Part 9

Proceeding southward along the Street of Mercury, we pass under the triumphal arch of Nero, and crossing the transverse street which leads towards the Gate of Nola, enter the Street of the Forum, a continuation of the Street of Mercury, leading straight to the triumphal arch at the north end of the Forum, and bounding the island of the Baths on the eastern side. This street is one of the most spacious in Pompeii. A long list of articles was found here in the course of excavation. One of the houses about the centre of the street nearly opposite the entrance to the Thermæ, is of more consequence than the rest, and has been named the House of Bacchus, from a large painting of that god on a door opposite to the entry. Channels for the introduction of water were found in the atrium, which has been surrounded by a small trough, formed to contain flowers, the outer side of which is painted blue, to imitate water, with boats floating upon it. The wall behind this is painted with pillars, between which are balustrades of various forms. Cranes and other birds perch upon these, and there is a back ground of reeds and other vegetables, above which the sky is visible. The greater portion of the eastern side of the street is occupied by a row of shops with a portico in front of them. It is flanked on either side by footpaths, and must have presented a noble appearance when terminated by triumphal arches at either end, and overlooked by the splendid Temple of Jupiter and that of Fortune elevated on its lofty basis.

It is to be noticed that the last-named edifice does not stand symmetrically either with the Street of the Forum or with the Street of the Baths running past the House of the Pansa. "The portico," we quote again from Gell, "is turned a little towards the Forum, and the front of the temple is so contrived that a part of it might be seen also from the other street. It is highly probable that these circumstances are the result of design rather than of chance. The Greeks seem to have preferred the view of a magnificent building from a corner, and there is scarcely a right-angled plan to be found either in ancient or modern Italy." In the Street of the Forum has been established a temporary museum of articles found in Pompeii. Adjoining it is a library containing all the best works that have been written on the city.

[Illustration: GOLD BREASTPINS FOUND AT POMPEII.]

The street running westward between the baths and the Forum presents nothing remarkable, except that in it are the signs of the milk-shop and school of gladiators. There is also an altar, probably dedicated to Jupiter, placed against the wall of a house; above it is a bass-relief in stucco, with an eagle in the tympanum. Eastward of the Forum this street assumes the name of the Street of Dried Fruits, from an inscription showing that dried fruits were sold in it; and, indeed, a considerable quantity of figs, raisins, chestnuts, plums, hempseed, and similar articles were found. It is now, however, usually called the Street of the Augustals.

Near the point at which this street is intersected by that of Eumachia, running at the back of the east side of the Forum, there is a remarkably graceful painting of a youthful Bacchus pressing the juice of the grape into a vase placed upon a pillar, at the foot of which is a rampant animal expecting the liquor, apparently meant for a tiger or panther, but of very diminutive size. This picture is one foot five inches high and one foot two inches wide. It probably served for the sign of a wine-merchant. Corresponding with it, on the other side of the shop, is a painting of Mercury, to render that knavish god propitious to the owner's trade.

We will now proceed to the Street of Abundance, or of the Merchants, formerly called the Street of the Silversmiths. This is about twenty-eight feet wide, and bordered on each side by foot-paths about six feet wide, which are described as made in several places of a hard plaster, probably analogous to _opus Signinum_. At the end next the Forum it is blocked up by two steps, which deny access to wheel carriages, and is in other parts so much encumbered by large stepping-stones that the passage of such vehicles, if not prohibited, must have been difficult and inconvenient.

We may here take notice of a peculiarity in this street. It slopes with a very gentle descent away from the Forum, and the courses of masonry, instead of being laid horizontally, run parallel to the slope of the ground, a unique instance, as we believe, of such a construction.

The doors of several shops in this street have left perfect impressions on the volcanic deposit, by which it appears that the planks of which they were made lapped one over the other, like the planks of a boat.

Although the houses that line this street have now been cleared, there still remains a large unexcavated space on its southern side. The only house requiring notice is that called the Casa del Cinghiale, or House of the Wild Boar, a little way down on the right-hand side in going from the Forum. Its name is derived from the mosaic pavement of the prothyrum, representing a boar attacked by two dogs. The house is remarkable for its well-preserved peristyle of fourteen Ionic columns, with their capitals. On the right is a brick staircase leading to a large garden. The atrium is bordered with a mosaic representing the walls of a city with towers and battlements, supposed by some to be the walls of Pompeii.

