Part 2

To determine the architectural history of the city there are--apart from the very meagre literary tradition--two means, firstly the distinction of the material of which the houses are built, and secondly the measures employed. In respect of the first point it proves that limestone which could be procured in the immediate neighbourhood of Pompeii from the deposits of the Sarno, was employed in the earliest period for building houses, with clay as cement. With this was associated also tufa, a volcanic product which when just quarried can be easily cut. An essential progress was made by the introduction of lime-mortar, the knowledge of which was apparently transmitted through the Carthaginians to the western Greeks and the inhabitants of Italy. By the aid of this lighter and smaller stones could be utilised to form walls capable of supporting considerable weight. In place of lime-mortar there was gradually introduced Pozzolana (named from Pozzuoli on the Bay of Naples), a volcanic earth resembling cement in its effect. Of lasting influence was further the introduction and gradual spread of building with kiln-baked bricks, although in private buildings they were never employed to such an extent as in Rome and other Italian cities. Finally, the last period, that of the restoration, when the question was how in the shortest time and with limited means to rebuild the city which had been almost entirely destroyed by the earthquake of the year A. D. 63. (The devastation had been so complete that the Roman Senate could deliberate as to whether the people of Pompeii should be permitted to rebuild their city.) Haste and negligence and the use of the first materials that came to hand characterise this epoch.

As a second means of distinguishing the various periods one from another we have the standard of measure employed. According as the walls have been built in conformity with the Oscan or the Roman foot (the Oscan foot has a length of .273 of a metre, the Roman of .29) the corresponding buildings can be assigned to the one or the other period, and since it was not usual to demolish what already existed, but to make use of it as far as possible, people have through observation of the various measures, attained even to the possibility of distinguishing the older parts of buildings from the later, and often recognising their earlier destination.

With the help of those distinguishing marks, and of the scanty notices handed down by ancient writers, and of the inscriptions we are enabled to establish the following as to the city’s history.

Whether the name Pompeii is connected with πέμπω, πομπή or is derived from the Oscan _pompe_ = five is all the same to us, since we can draw no further conclusion therefrom. In any case nothing further is known as to the year of foundation: though from the ruins of the temple in the Triangular Forum which belongs to the sixth century we may conclude that the city was already in existence at that period. It was founded in regular form by the Oscans on a hill formed by an old stream of lava, but was at a later time about B. C. 420 occupied by the Samnites. Two streets the _Strada di Mercurio_ with its extension southwards from the Forum (Fig. 6) and the _Strada di Nola_ (_Decumanus major_, Fig. 7) traverse the city from one end to the other, and fix thereby the direction of the streets from north to south and east to west. Only now and then have special peculiarities of the surface led to slight deviations in the parallel streets. The city was encircled by a wall, which was protected by towers at regular intervals to give it greater security, on the other side in order to allow of large bodies of armed citizens mounting the wall in time of danger, steps were in parts added to the wall, in other parts a slope of earth was placed against it. Only on the west and southwest sides had the walls been broken down in antiquity and replaced by houses, apparently to gain space for the extension of the city. Pompeii, true to its origin, had, in the Social War (B. C. 90-88), joined the Italians and with the rest had bravely defended its independence against the Romans; nay in the year 89 it had sustained a siege by Sulla himself. For this it was punished, being compelled to give up part of its possessions to the colonists sent by Sulla in the year 80. (Hence the new name of the city _Colonia Cornelia Veneria Pompeianorum_.)

Under Augustus also was an enlargement of the city undertaken, the _Pagus Augustus Felix_ being then founded. That numerous storms have broken over Pompeii may be seen by the walls, stripped as they have been completely of their massive facing and restored only to such an extent as was absolutely necessary (originally two massive walls were built and the space between them filled with rubble and concrete, see fig. 8-10); the towers seem not to have been placed on the wall till a later time. The city has eight gates, which were more or less strengthened by fortifications; especially in the case of the Gate of Nola, on the east side, on which attack was most to be expected, one can clearly recognise how one fortification has been from time to time strengthened by others. Interesting too in another way is the Gate of Herculaneum on the northwest side of the city, in front of which the road is bordered right and left by graves, in accordance with the usage of the ancients to place their graves beside the public roads outside the city. (See fig. 11.)

