CHAPTER L
_POMPEIAN BURIAL PLACES.--THE STREET OF TOMBS_
The tombs of Pompeii, like those of Rome, were placed in close array along the sides of the roads that led from the city gates. Only a few have been uncovered; how many still lie concealed under the mantle of volcanic debris that rests upon the plain, no one has yet ventured to conjecture. The tombstone of a magistrate of one of the suburbs was found at Scafati, a mile and a half east of the ancient town; and others have been brought to light on the east, south, and west sides. The most interesting and best known tombs are those of the Street of Tombs, in front of the Herculaneum Gate; but important remains have been found also near the Stabian and Nocera gates, and burial places of a humbler sort lie along the city wall near the Nola Gate.
Most of the tombs thus far excavated belong to the Early Empire, having been built between the reign of Augustus and 79 A.D. Two or three date from the end of the Republic; and a small corner of an Oscan cemetery has been uncovered on the northwest side of the city. Remains of skeletons were found only in the Oscan graves; the Roman burial places were all arranged with reference to the practice of cremation, the ashes being deposited in urns.
The tombs present so great a variety of form and construction that it is impossible to classify them in a summary way, or to dismiss them with the presentation of two or three typical examples. The character of the monument varied not merely according to the taste and means, but also according to the point of view or religious feeling of the builder. Some deemed it more fitting that the ashes of the dead should be covered over with earth; others preferred to place them in a conspicuous tomb that would please the eye and impress the imagination of the beholder. To many the matter of paramount importance seemed to be the provision for the worship of the dead, the arrangement of the tomb so that offerings could easily be made to the ashes. Others still desired to have the sepulchre convenient for the living, who at times would gather there, and tarry near the resting place of the departed. And there were not a few who attempted, in the construction of a monument, to accomplish at the same time several of these ends. The architectural designs were suggested by the form of an altar, a temple, a niche, a commemorative arch, or a semicircular bench, _schola_.
On account of this diversity of aim and of type, it will be most convenient to study the tombs in topographical groups, commencing with those at the northwest corner of the city.
* * * * *
The highway that passes under the Herculaneum Gate runs almost directly west, descending with a gentle grade. Above it on the north side is the ridge formed by the stream of lava on the end of which the city lay; here, before the eruption, were sightly villas. Below, to the south, was the sea, not so far away as now, over the shimmering surface of which the traveller, as he rode along, could catch charming glimpses of the heights above Sorrento and of Capri. A short distance from the gate on the left, a branch road, which for convenience we may call the Bay Road, led directly to the sea. Another branch, on the right, followed the direction of the city wall; further from the gate on the same side, a third, which may be designated as the Vesuvius Road, ran off from the highway in the direction of the mountain. The highway itself, so far as excavated, has been named the Street of Tombs.
The tombs that have been uncovered here are distributed in four groups. The first, on the left side, extends from the gate to the Bay Road; it comprises Nos. 1-4a on Plan V. The second, on the right (Nos. 1-9), includes the tombs between the gate and the beginning of the Vesuvius Road. The third group, on the left, lies between the ruins of the villa to which the name of Cicero has been attached and the villa of Diomedes; the tombs are numbered on the plan 16-23. The monuments of the fourth group occupy the tongue of ground at the right between the highway and the Vesuvius Road (33-43). The outer parts of the two villas by which the continuity of the series of tombs on both sides is interrupted, appear to have been used as inns; along the street in front of each there was a colonnade supported by pillars, behind which were small rooms opening toward the street.
At the further end of the villa on the right (10-29) is the potter's workshop (29-30), mentioned in a previous chapter (p. 386). Beyond this are the Oscan graves (31-32), several of which have been explored. In them were found rough stone coffins, made of slabs and fragments of limestone, containing remains of skeletons together with small painted vases, of the sort manufactured in Campania in the third and second centuries B.C. Two coins were found, in separate graves, with Oscan legends that have not yet been deciphered; apparently they were from Nola. The burial places lie close together, and evidently belong to a cemetery for people of humble station; there are no headstones to mark the graves. This is the only place at Pompeii in which painted vases have been found.
A narrow strip of land on each side of the road belonged to the city, and burial lots therein were granted by the municipal council to citizens who had rendered public service. Others, however, might obtain lots by purchase; private ownership may be assumed unless the gift of the city is indicated in the inscription. The location of several tombs--1, 3, 4, 6 on the right, 3 on the left--shows that the direction of the street near the gate was changed after sepulchral monuments had begun to be erected.
