Part 3

Of other sanctuaries there are in Pompeii the Temple of Fortuna in the wide mainstreet leading northwards from the Forum, placed at the corner of the Street of Nola (here too the temple is approached by a flight of steps, on a landing in which stands the altar, see fig. 38); and also, in the Street of Stabiae, the small temple of Zeus Meilichios (this name belongs to it according to an Oscan inscription found at the Gate of Stabiae). In this during the building of the temple of Jupiter the deities worshipped in the latter sanctuary had found refuge. Then there is the Temple of Isis near the _Forum Triangulare_ (fig. 39). This according to the inscription over the entrance had been rebuilt after the earthquake, at his own cost, by the six years old N. Popidius Celsinus (i. e. wealthy freedpeople who wished to obtain for their son a position of greater distinction than they themselves could assume must have done this in his name). In consequence of this Master Popidius Celsinus received the title of Town-Councillor.

Besides the flight of steps in front the temple was approached by means of a secret staircase, serving no doubt to give the priests access to the temple unseen by the multitude of worshippers of Isis. The small building on the left of the temple, the so-called _Purgatorium_, contains a staircase which most likely led to a reservoir filled with water from the Nile which was used in the ceremonies. In front of this lies an altar approached from the side, and on this altar at the time of its excavation were found ashes and remains of sacrifices. On the right near the entrance is a walled up cavity which contained the ashes and remnants of burnt fruits, undoubtedly the remains of sacrifice. It may here be mentioned that in front of the temple there was found a tablet of hieroglyphics which had nothing to do with the worship of Isis, and therefore served only as an imposition; also that at the time of the eruption the temple was shut; in the ashes from Vesuvius there was preserved so exact an impression of the door with its three leaves that a drawing of it could be made from the impression.

In the open space behind the Tribunal of the Basilica the latest excavations (since 1898) have resulted in the discovery of a temple which certainly was dedicated to the guardian goddess of the Roman colony, Venus Pompeiana. At the time of the catastrophe of the year 63 it was thrown down, and was to have been completely rebuilt, as the building stones lying around indicate. It would assuredly have been the largest and most splendid sanctuary of the city, if the outbreak of Vesuvius had not prevented the carrying out of the plan.

Of first rank among the other public buildings are the two theatres, which closely connected with each other lie between the _Forum Triangulare_ and the Street of Stabiae (a broad flight of steps designed for festive processions leads from the _Forum Triangulare_ to the Theatres). The smaller theatre (fig. 40), formerly roofed over, served probably for musical performances, while the larger (fig. 41) was employed for scenic exhibitions. Of these figure 42, an extremely fine mosaic from Pompeii may perhaps serve as a specimen. It is to be observed that, as in the case of most theatres, the seats have at the back a hollow for the feet of those sitting above. The broad low steps of the lowest row were utilised for the arrangement of _bisellia_, that is wide seats properly intended for two persons, the use of which was a privilege of the Decurions. Above, on the edge of the enclosing wall, stones are to be seen which served to carry the masts from which awnings were stretched for protection against the glare of the sun. It is to this that the promise _vela erunt_ refers in the advertisements of the theatre.

Together with the theatres should be named the amphitheatre, situated at the southeast extremity of the city, a building of very great size, which was calculated to meet the requirements of the neighbouring towns as well. Apparently it originally lay without the walls, and was included in the time of fortification only at a later period as forming a point of danger. Seen from without the building produces a comparatively mean impression (fig. 57), since to avoid having to raise the outer walls too high the arena or fighting place has been dug out (fig. 43). From the outside steps lead to the upper tiers, the lower tiers are reached by means of steps from a vaulted corridor which runs round the whole amphitheatre under the second tier. This is interrupted in the middle of both the longer sides, on the west by reason of a small entrance to the arena by which the corpses of the slain gladiators were dragged out. To the arena itself two wide entrances led from north and south, one of which, the southern, turns at a right angle on account of its nearness to the city wall. At the northern entrance a small separate passage could be made in order to keep the spectators apart from the gladiators who passed in and out at this point. This was effected by means of a latticed partition, for which purpose stones with holes in them were used, which are still to be seen. Small dark rooms at the entrances, provided with very low doorways, may have served as cages for wild beasts. Here too, as in the Theatre, the steps of the first row were broad and low, being intended for the arrangement of _Bisellia_. The wall which separated the spectators from the arena were found when first excavated to be adorned with paintings, which are now indeed completely destroyed, but are preserved in copies made immediately after their discovery. Without exception they represent scenes from the Amphitheatre, partly fights between wild beasts, partly combats of gladiators. (See fig. 56 as to which it is doubtful whether it was found in the amphitheatre; the gladiator standing on the right being badly wounded has let fall his shield; standing quietly he raises the thumb of the left hand to entreat the mercy of the people, for only if he looks death in the face unmoved can he hope to be granted his life; in our case his death seems certain, for his opponent steps up to him with drawn dagger to give him the _coup de grâce_.) On the breastwork wall traces were still visible of a lattice by means of which the spectators were to be protected against possible attacks of the wild beasts in the arena.