The streets of the city are essentially distinguished from those of our cities by their narrowness; the widest measure barely seven metres, some indeed are not more than from two and a half to three metres broad. They were made so narrow with the object of securing shade in the streets, so necessary a requisite in the South, the want of which one feels in a most unpleasant way for example now where in Pompeii there is no shade. A part of the width is taken up by the footpath running on each side, which slightly raised above the level of the street is paved with small stones, or bricks, or pieces of marble, according as the fancy or the wealth of the owner of the adjoining property, (on whom evidently rested the care of the footway), prompted the choice of one method or another. The carriage road itself is paved with polygonal blocks of lava, in which the wheels have often worn deep ruts. (See Fig. 12 and 17.) If the ruts were too deep, or otherwise repair of the street was found necessary, the remedy was applied in the simplest fashion, the stones were merely relaid so that those little used came where the wheels ran and those cut up by traffic were transferred to another place. This explains the curious fact that stones worn into deep ruts are often found in positions where no wheel can ever have come. Then on both sides of the street run gutters, through which the water is conducted into deep drains and so removed from the city. In the violent showers of rain which in the South at times pour down in torrents these provisions might often have proved insufficient and the street also may have been under water. In order therefore to provide the foot passenger with as dry as possible a crossing from one side of the roads to the other, stepping-stones have been placed at intervals across the street. These met the requirements of the case without interfering with the carriage traffic (for the draught-animals were attached only at the extremity of the pole, so they could pass between the stones more easily than would be possible with our modern way of harnessing). Some streets on the other hand were entirely closed against wheel-traffic. This was quite possible, carriages being as a rule employed for the transport of persons only in travelling outside the city. Besides the difference in width the streets of Pompeii are essentially distinguished from those of our cities by the circumstance that the houses at any rate on the groundfloor have no windows. The ancient house in its main features was built solely with regard to interior effect. Only occasionally was the surface of the outer wall broken by small openings widening inwards, which are all that can be compared with our windows (Fig. 13); and these too, raised far above the height of a man, are barred by lattice of iron or terracotta. On the other hand the street-front was often enlivened by painting, the outer wall was divided into panels which were painted red or yellow with various ornaments according to the taste of the respective householders. Larger paintings are often to be found, as the twelve gods, sacrifices to the Lares, the household gods, _etc._ In places likely to be misused were painted a pair of serpents _etc._ as a deterrent. Besides these things there were all sorts of inscriptions on the houses. A distinction is usually made between two classes of inscriptions, _Dipinti_ and _Graffiti_. The former are painted on the walls with a broad brush in large letters, for the most part in red colour on a white ground. By _Graffiti_ on the other hand are understood inscriptions slightly scratched with a pointed style or nail in the plaster. The _Dipinti_ contain summonses to elections, announcements of Games &c. _Duumviri juri dicundo_, the Board of Two, the highest magistracy of the city, are to be elected; there being no newspaper, the names of the candidates are painted on the walls, and underneath is written Proposed by so and so (Fig. 14). Or a new troop of gladiators arrives: in order to entice as many spectators as possible, an advertisement is written on the walls with the names of the principal combatants and the number of their victories, nor do they forget to add that to guard against the sun’s heat awnings are spread over the theatre; in short one lights on the very footsteps and traces of quickly throbbing life, so that one feels oneself carried back into the time of the old citizens of Pompeii.

With almost greater originality the life of the old Pompeians rises before us in the _Graffiti_. Scarcely a spot strikes the eye that is not covered with such outpourings of gay or wicked fancy scratched in the slightest strokes. Here one tells another’s secrets, there one celebrates in verse a sweetheart, a third complains of the obstinacy of a maiden, a fourth, no doubt a boy fresh from school--he could not reach far--attempts to write down the beginning of a well-known poem but he does not get much further than the first words. A second, proud of his learning, begins the verse afresh, yet he too comes to a standstill when he has carried the verse a little further. A third at last completes the whole verse. At another place a parasite gives a broad hint for an invitation or pays his debt of thanks. (See fig. 15. Semper M. Terentius Eudoxus unus supstenet amicos et tenet et tutat, supstenet omnem modum.)

