this ample area are the remains of a sacred edifice, called, from its style of archi- tecture, the Greek temple, otherwise the temple of Her- cules. This, from its size, arrangement, and style of art, is one of the most important buildings in Pompeii. The Count de Clarac * dates its erection about eight hundred * See Pompeii, par le Conte de Clarac. THEATRES. 255 years before the Christian sera ; and if this remote anti- quity can be maintained, it is one of the most ancient speci- mens existing of Grecian art, and must have been erected by some of the earhest Grecian colonists. It is in a very dilapidated state ; the few indications that can be relied on seem to prove that it had an entire peristyle of columns, three feet ten inches and a half in diameter, diminishing at the top to three feet, and about four and a half diame- ters, or seventeen feet six inches high, comprising seven columns on the north-west, and south-east fronts, and eleven on each of the sides. The intercolumniations are one diameter and two-ninths. This is one of the few in- stances of an ancient building having an uneven number of columns in front, and consequently an odd one in the centre ; another instance occurs in the basilica of Psestum. The capitals belong to the Grecian Doric ; the abacus, or flat stone at the top, is four feet eleven inches square, and the whole capital peculiar, inasmuch as the stone out of which it is worked includes no part of the shaft. Its great depth (one foot ten inches and a quarter) and bold projec- tion indicate a very ancient character ; ^ and the masonry has been covered with fine stucco. The cell appears to have been divided into several compartments, paved with mosaic, and there seem to have been two entrances from the portico, one on each side of the centre column. The whole building stands upon a podium or basement, raised five steps above the level of the ground. In front there is a further flight of five steps ; these are entire, but much worn. The total length of the building, including the po- dium, but not the flight of steps, is about 120, its breadth about 70 feet. Before the steps is an enclosure, supposed to have been a pen to contain victims, and by its side two altars. A little further oflT stands a small monopteral build- *Gell, p. 241. ^5G POMPEII. ing, of the Doric order, covering a puteal, or well, from which the water required in the temple was drawn. Other- wise it has been called a bidental, or locus fulminatus, a spot where a thunderbolt has fallen. Such spots were held in especial awe by the ancient Romans, and set apart as sacred to Pluto and infernal deities. The method of its construction will suit either supposition. Eight columns of tufa, one foot four inches in diameter, supported a cir- cular epistyle and roof. Under this is a structure resem- bling a circular perforated altar, such as was commonly placed for security round the mouth of wells. Exactly the same covering was placed over a bidental, and in either case it was alike called puteal. It has been supposed that the temple was erected on the site of a still older pottery, from the fragments of vases and tiles which have been discovered under the base. This spot is elevated considerably above the level of the plain, which it overlooks, and appears to have been the highest part of the isolated eminence on which Pompeii was built. Near the south-west corner of the building is an exedra, or seat, placed to afford the worshippers and others the full enjoyment of the magnificent and extensive view. The seat is semicircular, like those in the street of tombs. Anciently, the sea seems to have washed the foot of the hill, where now the road runs from Naples to No- cera, on the brow of which it is built ; and beyond a noble prospect presented itself to the eye, embracing Castella- mare, Vico, Sorrento, the promontory of Minerva, and the island of Capri, with almost the entire expanse of the dark blue bay of Naples. The city wall appears to have bounded the area upon this, the south side, so that the portico, which would have interrupted the view, was only continued along two sides. Parallel to the eastern portico there runs a long wall, terminated at one end by the altars already mentioned, and at the other by a pedestal, inscribed M. CLAUDIO. M.F. MARCELLO. PATRONO. THEATRES. 257 Plan of the large Theatre at Pompeii. In the eastern portico are four entrances to different parts of the theatre. The two first, as you enter, lead into a large circular corridor surrounding the whole cavea: the third opens on an area behind the scene, from which there is a communication with the orchestra and privileged seats : the fourth led down a long flight of steps, at the bottom of which you turn, on the right, into the soldiers' quarter, on the left, into the area already mentioned. The corridor is arched over : it has two other entrances, one by a large passage from the east side, another from a small- 22* 258 POMPEII. er passage on the north. Six inner doors^ called vomito- ria, opened on an equal number of staircases, which ran down to the first praecinctio. The theatre is formed upon the slope of a hill, the corridor being the highest part, so that the audience, upon entering, descended at once to their seats ; and the vast staircases, which conducted to the upper seats of the theatres and amphitheatres at Rome, were saved. By the side of the first entrance is a stair- case which led up to the women's gallery, above the cor- ridor : here the seats were partitioned into compartments, like our boxes. The benches were about one foot three inches high, and two feet four inches wide. One foot three inches and a half was allowed to each spectator, as may be ascertained in one part, where the divisions are marked off and numbered. There is space to contain about five thousand persons. ^ Here the middle classes sat, usually upon cushions which they brought with them ; the men of rank sat in the orchestra below on chairs of state carried thither by their