In connection with the amphitheatre may be mentioned also the barracks for gladiators, situated to the south of the large Theatre (fig. 44). To all appearances the large space surrounded by columns belonged originally to the Theatre, and was intended to afford protection to visitors to the Theatre in case of rain occurring suddenly. But when the passion for gladiatorial exhibitions had so prevailed that even smaller cities thought themselves obliged to keep special bands of gladiators, the second row of columns that no doubt originally existed was done away with and in its place paltry cells erected for them. That we have to do with gladiators and not, as has been supposed, with soldiers, a garrison for Pompeii, has been indisputably proved by the discovery of gladiators’ weapons (now in the Naples Museum, fig. 45 and 60) of paintings and _Graffiti_ relating to gladiators. The cells were raised in two stories, and in such a way that the upper were approached by means of a wooden gallery. In one cell on the west side a great set of fetters was found used for chaining prisoners; in the same room, but not as is commonly reported fastened in the fetters, some skeletons were found, those therefore of prisoners who when the catastrophe came had not been able to escape. The surrounding columns are painted red and yellow, only the two centre ones of the east and west sides are blue, perhaps because these served as marks in certain military exercises.

The baths too, which played so great a part in the life of the ancients, must not be forgotten among the public places of resort. Of large Public Baths three have up to the present time been found in Pompeii, the so-called Central Baths, which at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius were still in course of construction, the Baths by the Forum, and the Stabian Baths, at the corner of the Stabiae and Abbondanza streets. These last named are the best preserved, and deserve on this account a more thorough consideration. We come first into a large courtyard surrounded with pillars, the Palaestra, devoted to gymnastic exercises; here there was a stone track constructed, for rolling stone balls, further a swimming bath (_Natatio_), with the dressingrooms appertaining thereto (fig. 46). The reliefs in stucco, which are preserved on the outer walls of these rooms, merit special notice. On the right of the principal entrance two doors lead to the men’s bath, which consisted of the _Apodyterium_, where people took off their clothes (the niches served to keep them in, fig. 47), the _Frigidarium_ or cold bath, the _Tepidarium_ or lukewarm bath, and the _Caldarium_ or hot bath. (Fig. 48 represents the Tepidarium of the Baths near the Forum; here the heating is derived from a large brazier presented by Vaccula.) Both these rooms received their heating through the hollow pavement and hollow walls, i. e. the pavement rests on small pilasters about two feet high, and the walls are overlaid with tiles, which being provided with raised sidewalls form a kind of flue on the wall (figs. 49 and 50). By this method the heat introduced from beneath, could penetrate under the pavement and between the double walls. Of late it is true this way of heating has been disputed.

The women’s bath adjoins the men’s, with the same rooms required for bathing; between the _Caldarium_ of the men’s bath and that of the women’s bath lies the furnace-room; here were placed three large caldrons for hot, tepid, and cold water. Of such a furnace-room and the arrangement of caldrons an idea may also be formed from the well preserved bathing plant excavated in a Roman villa at Bosco Reale (where was made the great discovery of silverplate, now at Paris). This has recently been set up at Pompeii, in a small house behind the Temple of Jupiter in the street called Del Foro.

Besides these public bathing establishments there were of course also in the better class of houses private baths which show the same arrangements, though naturally more or less curtailed.