An interesting inscription referring to the municipal ownership of land was found at the further corner of the Bay Road: _Ex auctoritate imp. Caesaris Vespasiani Aug. loca publica a privatis possessa T. Suedius Clemens tribunus causis cognitis et mensuris factis rei publicae Pompeianorum restituit_,--'By virtue of authority conferred upon him by the Emperor Vespasian Caesar Augustus, Titus Suedius Clemens, tribune, having investigated the facts and taken measurements, restored to the city of Pompeii plots of ground belonging to it which were in the possession of private individuals.'
To judge from the location of the inscription, the land which the military tribune sent as commissioner by Vespasian gave back to the city, must have been at the sides of the Bay Road. A marble statue of a man dressed in a toga and holding a scroll in his hand, was found near by. It was probably a portrait of Suedius Clemens, and may have stood in a niche in the villa of Cicero.
There is an implied reference to the Bay Road also in another inscription which was found out of its proper place, in the court of the adjoining inn: THERMAE . M . CRASSI . FRVGI . AQVA . MARINA . ET . BALN . AQVA . DVLCI . IANVARIVS . L--'Bathing establishment of Marcus Crassus Frugi. Warm sea baths and freshwater baths. (Superintendent) the freedman Januarius.' We learn from Pliny the Elder that M. Licinius Crassus Frugi, who was consul in 64 A.D., and was afterwards (in 68) put to death by Nero, owned a hot spring which gushed up out of the sea. This spring, then, was at Pompeii, and was utilized for baths. The inscription is at the same time an advertisement and a sign directing people down the Bay Road to the bath house.
A general view of the Street of Tombs is given in Plate X. It is taken from the high ground beyond the fourth group, as one looks toward the Herculaneum Gate. The rugged mass of Monte Sant' Angelo looms up in the distance; at the right the trees skirting the edge of the excavations form an effective background. The beauty of the surroundings, especially on a summer morning, the associations of the street, its deserted appearance, and the unbroken, oppressive stillness give rise to mingled feelings of pleasure and sadness in the visitor.
We commence our survey with the first group of tombs at the left as one passes out from the Herculaneum Gate. Close by the gate is the tomb of Cerrinius Restitutus (1 on the plan, left side). It is simply a low vaulted niche, having seats at the sides. Against the rear wall stood a marble tombstone, with a place for a carved portrait; in front of it was a small altar under which doubtless was placed the urn containing the ashes. Both altar and tombstone (now in the Naples Museum) have the inscription: _M. Cerrinius Restitutus, Augustalis, loc. d. d. d._ (for _locus datus decurionum decreto_),--'Marcus Cerrinius Restitutus, member of the brotherhood of Augustus. Place of burial granted by vote of the city council.' The tomb here was designed as a structure to which relatives might repair on anniversary days in order to make offerings to the dead.
[Illustration: Fig. 236.--Sepulchral benches of Veius and Mamia; tombs of Porcius and the Istacidii.]
The remains of the other tombs in the first group are shown in the accompanying illustration (Fig. 236). We notice first two large semicircular benches. That at the left (2 on the plan) marks the resting-place of Veius. It is of tufa, and nearly twenty feet wide at the front. The ends are modelled to represent winged lion's paws, the carving of which is full of vigor and may be compared with that of the lion's paws in the Small Theatre (Fig. 70). The statue that once stood at the rear, on a high pedestal, has disappeared, but the inscription remains: _A. Veio M. f. II vir. i. d. iter. quinq. trib. milit. ab populo ex d. d._,--'To the memory of Aulus Veius, son of Marcus, twice duumvir with judiciary authority, quinquennial duumvir, military tribune by the choice of the people. (Erected) by order of the city council.' The city not only gave a burial place, but built the tomb as well. The cinerary urn was probably placed in the earth in the narrow unwalled space behind the bench.
This monument was intended at the same time to do honor to the dead and render service to the living. Here, on feast days of the dead, relatives could gather and partake of a commemorative meal; but at all times the inviting seat and conspicuous statue served to maintain that friendly relation with the living, the desire for which so often finds expression in Roman epitaphs. The portrait and inscription made it seem as if Veius himself offered a friendly greeting to those that passed by, and was greeted by them in turn as they looked upon his face and read his name.
The other bench (4) was evidently built by the heirs of a priestess, Mamia, upon a lot given by the city. The inscription appears in large letters on the back of the seat: _Mamiae P. f. sacerdoti publicae; locus sepultur[ae] datus decurionum decreto_,--'To the memory of Mamia, daughter of Publius Mamius, priestess of the city. Place of burial granted by order of the municipal council.' In this instance, also, the cinerary urn was probably buried in the earth behind the bench. A certain delicacy in the modelling of the lion's paws seems to indicate for this monument a somewhat later date than that of the monument to Veius,--possibly the end of the reign of Augustus, or the reign of Tiberius. The date of erection is not given in the case of any Pompeian tomb.
