CHAPTER XV
_THE BUILDING OF EUMACHIA_
[Illustration: Fig. 47.--Plan of the building of Eumachia.
1. Portico, forming part of the colonnade of the Forum. 2, 3. Small niches for statues. 4, 4. Apsidal niches. 5, 5. Large niches, accessible by means of steps. 6. Entrance. 7. Passage room to stairway. 8. Porter's room. 9, 9. Colonnade. 10. Pedestal of the statue of Concordia Augusta. 11, 11. Light courts. 12, 12. Corridor. 13. Broad niche with the statue of Eumachia. 14. Passage leading from Abbondanza Street, with a door opening into the corridor. 15. Stone with ring. 17, 17. Rectangular elevations. 18, 18. Remains of masonry.]
The plan of the large building on the east side of the Forum, between the temple of Vespasian and Abbondanza Street, is simple and regular. In front is a deep portico (1), facing the Forum. The interior consists of a large oblong court with three apses at the rear and a colonnade about the four sides (9); on three sides there is a corridor behind the colonnade, with numerous windows opening upon it (12). The corridor could be entered by three doors, two at the front end of the court, connecting with the colonnade, and a third at the rear, entered from the end of a passage leading up from Abbondanza Street (14), the grade of which at this point is considerably below the pavement of the building (Fig. 50).
An inscription appears in large letters on the entablature of the portico, and again on a marble tablet over the side entrance in Abbondanza Street: _Eumachia L. f., sacerd[os] publ[ica], nomine suo et M. Numistri Frontonis fili chalcidicum, cryptam, porticus Concordiae Augustae Pietati sua pequnia fecit eademque dedicavit_,--'Eumachia, daughter of Lucius Eumachius, a city priestess, in her own name and that of her son, Marcus Numistrius Fronto, built at her own expense the portico, the corridor (_cryptam_, covered passage), and the colonnade, dedicating them to Concordia Augusta and Pietas.'
The word _pietas_, in such connections, has no English equivalent, and is difficult to translate. It sums up in a single concept the qualities of filial affection, conscientious devotion, and obedience to duty which in the Roman view characterized the proper conduct of children toward their parents and grandparents. Here mother and son united in dedicating the building to personifications, or deifications, of the perfect harmony and the regard for elders that prevailed in the imperial family.
The reference of the dedication can only be to the relation between the Emperor Tiberius and his mother Livia; it cannot apply to Nero and Agrippina, for the reason that the walls of the building were decorated in the third Pompeian style, which in Nero's time was no longer in vogue. In 22 A.D., when Livia was very ill, the Senate voted to erect an altar to Pietas Augusta. In the following year Drusus, the son of Tiberius, gave expression to his regard for his grandmother by placing her likeness upon his coins, with the word Pietas.
On the coins of colonies also--of Saragossa and another the name of which is not known--the Pietas Augusta appears, apparently about the same time. Not long afterwards the harmonious relations between Tiberius and his mother gave place to mutual suspicion and hostility; the dedication therefore points to the earlier part of the reign of Tiberius, and in this period the building was no doubt erected. The statue of Concordia Augusta, a female figure with a gilded cornucopia, was found in the building; the head, which has not been preserved, probably bore the features of Livia. By this dedication the building of Eumachia, as the Macellum later, was placed under the protection of the imperial house.
While the parts are enumerated in the dedicatory inscription, neither the name of the building as a whole, nor the purpose, is mentioned. A hint of the latter, however, is found in another inscription. A broad niche (13) opens into the corridor at the rear, directly behind the largest apse. Here stood a marble statue of a beautiful woman (Fig. 255), now replaced by a cast; the original is in Naples. Upon the pedestal we read: _Eumachiae L. f., sacerd[oti] publ[icae], fullones_,--'Dedicated to Eumachia, daughter of Lucius Eumachius, a city priestess, by the fullers.'