Just beyond this house is a small street or lane, turning down to the right, called the _Vicolo dei Dodici Dei_, from a painting on the outside wall of the corner house, in the manner of a frieze, representing the twelve greater divinities. Below is the usual painting of serpents. At the corner of the quadrivium is the apothecary's shop, in which was a large collection of surgical instruments, mortars, drugs, and pills. The house is not otherwise remarkable.

Of the early excavations at the southern extremity of the town few records are preserved. In the Quarter of the Theatres, besides the public buildings, there are but two houses of any interest. These occupy the space between the Temple of Æsculapius and the small theatre. The easternmost of them is one of the most interesting yet discovered in Pompeii, not for the beauty or curiosity of the building itself, but for its contents, which prove it to have been the abode of a sculptor. Here were found statues, some half finished, others just begun, with blocks of marble, and all the tools required by the artist. Among these were thirty-two mallets, many compasses, curved and straight, a great quantity of chisels, three or four levers, jacks for raising blocks, saws, etc., etc. The house has the usual arrangement of atrium, tablinum, and peristyle, but, owing to the inclination of the ground, the peristyle is on a higher level than the public part of the house, and communicates with it by a flight of steps. A large reservoir for water extended under the peristyle, which was in good preservation when first found, but has been much injured by the failure of the vault beneath.

[Illustration: A LABORATORY, AS FOUND IN POMPEII.]

Returning by the southernmost of the two roads which lead to the Forum, we find, beside the wall of the triangular Forum as it is called, one of the most remarkable houses in Pompeii, if not for its size, at least for its construction.

The excavations here made were begun in April, 1769, in the presence of the Emperor Joseph II., after whom this house has been named; but after curiosity was satisfied, they were filled up again with rubbish, as was then usual, and vines and poplars covered them almost entirely at the time when Mazois examined the place, insomuch that the underground stories were all that he could personally observe. The emperor was accompanied in his visit by his celebrated minister, Count Kaunitz, the King and Queen of Naples, and one or two distinguished antiquaries. This was one of the first private dwellings excavated at Pompeii. It appears to have been a mansion of considerable magnificence, and, from its elevated position, must have commanded a fine view over the Bay of Naples towards Sorrento. The "find" was so good on the occasion of the emperor's visit, as to excite his suspicion of some deceit. The numerous articles turned up afforded Sir W. Hamilton an opportunity to display his antiquarian knowledge. Joseph appears to have been rather disgusted on hearing that only thirty men were employed on the excavations, and insisted that three thousand were necessary. We give a cut of the house, page 119.

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] Now the Street of Abundance.

[2] Nat. Hist. xxxvi. 2.

[3] Ib. xxxvi. 15.

[4] Sexagies sestertium.

[5] Nat. Hist. xxxi. 6, S. 31: Aqua in plumbo subit altitudinem exortus sui.

[6] Rubent (vela scil.) in cavis ædium, et museum a sole defendunt. We may conclude, then, that the impluvium was sometimes ornamented with moss or flowers, unless the words cavis ædium may be extended to the court of the peristyle, which was commonly laid out as a garden. [The latter seems more likely.]

[7] xxxvi. 1.

[8] From tabula, or tabella, a picture. Another derivation is, "quasi e tabulis compactum," because the large openings into it might be closed by shutters.

[9] This rule, however, is seldom observed in the Pompeian houses.

[10] The best of these were made at Ægina. The more common ones cost from $100 to $125; some sold for as much as $2000. Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxiv. 3.

[11] These citreæ mensæ have given rise to considerable discussion. Pliny says that they were made of the roots or knots of the wood, and esteemed on account of their veins and markings, which were like a tiger's skin, or peacock's tail (xiii. 91. sqq.) Some copies read _cedri_ for citri; and it has been suggested that the cypress is really meant, the roots and knots of which are large and veined; whereas the citron is never used for cabinet work, and is neither veined nor knotted.

[12] About $161,000.

[13] The common furniture of a triclinium was three couches, placed on three sides of a square table, each containing three persons, in accordance with the favorite maxim, that a party should not consist of more than the Muses nor of fewer than the Graces, not more than nine nor less than three. Where such numbers were entertained, couches must have been placed along the sides of long tables.

