In the first picture (Fig. 225), the clothes are being washed. They are in four round treading vats, which stand in niches formed by a low wall. One of the workmen is still treading his allotment, steadying himself by resting his arms on the walls of the niche at both sides; the other three have finished treading and are standing on the bottom of their tubs, rinsing the garments before wringing them out.
The next scene (Fig. 226) is threefold. In the foreground at the left sits a richly dressed lady, to whom a girl brings a garment that has been cleaned; that the woman is not one of those employed in the fullery is evident from her elaborate headdress, necklace, and bracelets. In the background a workman dressed in a tunic is carding a large piece of cloth. Near by another workman carries on his shoulders a bleaching frame, over which garments were spread to receive the fumes of the sulphur; he holds in his left hand the pot in which the brimstone was burned. An owl, symbol of Minerva, who was worshipped by fullers as their patron divinity, sits upon the frame; and the man underneath has on his head a wreath of leaves from the olive tree, which was sacred to the same goddess.
In the third picture a young man hands a garment to a girl; at the right a woman is cleaning a carding tool. The fourth (Fig. 227) gives an excellent representation of a fuller's press, worked by two upright screws; it is so much like our modern presses as to need no explanation. The festoons with which it is adorned are of olive leaves.
With these pictures before us, it will be easy to understand the plan of the fullery on the west side of Stabian Street, opposite the house of Caecilius Jucundus (Fig. 228). It was excavated in 1875. The building was not originally designed for a fuller's establishment, but for a private house, and part of the rooms were retained for domestic use, as the well preserved kitchen (d), and some of the other rooms opening off from the atrium (b). The furniture of the atrium—a table in front of the impluvium, with a pedestal for a fountain figure, and a marble basin to receive the jet—is like that of the house the interior of which is shown in Plate VII.
The fuller's appliances are found in the shop next to the entrance (21), and in the peristyle (q). In the former are the foundations of three treading vats, and on the opposite side an oblong depression in which the press was placed. The peristyle contains three large basins of masonry for soaking and rinsing the clothes. A jet of water fell into the one next the rear wall (3), from which it ran into the other two through holes in the sides. Along the wall is a raised walk (4) on a level with the top of the basins, into which the workmen descended by means of steps. At the ends of this walk are places for seven treading vats, five in one group, two in the other. The wall above is decorated with a long sketchy painting, in which the fullers are seen engaged in the celebration of a festival,—doubtless the Quinquatrus, the feast of Minerva; the celebration is followed by a scene before a magistrate, resulting from a fight engaged in by the celebrants. A mass of fuller's earth was found in the passage at m.
Fig. 228.—Plan of a fullery.
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From the receipts found in the house of Caecilius Jucundus, it appears that this thrifty Pompeian, in the years 56-60 A.D., rented a fullery belonging to the city. In view of the nearness of this establishment to his house, it seems likely that he was in charge of the business here. At the time of the eruption, however, the enterprise was in the hands of Marcus Vesonius Primus, who lived in the house next door (No. 20), where a portrait herm, dedicated to him by his cashier (arcarius), stands in the atrium; the house is often called the house of Orpheus, from the large painting on the rear wall of the garden.
To judge from the election notices painted on the front of the fullery and on the houses at either side, Primus must have taken an active interest in local politics. He was an ardent partisan, as witness this inscription: Cn. Helvium aed. d. r. p. (for aedilem, dignum re publica) Vesonius Primus rogat,—'Vesonius Primus urges the election of Gnaeus Helvius as aedile, a man worthy of public office.' The endorsement of Gavius Rufus is even stronger: C. Gavium Rufum II vir. o. v. f. utilem r. p. (duumvirum, oro vos, facite, utilem rei publicae) Vesonius Primus rogat,—'Vesonius Primus requests the election of Gaius Gavius Rufus as duumvir, a man serviceable to public interests; do elect him, I beg of you.'