Between the two benches we see a lava base and the core of a superstructure; they belong to the tomb of Marcus Porcius. The name is known from a boundary inscription which appears on two small blocks of lava at the corners of the lot in front: _M. Porci M. f. ex dec. decret. in frontem ped. xxv, in agrum ped. xxv_,--'(Lot) of Marcus Porcius son of Marcus, granted by order of the city council; twenty-five feet front, twenty-five feet deep.'
This Porcius may have been one of the builders of the Small Theatre and the Amphitheatre, or a son of that Porcius, whose name appears on the altar of the temple of Apollo. The tomb was in the form of an altar; the terminal volutes at the top, of travertine, have been preserved. The sides were of tufa blocks, which may have been carried off for building purposes after the tomb was damaged by the earthquake of 63. The interior was made hollow to save expense; there was no sepulchral chamber, the ashes being placed in the earth under the monument. This tomb is the oldest of the group.
[Illustration: Fig. 237.--The tomb of the Istacidii, restored.]
The conspicuous monument of the (4_a_) stands behind the tombs of Mamia and Porcius, at the left of the Bay Road. It is raised upon a narrow terrace, enclosed by a balustrade of masonry, and has the appearance of a temple, with half-columns at the sides. The remains of the lower story alone are seen in Fig. 236; above this was a circular structure formed by columns supporting a roof, under which were placed statues of members of the family (Fig. 237). The lower story contains a sepulchral chamber, entered by a door at the rear; in the middle of the chamber is a massive pillar reaching to the vaulted ceiling. The decoration of the room is simple, of the third style. On one side is a large niche, for two urns, those of the head of the family and his wife; the other three sides contain ten smaller niches.
The principal inscription of the tomb has not been found, but a number of names are preserved on the commemorative stones set up in the plot of ground about it. These stones are of a peculiar type, met with elsewhere only at Capua and Sorrento; we shall call them bust stones. The outline resembles that of a human head and neck terminating below in a pillar, but the front was left smooth, and an inscription was cut or painted on the bust. Difference of sex was indicated by the treatment of the hair; an example maybe seen in Fig. 240. The bust stones of men are generally larger than those of women; those of children are still smaller, the size perhaps varying with the age.
The bust stones here may refer to those whose ashes were deposited in urns in the tomb, or to others whose urns were buried in the plot of ground in which it stands. From them we learn that the head of the family was Numerius Istacidius, and that he had a daughter, Istacidia Rufilla, who was a priestess. Representatives of two other families, the Melissaei and the Buccii, are named on similar stones found in a plot connected with that of the Istacidii at the rear. The three families were perhaps closely connected by intermarriage. The bust stone of one of the Melissaei, Gnaeus Melissaeus Aper, duumvir in 3-4 A.D., stood in the same enclosure with those of the Istacidii.
Only one of the nine tombs in the second group (2) bears a name. In the case of two (3 and 4) the superstructure has completely disappeared, leaving only the lava bases in place. Another (5) has not been excavated; the front of the burial lot has been cleared, but the monument, lying further back, is still covered.
The first tomb lies in the angle between the highway and the branch road along the wall, which was evidently laid out after the monument was erected. It has the form of an altar, and must have resembled in appearance the tomb of Porcius on the opposite side of the street. Here, however, there is a sepulchral chamber in the base, entered by a low, narrow passage, which was closed until 1887 by a block of stone. In corners of this chamber two cinerary urns, in lead cases, were found covered with earth and with the remains of a funeral pyre--bits of wood and iron nails used in building the pyre, together with pieces of a richly carved ivory casket and broken perfume vials of terra cotta. Among the fragments of bone in each urn was a coin of Augustus. Though the ashes of the dead were here placed in a burial vault, it was nevertheless considered important to cover them with earth. It was not thought necessary, however, to leave the vault accessible for the performance of sacred rites in honor of the dead; the entrance, securely closed, was only to be unsealed for the admission of new urns.
The next tomb (2) is of an entirely different type from any of those previously described. It is an unroofed enclosure, entered by a door at one end. As we learn from the inscription, it was built in honor of Terentius Felix by his widow, the city furnishing the burial lot and a contribution of two thousand sesterces (about $90) toward the expense: _T. Terentio T. f. Men. Felici maiori aedil[i]; huic publice locus datus et [=HS] [M] [M]. Fabia Probi f. Sabina uxor_,--'To the memory of Titus Terentius Felix the Elder, son of Titus, of the tribe Menenia, aedile. The place of burial was given by the city, with two thousand sesterces. His wife, Fabia Sabina, daughter of Fabius Probus (built this monument).' Pompeians who were Roman citizens were enrolled in the tribe Menenia.
