The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-07-25


TO pass each other, and the pavement
about two feet wide. The carriage.
ways are about fifteen inches below the
sidewalks, and stepping stones, like
those on some OF the streets of Balti-
more, enabled the Pompeians to cross
when the streets were flooded with
water, though the pavements are so
high above the STREET that these cross
inc stones were serviceable in all
weathers. Deep ruts are worn in the
heavy blocks OF. stone with which the
streets are paved by the chariot wheels
and some of the streets were left in
rather bad condition.
The dweliing-houses, especially those
of the better class, are all built nearly
on the same plan, and thcrooms are ex-
ceedingly small. They consist of two
! internal courts, surrounded by pOrticos
leading TO small apartments. The front
court was used for the reception of
strangers, and the rear one for domestic
and private use. The size and orna-
mentation vary according to the fortune
/ Of the l,roprietors. First comes YES
/ thule with the door of entry on the
street, and a second door, which opened
/ inside. The court in the center was
/ partly rooted, but an aperture for light
and ventilation left in the center, while
in the center of the court was fountain.
There was always portico around the
court, from which there was entrance
to the bedrooms, none Of which seems
10 have been more than twelve feet long,
by eight to ten wide. There were no
! a. - Is 81,
except those by the side of the front
door, the light coming from the central
opening in the roof. The largest room
in the house, which was in the rear,
with the kitchen on either side, was the
dining-room, and this was generally the
finest decorated The paintings on the
walls of some of the chambers were very
exquisite, though most of them were of
a lascivious character. There was al
ways smai1 flower garden and minia-
ture fountain. There was no outside
yard to any OF the houses, each house
covering the entire lot. They were most
~ two stories high, the rooms of the sec
ond story opening on the balcony. There
are no traces of chimnies in any of the
houses. A speciesOf oven, with tubes to
convey off the gas and smoke, has been
discovered in the ruins. The houses,
even those of the rich proprietors, were
encompassed by shops, which they let
The smallest shops,as well as the houses,
are adorned with mosaics and with
pictures. Unfortunately, such pictures
as had preserved all thier freshness
while buried, faded away when exposed
to air and light. In the walls of most
of the shops and stores there were blocks
of marble or nosaics set in, which gave
the character of the business and some
times the names of the proprietors.
Pompeii was defended by double wall.
twenty to thirty feet in height, which
enclosed platform large enough to be
run over at certain points by three
chariots abreast. Most of the gates
have three entrances-one to the right
for ingress and to the left for egresS,
while the large center gate was for We
hicles.
In some houses, as in that of Sallust,
the apartment for the women was in
separate part of the habitation, in the
manner of a harem. The entrances to
these apartments were guarded by
slaves, who inhabited small rooms con-
tiguous. The smallness of even the
largest of these houses is a matter of
surprise. They do not generally cover
a lot more than twenty to thirty feet
front by sixty to eighty feet deep, and
then more space was given to the in
terror court than to the rooms for habi-
tation.
1t is from the character and size of
the public buildings of POmpeii that the
importance of the city can be judged,
rather than from what is left of its
dwelling-houses. These were nearly as
large, and bear evidence of being
almost as grand as were those of Rome
The ruins of the Basilica, the Amphi-
theater, the Temple of Venus, the Tenn
pie of Isis, the Temple of Mercury, of
Jove, of Fortuna, OF Hercules, the Pan
theon, the Courts or Hall of Consul, the
two Forums, the Bourse, the Stabian
Baths, the Tragedy Theater and the
Comedy Theater are all vast in their
proportions. The Amphitheater was
capable of seating an audience of 20, 900,
and both the theaters were larger than
Ford's Opera House and the Academy
of Music combined. The two forums
were very large, the Civil Forum and
adiuncts occupying as much space as
two squares at Eutaw Place; while the
BOurse, or Stock Board, was twice as
large as the hall occupied by the Stock
Board of Baltimore. In fact, here are
all the evidences of great and import
ant city of unbounded wealth, and aim
ing to rival Rome. The Forum was
ornamented on three sides by broad
colonade of Grecian- Doric architecture.
The Senate Chamber and sBasilica was
22O feet long and 80 broai. In vault
under its stairway used for prisoners
awaiting trial were found two skeletons
with their ankles manacled. The Pan
theon had also been a most elegant
structure, having been used as resi-
dence for the Augustuses, as well as for
religious purposes. The ruins of the
house of Venus and Mars are distin-
guished for a well of pure water, SAID to
possess medical qualities, not at all
affected blythe, changes it has under
gone. In the Temple of Isis there is
also well about twelve feet deep, down
which can be seen rapidly rushing
stream of water. 1t is the coolest and
best water we have tasted in Italy.
The wine shops seem to have been
very numerous, with marble counters,
in which were built up large earthen-
ware jars, each capable of holding
halls barrel of wine. The counters are
generally square, with an opening in
the center where the vender stood and
dipped out thewine rs called for. There
are two nndoubted restaurants or cook
shops, where articles were cooked and
sold across the counter. There is also
a butcher-shop, with q marble block;
barber-shop, with stone block in the
center, on which the Pompeians sat to
be shaved. Signs on the walls indicate
that other shops were those of marble
workers or mosaic artists. A goat ON
the wall indicates milk-shop or dairy;
two men carrying a large jug indicated
a wine-shop; two men fighting indicat-
ed gladiatorial school; man whip
ping boy, hoisted on another's back,