In one of the shorter recommendations, Primus names his occupation: L. Ceium Secundum II v. i. d. Primus fullo ro[gat],—'Primus the fuller asks the election of Lucius Ceius Secundus as duumvir with judiciary authority.' On one occasion he united with his employees in favoring a candidate for the aedileship: Cn. Helvium Sabinum aed. Primus cum suis fac[it],—'Primus and his household are working for the election of Gnaeus Helvius Sabinus as aedile.'
The fullery on Mercury Street, like that just described, had been made over from a private house, built in the pre-Roman period. Among other changes, the columns of the large peristyle were replaced by massive pillars of masonry supporting a gallery above for the drying of clothes. At the rear are four square basins, the two larger of which are more than seven feet across; the water passed from one to the other as in the basins of Primus's fullery. In the corner near the last basin are six rectangular niches for treading vats, separated by a low wall, the purpose of which is clear from Fig. 225. There is a vaulted room at the right of the peristyle, with a cistern curb, a large basin of masonry, and a stone table. Here a substance was found which the excavators supposed to be soap, but which was doubtless fuller's earth, like that found in the establishment on Stabian Street.
There were naturally fewer tanners than fullers; and so far only one tannery has been discovered. That is a large establishment, however, filling almost an entire block near the Stabian Gate (Ins. I. v), excavated in 1873. Like the two larger fulleries, it occupied a building designed for a house. The appliances of the craft are found in only a small part of the structure; they relate to two processes,—the preparation of the fluids used for tanning, and the manipulation of the hides.
The mixture for the tan vats was prepared in a tank under a colonnade opening on the garden. It could be drawn off through two holes in the side into a smaller basin below, or conducted by means of a gutter running along the wall to three large earthen vessels.
Fig. 229.—Plan of the vat room of the tannery.
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The vats, fifteen in number, are in a room formerly used as an atrium (Fig. 229). They are about 5 feet in diameter, and from 4 to about 5½ feet deep; they were built of masonry, and plastered; two holes were made in the side of each to serve as a convenience in climbing in and out. Between adjacent pairs of pits was an oblong basin about twenty inches deep, lined with wood. On either side of this was a large earthen jar, sunk in the earth; a small, round hole between the basin and each jar seems to mark the place of a pipe tile, connected with the former at the bottom. The large pits were for ordinary tanning; the oblong basins were probably used in making fine leather (aluta), a process in which alum was the principal agent, the chemicals being placed in the jars on either side, and supplied to the basins through the pipe tiles.
In the same building four tools were found, similar to those used by tanners at the present time. One was a knife, of bronze, with a charred wooden handle on the back of the blade; two were scraping irons, with a handle on each end; and there was another iron tool with a crescent-shaped blade.
The garden on which the colonnade opened contains an open-air triclinium. The table was ornamented with a mosaic top, now in the Naples Museum, with a characteristic design (Fig. 230). The principal motive is a skull; below is a butterfly on the rim of a wheel, symbols of the fluttering of the disembodied soul and of the flight of time. On the right and on the left are the spoils that short-lived man leaves behind him,—here a wanderer's staff, a wallet, and a beggar's tattered robe; there, a sceptre, with a mantle of royal purple. Over all is a level, with the plumb line hanging straight, symbolic of Fate, that sooner or later equalizes the lots of all mankind. The thought of the tanner, or of the earlier proprietor of the house, is easy to divine: Mors aurem vellens, Vivite, ait, venio,
'Death plucks my ear, and says,
"Live!" for I come.'
Wineshops, cauponae, were numerous in Pompeii, and the remains are easily identified. Like the Italian osterie, they were at the same time eating houses, but the arrangements for drinking were the more conspicuous, and give character to the ruins. The Roman inn, hospitium, or simply caupona, was a wineshop with accommodations for the night, provision being also made in most cases for the care of animals. Keepers of inns, caupones, are frequently mentioned in Pompeian inscriptions, sometimes in election notices, more often in graffiti.
