The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-09-02
POMPEII.

half ago deserves the thanks of the public for
the talent and industry he has brought to bear
npon a subject only second in Importance to
the Imperial City itself-the history and anti
ouities of Ponpeii. The book in its present
form is based on one originally written for the
Society for the Diffusion of Useful knowledge
between thirty and forty years ago. But so
GREAT has been the progress effected since in
The excavation of POmpeii, that the present
compilation may be regarded as almost new
and independent work. Besides consulting
carefully the best and most recent authorities,
the author made trequenI VisIIs 70 toulPels
during a residence at Naples IN the WINTER Oh
1eg5 and was thus entitled to correct his
,,reyions compilations by the aid OF impress
s;one oained while the process OF exhumation
vas stilI fresh or in progress DetOre MS eyes
The result is naturally to throw into the de-
sor;ntion an air of freshness and reality which
was hardly possible in the case OF sites or edl-
Gees 30 well worn as those of Rome.
To those who have not access 60 the large
and oostlv illustrations of the Niocolinis, or
40 the careful plans and monographs of the
Commentators Fiorelh the present able and
indefatipable director of the excavations, the
little volume before us will present in a mode
rate compass, and in a very readable shape,
the leading points Of recent discovery, together
with the conclusions OF the best and latest
areheolOpists upon the questions of art or
literature connected with Pompeii enables the
reader to follow the track of discovery from
tho outset century ago, and to pursue his
studies by the light of the most approved
authorities at every point. While serving as
a succnct history of the progress of excava-
tion, the book is so arranged as to form COM
plete and handy guide for the use of visitors
on the spot. The process Of excavation, car
ried on by fits and starts for more than a
century, until pursued with some system
and energy by the present administration,
has resulted in laying open to view, up to
the present time a third part or so OF the
presumed area of the city, which originally
comprised about one hundred and sixty
acres. Its circuit was about two miles in
extent of an oval shape, the apex lying in the
direction of the smphitheatre, or towards the
southeast The eXcavated part lying towards
the western side seems to have been that which
contained the principal public buildings-the
forum, the basilica, the theatres, the public
baths, and the most conspicuous temples. 1t
is scarcely to be hoped, in consequence, that
the labOrs of future generations of excavatOrs
will be rewarded by any sensation equal to
that produced in the years 1924 and 1858 by
the discovery of the spacious and elegant ther-
m@. Still there may remain work for our
great-grandsOns, with any amount of recon-
pense in treasures of art, or possibly of
literature. Considering, too, that the most
spacious and costly of private dwellings,
the house of Diomedes, lies beyond the
walls, there is scarcely limit to the area
within which patient research may look
for its harvest, particularly since the
new and energetic directorate does so much to
guide the steps of the excavator, and to pre-
serve the products of his toll As it is, we
are often left to sigh over the loss or waste of
objects which the amount of intelligence and
skill now at hand would most assuredly have
spared to us.
The style of the earliest remains found in
POmpeii does much to bear out the legendary
or half-mythical notices which assign to this
town. as well as to its neighbor and fellow
victim, Herculaneum, a Greek origin. To
what date we are to attribute the Oscan occu-
patiOns spoken of by Strabo, and whether we
are to follow him in identifying that people
with the Tyrrhenians or Pelasgians may be
open to doubt. At an early though uncer-
tain period, Cum8 was certainly founded
by colony from Chalcis, in Euboea; and Par
thenope, afterwards NeapOlis, now Naples,
was an ottshoot from thence. The name of
Pompeii may be held decisive of its Greek
origin, though we need not commit ourselves
to the etymology of Solinus in tracing it to
Pompe, in allusion to the expedition of Her.
cules. The masonry of the city is in parts
Identical with that in use in early Greek for
tifications, and characters have been met with
upon some of the stones which are described
by MazOis as either Oscan or early forms o.
the Greek alphabet. The lower portions o.
the wall are of the rough and irregular kind
called by the ancients opus incertum, while the
upper and most modern portions are com
posed of the isOdomum or more regular
courses of Greek work. Like the mos
ancient fortresses of Greece, those of Tiryn
and Mycen@, they were without towers
which seem to have been inserted at regula
intervals during the Roman period. Th
gates-of which seven are traceable be
sides what is called the Porta della marina
on the western side, now the principal en-
trance-are of Roman construction. Ii
the area OF the forum triangutdre, on tn
west side OF the larger theatre, are the re
mains of temple much dilapidated, of un
questionably Greek character The capi
tails OF the columns are of Greek Doric c
which order is also the small monoptera
building close at hand covering a putea
from whence the water required in tn
temple was drawn. This temple, which, from
its situation, size, arrangement, and styl
of art, is one of the most important build
ings in Pompeii, is dated by the Count d
Clarac as early as the eighth century B. c.
1t must in that case be regarded as on
OF the most ancient specimens of Greel
art extant, and must have been erected b.
the Greek colonists long before the subjuga
tion OF the city by the Romans. It is sup
posed to have been dedicated to Hercules
1t is thought that the basement of the tenn
pies both of Jupiter and Venus may b.
likewise of Greek construction. The create
number OF the public buildings, however