Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/714

 694 POMPEII Pompadour, by Oapefigue (Paris, 1858), and Les mattresses de Louis XV., by De Goncourt (2 vols., Paris, 1861). POMPEII, an ancient city of southern Italy, 12 m. S. E. of Naples, and at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius. Though probably several centuries older, it is not mentioned in history previous to the conquest of Campania by the Romans in the latter part of the 4th century B. 0. The origin of the name is not known. During the social or Marsic war the inhabitants joined in the insurrection, but it escaped the punish- ment inflicted on the other cities. It became a favorite summer resort, and is mentioned as such by Seneca and Tacitus. In A. D. 59, in consequence of a sanguinary affray in the am- phitheatre with the neighboring people of Nu- ceria, the inhabitants were prohibited by the emperor Nero from exhibiting any gladiatorial or theatrical shows within the city for ten years. Four years later Pompeii was partly destroyed by two earthquakes, occurring at an interval of a few months; and it was over- whelmed by the eruption of Vesuvius, Aug. 24, 79, which involved it with Herculaneum and Stabiaa in a common destruction. (See HEEOTJLANEUM.). For nearly 17 centuries after- ward the city disappears from history, although the name seems never to have been wholly lost. A village arose upon the site ; but after the destruction of this by the eruption of 472, the Campus Pompeius, as it was long called, remained until the middle of the last century an undisturbed and uninhabited plain. The eruption of 79 produced striking physical changes in the vicinity, and the sea, which for- merly laved the walls of the city, is now more than a mile from its site, while the river Sarno has been considerably diverted from its ancient course. Hence the geographer Cluverius, who investigated the subject in the early part of the 17th century, following the descriptions of ancient authors, was induced to locate Pompeii several miles from its actual position. The superincumbent deposit of ashes and cinders had an average depth of not more than 15 ft. ; yet an aqueduct had been carried over part of the city a few years previously without leading to its discovery, although a portion of the great theatre was still visible. In 1748 several statues and other objects of antiquity were ex- humed in sinking a well. Charles III. of Na- ples ordered excavations on an extensive scale, and in 1755 the amphitheatre was uncovered. His successors, including Victor Emanuel, have continued the work from time to time, until a large part of Pompeii has been brought to light. The city thus partially exhumed is of incalculable importance from the insight which it has afforded into the domestic economy, the arts, and the social life of the ancient world. The light and friable character of the volcanic deposits which overlaid it has pre- served from decay the objects of most im- portance to modern archaeologists, and the interiors of private and public buildings have been found undisturbed save by the original owners, who in many instances returned after the eruption had subsided to search for articles of value, and also probably for the bodies of relatives or friends. The latter supposition seems to be proved by the fact that compara- tively few skeletons have been discovered, whereas, according to Dion Cassius, the loss of life was considerable, notwithstanding the in- habitants were assembled in the amphitheatre at the time of the catastrophe, and could readily make their escape. Pompeii occupied within its walls, which have been traced throughout their whole extent, an irregular oval area about two miles in circumference. It has generally been supposed that the population was from 20,000 to 50,000; but according to Fiorelli, the general superintendent of the excavations, Pompeii had no more than 2,000 inhabitants in its earlier days, and no more than 12,000 at the time of its destruction. On the W. or sea side there are no traces of walls, and those re- maining, though originally of great strength, being flanked at irregular intervals by massive square towers, appear to have been allowed to fall into decay many years before the destruc- tion of the city. The workmanship of these indicates the Osco-Pelasgic origin of the city. Eight gates have been discovered, and the roads outside of them were lined on either side with tombs of considerable size and ar- chitectural pretension. The street of tombs before the gate of Herculaneum was the prin- cipal burial place of the city, and the sepul- chral monuments adorning it give evidence of the refined taste and great wealth of prominent Pompeiians. The streets, which for the most part run in regular lines, are with some excep- tions barely wide enough to admit the passage of a single vehicle, and everywhere the ruts of the chariot wheels are visible in the polygonal lava blocks of the pavement. The widest does not exceed 30 ft. in breadth, and few are over 22 ft. Five of the main streets have been par- tially or wholly traced, with which a regular system of minor streets appears to have been connected. These thoroughfares, with a single exception, terminate in or traverse the wester- ly quarter of the city, which is the only part yet completely explored, and which, from the number and character of the public buildings found there, was undoubtedly the most im- portant. The forum, in the S. "W. corner, is the most spacious and imposing structure, and in its immediate vicinity are the chief temples, theatres, and other public buildings. It was enclosed on three sides by a Doric colonnade, which embraced an area 160 yards long by 35 broad, and in its general plan as well as in its surroundings resembled the usual Roman structures of the kind. Of the buildings ad- joining it, that known as the temple of Jupiter on the N. side is supposed to have been the most magnificent in the city, and its portico of Corinthian columns is perhaps the finest yet exhumed. On the E. side stood the pantheon