The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1883-05-10
\ VISIT To P0MpEn.
Going up Stairs to a Buried eity---Its
Appearance and Treasures.
Special correspondence National Tribune.


different from the enchanting one to Capri is /
the more interesting visit to Pompeii. This
strange remnant of a vanished antiquity pre-
sents disappointingly cheerful aspect. In the
first place, Pompeii is not below the level of the
country, but above it, and two
thirds of the city are buried under covering of
twenty feet of earth. This mass of soil is turf
covered, and there is nothing melancholy in its
appearance Moreover, the envelope of soft
soil is yielding to the gently-persistent work
of excavation, and that without any CHASTITY
suggestion Of exhuming cemetery. The Won
derful beauty of the surrounding country con-
tributes much to the cheerful aspect of POM
peii The ruin is reached by a railroad ride OF
an hour and half from Naples, during which
Capri and the neighboring mountains present
magnificent views to the south, while Vesuvius
is more often than not exquisitely beautiful by
day. the ominous smoke cloud Disgusting itselfas
cloud The fertile valley above which Pompeii
rises on slightly rounded eminence feasts the
eye upon fields of richest green, adding thus the
cheerful element OF agricultural prosperity to
the unrivalled surroundings of the ruined city.
1t is said the sea once came close to the gates
of Pompeii and the little river Sarnus bore
Pompeiian boats inland, and so brought COM
meFeial wealth to the now vanished inhabit-
ants. But later volcanic action has changed all
that and the slight hill rises high and dry out
of an extensive plain that separates it by
couple Of kilometers from the Mediterranean,
and by more than that distance from the base OF
Nesuvius. What remains is ruined city OF from
twenty to thirty thousand inhabitants, with
fragment of city WALL (of which a part had al
ready been demolished as useless before the
city was destroyed,) forum, a number OF
temples two superb stone theaters, amphithea-
ter, caserne or elaborate dwelling place for
the soldiery, two public baths a long street OF
shops and another of tombs, and an assemblage
n I \ ii
Guided, of course, in that third of the ruin
which is already excayated.
THE BURIED CITY UP STAIRS.
The entrance to Pompeii is disconcerting. 1t
is ineongruous to go up stairs to buried city
The need for so doing comes from the modern
enterprise which has placed an inn in thehillside
in such way that he who enters by the first
floor and mounts three flights of stairs emerges
upon terra frlna at the top; and the hot sun
makes this a convenience, though the process
involves break in the continuity of impress
sions Within the gates, however nothing is
homogeneous or disturbing Near the entrance
is a little museum, whose contents, absorbing to
archaologists are pathetically appealing to the
unseientific There are loaves of bread that were
found, with little pig roasting near by in ovens
since cold through eighteen hundred years. and
nothing seen later brings home to the mind
the awful suddenness of the calamity with such
force as the sight of these common daily prepa-
rations for common daily life. In the museum
there are casts of bodies of men and women and
little children found in the excavations, and
one poor dog is in an attitude of such agony as
gives horrible suggestion of the fortunes that
must have been endured. 1t is in the museum
alone, however, that the CHASTITY side of POM
peii is conspicuous. The sunshine that pours
down upon its deserted streets and the delicate
flowers that grow in its obsolete gardens pro-
duce an effect as if the inhabitants had gone
away upon some cheerful errand and might re-
turn at any moment to rebuild their shattered
houses The roofs are all gone, and a modern
roof erected here and there to keep some fresco
from the rain, only makes the general baroness
more conspicuous, but the interiors thus re-
vealed are nightly colored and add to the gay
aspect of the city.
The cheerful effect is heightened by the COM
pactness and preternatural cleanness of the
ruins. Everything is in spotless order and
the fine lava pavement of the narrow streets,
with their ruts two thousand years old, seem
rather to have been swept and garnished by
friendly hands in preparation for the return of
the former denizens than to be monuments of a
departed commerce, though their antiquity
proves itself in cumbrous stepping stones at
every corner. The streets were probably not
very cheerful in their own day, for there were
few windows opening upon them, and such as
there were bore iron gratings; the houses are
thought to have been two or three stories high,
and so must have shut out the sunshine, which
is now so warm and so Astounding; and the
narrow sidewalks must have made walking
difficult. Here and there frescoes remain on
house walls to show that the Pompeiians were
not content with internal decorations alone;
and there are few words, written roughly
over certain of these frescoes, much after the
fashion of modern political notices, recon-
I I,t,
for the next election. The modern advertise
ment is evidently one new thing under the
sun for the only approach to it is little
| marble relief inserted over a doorway, and be-
lieyed to indicate that a sculptor once had his
studio within. The absence of advertisements
is the more remarkable as there are great num-
bers of small shops, one long street being nearly
| lined with them, and several other streets hay-
ing fair share. There seem to have been
numerous straight, or nearly straight, streets
connecting gates il the city wall, and crossing
the city in several directions; but the plan
| was not rigid, and the public buildings are
| scattered about i'll much the same way in which
| the ancient Roman ruins dot the surface o.
modern Rome.
| THE GRANDEUR OF THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
| The grand scale of ancient public building
is an ever fresh surprise. The superb forum o
! Pompeii, for instance with its surrounding
arcade, is ruin fall of dignity, from its com
handing position and ample included spaces
/ The area, or open space in the center, whence
| there is marvellous view of the surroundin!
country, is five hundred feet long by one hun.
| dred feet broad. This contains the bases fo
more than twenty statues and there are traces
OF pedestals for other (equestrian) groups which
had not yet been finished when the city wa
destroyed. Around the forum was an arcade
which varied from twenty-five to forty-fiv
feet in width, the whole forming one great
common possession of space and amplitude il
violent contrast with the compactness of TIN
| town, The same amplitude characterizes thu
temples OF the gods and the two theaters, ant
| marks distinctly one feature of the difference
of the old civilization, where individuality wa
subordinate and the commonwealth supreme
and the new civilization, in which the individ
ual and the family are the recognized ends, ant
the commonwealth merely means of protec
ton and development Great as is the human
itarian gain in the changed ideal that has de
yeloped in the two thousand years since Pom
peii was thriving Roman city, there must
nevertheless, be something lost in the nationa
and municipal life of our modern communities
for there is nothing in modern public archi
lecture of the massive dignity of these ruins.
Nor do the ancient public buildings diffe
more from the modern than the ancient dwell
ings from our own. There was the same sub
ordination of the individual in the home ar
engagements. The Pompeiian family evidentl,
spent most of its time IN tile court, which alon
was we'll lighted and roemy; the tiny room