Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-01-01
THE BEAup>oF PoMpEn.
Revelation. architectural Magnin.snes
,s'e Long Buried City.

lsrevealed IN this exhumed city of the
ancient Romans. In two recently ey-
cavated houses the paintings on the
wall arc as fresh as if Just put on. and
tho halls are rich with decorations.
Some of the marble tables are still
standingi the fountains in the atrium
and perisyle with their pretty little
| statues and moSaics. look as if they
might begin to play at any moment;
the kitchen hearths, built like ranges,
seem ready for their pots and kettles;
few tlower-pots are still set in the
| gardens; in the store-rooms are some
! oil jars and wine jars; it is as if one
might begin housekeeping tomorrow
and invite ofe's friends to dinner the
| day after.
One thing is difficult to conceive
without seeing it, and that is the gorg-
eousness Of the interiors of the private
houses. The colors are now faded; the
columns are broken; the mosaics of
the floor are generally nearly destroy
ed; the fdSptains do not play; the
flower-beds ARE destitute of flowers;
| vet, even as 1t is, one is continually
amazed by the brilliant effect of the in
terror vistaS In one house the view
from triclinum across two courts.
both surrounded by gayly decorated
Corinthian columns standing before
walls painted from top to bottom in a
variety OF c9ors, is dazzling to the eyes.
The old Poa peiians lived in rainbow
atmosphere
Another striking thing is the absolute
| cleanliness You say that the dirt has
all been taken away by the Italian gov
ernment. That is true, but it j. quite
evident thai in the old times 1t never
was there. Our modern houses were
never made to be clean, as were the
| Pompeiian residences. The walls. the
| floors. eyerAcorsier of their homes were
| finished VIZ he most admirable work
manslsp. their rooms no plaster
| ersl fell, for it was of such excellent
linaterial and so well put on that it
soon became like marble. They had no
wooden walls, no cracks where dust
could penetrate. Water for cleansing
was found in every part of the house.
and ran of through perfect drains. All
the tables and bedsteads We're of mar
BILE or bronze; even the well-curbs and
the borders of the fiower-beds were of
hewn stone. Hygiene must have came
naturally to the old Pompeiian; he evil
IDENTITY had no chance to get a typhodial
attack; the only case of diseases he
could not provide against were the
eruptive, and one of these carried him
Off at last.
The excavations are going on steadi-
ly, and are admirably managed. 1t is
delight to see one room after another
revealed to the light of day. The au-
thorities are now beginning to replace
the charred timbers of the roofs with
new ones. In this way some second
story balconies are kept in place, in
stead of being allowed to fall down as
formerly. Over some of the most rich
ly decoratet houses the roofs are re-
stored eXadtIy as they were, with tiles
made aftelthe ancient patterns.
You wofd be astonished at the size
of some of{he Pompeiian houses, and
of the roo7s and spaces they inclose.
They look tmall because they are emp
ty. but wlin You measure them you
find them Eery spacious. Houses of
thirty and fbrty rooms in the first story
are not uncommon. The great space
was the at UNI. often thirty-iive to for
~ feet loE, having an opening for
light in TIL gen re of the roof. and Just
under this marble-lined basin. raised
above thevoor, into which the rain fell,
and or h4margin of which were placed
siEiZ---z- x>sees (s.ss Of .t,i~ opened
bedrooms, and at the end reception
.',lsf,
was peristyle. or court, surrounded by
from eight to twenty columns. thus
making broad corridor running all
around. Some Of the pe-istyles were
eighty or one hundred feet square, with
a great variety of rooms opening into
them. Beyond the peristyle was the
garden, sometimes 100 feet square, or
more, with all sorts of arrangements
for plants and fountains. A good many
of the elaborate niche-shaped fountains
are still perfect. The street entrances
to some of the houses are ten to fifteen
feet in width, and had quadruple or
four-leaved doors. In fact, so spacious
are these dwellings on the ground floor
that it is generally believed that the
upper-story rooms were rented out.
The floors of the first and second
stories Were of cement, in which pat
terms of mosaic or tesselated work were
laid. Many of these floors are uninjur-
ed. The houses were admir-
ably planned to save space, and the
decorations, mural and otherwise, were
far beyond our conceptions of the art
of ornamentation. The workmanship.
plaster and stucco, was
much better than can be produced by
our modern craftsmen.
In examining Pompeii it is necessary
to remember that it was small pro-
vincial city. bearing about the same re-
lation to Rome that Auburn or Utica
does to New York. This increases our
wonder in walking through its we'll
paved streets, or its richly adorned
houses. or in studying the thousand
and thousands of art objects in terra
Gotta. bronze, silver. gold, alabaster.
marble, and glass which have been dis
covered with even its within less
than half the city d.-Mechdfs-