The private houses are of course, according to the wealth of the owners, of very various descriptions, and planned on a sometimes more, sometimes less imposing and costly scale, since here one, there another circumstance must have influenced the building of the house and altered its form. Something however remains common to all, and out of the variety it is possible to reconstruct the design of a standard Pompeian house. The house has in general the form of a rectangle of which the small side faces the street, see fig. 51. The door is in the middle of this side, and is flanked right and left by one or two rooms, which are either used as shops and then open outwards for their whole width, or are entered from the interior and form part of the house. Between these a passage leads from the door to the chief apartment situated behind, viz., the _Atrium_. This passage is called _fauces_ or _prothyron_. In the superior class of houses the door is set back a little so as to leave a free space in front, called _Vestibulum_. Then there are usually two doors, one a wide folding-door corresponding in size to the passage leading to the Atrium, and a smaller door at the side intended for the _Ostiarius_, or porter, who could thus refuse admittance to an importunate or unpleasant visitor, without exposing the interior of the house to the gaze of those standing before the door. A salutation such as _Have_ or _Ave_, “Hail” inlaid in the threshold of the door, or a _Cave Canem_, “Beware of the Dog” with the representation of a dog in mosaic (fig. 53) is a not unusual ornament which meets the eye as one enters. A knocker on the door served to summon the _ostiarius_. The _atrium_, a room usually square, contains in the middle a rectangular tank sunk in the ground for the reception of rainwater; for this an opening was left in the roof. Five classes of _Atrium_ are generally distinguished. In the simplest, the _Atrium Tuscanicum_, the roof sloping inwards was supported by two main beams crossing the Atrium and two side beams resting on them (fig. 52; in the new _Casa_ of Reg. V, Ins. IV the ancient construction of the roof of the Atrium has been re-erected). If the opening thus formed was to be large, or it was impossible on account of the breadth of the Atrium to leave the weight of the roof to rest only on two beams, pillars were placed under the four points of junction and on these pillars the beams were laid; this is the _Atrium Tetrastylum_. If it was desirable to make the aperture still larger, additional pillars were employed besides the four at the corners, so that regular halls with colonnades were produced (_Atrium Corinthiacum_). If the roof sloped outwards so that above the _impluvium_ there rose walls supported by the principal beams or the pillars, the Atrium was called _displuviatum_, from the fact that in this case the rain flowed away outwards. Finally the _atrium testudinatum_, a very rare form at Pompeii, had its roof equally sloping outwards, but was devoid of the quadrangular opening. This opening is called _compluvium_; the name _impluvium_ is given to the tank sunk beneath to receive the water, and out of which the water was conducted by pipes into the reservoirs under the atrium. For protection against the intrusion of unbidden visitors who might without difficulty let themselves down from the roof into the room through the _compluvium_, the opening could be closed beneath by means of an iron grating. On both sides of the _Atrium_, which receives its light from above, are placed mostly small chambers, storerooms or sleeping apartments; the last one on each side usually opened its whole width to the atrium and is called _Ala_. Here in Patrician houses of distinction the representations of ancestors were generally placed. Opposite the entrance lies the _Tablinum_, usually opening with full width on the _Atrium_, and closed only by curtains (fig. 55). This was specially the room of the master of the house, here he kept his valuable documents, here he received visits, in front of the _Tablinum_; in the _Atrium_ is as a rule the place for keeping the _Arca_, or strongbox, made of iron, often artistically decorated, and let into a huge stone, to prevent its being stolen (fig. 58). Past the _Tablinum_ a narrow passage generally leads into the back rooms of the house, which, grouped around the Peristyle, an oblong quadrangular court surrounded by columns, comprising not only livingrooms and bedchambers, but also diningrooms, often different ones for winter and for summer. These are for the most part rather small, sufficing only for the arrangement of the three couches around the little table, from which the _Triclinium_ has its name. In this part a little on one side is usually found the kitchen with other rooms required for domestic purposes, and placed in close proximity to the kitchen for the sake of supply and discharge of water. The wealthier establishments have also one of the chambers lying round the Peristyle fitted up as a kind of domestic chapel for the worship of the _Lares_, if there is not a special _Sacrarium_ erected in the _Atrium_ for this purpose. Houses of more moderate pretensions content themselves with having their household gods, the _Lares_ and the serpents sacred to them, painted in the kitchen above or near the hearth, in order to offer sacrifice to them there (figs. 59 and 62). From the Peristyle we pass on further to the garden, in which, where the owner was a rich man, there is likewise no lack of architectural adornments, airy halls and porticoes. Upper stories were generally in little favour, with the increase of population however they could not have been dispensed with. For the most part they were let, as a rule with the shops situated on the street, on which account stairs leading upwards are often found in the shops; in wealthier establishments the upper chambers were allotted to the slaves. These upper stories, just as in our mediaeval towns, often project considerably over the street; one such projecting apartment, as was stated above, is well preserved (fig. 61).