Several inns have been identified from signs and from scribblings on the walls within. At the entrance of one (west side of Ins. IX. vii) is painted Hospitium Hygini Firmi, 'Inn of Hyginius Firmus.' The front of the 'Elephant Inn' (west side of Ins. VII. i) was ornamented with the painting of an elephant in the coils of a serpent, defended by a pygmy. The name of the proprietor is perhaps given at the side: Sittius restituit elephantu[m], 'Sittius restored the elephant,' referring no doubt to the repainting of the sign. Evidently the owner, whether Sittius or some one else, was anxious to rent the premises; below the elephant is the painted notice: Hospitium hic locatur—triclinium cum tribus lectis,—'Inn to let. Triclinium with three couches.' The rest of the inscription is illegible.
The plan of another inn in the same region (west side of VII. xii) well illustrates the arrangements of these hostelries (Fig. 231). The main room (a), which probably served as a dining room, is entered directly from the street. At one side is the kitchen (h); six sleeping rooms (b-g) open upon the other sides. But the landlord did not provide merely for the entertainment of guests from out of town; he endeavored to attract local patronage also, by means of a wineshop (n), which opened upon the street and had a separate dining room (o). A short passage (i) led from the main room to the stalls (k), in front of which was a watering trough. The vehicles were probably crowded into the recess at m, or the front of a. The two side rooms (l and p) were closets.
Fig. 231.—Plan of an
inn.
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The walls of several of the rooms contain records of the sojourn of guests. C. Valerius Venustus, 'a pretorian of the first cohort, enrolled in the century of Rufus,' scratched his name on the wall of c, to which also an affectionate husband confided his loneliness: 'Here slept Vibius Restitutus all by himself, his heart filled with longings for his Urbana.' Four players, one of them a Martial, passed a night together in the same apartment. In the next room (d) a patriotic citizen of Puteoli left a greeting for his native town: 'Well be it ever with Puteoli, colony of Nero, of the Claudian line; C. Julius Speratus wrote this.' This city, as we learn from Tacitus, received permission from Nero to call itself Colonia Claudia Neronensis. Lucifer and Primigenius, two friends, spent a night in room f, Lucceius Albanus of Abellinum (Avellino) in g.
The arrangement of rooms here is so unlike that of an ordinary house that the building must have been designed at the beginning for a tavern. Sometimes a dwelling was turned into an inn, as in the case of the house of Sallust, which, as we have seen, in the last years of the city must in part at least have been used as a hostelry.
Inns near the gates had a paved entrance for wagons, interrupting the sidewalk. A good example is the inn of Hermes, in the first block on the right as one came into the city by the Stabian Gate (Fig. 232). On either side of the broad entrance (a), are winerooms (b, d). Behind the stairway at the right, which leads from the street to the second story, is a hearth with a water heater. On the wall at the left was formerly a painting with the two Lares and the Genius offering sacrifice; below was the figure of a man pouring wine from an amphora into an earthen hogshead (dolium), and beside it was written Hermes, apparently the name of the proprietor. The wagons stood in the large room at the rear (f), with which the narrow stable (k) is connected; in one corner is a watering trough of masonry. On the ground floor were only three sleeping rooms (e, g, and h), but there were upper rooms at the rear, reached by a flight of stairs in f; these were probably not connected with the upper rooms of the front part, which (over a, b, c, d, e), having a street entrance, may have been rented separately.
Fig. 232.—Plan of the
inn of Hermes.
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The Pompeian inns were doubtless fair representatives of their class in the different Roman cities. Those of Rome must have been numerous, but are rarely mentioned, and innkeepers are generally referred to in terms of disrespect. The ordinary charges seem to have been low, and the accommodations were of a corresponding character. Owing to the universal custom of furnishing private entertainment to all with whom there existed any ground of hospitality, places of public entertainment tended to become the resorts of the vicious.
Fig. 233.—Plan of a
wineshop.
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The wineshop of which the plan is here given (Fig. 233) is on the east side of Mercury Street, at the northwest corner of Ins. VI. x. It was designed not only for the accommodation of guests who would go inside to partake of refreshments, but also for the sale of drinks over the counter to those who might stop a moment in passing. This is evident from the arrangement of the main room (a), which has a long counter in front, with a series of small marble shelves arranged like stairs on one end of it, for the display of cups and glasses; on the other is a place for heating a vessel over a fire. Large jars are set in the counter, in which liquids and eatables could be kept. In the corner of the room, at the right as one enters, a hearth is placed. In view of the provision for heating water, we are safe in calling this a thermopolium, a wineshop which made a specialty of furnishing hot drinks. The passage at the rear of the hearth (c) is connected with a small room (d) and also with the adjoining house, which may have been the residence of the proprietor, or may have been used for lodgings.