slaves. Flanking the orchestra, and ele- vated considerably above it, are observable two divisions, appropriated, one perhaps to the proconsul, or duumvirs and their officers, the other to the vestal virgins, or to the use of the person who gave the entertainments. This is the more likely, because in the smaller theatre, where these boxes, if we may call them so, are also found, they have a communication with the stage. This theatre appears to have been entirely covered with marble ; the benches of the cavea were of marble, the orchestra was of marble, the scene with all its ornaments was also of marble ; and yet of this profusion of marble only a few fragments remain. It appears, from an inscrip- tion found in it, to have been erected, or much improved, by one Holconius Rufus. Upon the first step of the or- chestra was another inscription, composed of bronze let- * Donaldson's Pompeii. THEATRES. 259 ters let into the marble. The metal has been carried away, bat the cavities in the marble still remain. They were placed so as partly to encompass a statue, and run thus : — M. HOLCONIO. M. F. RVFO. II V. I.D. QVINQ- VIENS. ITER. QVINQ. TRIE. MIL. A. P. FLA- MEN AVG. PATR. COLON. D.D. —signifying, that the colony dedicated this to its patron, M. Holco- nius Rufus, son of Marcus : then follow his titles. In the middle of this inscription is a vacant space, where proba- bly stood the statue of Holconius, as the cramps, by which something was fastened, still remain. Or possibly it may have been an altar, as it was the custom among the an- cients to sacrifice to Bacchus in the theatre. The an- nexed view represents the building which we have been describing, as seen from one of the entrances leading to the orchestra, having on the right hand the scene. In the wall which supported the front of the stage are seven re- cesses, similar to those discovered in the theatre at Her- culaneum. These have been supposed to be occupied by the musicians. ^ In front is the entrance to the orchestra ; above may be seen the six rows of steps which encircled it ; then the cavea, despoiled of its marble, but still show- ing the lines of benches, and stairs dividing them into cunei, and the vomitoria, or doors of entrance. Still * This represents a musician playing on the double flute. It is kept close to his mouth, and the breath hindered from escaping by a band, called ipopl^uov by the Greeks, capistrum by the Latins. 260 POMPEII. Flute-player, from a painting at Pompeii. THEATRES. 261 262 POMPEII. higher is the women's gallery, and above that the external wallj which never was entirely buried, and might have pointed out to any curious observer the exact situation of Pompeii. In our general view, the reader will observe one of the masts which supported the velarium, or awning, restored : it passed through two rings of stone projecting from the internal face of the wall. At the Coliseum these masts were supported by consoles on the outside. Of the scene itself we have little to say. Enough re- mains to show that the three chief doors were situated in S^ Stone Rings, to receive the Masts of the Velarium, from the Great Theatre at Pompeii. THEATRES. 263 deep recesses ; those at the sides rectangular, the central one circular. In front of the latter were two columns. Behind it is the postscenium. From the eastern side of the stage a covered portico led into the orchestra of the small theatre, and seems to have been meant as a commu- nication between the privileged seats of either house, for the convenience of those who were entitled to them. At the end of this portico is another communication with the square called the soldiers' quarters. The same plan and the same disposition of parts are observable in the small theatre. In form, however^ it is different, and approaches nearer to a rectangle, the horns POSTSCENIUM , Plan of the small Theatre. 264 POMPEII. of the semicircle being cut off by lines drawn perpendicu- lar to the front of the stage. Another, and a more remark- able difference is, that it appears to have been permanently roofed, from the following inscription : — C. aVINCTIVS . C. F. VALG, M. PORCIVS . M. F. DVO. VIR. DEC. DECK. THEATRVM . TECTVM FAC . LOCAR . EIDEMa . PROB . ' Caius Quinctius Valgus, son of Caius, and Marcus PorciuSj son of Marcus, Duumvirs by a decree of the Decurions, let out the covered theatre to be erected by contract, and the same approved it.' It is supposed to have been erected shortly after the end of the Social war, and is inferior to the other theatre in decoration and construction. It is built of the tufa of Nocera, but the stairs which separate the cunei are of a very hard Vesu- vian lava, well fitted to withstand the constant action of ascending and descending feet. The front wall of the proscenium, the scene, and the pavement of the orchestra, were entirely marble. The latter is of various colours : African breccia, giallo antico, and a purple marble. A band of marble, striped grey and white, runs across it from end to end of the seats, in which are inlaid letters of bronze, eight inches and a half long, and level with the surface, forming the following inscription : — M. OCVLATIVS . M.F. VERUS . IIVIR . PRO. LVDIS. ' Marcus Oculatius Verus, son of Marcus, Duumvir for the games,' signifying, probably, that he laid down the pavement. Within the orchestra itself there were four tiers of benches, upon which were placed the bisellii, or chairs of state, upon which the municipal authorities and persons of distinction sat. These were usually made of bronze, handsomely ornamented, and supported by four legs The Romans always provided conspicuous and dis- THEATRES. 265 tinct seats for their magistrates. The curule chair, com- posed of ivory, was peculiar to those of the metropohs ; the inhabitants of the colonies and municipalities placed their authorities upon a large chair, capable of containing two persons, though only one occupied it, whence this seat of honour was called bisellius. An inscription found at Nocera tells us that the perpetual Duumvirate was con- ferred on one M. Virtius ; and beneath is carved the bi- f ''> 1 liiill^^^i 1 ill l''f 1 illli ilii Tlli'll''''igl!ji^^^^M IH^B 91 iHii I ||||i|i||^ ■11 'H 1 illMlrim^^W'^JwJ^ir^^iM mm. m |M 1 iili!