[14] Plin. Ep. lib. ii. 17. We have very much shortened the original, leaving out the description of, at least, one upper floor, and other

## particulars which did not appear necessary to the illustration of our

subject.

[15] Vitruvius, vi. 8.

[16] It was made of the entrails of fish macerated in brine. That made from the fish called scomber was the best. This word is sometimes translated a herring, but the best authorities render it a mackerel. It was caught, according to Pliny, in the Straits of Gibraltar, entering from the ocean, and was used for no purpose but to make garum. The best was called garum sociorum, a term of which we have seen no satisfactory explanation, and sold for 1,000 sesterces for two congii, about $20 a gallon. An inferior kind, made from the anchovy (aphya), was called alec, a name also given to the dregs of garum. "No liquid, except unguents," Pliny says, "fetched a higher price."--Hist. Nat. xxxi. 43.

[17]

"Hence, seek the sty--there wallow with thy friends." She spake. I drawing from beside my thigh My faulchion keen, with death-denouncing looks Rushed on her; she with a shrill scream of fear Ran under my raised arm, seized fast my knees, And in winged accents plaintive thus began: "Say, who art thou," etc.--Cowper's Odyss. x. 320.

[18]

She sat before him, clasped with her left hand His knees; her right beneath his chin she placed, And thus the king, Saturnian Jove, implored.--Il. i. 500.

[Illustration: FIRST WALLS DISCOVERED IN POMPEII.]

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AMUSEMENTS.

The amphitheatre stands some hundred yards from the theatres, in the south-eastern angle of the walls of the town. Although, perhaps, of Etruscan origin, the exhibitions of the amphitheatre are so peculiarly Roman, and Pompeii contains so many mementos of them, that a detailed account of them will not perhaps be misplaced. At an early period, B.C. 263, the practice of compelling human beings to fight for the amusement of spectators was introduced; and twelve years later the capture of several elephants in the first Punic war proved the means of introducing the chase, or rather the slaughter, of wild beasts into the Roman circus. The taste for these spectacles increased of course with its indulgence, and their magnificence with the wealth of the city and the increasing facility and inducement to practice bribery which was offered by the increased extent of provinces subject to Rome. It was not, however, until the last period of the republic, or rather until the domination of the emperors had collected into one channel the tributary wealth which previously was divided among a numerous aristocracy, that buildings were erected solely for the accommodation of gladiatorial shows; buildings entirely beyond the compass of a subject's wealth, and in which perhaps the magnificence of imperial Rome is most amply displayed. Numerous examples scattered throughout her empire, in a more or less advanced state of decay, still attest the luxury and solidity of their construction; while at Rome the Coliseum (see frontispiece) asserts the pre-eminent splendor of the metropolis--a monument surpassed in magnitude by the Pyramids alone, and as superior to them in skill and varied contrivance of design as to other buildings in its gigantic magnitude.

[Illustration: VIEW OF THE AMPHITHEATRE AT POMPEII.]

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, consisting of two movable theatres, which could be placed face to face or back to back, according to the species of amusement for which they were required.

Usually, gladiatorial 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 elephants broke through the barrier which separated them from the spectators. This circumstance, together with the unsuitableness of the Circus for such sports, from its being divided into two compartments by the spina, a low wall surmounted by pillars, obelisks, and other ornamental erections, as well as from its disproportionate length, which rendered it ill adapted to afford a general view to all the spectators, determined Julius Cæsar, in his dictatorship, to construct a wooden theatre in the Campus Martius, built especially for hunting, "which was called amphitheatre (apparently the first use of the word) because it was encompassed 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 Augustus, 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 wishes of Vespasian, who commenced the vast structure completed by his son Titus--called the Flavian Amphitheatre, and subsequently the Coliseum. The expense of this building it is said would have sufficed to erect a capital city, and, if we may credit Dion, 9,000 wild beasts were destroyed in its dedication. Eutropius restricts the number to 5,000. 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 usually 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 spectators at different elevations, and the inclined plane of the seats was also supported upon piers and vaults, so that the ground plan presented a number 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 common access to all the stairs which led to the upper stories. This was the case in the amphitheatre at Nismes. Sometimes 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 divided horizontally by præcinctiones, 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 fifteen 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 them to be made of golden cord or wire. Sometimes, for more complete security, ditches, called _euripi_, surrounded the arena. This was first done by Cæsar, as a protection to the people against the elephants which he exhibited, that animal being supposed to be

## particularly afraid of water. The arena was sometimes spread with

pounded stone. Caligula, in a fit of extravagance, used chrysocolla; and Nero, to surpass him, caused the brilliant red of cinnabar to be mixed with it.

