Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/467

Rh POMPEII 447 dimensions commonly called the temple of Mercury, but supposed also, on very slight grounds, to have been dedicated to Augustus ; and beyond this again, bounded on the south by a street known as the Street of the Silver smiths, is a large and spacious edifice, which, as we learn from an extant inscription, was erected by a priestess named Eumachia. Notwithstanding this, its purpose and character are open to considerable doubt ; but it resembles .a basilica in its form and disposition, and was probably designed for similar purposes. The name of Chalcidicum, by which it is commonly known, is an erroneous inference from the inscription just referred to. The south end of the forum is occupied by three small buildings of very similar form and arrangement, which are supposed to have .served as courts of law, though their destination is a matter of much uncertainty ; while the greater part of the west side is occupied by two large buildings, a basilica, which is the largest edifice in Pompeii, and a temple, which presents its side to the forum, and hence fills up a large portion of the surrounding space. The former, as we learn from an inscription on its walls, was anterior in date to the consulship of M. Lepidus and Q. Catulus (78 B.C.), and therefore belongs to the Oecan period of the city, before the introduction of the Roman colony. The temple was an extensive edifice, having a comparatively .small cel(&amp;lt;(, raised upon a podium, and standing in the midst of a wide space surrounded by a portico of columns, outside which again is a wall, bounding the sacred enclosure. It is commonly called the temple of Venus, but without any evidence ; the most recent authorities regard it, on somewhat better grounds, as dedicated to Apollo. Between this temple and the basilica a street of unusual width leads off direct to the gate which opens .towards the sea, and is still preserved, though the walls on this side of the city have ceased to exist. Besides the temples which surrounded the forum, the remains of four others have been discovered, three of which are situated in the immediate neighbourhood of the theatres. Of these by far the most interesting, though the least perfect, is one which is commonly known as the temple of Hercules (an appellation wholly without founda tion), and which is not only by far the most ancient edifice in Pompeii, but presents us with all the characters of a true Greek temple, resembling in its proportions that of Neptune at Psestum, and probably of as remote anti quity. Unfortunately only the basement and a few -capitals and other architectural fragments remain, and, though these suffice to enable us to restore its plan and design, of course its effect as a monument is wholly lost. The period of its destruction is unknown, for it appears -certain that it cannot be ascribed wholly to the earthquake of G3. On the other hand the reverence attached to it in the later periods of the city is evidenced by its being left standing in the midst of a triangular space adjoining the great theatre, which is surrounded by a portico, so as to constitute a kind of forum, though scarcely deserving that appellation. In the immediate neighbourhood of the preceding, and close to the great theatre, stood a small temple, which, as we learn with certainty from the inscrip tion still remaining, was dedicated to Isis, and was restored, or rather rebuilt, by a certain Popidius Celsinus, after the original edifice had been reduced to ruin by the .great earthquake of 63. Though of small size, and by no means remarkable in point of architecture, it is interesting as the only remaining temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess, whose worship became so popular under the Roman empire. There is nothing peculiar in the arrange ments of the building itself, but a small edifice within the sacred enclosure, to which nothing similar was found in any other instance, was doubtless in some way connected with the peculiar rites of the mysterious deity. Close to this temple was another, of very small size, and of little interest, commonly known as the temple of /Esculapius, but by others supposed to have been dedicated to Jupiter and Juno. No real foundation exists for either attribu tion. More considerable and important was a temple which stood at no great distance from the forum, at the point where the street leading thither from the gate of Herculaneum was crossed by the wide line of thoroughfare leading to the gate of Nola. We learn from an inscription that this was dedicated to the Fortune of Augustus (Fortuna Augusta), and was erected, wholly at his own cost, by a citizen of the name of M. Tullius, unfortunately no connexion of the orator. This temple appears to have suffered very severely from the earthquake, and at present affords little evidence of its original architectural orna ment ; but we learn from existing remains that its walls were covered with slabs of marble, and that the columns of the portico were of the same valuable material. All the temples above described, except that ascribed to Hercules, agree in being raised on an elevated podium or basement, an arrangement usual with all similar build ings of Roman date. Neither their materials nor the style of their architecture exceed what might reasonably be expected in a second-rate provincial town ; and the same may be said in general of the other public buildings. Among these the most conspicuous are the theatres, of which there were two, placed, as was usual in Greek towns, in close juxtaposition with one another. The largest of these, which was partly excavated in the side of the hill, was a building of considerable magnificence, being in great part cased with marble, and furnished with seats of the same material, which have, however, been almost wholly removed. Its internal construction and arrange ments resemble those of the Roman theatres in general, though with some peculiarities that show Greek influence, and we learn from an inscription that it was erected in Roman times by two members of the same family, M. Holconius Rufus and M. Holconius Celer, both of whom held important municipal offices at Pompeii during the reign of Augustus. It appears, however, from a careful examination of the remains that their work was only a reconstruction of a more ancient edifice, the foundations of which, and some other portions, may be distinctly traced. The smaller theatre, which was erected, as we learn from an inscription, by two magistrates specially appointed for the purpose by the decurions of the city, was of older date than the large one, and appears to have been constructed about the same time as the amphi theatre, soon after the establishment of the Roman colony under Sulla. From the same source we learn that it was permanently covered a rare thing with Roman theatres ; but in the case of the larger theatre also the arrangements for the occasional extension of an awning (velarium) over the whole are distinctly found. The smaller theatre is computed to have been capable of containing fifteen hundred spectators, while the larger could accommodate five thousand persons. Adjoining the theatres is a large rectangular enclosure, surrounded by a portico, the purpose of which has been the subject of considerable controversy, but it is now generally admitted to have been the quarters or barracks of the gladiators, who were permanently maintained in the city with a view to the shows in the amphitheatre. It is singular that it should have been at so considerable a distance from that building, which is situated at the south-eastern angle of the town, above 500 yards from the theatres. The amphitheatre was erected by the same two magistrates who built the smaller theatre, at a period when no permanent edifice of a similar kind had yet been