>IS¥^^ OiH i W ¥fM superior to them in skill and varied contrivance of design, as to other buildings in its gigantic magnitude. Six hun- dred years had tried its stability, when its stately mass, unbroken by the efforts of barbarians, suggested the well- known expression recorded by Bede : ' Quamdiu stabit 280 POMPEII. Colisseus^ stabit et Roma ; quando cadet Colysseus, cadet Roma ; quando cadet Roma, cadet et mundus.' — So long as the Coliseum stands, Rome shall stand : when the Coliseum falls, Rome will fall ; when Rome falls, the world will fall. Religious veneration united probably with the impressive recollection of that stupendous building to prompt this prediction ; which now seems not unlikely to be verified, but in a sense difl^erent to that which the author contemplated. The Coliseum, which Bede chose as the type of the stability of Roman greatness, more weakened by the peaceful plunders of a rapacious hierarchy, than by the attacks of barbarian invaders, or the wasting of time, is said already to show signs of approaching downfall ; and as of old the temporal empire of Rome, so the more oppressive spiritual empire which succeeded it has shrunk before the hardy tribes of the north. Rome and the Co- liseum are alike a wreck of what they have been, and may together crumble, and together come to their end. The world meanwhile retains its former youth and vigour : still that prediction has been more than usually fortunate, of which after the lapse of eleven centuries no part is proved false, and half is strengthened rather than impaired in credit. The Greek word, which by a slight alteration of its termination, we render Amphitheatre, signifies a theatre, or place of spectacles, forming a continuous inclosure, in opposition to the simple theatre, which, as we have said, was semicircular, but with the seats usually continued somewhat in advance of the diameter of the semicircle. The first amphitheatre seems to have been that of Curio, already described, consisting of two moveable theatres which could be placed face to face, or back to back, ac- cording to the species of amusement for which they were required. From the construction of its parts, therefore, we may presume that one of its diameters was longer than the other, and derive from hence the elliptical or oval form AMPHITHEATRES. 281 usually given to these buildings, in preference to the cir- cular form, which appears best calculated for the conve- nience of the whole body of spectators. Usually, gladia- torial shows were given in the Forum, and the chase, and combats of wild beasts exhibited in the Circus, where once, when Pompey was celebrating games, some enraged ele- phants broke through the barrier which separated them from the spectators. This circumstance, together with the unsuitableness of the Circus, which was divided into two compartments by the spina, a low wall surmounted by pillars, obelisks, and other ornamental erections, and besides, from its disproportionate length, was ill adapted to afford a general view to all the spectators, determined Julius Csesar, in his dictatorship, to construct a wooden theatre in the Campus Martins, built especially for hunt- ing (OeaTQov xvvr/ysTLzov^, ^ which was called amphitheatre [apparently the first use of the word], because it was en- compassed by circular seats without a scene. '^ The first permanent amphitheatre was built partly of stone and partly of wood, by Statilius Taurus, at the instigation of Augus- tus, who was passionately fond of these sports, especially of the hunting of rare beasts. This was burnt during the reign of Nero, and, though restored, fell short of the wish- es of Vespasian, who commenced the vast structure, com- pleted by his son Titus, and afterwards called the Coli- seum, otherwise the Flavian amphitheatre. The expense of this building it is said would have sufficed to erect a capital city, and, if we may credit Dion, 9000 wild beasts were destroyed in its dedication. Eutropius restricts the number to 5000. When the hunting was over the arena was filled with water, and a sea-fight ensued. The construction of these buildings so much resembles the construction of theatres, that it will not be necessary to describe them at any great length. Without, they usu- * Dion Cassius, xliii. 24^ i 282 POMPEII. ally presented to the view an oval wall, composed of two or more stories of arcades, supported by piers of different orders of architecture adorned with pilasters, or attached pillars. Within, an equal number of stories of galleries gave access to the spectatory at different elevations, and the inchned plane of the seats was also supported upon piers and vaults, so that the ground plan presented a num- ber of circular rows of piers, arranged in radii converging to the centre of the arena. A suitable number of doors opened upon the ground floor, and passages from thence, intersecting the circular passages between the piers, gave an easy access to every part of the building. Sometimes a gallery encompassed the whole, and served as a com- mon access to all the stairs which led to the upper stories. This was the case in the amphitheatre at Nismes. Some- times each staircase had its distinct communication from without : this was the case at Verona. The arrangement of the seats was the same as in theatres ; they were divid- ed horizontally by prsecinctiones, and vertically into cunei by staircases. The scene and apparatus of the stage was of course wanting, and its place occupied by an oval area, called arena, from the sand with which it was sprinkled, to absorb the blood shed, and give a firmer footing than that afforded by a stone pavement. It was sunk twelve or fif- teen feet below the lowest range of seats, to secure the spectators from injury, and was besides fenced with round wooden rollers, turning in their sockets, placed horizontally against the wall, such as the reader may have observed placed on low gates to prevent dogs from climbing over, and with strong nets. In the time of Nero these nets were knotted with amber ;^ and the Emperor Carinus caused these to be made of golden cord or wire.