The cinerary urn of Felix was of glass. It was protected by a lead case and placed in an earthen jar, which was buried in the earth under a small altar or table of masonry against the wall on the left as one enters. Here also was a tombstone, with the inscription, 'To the elder Terentius'; he probably left a son with the same name. In the urn, or near it, were found two coins, one of Augustus, the other of Claudius, deposited to pay the fare of Charon. The right side of the enclosure was set off by a low wall; here several urns belonging to other members of the household were buried. Shells of oysters and other shellfish were found in the main room, remains of a banquet in honor of the dead; the libations were poured upon the earth above the urns. The plan of this tomb closely resembles that of the enclosure in front of the Doric temple in the Forum Triangulare (p. 139).
[Illustration: Fig. 238.--View of the Street of Tombs.
At the left, the Bay Road and remains of the so-called villa of Cicero; at the right, Garland tomb, foundation of the tomb of the Blue Glass Vase, and semicircular niche.]
Of the remaining tombs of the second group, two are prominent, and may readily be distinguished in the accompanying illustration (Fig. 238), the so-called Garland tomb (6 on the plan), and the roofed semicircular niche at the end (9). The Garland tomb has the shape of a temple, with pilasters instead of columns, between which hang festoons of leaves and flowers. It is solid; the cinerary urn was probably placed underneath. The form of the second story cannot be determined. The material is tufa, coated with white stucco, and the monument is one of the oldest in the series, dating from the end of the Republic.
Adjoining the Garland tomb is a simple sepulchral enclosure (7) with an entrance from the street. Between this and the roofed niche we see in Fig. 238 the limestone base of a tomb, like those seen in Plate X, at the right; the altar-shaped superstructure has disappeared (8). This is called the tomb of the Blue Glass Vase. The base contains a sepulchral chamber, entered by a door at the rear. Here three urns, two of glass and one of terra cotta, were found, standing in niches. On the floor were several statuettes, a couple of small figures of animals, and a mask with a Phrygian cap,--all of terra cotta.
In beauty of material, harmony of design, and skill of workmanship, one of the glass urns, which gave the name to the tomb and is now preserved in the Naples Museum, ranks with the finest examples of its class in the world. Among specimens of ancient glass it stands second only to the famous Portland vase in the British Museum, which was found in a tomb near Rome. The urn has the form of an amphora; the support seen at the bottom (Fig. 239) is modern. It is decorated with reliefs cut in a layer of pure white on a background of dark blue. Near the bottom is a narrow band, showing goats and sheep in pasture. Resting on this are two bacchic masks, on opposite sides of the vase; vines laden with clusters rise in graceful arabesques above the masks, dividing the body of the vase into two fields, which present scenes from the vintage.
One of these scenes is reproduced in Fig. 239. The vintage is interpreted as a festival of Bacchus. Above is a festoon of fruits and flowers. At the sides are two boys on elevated seats, one playing the double flute, the other holding a Pan's pipe in his hands, ready to take his turn; the grapes are gathered and pressed to an accompaniment of Bacchic airs, the two players following each other with alternate strains. A third boy, treading the grapes in a round vat, shakes the thyrsus in honor of the Wine-god, while a companion empties in fresh bunches. The scene is full of action; no reproduction can do justice to the delicacy and finish of the original.
[Illustration: Fig. 239.--Glass vase with vintage scene, found in the tomb of the Blue Glass Vase.]
A bench of masonry runs along the inner wall of the semicircular niche (9), which is covered by a roof in the form of a half dome and opens upon the street as do the large unroofed monuments of Veius and Mamia. A blank marble tablet was placed in the gable; the builder of the monument, who was doubtless living at the time of the eruption, preferred to leave it to his heirs to add the memorial inscription, but the disaster interfered with the fulfilment of his wishes. It was probably intended to bury the cinerary urn either in the floor of the niche or in the ground at the rear. The effect of the double series of pilasters at the corners, placed one upon the other without an intervening entablature, and of the fantastic stucco decoration of the gable, is not unpleasing, although the designs are far from classical; the tiles shown in the illustration are modern. The inner wall is painted in red and black panels; the vaulted ceiling, from which the stucco has now fallen, was moulded to represent a shell.
Both the niche and the tomb of the Blue Glass Vase seem to have belonged to the adjoining villa. The stucco decoration of the villa in its main features is identical with that of the niche; and the plot of ground behind the tombs is connected by a gateway with a garden of the villa (12 on the plan), which was too richly adorned to have been intended for the use of the occupants of the inn. In the middle of the garden was a pavilion supported by four mosaic columns (now in the Naples Museum), similar to that in the garden of the villa of Diomedes, and to others belonging to city houses. A mosaic fountain niche was made in the rear wall facing the entrance from the street, and in two corners were short columns on which were placed small figures,--on one a boy with a hare, in marble, on the other a frog of glazed terra cotta.