The long room with an entrance from the side street (b, now walled up) was intended for the use of those who preferred to eat and drink at their leisure. The walls are decorated with a series of paintings presenting realistic scenes from the life of such places. We see the guests eating, drinking, and playing with dice. Some are standing, others sitting on stools; it is the kind of public house that Martial calls a 'stool-ridden cookshop,' in which couches were not provided, but only seats without backs (Mart. Ep. V. lxx. 3).
In one of the scenes (Fig. 234) four men are drinking, about a round table, while a boy waits on them; two of the figures have pointed hoods like those seen to-day in Sicily and some parts of Italy. Strings of sausage, hams, and other eatables hang from a pole suspended under the ceiling.
Some of the figures in the pictures are accompanied by inscriptions. Thus by the side of a guest for whom a waiter is pouring out a glass of wine is written: Da fridam pusillum, 'Add cold water—just a little.' In a similar connection we read, Adde calicem Setinum, 'Another cup of Setian!' The Setian wine came from a town in Latium at the foot of the hills bordering the Pontine Marshes, now Sezze; we infer that our wineshop sold not merely the products of neighboring vineyards, but choice brands from other regions as well. Wines from the locality were probably brought to town in amphorae; the delivery of a consignment from a distance is shown in a separate scene (Fig. 235), in which amphorae are being filled from a large skin on a wagon; the team of mules is meanwhile resting, unharnessed, the yoke hanging on the end of the pole.
The pictures present the life of a tavern from the point of view of the landlord; but occasionally we have a suggestion of the other side, as in the following couplet, the faulty spelling of which we can forgive on account of its pithiness: Talia te fallant utinam me[n]dacia, copo, Tu ve[n]des acuam et bibes ipse merum,—
'Landlord, may your lies malign
Bring destruction on your head!
You yourself drink unmixed wine,
Water sell your guests instead.'
The wineshop in which this graffito is found (I. ii. 24) is larger than that on Mercury Street, and has several dining rooms. Connected with it is a garden with a triclinium, once shaded by vines, which calls to mind the invitation of the barmaid in the Copa:—
'Here a garden you will find,
Cool retreat, with cups and roses,
Lute and pipe, for mirth designed,
Bower that mask of reeds encloses.
'Come, weary traveller, lie and rest
'Neath the shade of vines o'er-spreading.
Wreath of roses freshly pressed
On your head its fragrance shedding.'
All the pictures found in Pompeian wineshops bear out the inference, based upon numerous allusions in classical writers, that such places everywhere were in the main frequented by the lower classes; among the adjectives applied to taverns by the poets are 'dirty,' 'smoky,' and 'black.' They were haunted by gamblers and criminals, and the life was notoriously immoral.
PLAN V.—THE STREET
OF TOMBS.
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KEY TO THE LEFT SIDE
KEY TO THE RIGHT SIDE
The tombs of Pompeii, like those of Rome, were placed in close array along the sides of the roads that led from the city gates. Only a few have been uncovered; how many still lie concealed under the mantle of volcanic débris that rests upon the plain, no one has yet ventured to conjecture. The tombstone of a magistrate of one of the suburbs was found at Scafati, a mile and a half east of the ancient town; and others have been brought to light on the east, south, and west sides. The most interesting and best known tombs are those of the Street of Tombs, in front of the Herculaneum Gate; but important remains have been found also near the Stabian and Nocera gates, and burial places of a humbler sort lie along the city wall near the Nola Gate.