| Some- times, for more complete security, ditches, called euripiy surrounded the arena. This was first done by Caesar, as * Pliny, lib. xxxv. t Calpurnius. AMPHITHEATRES. 293 the fall of the republic, when party rage scrupled not to have recourse to open violence, questions of the highest import were debated in the streets of the city by the most despised of its slaves. In the conspiracy of Catiline so much danger was apprehended from them, that particular measures were taken to prevent their joining the disaffected party: an event the more to be feared, because of the des- perate war in which they had engaged the republic a few years before, under the command of the celebrated Spar- tacus. At a much later period, at the triumph of Probus, A.D. 281, about fourscore gladiators exhibited a similar courage. Disdaining to shed their blood for the amuse- ment of a cruel people, they killed their keepers, broke out from the place of their confinement, and filled the gjtreets of Rome with blood and confusion. After an ob- stinate resistance they were cut to pieces by the regular troops. The oath which they took upon entering the service is preserved by Petronius, and is couched in these terms : ^ We swear after the dictation of Eumolpus to suffer death by fire, bonds, stripes, and the sword ; and, whatever else Eumolpus may command, as true gladiators, we bind our- selves body and mind to our master's service.' From slaves and freedmen the inhuman sport at length spread to persons of rank and fortune, insomuch that Au- gustus was obliged to issue an edict, that none of sena- torial rank should become gladiators ; and soon after he laid a similar restraint on the knights. Succeeding em- perors, according to their characters, encouraged or en- deavoured to suppress this degrading taste. Nero is re- lated to have brought upwards of four hundred senators and six hundred knights upon the arena ; and in some of his exhibitions, even women of quality contended publicly. The excellent Marcus Aurehus not only retrenched the enormous expenses of these amusements, but ordered that gladiators should contend only with blunt weapons. But 25* 294 POMPEII. they were not abolished until some time after the introduc- tion of Christianity. Constantino pubhshed the first edict which condemned the shedding of human blood ; and or- dered that criminals condemned to death should rather be sent to the mines, than reserved for the service of the am- phitheatre. In the reign of Honorius, when he was cele- brating with magnificent games the retreat of the Goths and the deliverance of Rome, an Asiatic monk, by name Telemachus, had the boldness to descend into the arena to part the combatants. ' The Romans were provoked by this interruption of their pleasures ; and the rash monk was overwhelmed under a shower of stones. But the madness of the people soon subsided ; they respected the memory of Telemachus who had deserved the honours of martyrdom, and they submitted without a murmur to the laws of Honorius, which abolished for ever the human sacrifices of the amphitheatre.' ^ This occurred a. d. 404. It was not however until the year 500 that the practice was finally and completely abolished by Theodoric. Some time before the day appointed for the spectacle, he who gave it (editor) published bills containing the name and ensigns of the gladiators, for each of them had his own distinctive badge, and stating also how many were to fight, and how long the show would last. It appears, that like our itinerant showmen, they sometimes exhibited paintings of what the sports were to contain. On the appointed day, the gladiators marched in procession with much cere- mony into the amphitheatre. They then separated into pairs, as they had been previously matched. At first, how- ever, they contended only with staves called riides, or with blunted weapons ; but when warmed and inspirited by the pretence of battle, they changed their weapons, and ad- vanced at the sound of trumpets to the real strife. The conquered looked to the people or to the Emperor for life ; * Gibbon, chap. xxx. AMPHITHEATRES. 295 296 POMPEII. his antagonist had no power to grant or to refuse it ; but if the spectators were dissatisfied and gave the signal of deathj he was obliged to become the executioner of their will. This signal was the turning down the thumbs, as is well known. If any showed signs of fear, their death was certain ; if on the other hand they waited the fatal stroke with intrepidity, the people generally relented. But fear and want of spirit were of very rare occurrence, in- somuch that Cicero more than once proposes the principle of honour which actuated gladiators, as an admirable mod- el of constancy and courage, by which he intended to ani- mate himself and others to suffer everything in defence of the commonwealth. The bodies of the slain were dragged with a hook through a gate called Libitinensis, the Gate of Death, to the spoil- avium : the victor was rewarded with a sum of money con- tributed by the spectators, or bestowed from the treasury, or a palm-branch, or a garland of palm ornamented with coloured ribbons ; ensigns of frequent occurrence in an- cient monuments. Those who survived three years were released from this service^ and sometimes one who had given great satisfaction was enfranchised on the spot. This was done by presenting the staff, rudis^ which was used in preluding to the combat : on receiving which, the gladia- tor, if a freeman, recovered his liberty ; if a slave, he was not made free, but was released from the obligation of ven- turing his life any further in the arena. Gladiators were divided, according to the fashion of their armour and offensive weapons, into classes, known by the names of Thrax, Samnis, Myrmillo, and many others, of which a mere catalogue would be tedious, and it would be the work of a treatise to ascertain and describe their dis- tinctive marks. The reader who has any curiosity upon the subject may consult the Saturnalia of Lipsius, in which a vast body of minute information is collected. It falls however strictly within our province to describe a tomb at AMPHITHEATRES. 