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 POMPEII 695 or temple of Augustus, as it has been called ; the Curia or Senaculum ; the temple of Mercu- ry ; and a spacious house, called the Chalcidi- cum, which, as appears from an inscription, was erected by the priestess Eumachia. On the south are three buildings supposed to have been courts of justice, and on the west a basili- ca, a large temple profusely decorated with painting and commonly called the temple of Venus, and the public granaries and prisons. All of these afford striking evidences of the dis- astrous effects of the earthquakes of 63 and 64. The architecture, like that of most public and private edifices in Pompeii, is mixed, the style, whether Greek or Koman, being frequently defective, and the attempts to unite differ- ent orders clumsy and tasteless. Other public buildings were the temples of Fortune, of Isis, of Neptune or Hercules, and of ^Escu- lapius, the names of the two last being con- jectural. That of Neptune is of pure Doric architecture, not unlike the temple of the same Interior of the House of the Tragic Poet (restored). affix these names in large letters over the en- trances of the houses. The dwellings are for the most part small and low, few exceeding two stories, have little external ornamentation, and are well adapted to a people accustomed to pass most of the day in the open air. The ground fronts of many of the finest are occupied by shops. The upper stories of private dwellings, being of wood with flat roofs, were speedily consumed by the heated ashes of the erup- tion ; but as these portions of the house were generally used as store rooms or apartments for servants, their loss is of little consequence. The lower or ground apartments, in which the family proper lived, have escaped serious in- jury, and about 100 human skeletons, and also several skeletons of dogs, horses, and various fowls, have been brought above ground in an ex- cellent condition. In many of the dwellings the daily life, habits, tastes, and even the thoughts of the occupants can be traced with almost positive certainty. Of the houses of the better description, the names applied to which are either those of the sup- posed possessor, or are suggested by his occupa- tion, or by prominent objects of art found in them, the most impor- tant are the house of Sallust, one of the lar- gest and most complete in its arrangement and adornment in the city; that of Pansa; that of the tragic poet, less dis- tinguished for its size than for the variety and beauty of its paintings, most of which have been removed to the museo Borbonico (now national museum) in Naples, and name in Psestum. S. E. of the forum, and at a distance of 400 yards, were the great or tragic theatre and the lesser theatre or Odeum, both of Roman origin. The former, having accom- modations for about 5,000 people, stood on a slight elevation, and was never completely buried. In the S. E. angle of the city was the amphitheatre, an ellipse 430 ft. by 335, capa- ble of seating 10,000 spectators; and imme- diately N. of the forum were the therma or public baths, in an elegantly adorned and well arranged structure. A long quadrangular building S. of and adjoining the great theatre is supposed to have been the barracks of troops or of gladiators. Numerous implements of war have been discovered there, and in and about the building were 64 skeletons, probably of men forming the guard, who remained at their posts. By means of seals and inscrip- tions found in them the names of the propri- etors or occupants of many shops and dwell- ings have been recovered, and it is intended to for the well known mosaic of the choragus in- structing the actors ; that of Meleager or the Nereids; that of Castor and Pollux, unsur- passed in magnificence and size, and equally ornamented within and without; that of the faun, or of the great mosaic, so called from the bronze figure of the dancing faun and the famous mosaic of the battle of Issus found there ; and that of M. Lucretius, rich in pic- tures, mosaics, vases, bronzes, ornaments, and coins. Among the TO statuettes and the bronze vessels ornamented with figures which have been recovered by Fiorelli, there is a youthful form with a Phrygian cap, sitting, and leaning his head on one hand, while the arm rests on the knee, which has won the uni- versal admiration of modern artists; it is either a Ganymede or a Paris. Outside of the gate of Herculaneum are the remains of two extensive suburban villas, called with little rea- son the villas of Diomedes and of Cicero, the latter of which, after the removal of its trea-