Thus witticisms and drolleries abound in those inscriptions, so that one who passed through the streets and had a liking to decipher these scrawls need not want for amusement. Variety too is afforded by the fountains (Fig. 16) which were fed from the public water-supply (probably this was a branch of the conduit which brought the water to Naples from the mountain range on the east). In Pompeii, as in Palermo at the present day, the water was for better distribution conducted into reservoirs raised on high pillars. From these the water was brought through lead pipes to the public fountains and to the houses. (See fig. 17, representing a corner of the Stabiae Street with the pillars to support the water.) These fountains were ornamented with small reliefs, for example a Silenus leaning on a wine-skin, from the opening of which the water escapes; an eagle that has seized a hare (here the water flows out of the hare’s mouth), and similar representations. On the fountain’s brim may still often be seen the place where the young people drinking straight from the spout used to put their hands. To this picture of the streets however the liveliest touches were given by the shops, rooms open on the outside their whole breadth, in which retail trade was carried on. As at the present time, in the palaces of Italian cities, the groundfloor is occupied by shops which bring in to the owner an excellent rent, the rich Pompeians also did not disdain to establish shops on the street-side of their houses which without any connection with the principal edifice were let to persons engaged in trade, to whom a kind of upper chamber above the shop often served as a dwelling. Or the householder himself carried on a trade, in which case he established a connection with the inner part of the house by means of a door, to facilitate his watching over the business, whether he managed it in his own person or through a slave. There are cook shops, recognised as such by the hearth and the pots fixed in it, from which the food was ladled out (fig. 18 and 19), oil shops with large pitchers similarly fixed, and huge barrels in the background (fig. 20), shops where wine and other drinks were sold, with shelves built up like steps so as to admit of arranging the drinking vessels conveniently, and with a little room at the back for regular customers: there are butchers’ and bakers’ shops that by means of pictures bring before the passer by the various objects to be purchased therein. In short an abundance of fresh sights, so that the eye can experience no weariness.

So much for the streets of Pompeii. Of open spaces for public use there have been found as yet two, if we leave out of consideration the doubtful Forum Boarium, excavated at an earlier period in the neighbourhood of the amphitheatre, but afterwards filled up again, viz., the principal Forum (_Forum Civile_) and the one called from its shape the Triangular Forum. The latter a three-cornered space in the southwest angle of the city lying close to both theatres from which an open flight of steps leads, is certainly one of the oldest parts of the city, as is amply proved by the scanty remains of the Temple situated there, which is contemporary with the most ancient temples of Paestum and Selinus. The open space was surrounded on three sides by a colonnade, and a portico or Propylaion forms the entrance to it (fig. 21 and 22). The Temple, dedicated according to the latest researches to Minerva, had apparently like the Temple of Zeus at Agrigentum, seven columns on the narrow sides, and according to its form must be classified as Pseudodipteros (before the eruption it had already been destroyed and on its site a very modest sanctuary had been erected). Close to it is a seat, from which could be enjoyed the magnificent view over the sea and the splendid Monte Santangelo far spreading and towering high into the air. On the other side a small dome indicates an ancient fountain. To a later epoch belongs the _Forum Civile_, lying to the northwest of the above, and forming a rectangle (fig. 23 taken from the south side, fig. 24 from the north). That the laying out of this is comparatively modern, follows from the fact that through the surrounding buildings a series of streets have been reduced to blind-alleys, which at the time of their formation was assuredly not intended. The decoration of the Forum, it seems, was not yet completed when the eruption of Vesuvius buried Pompeii. The footpath was to be paved with marble slabs, and a colonnade was to be erected all round, double on the South, with a gallery above for women, when the games were held in the Forum. But this was never carried out; the architectural members lie around still unused. The built up bases too for statues of honour and equestrian statues seem to have been still unoccupied, if some excavation made shortly after the eruption has not robbed us of the chief objects. The ancestors of the emperors, the Julian family, and the Kings of Rome ought to have been placed around on pedestals, yet the only inscriptions found are those referring to Romulus and Aeneas. Of the business prevailing in the Forum, taken up as it was with trade and commerce and even schoolwork, we derive information from the Pompeian wall-paintings, e. g. fig. 25. Vehicles were not admitted, and there are indeed indications that (at elections and on similar occasions) the approaches could be completely closed with railings. In no other part of Pompeii are there so many public buildings, no private house ventured to intrude here. In the first place at the north end, the Temple of Jupiter, clearly identified by the bust found in it (fig. 26), springs forward far into the Forum and rises on a lofty substructure, to which led a flight of steps with projecting sides, once adorned with equestrian statues. Twelve Corinthian columns, six in front, three on each side, supported the Vestibule; while other columns within the cella (probably Ionic, above which rose Corinthian) supported the entablature. The large pedestal at the back was no doubt intended for the Capitoline Trinity, Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva (fig. 27 and 28). On the right, abutting on the Temple is a Triumphal Arch, which formerly covered with marble and adorned with statues and fountains must have presented an imposing appearance. The eastern long side of the Forum, is, on the north, occupied by the so-called Pantheon, more correctly the Macellum, i. e. Meat market (fig. 29). That such it is, is shown above all by the space on the right at the back, which clearly contained a butcher’s stall built up with arrangement for discharge of water, and also by the shops on the south side, which to judge by the pictures placed there, contained stalls for provisions of various kinds. In the midst of the court rose apparently a domed structure on columns (hence the pedestals). Here the fish were stripped of their scales, at least a great number of scales were found in the drain. United with the Macellum there was a chapel for the cult of the Imperial family; the marble statues found here have been removed to Naples, and are replaced in Pompeii by plaster casts. The paintings of the entrance wall (fig. 30) deserve special notice on account of the beautiful architecture. The central picture represents Io watched by Argos. Next comes an apartment once splendidly furnished, which is usually called Senaculum, but its destination is not as yet ascertained. It is thought that it was a sanctuary of the tutelary deities of the city, the _Lares Publici_. With greater certainty the adjoining building on the right may be designated as a “Temple of Vespasian” (fig. 31). From a relief on the altar standing in front of the temple (fig. 32) in which the temple itself is represented, (it is the sacrifice of a bull that is depicted, as usually offered to the Genius of the emperor), we can recognise that the edifice was dedicated to the worship of the emperor. Since it was built before the earthquake of A. D. 63, yet was not quite ready for use at the time of the catastrophe, it is most probable that it was founded in honour of Vespasian’s Genius.