297 Pompeii, ornamented with bas-reliefs in good preservation, which represent the two branches of amusements practised in the amphitheatre — hunting, and gladiatorial fights, and throw a light upon many parts of our subject. It is situated in the street of tombs, as it is called, with- out the gate leading to Herculaneum, and consists of a square chamber, serving as a basement, surmounted by three steps, upon which, and on the uppermost part of the basement are placed the sculptures, of which we proceed to speak. The whole is terminated by a square cippus, or funeral pillar, which bore the following inscription : — RICIO . A. F. MEN SCAVRO n VIR . I . D - - - ECVRIONES. LOCVM. MONVM . -- CO CO IN. FVNERE ET. STATVAM EaVESE. ORO. FONENDAM . CENSVERVNT . SCAVRVS. PATER. FILIO, To=^ Aricius Scaurus son of Aulus, of the tribe Menenia^ Duumvir of Justice, by command of the decurions. The decurions decreed the site of the monument, two thousand sesterces for funeral expenses, and an equestrian statue in the Forum. Scaurus the father to his son. We give drawings of the most interesting of these sculp- tures from Mazois, to whose researches we are also indebt- ed for the following account of them. The earlier ones relate to the chase (venatio)^ and are taken from the steps which support the cippus. The first represents a man, naked and unarmed between a lion and a panther : the * The marble is broken, so that the first name {prcenomen) and the first letters of the name are lost. The latter has been differ- ently read Aricius, Castricius, Patricius : which is right is of little importance. The beginnings of all the longer lines are wanting, and the symmetry of the inscription would lead us to suppose that the cypher which stands for a thousand should be prefixed once oftener in the fifth line : which will make three thousand sesterces, about £24. 298 POMPEII. AMPHITHEATRES. 299 second, a wild boar apparently running at a man, also naked and defenceless, and in a half recumbent posture. Mazois conjectures that these figures were of that class of combatants who, trusting in their activity alone, entered the arena merely to provoke the wild beasts after they were let loose ; and he adds that this dangerous exercise is still practised in the bull-fights at Rome. Defenceless as these figures are, they show no signs of alarm, and in particular he who is opposed to the boar seems collecting himself for a spring to baffle his enemy. In the continua- tion of the same rehef is a wolf at full speed, gnawing a javelin deeply fixed in his chest, and farther on a stag, with a rope attached to his horns, pulled down by two dogs, or wolves. The next group is the most curious of this series, for it seems to represent the process by which the bestiarii were trained in their profession. It exhibits *a youth, his legs and thighs protected by a sort of armour, a javelin in each hand, attacking a panther. The freedom of the beast's movements is hampered by a cord attached at one end to a collar round its neck, and at the other to a broad girth which passes round the body of a bull. By this ar- rangement the novice is in part protected, while at the same time far more activity and wariness is required than if the animal were attached to a fixed point. Behind the bull is another figure with a lance, who seems to goad the bull forwards, and thus offer more scope for movement to the panther. Another bas-relief represents a man fighting a bear ; a sword in one hand, and a veil in the other, the very equip- 300 POMPEII. ment of the matador in the Spanish bull-fights to the pre- sent day. This circumstance^ of little importance in it- self, deserves remark, because it serves to fix the period of the construction of the tomb. We learn from Pliny * that the veil was not employed in the arena against vi^ild beasts before the reign of Claudius. Claudius became Emperor a.d. 41. In the year 59 all theatrical exhibi- tions were interdicted for ten years. Four years after- wards occurred the earthquake, to which we have had occasion to make frequent reference ; and as the building bears evident marks of injury from this cause, and repair, we must conclude that it was erected at some time between the dates already given, probably during the ten or twelve years antecedent to the year 59. The sculptures on the basement are divided into two lines of figures, forming a sort of double frieze. Here, as in the upper series, they are made of stucco ; indeed there is no marble about the tomb, except the slab, on which the inscription was engraved. The figures appear to have been moulded separately, and attached to the plas- ter ground by brass or iron pins, more frequently the lat- ter. These in many instances have been destroyed by rust, and have suffered the figures to drop. It is worthy of observation that the sculpture has been in part restored, and that under the present figures others have been found, of better workmanship, and, in some instances, differently armed. In various portions of the frieze are written, the name of the person to whom the gladiators belonged, one Am- pliatus, the names of the combatants, and the number of their victories. Ampliatus probably was the lanista of the city ; for an inscription found on the outer wall of the basi- lica states that the family of N. Festus Ampliatus will con- tend a second time on the 17th May. These names are written in black, the letters narrow and ill shaped. * viii, 16. AMPHITHEATRES. 