Nevertheless, the garden seems to possess a distinctly sepulchral character. Besides the entrances from the tombs and from the street, there was a third, which led into a court of the villa, with which the peristyle and living rooms were connected by a passageway; in the corner of the court nearest the garden, and facing the entrance from the street (15), was an elaborate domestic shrine, dedicated, as shown by the symbolical decoration, to Apollo, Bacchus, Hercules, and Mercury. The relation of the garden with the living rooms of the villa was only indirect; and we conclude that it was intended for gatherings and sacred rites in honor of the dead. Relatives could partake of the sepulchral banquet under the pavilion.
The tombs of the third group, as may be seen from Plate X, form a stately series. The prevailing type is that which was in vogue at the time of the destruction of the city--a high base, with marble steps at the top leading up to a massive superstructure in the form of an altar, faced with marble. The burial plot was enclosed by a low wall. In the base of the tomb was a sepulchral chamber, entered by a door in the rear or at one side; it was now the custom for relatives to enter the burial vault when they wished to pour libations on the ashes.
The first of the series (16 on the plan, seen in Plate X next to the cypress) was unfinished at the time of the eruption. Part of the marble veneering had not yet been added, the walls of the sepulchral chamber were in the rough, and there were no urns in the five niches designed for their reception. In the burial plot surrounding the tomb, however, a marble bust stone was found (Fig. 240) with the inscription, _Iunoni Tyches Iuliae Augustae Vener[iae]_,--'To the Genius of Tyche, slave of Julia Augusta,--of the cult of Venus.'
[Illustration: Fig. 240.--Bust Stone of Tyche, slave of Julia Augusta.]
The reference is plainly to a female slave of Livia, the wife of Augustus; how her ashes came to be deposited here it is not worth while, in default of information, to conjecture. In sepulchral inscriptions of women _Iunoni_ sometimes takes the place of _genio_ in men's epitaphs. Tyche was seemingly a member of a sisterhood for the worship of Venus, to which, as to the organization of the 'Servants of Mercury and Maia,' and of the 'Servants of Fortuna Augusta,' slaves were admitted.
The tomb of Umbricius Scaurus (17) is conspicuous by reason of its size and noteworthy on account of its decoration. The inscription on the front of the altar-shaped superstructure gives interesting details in regard to the man the memory of whom is here perpetuated: _A. Umbricio A. f. Men. Scauro, II vir i. d.; huic decuriones locum monum[ento] et [=HS] [M] [M] in funere et statuam equestr[em in f]oro ponendam censuerunt. Scaurus pater filio_,--'To the memory of Aulus Umbricius Scaurus son of Aulus, of the tribe Menenia, duumvir with judiciary authority. The city council voted the place for a monument to this man and two thousand sesterces toward the cost of the funeral; they voted also that an equestrian statue in his honor should be set up in the Forum. Scaurus the father to the memory of his son.'
Why these honors were conferred upon Scaurus, who probably became a duumvir early in life and died soon after his term of office, is not clear. The upper part of the base of the tomb in front was adorned with stucco reliefs--now for the most part gone--in which gladiatorial combats and a venatio were depicted; but a painted inscription along the edge of one of the scenes indicates that the show thus commemorated was given by another man, _N. Fistius Ampliatus; Munere [N. Fis]ti Ampliati die summo_. Perhaps the last two words mean that 'on the last day' the younger Scaurus, a relative or friend of Ampliatus, shared the cost of the exhibition under some such arrangement as that between Lucretius Valens and his son (p. 222). If this be the correct explanation, it is evident that Scaurus could have given no shows in the Amphitheatre during his duumvirate, else the father would have taken pains to mention the fact in the inscription. His term of office may have come after the year 59, when such exhibitions were prohibited at Pompeii for ten years (p. 220).
The gladiatorial scenes, if space permitted, would merit a detailed presentation--they are so full of human interest. Two gladiators are fighting on horseback, the rest on foot. The vanquished with uplifted thumbs are mutely begging for mercy. The plea of some of them is heeded by the populace; in other groups we see the victor preparing to give the death thrust. Beside each gladiator was painted his name, school, and number of previous combats, as in a programme; and letters were added to give the result of this fight. One combatant, who was beaten and yet by the vote of the audience permitted to live, died on the sand from his wounds. We see him resting on one knee, faint from loss of blood; the letter M beside his name, for _missus_, is followed by the death sign [Theta], the first letter of the Greek word for death, [Greek: THANATOS].
