Pompeii
a seaport at the mouth of the Sarnus, on the Neapolitan Riviera, Vol. VII-Cyc till these, about 80 B. C., were dispossessed by the Romans. From that time down to its destruction, A. D. 79, it became (with Herculaneum) a watering place for the wealthy, frequented by the aristocracy, if not by Caligula and Nero, in whose honor it erected triumphal arches. On Feb. 5, A. D. 63, by an earthquake in the vicinity, all the palatial buildings were wrecked, and years elapsed ere the fugitive citizens recovered confidence enough to reoccupy_and rebuild what was once Pompeii. Tawdriness replaced simplicity of decoration -the columns, capitals, and cornices being ornamented with reliefs in stucco picked out with parti-colored designs, while private houses, fantastically restored and adorned, infringed every artistic or æsthetic canon to favor the grotesque style of the Decadence. Revolutionized as it was for the worse, the city, however, retained a good deal of Greek character and coloring, and had relapsed into more than its former gayety and licentiousness, when on Aug. 23 (or, more probably, on Nov. 23) 79, with a return of the shocks of earthquake, Vesuvius was seen to throw up a column of black smoke, ashes, pumice, and redhot stones, settling down on the doomed cities with a force increased by the raintorrents that intermittently fell. The panic of the citizens was aggravated by repeated shocks of earthquake and for three days the flight continued till Pompeii was abandoned by all who could effect their escape. By the fourth day the sun had partially reappeared, as if shining through a fog, and the more courageous of the citizens began to return for such of their property as they could disinter. The desolation and distress were such that the reigning emperor Titus organized relief on an imperial scale. This attempt was soon abandoned, and Pompeii remained a heap of hardened mud and ashes, gradually overgrown with grass till 1592, when the architect Fontana, in cutting an aqueduct, came on some ancient buildings. But only in 1748, under the Bourbon Charles III., they recognized were as part of Pompeii. Unsystematic, unscientific excavations proceeded fitfully till 1860, when the Italian kingdom took in hand the unearthing of the city. This was carried out with admirable ingenuity, care, and successall treasure trove being vigilantly preserved till now Pompeii possesses a distinction unknown to it in the zenith of its imperial favor, and attracts the pil- POMPEII grim from every clime. Pompeii as now exposed formed an irregular ellipse, extending from E. to W., in circumference about 2,843 yards; it had eight gates.
Its most important part-not quite onehalf, including the Forum, adjacent temples, and public buildings, two theaters with colonnades, amphitheater, and many private houses-has already been exhumed, and five main streets made out. The streets, which are straight and narrow-the broader 24 feet wide, the narrower 14 feet only are admirably paved with polygonal blocks of lava. The street corners are provided with fountains, ornamented usually with the head of a god or a mask. Notices painted in red let ters, and referring to municipal elections for which some particular candidate is recommended, occur frequently on the street walls, while trade-signs are few and far between. An occasional "phallus," to avert the evil eye, projects from over a doorway, and, much more common, one or two large snakes, emblems of the Lares, are to be seen. The stuccoed walls, to judge from the Graffiti or roughly scratched drawings on them, were as tempting to the Pompeian gamin, as to our own. House construction consists mainly of concrete (rubble held together by cement or brick, and sometimes of stone blocks, especially at the corners. Two-storied, sometimes three-storied houses are numerous, though the upper floors, built of wood, have been consumed by the eruption.
Shops usually occupied the ground floors of dwelling-houses, on their street aspect, let out to merchants or dealers as at the present day, but not connected with the back part of the house. They could be separated from the street by large wooden doors, while inside they had tables covered with marble, in which earthen vessels for wine or oil were inserted. The shopkeeper had sometimes a second room at the back, when he did not live on an upper floor or in another part of the town. Only a personal visit can convey an idea of the indoor life of the Pompeians, among whom the absence of glass, the fewness of the openings in the street aspect of the house wall, and the protection of these with iron gratings are among the points noted by the most casual visitor. The feature that most strikes the Northerner being the smallness of the rooms, particularly the bedrooms-quite intelligible, however, when he realizes that the Pompeians led an open-air life, and performed their toilets at the bath, public or private. As rebuilt after 63, Pompeii shows little marble, the columns being of tufa or brick cemented by mortar. A coating of POMPEY stucco was laid over wall or column, and presented an ample field for ornamental painting. This must have given to Pompeii its bright, gay coloring. On the center of the interior walls is generally seen a painting unconnected with the others often of a nymph, or a genius, when not distinctly erotic in theme-typifying faithfully the voluptuous sensual life of this pleasure-haunt of paganism.