Most of the tombs thus far excavated belong to the Early Empire, having been built between the reign of Augustus and 79 A.D. Two or three date from the end of the Republic; and a small corner of an Oscan cemetery has been uncovered on the northwest side of the city. Remains of skeletons were found only in the Oscan graves; the Roman burial places were all arranged with reference to the practice of cremation, the ashes being deposited in urns.
The tombs present so great a variety of form and construction that it is impossible to classify them in a summary way, or to dismiss them with the presentation of two or three typical examples. The character of the monument varied not merely according to the taste and means, but also according to the point of view or religious feeling of the builder. Some deemed it more fitting that the ashes of the dead should be covered over with earth; others preferred to place them in a conspicuous tomb that would please the eye and impress the imagination of the beholder. To many the matter of paramount importance seemed to be the provision for the worship of the dead, the arrangement of the tomb so that offerings could easily be made to the ashes. Others still desired to have the sepulchre convenient for the living, who at times would gather there, and tarry near the resting place of the departed. And there were not a few who attempted, in the construction of a monument, to accomplish at the same time several of these ends. The architectural designs were suggested by the form of an altar, a temple, a niche, a commemorative arch, or a semicircular bench, schola.
On account of this diversity of aim and of type, it will be most convenient to study the tombs in topographical groups, commencing with those at the northwest corner of the city.
The highway that passes under the Herculaneum Gate runs almost directly west, descending with a gentle grade. Above it on the north side is the ridge formed by the stream of lava on the end of which the city lay; here, before the eruption, were sightly villas. Below, to the south, was the sea, not so far away as now, over the shimmering surface of which the traveller, as he rode along, could catch charming glimpses of the heights above Sorrento and of Capri. A short distance from the gate on the left, a branch road, which for convenience we may call the Bay Road, led directly to the sea. Another branch, on the right, followed the direction of the city wall; further from the gate on the same side, a third, which may be designated as the Vesuvius Road, ran off from the highway in the direction of the mountain. The highway itself, so far as excavated, has been named the Street of Tombs.
The tombs that have been uncovered here are distributed in four groups. The first, on the left side, extends from the gate to the Bay Road; it comprises Nos. 1-4a on Plan V. The second, on the right (Nos. 1-9), includes the tombs between the gate and the beginning of the Vesuvius Road. The third group, on the left, lies between the ruins of the villa to which the name of Cicero has been attached and the villa of Diomedes; the tombs are numbered on the plan 16-23. The monuments of the fourth group occupy the tongue of ground at the right between the highway and the Vesuvius Road (33-43). The outer parts of the two villas by which the continuity of the series of tombs on both sides is interrupted, appear to have been used as inns; along the street in front of each there was a colonnade supported by pillars, behind which were small rooms opening toward the street.
At the further end of the villa on the right (10-29) is the potter's workshop (29-30), mentioned in a previous chapter (p. 386). Beyond this are the Oscan graves (31-32), several of which have been explored. In them were found rough stone coffins, made of slabs and fragments of limestone, containing remains of skeletons together with small painted vases, of the sort manufactured in Campania in the third and second centuries B.C. Two coins were found, in separate graves, with Oscan legends that have not yet been deciphered; apparently they were from Nola. The burial places lie close together, and evidently belong to a cemetery for people of humble station; there are no headstones to mark the graves. This is the only place at Pompeii in which painted vases have been found.
A narrow strip of land on each side of the road belonged to the city, and burial lots therein were granted by the municipal council to citizens who had rendered public service. Others, however, might obtain lots by purchase; private ownership may be assumed unless the gift of the city is indicated in the inscription. The location of several tombs—1, 3, 4, 6 on the right, 3 on the left—shows that the direction of the street near the gate was changed after sepulchral monuments had begun to be erected.
An interesting inscription referring to the municipal ownership of land was found at the further corner of the Bay Road: Ex auctoritate imp. Caesaris Vespasiani Aug. loca publica a privatis possessa T. Suedius Clemens tribunus causis cognitis et mensuris factis rei publicae Pompeianorum restituit,—'By virtue of authority conferred upon him by the Emperor Vespasian Caesar Augustus, Titus Suedius Clemens, tribune, having investigated the facts and taken measurements, restored to the city of Pompeii plots of ground belonging to it which were in the possession of private individuals.'