This building, in which the fullers had set up, in a specially prominent place, a statue of the person who had erected it, must in some way have served the purposes of their trade. Clearly enough it was not a fullery; on the other hand, it was well adapted for a clothier's exchange, a bazaar for the sale of cloth and articles of clothing. Tables and other furniture for the convenience of dealers could be placed in the colonnade and the corridor; in the corridor, especially, goods exposed for sale in front of the open windows could be conveniently inspected by prospective buyers,--not only by those in the corridor itself, but also by those looking in from the colonnade. The small doors between the corridor and the colonnade could be securely closed, and the entrance from Abbondanza Street could be easily guarded; there was only a narrow door at the end of the passage opening into the corridor, and at the street entrance was a porter's room connected by doors both with the passage and with the street. This evidence of unusual precaution suggests that possibly the side entrance, from its close connection with the corridor, was intended especially for the conveyance of goods to and from the building, in order that the front entrance might be left for the exclusive use of purchasers and dealers.
On the assumption that the building was a cloth market, it is clear that the colonnade would naturally be open at all times, the corridor only during business hours; after business hours the corridor would be closed for the protection of the goods left there over night. The windows may have been closed with shutters as in the Oriental bazaars. Other peculiarities of arrangement also are cleared up by this explanation, but we cannot present them in detail. It is not possible, however, to make out what the purpose was of certain remains of masonry found on the south side of the court (18) which have now disappeared, or of two rectangular elevations at the rear (17), or, finally, of a large stone in the middle of the court in which a movable iron ring is fastened (15). Our information is so scanty that we are unable to determine in all particulars what the requirements of a fuller's exchange might have been.
At the time of the eruption men were still engaged in rebuilding the parts of the edifice that had suffered in the earthquake of 63. The front wall at the rear of the portico was finished and had received its veneering of marble; as shown by the existing remains, it conformed to the plan of the earlier structure. The columns and entablature of the portico had not yet been set in place; considerable portions of them were found in the area of the Forum. The wall at the rear of the court, with the three apses, had been rebuilt, and the workmen had begun to add the marble covering. The other walls had remained standing at the time of the earthquake; but the colonnade had been thrown down and was now in process of erection. The remains of the colonnade were removed in ancient times, probably soon after the destruction of the city; yet from the parts that remain, both of the old building and of the restorations, we can determine the architectural character with certainty. We give two reconstructions of the interior, one showing the front (Fig. 48), the other the rear (Fig. 49).
The colonnade and the portico were characterized by the same peculiarity of construction: they were in two stories, one above the other, but there was no upper floor corresponding with the intermediate entablature. In the case of the portico this is certain from the treatment of the wall at the rear, the ornamentation of which is carried without interruption high above the level of the entablature. If the appearance of this building alone had been taken into account, it would have been simpler and more effective to place at the front of the portico a single order of large columns the height of which should correspond with that of the facade; but as the colonnade about the Forum was in two stories, the front of the portico was made to conform to it. The columns below were of the Doric, those above of the Ionic, order. The material--whitish limestone--was the same as that used in the new colonnade of the Forum. Nevertheless, by the skilful handling of details a certain individuality was given to the columns; while in general appearance they harmonized with those about the Forum, the portico as a whole stood out by itself as something distinct and characteristic.
The columns of the portico were left unfluted, as were those of the new Forum colonnade, and were of the same height; but their proportions were more slender, their ornamental forms were slightly different, and they were set closer together. The pains and skill manifested in harmonizing the particular with the general architectural effect reflect much credit upon the Pompeian board of public works. Under the portico at the foot of each column was a statue, facing the front of the building; the pedestals, which still remain, assist in determining the places of the columns, of which only one was found in position. The spaces between the columns could be closed by latticed gates, as may be seen from traces of them remaining in the marble pavement at the south end of the portico; the pavement elsewhere has disappeared.
[Illustration: Fig. 48.--The building of Eumachia: front of the court, restored.]
The wall at the rear of the portico, facing the Forum, was richly ornamented. The broad entrance in the middle (6) was bridged at the top by a lintel. At the ends are two large niches more than four feet above the pavement (5), both reached by flights of steps. Between each of these and the doorway is a large apsidal arched niche (4) extending down to the pavement. Lastly in the projecting portions of the wall are four smaller niches for statues. The whole facade was overlaid with various kinds of colored marbles.
None of the statues have been found, but the inscriptions belonging to the two that stood in the small niches at the left are extant and of special interest; the names of the persons represented, Aeneas and Romulus, are given, together with a short enumeration of their heroic deeds. These statues were evidently copies; the originals formed a part of a famous series in Rome.