The animals shown in the venatio are mainly wild boars and bears, but we recognize also a lion and a bull. Lions were doubtless much more rarely seen in such exhibitions at Pompeii than at Rome.
As more attention came to be given to the outward appearance of tombs, less was bestowed upon the adornment of the sepulchral chamber. So in the tomb of Scaurus the burial vault is low, cramped, and with plain white walls. A massive pillar, as in the tomb of the Istacidii, supports the vaulted ceiling. It is pierced by two openings, forming four niches, two on each side. Three of these, when the tomb was opened, were closed by panes of glass, and there were traces of a curtain that hung over the one opposite the entrance. There were fourteen other niches in the walls at the sides.
No name is associated with the third tomb (18 on the plan) which, as shown by Plate X, is simply a large cylinder of masonry, the top of which probably had the shape of a truncated cone; the material is brick, with a facing of white stucco lined off to give the appearance of blocks of marble. The base is square; the enclosing wall is adorned with miniature towers. The structure illustrates in its simplest form the type of the massive tomb, or mausoleum, found at Rome; we are at once reminded of the imposing monument of Caecilia Metella on the Appian Way, and of Hadrian's Mausoleum in the city.
A blank tablet was placed by the builder on the front of the enclosing wall to receive an inscription after his death. The heirs, however, preferred to put the memorial on the tomb itself, where the place of an inscription is plainly seen, the slab itself having disappeared. The sepulchral chamber is in the superstructure; it was decorated with simple designs in the fourth style on a white ground. There were only three niches, perhaps for father, mother, and child; the urns were let into the bottoms of the niches, as often in the Roman columbaria.
One of the miniature towers on the enclosing wall is ornamented with a relief presenting a singular design; a woman in mourning habit is laying a fillet on a skeleton reclining on a heap of stones (Fig. 241). The scene may be interpreted as symbolizing the grief of a mother for a dead son.
[Illustration: PLATE X.--THE STREET OF TOMBS, LOOKING TOWARD THE HERCULANEUM GATE]
There is only a simple bust stone in the burial lot (19) beyond the round monument. Next comes the beautiful tomb of Calventius Quietus (20), which may be seen in Plate X, as well as the tomb of Naevoleia Tyche (22; further to the right). Between these two is a walled enclosure (21) without a door, in which are three bust stones. The largest stone bears the name N. Istacidius Helenus; in front of one of the others a small jar was set to receive offerings for the dead. On the front of the enclosing wall is a tablet on which the names of N. Istacidius Januarius and of Mesonia Satulla appear with that of Helenus; they were all freedmen of the Istacidii (p. 412).
The monuments of Quietus and of Tyche are the finest examples of the altar type at Pompeii. Both are ornamented in good taste, but the carvings of the former are more delicate, while the motives of the latter are more elaborate. Quietus was a man of some prominence, as we see from the epitaph: _C. Calventio Quieto Augustali; huic ob munificent[iam] decurionum decreto et populi conse[n]su bisellii honor datus est_,--'To the memory of Gaius Calventius Quietus, member of the Brotherhood of Augustus. On account of his generosity the honor of a seat of double width was conferred upon him by the vote of the city council and the approval of the people.'
[Illustration: Fig. 241.--Relief, symbolic of grief for the dead.]
At the Theatre and the Amphitheatre, Quietus had the privilege of sitting on a bisellium, as if he were a member of the city council. Below the inscription is a representation of the 'seat of double width,' shown in Fig. 242. The square footstool at the middle implies that the seat was intended for a single person. The ends of the tomb were ornamented with finely carved reliefs of the civic crown, which was made of oak leaves and awarded to those who had saved the life of a Roman citizen (Fig. 243). As the inscription does not record any deed of valor, it may be that the crown is used here merely as a decorative device.
[Illustration: Fig. 242.--Front of the tomb of Calventius Quietus, with bisellium.]
Though the monument of Quietus was built in the last years of the city, when such structures were generally provided with sepulchral chambers, it has no burial vault, and the enclosing wall is without a door. It is perhaps a cenotaph, a monument erected in honor of a man whose remains were interred elsewhere; it is also possible that Quietus had no relatives who wished to have an accessible sepulchral chamber in order to make libations to his ashes, and that for this reason the monument was made solid, the urn being buried in the earth underneath. The small turrets on the enclosing wall were adorned with reliefs; among them Oedipus solving the riddle of the Sphinx, and Theseus after the slaughter of the Minotaur. The suggestion is obvious: he who is commemorated here had solved the riddle of existence, had found an exit from the labyrinth of life.