301 The upper frieze contains eight pairs of gladiators. The first pair, on the left, represents an equestrian com- BEBRIXM bat. The first figure is called Bebrix, a barbarous name which denotes a foreign origin. The numerals added to his name denote the number of contests in which he has been victorious ; they are much effaced, but have been r^ad XII. * His adversary is called Nobilior, and reck- ons XI victories. Both are armed alike with a light lance, a round buckler (parma) elegantly ornamented, and hel- mets, with vizors which cover the whole face, and more resemble the helmets of the middle ages than the Roman helmet as it is usually represented. The right arms of both, and the thigh of Nobilior, are protected by a sort of armour resembling successive bands of iron. These two gladiators are clothed in the induculay a short and light cloak which formed part of the dress of the Roman knights ; the legs are naked. Bebrix has shoes resem- * The letters IVI occur over most of the figures. In conjunc- tion with the numerals, Mazois seems to interpret them, * conquered eo many times ; ' but he does not tell of what word he suppose! them to be the abbreviation : nor are we prepared to sujg;firest any. 26 302 FCrMPErr* bling those now in use, but Nobilior wears tbe semiplotia^ a kind of hunting-shoe bound with thongs round the leg.* The horse is covered with the sagtna, a square saddle- cloth in use among the Roman cavalry : the crupper is painted red. The action of the figures is good. Bebrix appears to have aimed at Nobilior a blow with his lance, who having received it on the buckler, attacks in his turn Bebrix, who now places himself on the defensive. The group next in succession represents two gladiators whose names are defaced. The first wears a helmet hav- ing a vizor, much ornamented, with the long buckler (scutum). It is presumed that he should have for offen- sive weapon a sword, but the sculptor has neglected to lepresent it. Like all the other gladiators he wears the W^ixvi subligaculum, a short apron of red or white stuff fixed above the hips by a girdle of bronze or embroidered leather. On the right leg is a kind of buskin, commonly made of coloured leather, on the left an ocrea or greave, * Similar to the moccasins of the Indians, or the Scotch brogue. A similar article of home manufacture, made of raw hide, is still in use among the peasants of southern Italy. — See Pinelli's Costumes, AMPHITHEATRES. SOS eot reaching to the knee. The left leg is thus armed, be- cause that side of the body was the most exposed by the ancients^ whose guard on account of the buckler was the reverse of the modern guard ; the rest of the body is en- tirely naked. The other figure is armed with a helmet ornamented with wings, a smaller buckler, thigh-pieces formed of plates of iron, and on each leg the high greave, called by the Greeks yivri^ig. These figures appear to represent one of the light- armed class, called Veles^ and a Samnite {Samnis), so called because they were armed after the old Samnite fashion. The former, who has been sixteen times a conqueror in various games, has at last encountered a more fortunate, or a more skilful adversary. He is wounded in the breast, and has let fall his buckler, avowing himself conquered ; at the same time he implores the pity of the people by raising his finger towards them — for it was thus that the gladiators begged their life. Be- hind him the Samnite awaits the answering sign from the spectators, that he may spare his antagonist, or strike the death-blow, as they decree. The third couple represents ( Thrax) a Thracian, so called from the fashion of his armour, especially the round Thracian shield (parma), and one called Myrmillo, a name of doubtful origin. It appears, however, that the Myrmillones were for the most part Gauls, and armed somewhat in the Gallic style, and that the Thrax and the Myrmillo were usually opposed to each other. The Thrax wears a helmet, with greaves and thigh-pieces like those of the Samnite : and we may here observe that the right arm of every figure is protect- ed by a banded armour which we have already described. The upper part of the body is naked. The dress of the Myrmillo is nearly the same, except that he has not the thigh-pieces. A conqueror XV times, he is now worst- ed ; and his adversary gains the XXXVth victory, and the letter O over his head, the initial of OavMv, indicates that he was put to death. The M which precedes it is ii^erpreted to be the initial of Myrmillo. 304 POMPEII. The next group consists of four figures. Two are secu- toreSj followers, the other two retiarii, net-men, armed only with a trident and net, with which they endeavoured to entangle their adversary, and then despatch him. These classes like the Thrax and Myrmilio, were usual anta- AMPHITHEATRES. 305 gonists, and had their name from the secutor following the retiarius, who eluded the pursuit until he found an oppor- tunity to throw his net to advantage. Nepimus, one of the latter, five times victoriouSj has fought against one of the former, whose name is lost, but who had triumphed six times in different combats. He has been less fortu- nate in this battle. Nepimus has struck him in the leg, the thigh, and the left arm ; his blood runs, and in vain he implores mercy from the spectators. As the trident with which Nepimus is armed is not a weapon calculated to inflict speedy and certain death, the secutor Hyppolitus performs this last office to his comrade. The condemned wretch bends the knee, presents his throat to the sword, and throws himself forward to meet the blow, while Nepi- mus his conqueror pushes him and seems to insult the last moments of his victim. In the distance is the retiarius who must fight Hyppolitus in his turn. The secutors have a very plain helmet, that their adversary may have little or no opportunity of pulling it off with the net or trident ; the right arm is clothed in armour, the left bore a clypeus or large round shield ; a sandal tied with narrow bands forms the covering for their feet. They wear