The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1886-09-11
THE BURIED CITIES.

The following interesting and instructive
sketch of the history of some of the buried
cities, is taken from Chambers Journal.
1t is worth studying and bordering over,
as it throws much light on facts regarding
the destruction of those cities not hereto
fore known
A halo of romance surrounds the very
names of Pompeii and Herculaneum, as
we read the strange story of their melan-
choly fate but when we visit those silent
streets and stand in those empty theatres,
the romance is translated into such vivid
reality, that We seem to live in the life Of
that distant past, every detail of which is
preserved, and brought visibly and tangi-
bly, before u.s. Nature smiles, unfaded
and unchanged, in all her Southern lowell
ness; the purple waters of the Bay of
Naples still kiss the vine-wreathed shore (;
still the burning mountain shoots its fire
and smoke into the blue vault of heaven,
as an awful reminder of the unseen forces
smouldering beneath it, ever ready to over
whelm the surrounding plain, and to repeat
the story written on Pompeii and Hercu-
laneum with finger Of fire.
The principal excavations have been made
at Pompeii, which, being buried in ashes,
was more easily disinterred than Hercu-
laneum, upon which the full force of the
crimson lava=stream flowed in its burning
course, hardening rapidly to the consistency
of marble, which had to be quaFried before
the city could be reached, Owing to the
difficulty of the work, only small part of
the necessary excavation is completed, and
great care has to be exercised, from the
fact of another town having sprung up on
the surface of the lava, and the consequent
danger of undermining it. We walk
through narrow passages tunnelled in the
lava to the large theatre. The orchestra
with its marble seats is perfect; the stage,
too, is excavated; but the remaining parts
are not yet quarried out of the enormous
mass of lava, many yards in depth, under
which they were buried. We pass through
more lava-tunnels to an excavated square,
containing houses and shops. The frescos
of the so-called ''House of Argus" still re-
tain their bright coloring; many of the
marble pillars are calcined to lime. On the
marble counter of wineshop the green i'm
pressions of bronze coins found there still
remain. At the side are a number of the
earthep amphor@ used to contain the wine;
but, as at Pompeii, most of the articles dis
covered In the houses have been necessarily
removed to the Museum of Naples. The
whole district surrounding Herculaneum is
mass of cooled lava, black desolate re-
gion, whence lava is qqarEied for paving
and building purposes. The air is sui
phurous, and tainted with Vesuvian smoke.
Very different is the beautiful scene
from Pompeii, with the blue sea on one
side and luxuriaut vegetation on the other;
in the distance, the shadowy violet cliffs of
Capri and Ischia rising from the waves.
We descend a sloping path to the silent
city, which stands between two enormous
embankments of ashes, like very deep
railway cutting, and enter by the great
gateway, with arches and pillars in perfect
preservation Through a small arch at the
side, intended for foot-passengers, we pass
into the deserted streets; from the high
narrow footway, we see the track of wheels
on the paved street below; and the great
stepping-stones are still there, as in days Of
old, when the Pompeian ladies and their
attendant slaves stepped lightly from one
to another, on their way to the baths, the
theatres, or other diversions of that gay
life, whose every detail lies crystallized for
the benefit of succeeding ages. Every
where stand the remains of sculptured
fountains-at the street corners, in every
house, in every square. The whole city
must have been musical with the ripple OF
falling waters, in those long-past summer
noontides and moonlit nights when Pompeii
was in its zenith of pomp and pride,
A number Of eonFerging streets lead into
the forum-the centre of the city's life.
Here are the perfect remains of beautiful
temples, with their marble columns and
soul tured affairs, on which inscriptions to
Juno, Venus, etc., may still be read. On
some are delicate carvings representing sac.
rifce, in high relief, every detail of leaf,
flower, and figure clear and sharp as when
first chiselled, On the inner walls are
nymphs and goddesses, classical tables and
legends in fresco. We 60 through the
street of the soap-makers and visit the large
soapworks, where the huge iron caldrons
are still left, their intrinsic value not being
sufficient to warrant removal. Another
street is full of wineshops, with the large
red jars still inserted in the marble coun.
tiers. Then we pass the city bake-houses,
whose ovens were found full of eharred
bread, now in the Naples Museum, the ba-
ker's name stamped upon each loaf. Close
by are the splendid public baths, with every
appliance for hot, cold and yapor baths, the
pipes aud cisterns still remaining. We
walk into the frigidarium, sepidarium, and
other chambers, the floors of black and
white marble, with raised marbleseats round
each room, walls and ceilings covered with
appropriate sculpture and painting; Diana
bathing in a forest stream; a group Of water
nymphs disporting themselves by moonlight
in calm lake,; the Sirens combing Their
golden hair on the neighboring rocks, which
still bear their name. How wonderfully
the luxurious .Pompeian life is brought to
mind, as we stand here lost in the dreams
which the baths inspire, of the youth, fash,
ion and beauty of two thousand years ago
One quarter of the city contains only the
private houses of the rich; the bust Of the