Around the front and sides of the tomb of Naevoleia Tyche runs a border of acanthus arabesques, forming panels in which reliefs are placed. The border in front is interrupted at the middle of the upper side by the portrait of Tyche; the lower half of the panel is devoted to a ceremonial scene in which offerings appear to be made to the dead, while in the upper half, under the portrait, we read the inscription: _Naevoleia L. lib[erta] Tyche sibi et C. Munatio Fausto Aug[ustali] et pagano, cui decuriones consensu populi bisellium ob merita eius decreverunt. Hoc monimentum Naevoleia Tyche libertis suis libertabusq[ue] et C. Munati Fausti viva fecit_,--'Naevoleia Tyche, freedwoman of Lucius Naevoleius, for herself and for Gaius Munatius Faustus, member of the Brotherhood of Augustus and suburban official, to whom on account of his distinguished services the city council, with the approval of the people, granted a seat of double width. This monument Naevoleia Tyche built in her lifetime also for the freedmen and freedwomen of herself and of Gaius Munatius Faustus,' who was seemingly her husband.
[Illustration: Fig. 243.--End of the tomb of Naevoleia Tyche, with relief of a ship entering port; beyond, end of the tomb of Calventius Quietus, with the civic crown.]
The bisellium of Faustus is shown in one of the end panels; in the other we see a ship sailing into port (Fig. 243). The carving of the relief is bold, though crude; we see the sailors furling the sail, as the vessel glides into still water. The scene is symbolical of death,--the entrance of the soul after the storms of life into a haven of rest. The thought is expressed by Cicero with deep feeling in his essay on Old Age: 'As for myself, I find the ripening of life truly agreeable; the nearer I come to the time of death, the more I feel like one who begins to see land and knows that sometime he will enter the harbor after the long voyage.'
The sepulchral chamber of this tomb has a large niche opposite the entrance; the urn standing in it apparently contained the cinerary remains of two persons, Tyche and Faustus. Other urns were found in the smaller niches in the walls and on the bench of masonry along the sides. Three were of glass, protected by lead cases; one of them is shown in Fig. 244. They contained ashes and fragments of bone, with remains of a liquid mixture, which was shown by chemical analysis to have consisted of water, wine, and oil. Lamps were found on the bench, one for each urn, and there were others in a corner; they were used on anniversary days to light the chamber.
[Illustration: Fig. 244.--Cinerary urn in lead case.]
The last monument consists of a walled enclosure, with a table and couches of masonry like those often found in the gardens of private houses (Fig. 245). In front of the table is a small round altar for libations. This was a place for banquets in honor of the dead, _triclinium funebre_; a tomb designed to serve the convenience of the living, like the niche of Cerrinius Restitutus and the benches of Veius and Mamia. The walls were painted in the last style.
Over the entrance in front we read: _Cn. Vibrio Q. f. Fal. Saturnino Callistus lib._,--'To the memory of Gnaeus Vibrius Saturninus son of Quintus, of the tribe Falerna; erected by his freedman Callistus.' As Saturninus did not belong to the tribe Menenia, he was very likely not a native of Pompeii. His ashes were probably placed in an urn and buried in the earth between the altar and the entrance.
There is every reason to suppose that the series of tombs on the south side of the highway is continued beyond the villa of Diomedes; but it has not yet been found possible to carry the excavations further in that direction.
The tombs of the fourth group present no new types of design or construction. Several of them are of interest, however, on account of peculiarities of arrangement. At the time of the eruption two of the monuments (33, 35) were in process of building; it is impossible to tell what form they were to have. A third (36) had been commenced on a large scale, but apparently the money of the heirs gave out, and little pyramids were set up at the corners of the walled enclosure, the urns being buried in the earth.
[Illustration: Fig. 245.--Sepulchral enclosure with triclinium funebre.]
Two of the monuments were erected for children (40, 41). They stand near together on the high ground in the angle formed by the Vesuvius Road. They are small vaulted niches, ornamented with reliefs in white stucco, most of which has fallen off. The urn in each was placed in the earth under the bottom of the niche, with a small pipe tile leading to the surface, through which libations could be poured down upon it. A tablet is set in the sustaining wall at the side of the street below the larger niche (41), with the simple inscription, _N. Velasio Grato, vix[it] ann. XII_,--'To the memory of Numerius Velasius Gratus, who lived twelve years.' The inscription belonging to the other niche was even more simple, giving no first name: _Salvius puer vixit annis VI_,--'The boy Salvius lived six years.'