no body armour, no covering but a cloth round the waist, for by their lightness and activity alone could they hope to avoid death and gain the victory. The retiarii have the head bare, except a fillet bound round the hair ; they have no shield, but the left side is covered with a demi-cuirass, and the left arm protected in the usual manner, except that the shoulder-piece is very high. They wear the caliga, or low boot common to the Roman soldiery, and bear the trident ; but the net with which they endeavoured to en- velope their adversaries is nowhere visible. This bas- relief is terminated by the combat between a light-armed gladiator and a Samnite. This last beseeches the specta- tors to save him, but it appears from the action of the principal figure that this is not granted. The conqueror 26* 306 POMPEII. looks towards the steps of the amphitheatre, he has seen the fatal signal, and in reply prepares himself to strike. Between the pilasters of the door the frieze is conti- nued. Two combats are represented ; in the first a Sam- nite has been conquered by a Myrmillo. This last wishes to become his comrade's executioner without waiting the answer from the people, to whom the vanquished has ap- pealed ; but the lanista checks his arm, from which it AMPHITHEATRES. 307 would seem that the Sarnnite obtained pardon. The fol- lowing pair exhibits a similar combat, in which the Myrmillo falls stabbed to death. The wounds, the blood, and the inside of the bucklers, are painted of a very bright red colour. The swords, with the exception of that of Hyp- politus, are omitted ; it is possible that it was intended to make them of metal. The bas-reliefs constituting the lower frieze are devoted to the chase, and to combats between men and animals. In the upper part are hares pursued by a dog ; beyond is a wounded stag pursued by dogs, to whom he is about to become the prey: below, a wild boar is seized by an enor- mous dog, who has already caused his blood to flow. 308 POMPEII. <^# In the middle of the composition a bestiarius has trans- fixed a bear with a stroke of his lance. This person wears a kind of short hunting-boot, and is clothed as well as his comrade in a light tunic without sleeves, bound round the hips, and called indusia^ subucula. It was the dress of the common people, as we learn from the sculptures on Tra- jan's column. The companion of this man has transfixed a bull, which flies, carrying with him the heavy lance with which he is wounded. He turns his head towards his assailant, and seems to wish to return to the attack; the man by his gestures appears astonished, beholding him- self disarmed and at the mercy of the animal, whom he thought mortally stricken. Pliny (lib. viii, cap. 45) speaks of the ferocity shown by bulls in these combats, and of AMPHITHEATRES. 309 having seen them, when stretched for dead on the arena, lift themselves up and renew the combat. The following cuts represent the helmets of two of the figures at large, and the greaves, or boots. In the interior of this tomb is a vaulted sepulchral cham- ber, the arch of which and the upper part of the monu- ment is supported by a massive pier, pierced by four small arches, niches rather, except that they traverse its whole thickness, three of which were closed with glass and the fourth with a thick veil fastened with nails. This kind of tabernacle, contrived thus in the centre of the pier, did not contain anything when discovered, but it is probable that it was meant for a lamp, from the care taken to shut 310 POMPEII. up the sides with glass, leaving one aperture for the ad- mission of air. The arches seem to have been closed that the wind might not extinguish the lamp when the door was opened. Fourteen niches pierced round the inside of the apartment were destined to receive as many cinerary urns; daylight was admitted through a small opening at the back of the building, around which a wall is drawn, forming a small enclosure. Another sort of amphitheatrical amusements consisted in witnessing the death of persons under sentence of the law, either by the hands of the executioner, or by being exposed to the fury of savage animals. The early Chris- tians were especially subjected to this species of cruelty. Nero availed himself of the prejudice against them to turn aside popular indignation after the great conflagration of Rome, which is commonly ascribed to his own wanton love of mischief; and we learn from Tertullian, that, afler great public misfortunes, the cry of the populace was, ^ To the lions with the Christians.'* The Coliseum now owes its preservation to the Christian blood so profusely shed within its walls. After serving during ages as a quarry of hewn stone for the use of all whose station and power entitled them to a share in public plunder, it was at last secured from further injury by Pope Benedict XIV, who consecrated the building about the middle of the last cen- tury, and placed it under the protection of the martyrs, who had there borne testimony with their blood to the sincerity of their belief AMPHITHEATRE OF POMPEII. There is nothing in the amphitheatre of Pompeii at vari- ance with the general description which we have given of this class of buildings, and our notice of it will therefore necessarily be short. Its form, as usual, is oval : the * Tertullian, Apol. 40. AMPHITHEATRES. 