In the centre of the arena was an altar dedicated sometimes to Diana or Pluto, more commonly to Jupiter Latiaris, the protector of Latium, in honor of whom human sacrifices were offered. Passages are to be found in ancient writers, from which it is inferred that the games of the amphitheatre were usually opened by sacrificing a _bestiarius_, one of those gladiators whose profession was to combat wild beasts, in honor of this bloodthirsty deity. Beneath the arena dens are supposed to have been constructed to contain wild beasts.

At the Coliseum numerous underground buildings are said by Fulvius to have existed, which he supposed to be sewers constructed to drain and cleanse the building. Others with more probability have supposed them to be the dens of wild beasts. Immense accommodation was requisite to contain the thousands of animals which were slaughtered upon solemn occasions, but no great provision need have been made to carry off the rain-water which fell upon the six acres comprised within the walls of the building. Others again have supposed them formed to introduce the vast bodies of water by which the arena was suddenly transformed into a lake when imitations of naval battles were exhibited. Doors pierced in the wall which supported the podium communicated with these, or with other places of confinement beneath the part allotted to the audience, which being thrown open, vast numbers of animals could be introduced at once. Vopiscus tells us that a thousand ostriches, a thousand stags, and a thousand boars were thrown into the arena at once by the Emperor Probus. Sometimes, to astonish, and attract by novelty, the arena was converted into a wood. "Probus," says the same author, "exhibited a splendid hunting match, after the following manner: Large trees torn up by the roots were firmly connected by beams, and fixed upright; then earth was spread over the roots, so that the whole circus was planted to resemble a wood, and offered us the gratification of a green scene."

The same order of precedence was observed as at the theatre--senators, knights, and commons having each their appropriate place. To the former was set apart the podium, a broad precinction or platform which ran immediately round the arena. Hither they brought the curule seats or bisellia, described in speaking of the theatres of Pompeii; and here was the suggestus, a covered seat appropriated to the Emperor. It is supposed that in this part of the building there were also seats of honor for the exhibitor of the games and the vestal virgins. If the podium was insufficient for the accommodation of the senators, some of the adjoining seats were taken for their use. Next to the senators sat the knights, who seem here, as in the theatre, to have had fourteen rows set apart for them; and with them sat the civil and military tribunes. Behind were the popularia, or seats of the plebeians. Different tribes had particular cunei allotted to them. There were also some further internal arrangements, for Augustus separated married from unmarried men, and assigned a separate cuneus to youths, near whom their tutors were stationed. Women were stationed in a gallery, and attendants and servants in the highest gallery. The general direction of the amphitheatre was under the care of an officer named _villicus amphitheatri_. Officers called _locarii_ attended to the distribution of the people, and removed any person from a seat which he was not entitled to hold. We may notice, as a refinement of luxury, that concealed conduits were carried throughout these buildings, from which scented liquids were scattered over the audience. Sometimes the statues which ornamented them were applied to this purpose, and seemed to sweat perfume through minute holes, with which the pipes that traversed them were pierced. It is this to which Lucan alludes in the following lines:--

---- As when mighty Rome's spectators meet In the full theatre's capacious seat, At once, by secret pipes and channels fed, Rich tinctures gush from every antique head; At once ten thousand saffron currents flow, And rain their odors on the crowd below.

Rowe's _Lucan_, book ix.

Saffron was the material usually employed for these refreshing showers. The dried herb was infused in wine, more especially in sweet wine. Balsams and the more costly unguents were sometimes employed for the same purpose.

Another contrivance, too remarkable to be omitted in a general account of amphitheatres, is the awning by which spectators were protected from the overpowering heat of an Italian sun. This was called Velum, or Velarium; and it has afforded matter for a good deal of controversy, how a temporary covering could be extended over the vast areas of these buildings. Something of the kind was absolutely necessary, for the spectacle often lasted for many hours, and when anything extraordinary was expected the people went in crowds before daylight to obtain places, and some even at midnight.