To judge from the location of the inscription, the land which the military tribune sent as commissioner by Vespasian gave back to the city, must have been at the sides of the Bay Road. A marble statue of a man dressed in a toga and holding a scroll in his hand, was found near by. It was probably a portrait of Suedius Clemens, and may have stood in a niche in the villa of Cicero.
There is an implied reference to the Bay Road also in another inscription which was found out of its proper place, in the court of the adjoining inn: THERMAE · M · CRASSI · FRVGI · AQVA · MARINA · ET · BALN · AQVA · DVLCI · IANVÁRIVS · L—'Bathing establishment of Marcus Crassus Frugi. Warm sea baths and freshwater baths. (Superintendent) the freedman Januarius.' We learn from Pliny the Elder that M. Licinius Crassus Frugi, who was consul in 64 A.D., and was afterwards (in 68) put to death by Nero, owned a hot spring which gushed up out of the sea. This spring, then, was at Pompeii, and was utilized for baths. The inscription is at the same time an advertisement and a sign directing people down the Bay Road to the bath house.
A general view of the Street of Tombs is given in Plate X. It is taken from the high ground beyond the fourth group, as one looks toward the Herculaneum Gate. The rugged mass of Monte Sant' Angelo looms up in the distance; at the right the trees skirting the edge of the excavations form an effective background. The beauty of the surroundings, especially on a summer morning, the associations of the street, its deserted appearance, and the unbroken, oppressive stillness give rise to mingled feelings of pleasure and sadness in the visitor.
We commence our survey with the first group of tombs at the left as one passes out from the Herculaneum Gate. Close by the gate is the tomb of Cerrinius Restitutus (1 on the plan, left side). It is simply a low vaulted niche, having seats at the sides. Against the rear wall stood a marble tombstone, with a place for a carved portrait; in front of it was a small altar under which doubtless was placed the urn containing the ashes. Both altar and tombstone (now in the Naples Museum) have the inscription: M. Cerrinius Restitutus, Augustalis, loc. d. d. d. (for locus datus decurionum decreto),—'Marcus Cerrinius Restitutus, member of the brotherhood of Augustus. Place of burial granted by vote of the city council.' The tomb here was designed as a structure to which relatives might repair on anniversary days in order to make offerings to the dead.
The remains of the other tombs in the first group are shown in the accompanying illustration (Fig. 236). We notice first two large semicircular benches. That at the left (2 on the plan) marks the resting-place of Veius. It is of tufa, and nearly twenty feet wide at the front. The ends are modelled to represent winged lion's paws, the carving of which is full of vigor and may be compared with that of the lion's paws in the Small Theatre (Fig. 70). The statue that once stood at the rear, on a high pedestal, has disappeared, but the inscription remains: A. Veio M. f. II vir. i. d. iter. quinq. trib. milit. ab populo ex d. d.,—'To the memory of Aulus Veius, son of Marcus, twice duumvir with judiciary authority, quinquennial duumvir, military tribune by the choice of the people. (Erected) by order of the city council.' The city not only gave a burial place, but built the tomb as well. The cinerary urn was probably placed in the earth in the narrow unwalled space behind the bench.
This monument was intended at the same time to do honor to the dead and render service to the living. Here, on feast days of the dead, relatives could gather and partake of a commemorative meal; but at all times the inviting seat and conspicuous statue served to maintain that friendly relation with the living, the desire for which so often finds expression in Roman epitaphs. The portrait and inscription made it seem as if Veius himself offered a friendly greeting to those that passed by, and was greeted by them in turn as they looked upon his face and read his name.
The other bench (4) was evidently built by the heirs of a priestess, Mamia, upon a lot given by the city. The inscription appears in large letters on the back of the seat: Mamiae P. f. sacerdoti publicae; locus sepultur[ae] datus decurionum decreto,—'To the memory of Mamia, daughter of Publius Mamius, priestess of the city. Place of burial granted by order of the municipal council.' In this instance, also, the cinerary urn was probably buried in the earth behind the bench. A certain delicacy in the modelling of the lion's paws seems to indicate for this monument a somewhat later date than that of the monument to Veius,—possibly the end of the reign of Augustus, or the reign of Tiberius. The date of erection is not given in the case of any Pompeian tomb.