313 Bronze Helmet, supposed to have been worn by a Gladiator. Having now described all the public buildings of Pom- peii, it will not be out of place to say a few words on their architectural character. The city, as might be expected from its antiquity, and from its change of masters, having been a Greek colony long before its subjugation by the Romans, presents us with examples both of Greek and Roman architecture, domestic as well as public. The Romans borrowed their knowledge of building from the Greeks, but they borrowed it as imitators, not as copyists : they aimed at variety, by altering the details and propor- tions of the several orders, and what they gained in nov- elty they lost in beauty. Hence the Doric and Ionic of the one are immediately distinguishable from the Doric and Ionic of the other: the difference between the Corin- thian orders is less perceptible, consisting chiefly in the foliage of the capital. In Greece the Doric gradually changed its character, being most robust in the most an- cient examples. But the standard examples of it, built in the age of Pericles, are still robust in character, with 27 314 POMPEII. twenty flutings, or longitudinal channels cut in the pillars. The Romans made the column more slender, and at the same time increased the number of flutings. The ori- ginal was placed upon the temple floor, without even a plinth — the copy was raised upon a pedestal ; the capital of the former was grave and simple — that of the latter was more elaborate, and enriched with varied mouldings. At Pompeii the most characteristic parts of the buildings, the entablatures and capitals, are almost all destroyed ; still enough remains for us in most instances to ascertain the style of what remains, and consequently to ascribe to them something like a comparative date. Thus the co- lumns which surround the Forum fulfil the above named conditions of the Grecian Doric ; they have no base, con- tain twenty flutings, and have a simple capital. Similar in style are those of the triangular forum in the quarter of the theatres ; and the schools or tribunal, and the square called the soldiers' quarters are also evidently of Greek design and construction, though repaired by their last pos- sessors. It is to be observed, however, that the Doric of Pompeii, though it preserves the Greek taste in the detail of its mouldings, is exceedingly slender, and in this respect varies materially from the most esteemed models of the order. Another characteristic of Greek architecture, which points out its originality in a striking manner, is that the profiles of all its mouldings are drawn by hand, and can- not be mechanically described, whereas the Roman mould- ings are all formed on some geometrical construction. Hence the latter are always similar, v^hile the former ad- mit of indefinite variety, according to circumstances which might influence the architect, though they escape our no- tice. The reader may see an instance of this in a capital from the Parthenon, now in the court-yard of the British Museum. Upon cursory examination the projecting mould- ing of the capital under the abacus would be taken for the frustum of a cone, whereas it is really a very delicate curve. ^ AMPHITHEATRES. 315 What the object of the architect was in tracing this line, which viewed from below must have appeared a straight line, it may not be easy to determine, but without doubt in taking this trouble he was influenced by some delicate perception of beauty. It is from this peculiarity in the mouldmgs that we conclude the small portico, propyleeum, or entrance to the triangular forum, was designed by a Greek architect. It is of the Ionic order ; the mouldings and the volutes or spiral horns are more elegant than in the Roman style. In addition to this the deep sinking under some of the mouldings, which the strictness of Ro- man rules did not allow, stamp it as a Greek work, where variety and thought was permitted. The capital of the Ionic order found in this city differs in one respect from all the examples, both Greek and Ro- man, with which we are acquainted. We allude to the ornamented echinus moulding which runs under the vo- lutes, which usually is carved to represent eggs within a shell, thus, But in the Pompeian examples the egg is very small, and the shell or husk is of a different form, more like the sec- tion of a horse-chestnut, showing a small portion of the nut where the rind is partially split, from which indeed the idea may possibly have been taken. The Basilica is similar in the details of its architecture to the celebrated Temple of Vesta at Tivoli, supposed to have been erected by a Greek architect, and displays marks of Grecian taste. / 316 POMPEII. The oldest building in Pompeii is the Temple of Her- cules, perhaps erected by the first Greek colonists, or at least raised on the site of a more ancient temple. It is . D(5ric, and of course Grecian : and the style observable in its scanty remains leads the learned to refer it to the most remote antiquity. The most remarkable feature is the swelling of the flat part of the echinus moulding which, when the order became perfected in the Parthenon and Temple of Theseus at Athens, was made flat or insensibly curved, as may be seen in the capital above referred to. The basements also of some of the temples may be con- sidered as more ancient than the columns reared upon them, and it is very possible that both the basement of the Temple of Jupiter and that of the Temple of Venus may be of Greek construction. The Romans either repaired or rebuilt many of the public buildings of the city ; the ruins of brick at the end of the Forum, opposite the Tem- ple of Jupiter, were built by them ; the baths, with their vaulted ceiling, they also constructed. The Temple of Fortune was erected by a Roman individual, as the inscrip- tion sets forth ; and the Pantheon, Temple of Mercury, with the building placed between them, as well as the crypto-portico of Eumachia, which is partly built of brick, bear evident marks of a Roman origin. The Temple of Venus may be considered as Roman, its original Greek design having been changed by a coat of plaster, as we have already observed. The theatres and amphitheatre are evidently Roman. That the former were so is ascer- tained from inscriptions, while the latter was, as we well know, of their own invention. The triumphal arches are of course Roman, such buildings having been unknown to the Greeks. In private dwellings, as well as in public edifices, the same mixed character is evident, and adds to their interest. THE END. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS i 027 537 735 1 '.'•-.> •'.If . )'