How was the Pompeian house decorated? Let us begin with the floor. In most houses the flooring is provided with _opus signinum_, that is pieces of tile are pressed into a mass of stucco and then the surface is polished; in better houses their place is taken by mosaic, generally only black and white, and comprising only patterns and ornaments; more rarely a coloured picture is produced with smaller cubes in the middle of the room. Quite peculiarly rich in mosaics, and indeed such as artistically belong to the most splendid that have come down to us in this department of art, was the so-called Casa del Fauno, in which was discovered the famous Battle of Alexander, now in the Naples Museum (fig. 64). The irresistible onset of the Greeks who in spite of inferiority in number drive the Persians in headlong flight before them is expressed with unsurpassable power. Alexander whose helmet has fallen from his head in the impetuous attack has just transfixed with a powerful thrust of his spear one of the leaders of the Persian host, who was in the act of leaping from his dying horse and saving himself on a fresh one offered to him by a faithful follower. His fall arouses in the king who stands in his chariot, the deepest sympathy, so that in his sorrow for his general’s death he almost loses sight of his own escape. His charioteer however thinks only of bringing the chariot and his lord to safety over dead and dying. From the same house comes also the mosaic threshold in the Naples Museum, a portion of which we give in figure 63. Leaves and fruits of all kinds are joined to a cylinder held together by rings and garnished with various masks.

Figure 65 recommends itself by remarkable fidelity to nature. A cat has seized a bird (apparently a partridge) with the intention of strangling it. The cat probably belongs to the species of wild cats, since cats as domestic animals were not common among the Greeks and Romans before the fourth century of our era (hence is explained the fact that no skeleton of a cat has been met with among the ruins of Pompeii). Below two ducks are swimming, and mussels and other aquatic animals are represented. At Pompeii too mosaic had begun to be employed for the covering of walls, especially beside fountains. The paving of the ground with slabs of marble, a practice very common at Rome since the time of Sulla, seems to have been comparatively rare at Pompeii.

The eyes of visitors will be attracted by the walls even more than by the pavements. Although, as said before, the greatest number of the wall-paintings discovered have been cut out and brought to the Naples Museum, yet sufficient material exists in Pompeii also to form a judgment as to the effect of the Pompeian wall-painting, especially in the more recently excavated houses, in which the colours are still more fresh. (For the removal of wall-paintings a wooden frame is placed over and around the pictures, and the stones are taken away from behind till the stucco is reached; then plaster is poured in at the back of the picture, and so the whole becomes one single mass and can be removed.) We must not however forget that the rooms in which the paintings are found have at the present day a much more glaring light than in antiquity, a circumstance not without influence on the effect of the painting.

According to A. Mau four consecutive styles are to be distinguished.

1. Pre-Roman Period: Imitation of marble incrustation by means of plastic stucco work; no pictures (fig. 66).

2. Period of the Republic: Imitation of Marble incrustation by means of simple painting, together with representation of architecture, not fantastical but as it might actually exist. This style is however but scantily represented at Pompeii.

3. Period of the Early Empire, to about fifty years after Christ: Egyptianising ornamental style distinguished by beautiful and pure forms, and delicate, finely distinguished colours (fig. 67).

4. Ornamental Style of the last period of Pompeii, with special preference for architectural painting, fantastically slender and of a playfully ornamental fashion. The examples of this style are in Pompeii by far the most numerous (fig. 69).

Above the plinth of uniform shape the walls are for the most part divided into panels, which usually are painted alternately yellow and red; in their midst they have figures of various kinds floating in the air, women, satyrs, Loves, Victories and such like, or they are adorned with imitations of easelpictures, the subjects being taken from mythology. Numerous too are scenes from every day life, still more numerous landscapes; the historical motive is as yet only very rarely indicated. Very frequently mythological figures are introduced as engaged in the avocations of daily life in the midst of the fantastical architecture which covers the walls as ornament. The artistic value is naturally very different, but in general it must be admitted that the vividness of colour, the lightness of touch in creations which are due assuredly to no famous artist cannot be sufficiently admired. As to the process by which the wall-paintings were executed the most multifarious conjectures were formerly made; now on the contrary the view universally adopted is that we have to do almost exclusively with fresco painting, i. e. painting on fresh plaster, only that here and there recourse was also had to painting in tempera (fig. 68).