Between the two benches we see a lava base and the core of a superstructure; they belong to the tomb of Marcus Porcius. The name is known from a boundary inscription which appears on two small blocks of lava at the corners of the lot in front: M. Porci M. f. ex dec. decret. in frontem ped. xxv, in agrum ped. xxv,—'(Lot) of Marcus Porcius son of Marcus, granted by order of the city council; twenty-five feet front, twenty-five feet deep.'
This Porcius may have been one of the builders of the Small Theatre and the Amphitheatre, or a son of that Porcius, whose name appears on the altar of the temple of Apollo. The tomb was in the form of an altar; the terminal volutes at the top, of travertine, have been preserved. The sides were of tufa blocks, which may have been carried off for building purposes after the tomb was damaged by the earthquake of 63. The interior was made hollow to save expense; there was no sepulchral chamber, the ashes being placed in the earth under the monument. This tomb is the oldest of the group.
The conspicuous monument of the Istacidii (4 a) stands behind the tombs of Mamia and Porcius, at the left of the Bay Road. It is raised upon a narrow terrace, enclosed by a balustrade of masonry, and has the appearance of a temple, with half-columns at the sides. The remains of the lower story alone are seen in Fig. 236; above this was a circular structure formed by columns supporting a roof, under which were placed statues of members of the family (Fig. 237). The lower story contains a sepulchral chamber, entered by a door at the rear; in the middle of the chamber is a massive pillar reaching to the vaulted ceiling. The decoration of the room is simple, of the third style. On one side is a large niche, for two urns, those of the head of the family and his wife; the other three sides contain ten smaller niches.
The principal inscription of the tomb has not been found, but a number of names are preserved on the commemorative stones set up in the plot of ground about it. These stones are of a peculiar type, met with elsewhere only at Capua and Sorrento; we shall call them bust stones. The outline resembles that of a human head and neck terminating below in a pillar, but the front was left smooth, and an inscription was cut or painted on the bust. Difference of sex was indicated by the treatment of the hair; an example maybe seen in Fig. 240. The bust stones of men are generally larger than those of women; those of children are still smaller, the size perhaps varying with the age.
The bust stones here may refer to those whose ashes were deposited in urns in the tomb, or to others whose urns were buried in the plot of ground in which it stands. From them we learn that the head of the family was Numerius Istacidius, and that he had a daughter, Istacidia Rufilla, who was a priestess. Representatives of two other families, the Melissaei and the Buccii, are named on similar stones found in a plot connected with that of the Istacidii at the rear. The three families were perhaps closely connected by intermarriage. The bust stone of one of the Melissaei, Gnaeus Melissaeus Aper, duumvir in 3-4 A.D., stood in the same enclosure with those of the Istacidii.
Only one of the nine tombs in the second group (2) bears a name. In the case of two (3 and 4) the superstructure has completely disappeared, leaving only the lava bases in place. Another (5) has not been excavated; the front of the burial lot has been cleared, but the monument, lying further back, is still covered.
The first tomb lies in the angle between the highway and the branch road along the wall, which was evidently laid out after the monument was erected. It has the form of an altar, and must have resembled in appearance the tomb of Porcius on the opposite side of the street. Here, however, there is a sepulchral chamber in the base, entered by a low, narrow passage, which was closed until 1887 by a block of stone. In corners of this chamber two cinerary urns, in lead cases, were found covered with earth and with the remains of a funeral pyre—bits of wood and iron nails used in building the pyre, together with pieces of a richly carved ivory casket and broken perfume vials of terra cotta. Among the fragments of bone in each urn was a coin of Augustus. Though the ashes of the dead were here placed in a burial vault, it was nevertheless considered important to cover them with earth. It was not thought necessary, however, to leave the vault accessible for the performance of sacred rites in honor of the dead; the entrance, securely closed, was only to be unsealed for the admission of new urns.