One tomb (34) is noteworthy on account of its door. This has the appearance of a double door, but it is made of a single slab of marble, and swings, like an ordinary Roman door, by means of pivots which are fitted into sockets in the threshold and lintel. It was also provided with a lock. The exterior of the tomb was unfinished; the reticulate masonry still lacked its facing of more costly material. The sepulchral chamber, however, contained several cinerary urns; one of them, of alabaster, was in a large niche facing the entrance, and a gold seal ring, with the figure of a deer in an intaglio, was found in it among the ashes and fragments of bone. There were also several lamps, a small altar of terra cotta, and a few glass perfume vials. Two amphorae, of the sort used for wine, stood against the sides of the chamber; such were sometimes utilized as repositories for ashes.
One of the volutes of the well preserved limestone tomb of M. Alleius Luccius Libella (37) is seen in Plate X. The monument has the shape of an altar, and is apparently solid. It was erected by the widow, Alleia Decimilla, priestess of Ceres, in memory of her husband, who was duumvir in 26 A.D., and of a son of the same name, who was a member of the city council and died in his eighteenth year. The burial plot was given by the city. As no opening was left in the monument, Decimilla evidently planned to have her ashes deposited in another tomb, perhaps that of her father's family.
The remaining four tombs are of the same type; the idea is that of a temple, the columnar construction being suggested not by projecting half-columns, as in the tomb of the Istacidii, but by more or less prominent pilasters at the corners and on the sides. Two of the tombs (38 and 39) stand where the tongue of land between the highway and the Vesuvius Road begins to descend to the level of the pavement.
The remains of the tomb of Ceius Labeo (38) are shown in Plate X (in the foreground, at the left). The appearance of this monument was somewhat like that of the Istacidii; there was a second story, the roof of which was supported entirely by columns; between these, statues of members of the family were placed, of both men and women, some of marble, others of tufa coated with stucco. The base was ornamented with stucco reliefs, which have almost entirely disappeared; above, in front, were two portrait medallions.
The large sepulchral chamber can be seen in the plate. The floor was more than six feet below the surface of the ground. A vaulted niche in the rear wall was connected with the outside by means of a small opening at the top, through which libations could be poured or offerings dropped upon the urn below. In the vicinity of the monument was found the inscription: _L. Ceio L. f. Men. Labeoni iter[um] d. v. i. d. quinq[uennali] Menomachus l[ibertus]_,--'To the memory of Lucius Ceius Labeo son of Lucius, of the tribe Menenia, twice duumvir with judiciary authority, also quinquennial duumvir; erected by his freedman, Menomachus.'
There were bust stones in the plot belonging to this monument, and also about the adjoining tomb (39); the names of those whose ashes were deposited under the stones, in part, at least, seem to have been painted upon the base of Labeo's tomb, but they were illegible at the time of excavation. The adjoining tomb (39) is without a name, but was built after that erected in honor of Labeo.
The tombs at the end of the fourth group (42, 43) belong to one household. In the sustaining wall along the highway a sepulchral tablet of tufa is seen with the inscription: _Arriae M. f. Diomedes l[ibertus] sibi suis_,--'Diomedes, a freedman, for Arria, daughter of Marcus Arrius, for himself and for his family.' On the elevation directly above is his tomb, the end of which is seen in Plate X (in the foreground). It bears the inscription: _M. Arrius [^C]. l. Diomedes sibi suis memoriae, magister pag[i] Aug[usti] Felic[is] suburb[ani]_,--'Marcus Arrius Diomedes, freedman of Arria, magistrate of the suburb Pagus Augustus Felix, in memory of himself and his family.'
The abbreviation [^C]. l. takes the place of _Gaiae libertus_, 'freedman of Gaia,' the letter C, which stands for Gaius, being reversed; Gaia is used, as in legal formulas, to show that the person referred to is a woman. The slave Diomedes, after receiving his freedom, was entitled to the use of the family name, and was known as Marcus Arrius Diomedes. His mistress, as Roman ladies generally, was called not by a first name, but by the feminine form of the family name, Arria, which was as plainly suggested to a Roman reading the name Arrius followed by the symbol as if it had been written in full.
On the front of the tomb we observe in stucco relief two bundles of rods, _fasces_, with axes, having reference to the official position of Diomedes as a magistrate of a suburb. The axes are quite out of place. Suburban officers did not have the 'power of life and death'; the lictors of such magistrates carried bundles of rods without axes. The vain display of authority reminds one of the pompous petty official held up to ridicule by Horace in his Journey to Brundisium; it suggests also the rods and axes painted on the posts at the entrance of the dining room of Trimalchio, in Petronius's novel. The tomb was constructed without a burial vault, but there were two bust stones near by with names of freedmen of Diomedes.
The monument to Arria (43) lies further back; it fronts on the Vesuvius Road. Diomedes found a way to reconcile happily his own love of display with his duty to his former mistress; he built a larger monument for her, but chose for his own the more conspicuous position. The small sepulchral chamber of Arria's tomb contained nothing of interest and is now walled up.
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