On the south of this follows the large building raised according to the inscription by the priestess Eumachia at her own cost and dedicated to Concordia Augusta and Pietas. This was apparently devoted to industrial purposes. Since the fullers (fullones) have dedicated a statue to the foundress in the crypt (fig. 33) we may surmise that the whole structure served as a market hall for woollen stuffs.

The south side of the Forum is occupied by three buildings closely resembling one another, each of which consists of a large hall. The central hall was apparently intended for the meetings of the Decurions, the city magistrates of Pompeii, while on its left the judicial Duumvirs had their seat, on the right the Aediles.

On the West side first of all comes the Basilica, with its end bordering on the Forum (fig. 35). This served for market purposes, to the relief of the Forum, and at the same time afforded space for the administration of justice in the raised tribunal at the end opposite the Forum. It must have produced an impression of grandeur with its internal columns on which the roof rested, and its walls decorated with pillars arranged in two rows one above another, the walls being in their upper story provided with wide openings flanked by columns. Under the tribunal is found a cellar-like room which was formerly always called a prison; it is however little suited for this purpose, not being sufficiently enclosed, if at least it were a question of imprisonment for a long period. Next comes the Temple of Apollo (fig. 36), separated from the Basilica by the Strada della Marina. That the sanctuary which was formerly designated the Temple of Venus was dedicated to Apollo results both from an Oscan inscription on the floor of the Temple and also from the _Omphalos_, the Navel of the earth introduced into the _cella_, which on account of its relation to Delphi is frequently indicated in connection with Apollo. A Tripod also, equally an attribute of Apollo, is painted on a pilaster in the courtyard. This courtyard was surrounded by a Corinthian colonnade, in front of which stood statues of deities that were honoured in conjunction with Apollo (Venus, Diana, Mercury and others; also a bronze statue of Apollo himself, see fig. 34). In front of the steps leading up to the Temple stands the great altar on which the burnt-offerings were placed. When we return to the Forum we at once notice the gauging table with the standard measures (the original is in Naples) with openings beneath, which can be closed or opened to let the measured fluids or corn run out (fig. 37). Next to this is a dilapidated chamber which is now supposed to have been a sale-room, and north of this a public lavatory, so situated as not to be overlooked from the Forum. An edifice of uncertain purpose (Prison? Treasury?) ends this side of the Forum, which is united with the Temple of Jupiter by a wall pierced by a door.