Augustus set up in his Forum the statues of renowned Roman generals with inscriptions setting forth their services to the State; in this way, he said, the people might obtain a standard of comparison for himself and his successors. At the beginning of the series were Aeneas, the kings of Alba Longa, and Romulus. Not one of these statues has been preserved, but some of the inscriptions have been found in Rome, while others are known from copies discovered in Arezzo, where without doubt, as at Pompeii, they were set up with copies of the statues--a forcible illustration of the striving of the smaller cities to be like Rome. Two other statues, perhaps representing Julius Caesar and Augustus, stood in the niches at the right corresponding with those of Aeneas and Romulus; it is not probable that the rest of the series in Rome was duplicated here, because the remaining pedestals in the portico were all designed for figures of larger size.
The colonnade about the court was of marble. The front part, as one entered from the portico, was higher than that on the sides and rear (Fig. 48); it must have presented a fine architectural effect. The two series of Corinthian columns, one above the other, reached the height of 30 feet; the wall behind was diversified with niches and completely covered with marble. At the right and at the left one could pass down the sides under the colonnade, or through small doors into the corridor. The walls between the colonnade and the corridor, pierced with large windows, were decorated below with a dado of colored marbles and above with painting upon stucco, in the third style.
The two smaller apsidal niches at the rear were no higher than the colonnade, but the central apse projected above and terminated in a marble pediment (Fig. 49), fragments of which are still to be seen in the building. It was entered through three arched doorways, above which apparently there were windows. The image of Concordia Augusta, with the features of Livia, probably stood on the pedestal at the rear of the apse, while the statues of Tiberius and Drusus may have adorned the niches at the sides.
[Illustration: Fig. 49.--Rear of the court of the building of Eumachia, restored.]
We can readily see why the colonnade was made so high, and in two stories, when a lower structure would have afforded better protection against sun and rain. Had it been limited to the usual height the corridor behind it would have been too dark; and if instead of a double series of small columns, one above the other, there had been a single series of large columns of the usual proportions, the thickness of the latter would have shut out much light and have made the colonnade seem less roomy. The arrangement adopted had the further advantage that it harmonized the aspect of the colonnade with that of the portico, the character of which, as we have seen, was determined by that of the colonnade about the Forum.
The small rooms of irregular shape at the sides of the apse (11) were light courts, left open to the sky in order to furnish light to the corridor at the rear, which was shut off from the colonnade.
The corridor was about fourteen feet in height; its walls still have remains of decoration in the third style.
At the right of the broad niche (13), in which the statue of Eumachia was found, a door opened into the passage leading from Abbondanza Street; in the corresponding position at the left, where there was no entrance, a door was painted upon the wall. This is a folding door in three parts, of a kind quite common at Pompeii; the middle part is hung by means of hinges, like those on doors of the present day, fastened to one of the leaves at the sides, while these are represented as swinging on pivots at the top and the bottom.
A stairway at the southeast corner of the corridor, over the entrance from Abbondanza Street, led to an upper room. A similar stairway was placed in the last of the little rooms between the court and the portico, at the left of the front entrance. The upper rooms, difficult to reach, could hardly have been intended for salesrooms. They must have been low, probably no higher than the difference between the height of the colonnade and that of the corridor. They were most likely used as temporary storerooms for the goods of the dealers.
[Illustration: Fig. 50.--Fountain of Concordia Augusta.
In the background, steps in the side entrance of the Eumachia building.]
In front of the entrance from Abbondanza Street, is a fountain of the ordinary Pompeian form; as the material is limestone it is probably of later date than the other fountains, which are generally of basalt. As may be seen in our illustration (Fig. 50), the inlet pipe was carried by a broad standard projecting above the edge of the basin, on the front of which a bust of a female figure with a cornucopia is carved in relief. The right side of the face has been worn away by eager drinkers pressing their mouths against the mouth of the figure, whence the jet issued; it reminds one of the attenuated right foot of the famous bronze St. Peter in Rome. Hands also have worn deep, polished hollows in the stone on either side of the standard. The figure represents Concordia Augusta, but the name Abundantia, given to it when first discovered, still lingers in the Italian name for the street, which might more appropriately have been called Strada della Concordia.
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