The next tomb (2) is of an entirely different type from any of those previously described. It is an unroofed enclosure, entered by a door at one end. As we learn from the inscription, it was built in honor of Terentius Felix by his widow, the city furnishing the burial lot and a contribution of two thousand sesterces (about $90) toward the expense: T. Terentio T. f. Men. Felici maióri aedil[i]; huic publice locus datus et 𐆘 ∞ ∞. Fabia Probi f. Sabina uxor,—'To the memory of Titus Terentius Felix the Elder, son of Titus, of the tribe Menenia, aedile. The place of burial was given by the city, with two thousand sesterces. His wife, Fabia Sabina, daughter of Fabius Probus (built this monument).' Pompeians who were Roman citizens were enrolled in the tribe Menenia.
The cinerary urn of Felix was of glass. It was protected by a lead case and placed in an earthen jar, which was buried in the earth under a small altar or table of masonry against the wall on the left as one enters. Here also was a tombstone, with the inscription, 'To the elder Terentius'; he probably left a son with the same name. In the urn, or near it, were found two coins, one of Augustus, the other of Claudius, deposited to pay the fare of Charon. The right side of the enclosure was set off by a low wall; here several urns belonging to other members of the household were buried. Shells of oysters and other shellfish were found in the main room, remains of a banquet in honor of the dead; the libations were poured upon the earth above the urns. The plan of this tomb closely resembles that of the enclosure in front of the Doric temple in the Forum Triangulare (p. 139).
Fig. 238.—View of the Street of Tombs.
At the left, the Bay Road and remains of the so-called villa of Cicero; at the right, Garland
tomb, foundation of the tomb of the Blue Glass Vase, and semicircular niche.
Of the remaining tombs of the second group, two are prominent, and may readily be distinguished in the accompanying illustration (Fig. 238), the so-called Garland tomb (6 on the plan), and the roofed semicircular niche at the end (9). The Garland tomb has the shape of a temple, with pilasters instead of columns, between which hang festoons of leaves and flowers. It is solid; the cinerary urn was probably placed underneath. The form of the second story cannot be determined. The material is tufa, coated with white stucco, and the monument is one of the oldest in the series, dating from the end of the Republic.
Adjoining the Garland tomb is a simple sepulchral enclosure (7) with an entrance from the street. Between this and the roofed niche we see in Fig. 238 the limestone base of a tomb, like those seen in Plate X, at the right; the altar-shaped superstructure has disappeared (8). This is called the tomb of the Blue Glass Vase. The base contains a sepulchral chamber, entered by a door at the rear. Here three urns, two of glass and one of terra cotta, were found, standing in niches. On the floor were several statuettes, a couple of small figures of animals, and a mask with a Phrygian cap,—all of terra cotta.
In beauty of material, harmony of design, and skill of workmanship, one of the glass urns, which gave the name to the tomb and is now preserved in the Naples Museum, ranks with the finest examples of its class in the world. Among specimens of ancient glass it stands second only to the famous Portland vase in the British Museum, which was found in a tomb near Rome. The urn has the form of an amphora; the support seen at the bottom (Fig. 239) is modern. It is decorated with reliefs cut in a layer of pure white on a background of dark blue. Near the bottom is a narrow band, showing goats and sheep in pasture. Resting on this are two bacchic masks, on opposite sides of the vase; vines laden with clusters rise in graceful arabesques above the masks, dividing the body of the vase into two fields, which present scenes from the vintage.
One of these scenes is reproduced in Fig. 239. The vintage is interpreted as a festival of Bacchus. Above is a festoon of fruits and flowers. At the sides are two boys on elevated seats, one playing the double flute, the other holding a Pan's pipe in his hands, ready to take his turn; the grapes are gathered and pressed to an accompaniment of Bacchic airs, the two players following each other with alternate strains. A third boy, treading the grapes in a round vat, shakes the thyrsus in honor of the Wine-god, while a companion empties in fresh bunches. The scene is full of action; no reproduction can do justice to the delicacy and finish of the original.