The morning news., 1899-05-12
UNEARTHED AT P0MPEIl.
INTERESTING RELICS RECENTLY
FROM THE RUINS.
One of the Finest of Antique MOsaics.
No Mean Treasure-FruitfuI Ex-
cavations.
From the London Times.

No Mean Treasure-FruitfuI Ex-
cavations.
From the London Times
The excavations at Pompei have been
continued during the last year, and have
resulted chiefly in the discovery of small
| houses containing objects of secondary in
terest and importance. In the neighbor-
hood of the Gate of Vesuvius a portion of
the city wall belonging to the earliest pc
riod of Pompeiian building was laid bare,
and is interesting, as it is apparently more
ancient than such other portions of the
wall as have been discovered. 1t appears
10 be of Oscan construction, being built of
large blocks of rough stone neatly joined
without mortar, and resembles somewhat
the facade of The House of the Surgeon"
which is admittedly of Oscan architecture,
though the stones are larger and not so
smoothly faced. This section of the exca-
Vations being exhausted, the ground al
ready appropriated being finished. the di-
rector determined to excavate the small
corner near the "Sea Gate" which was the
only unexcavated spot in that part of the
| city. Experts had long been anxious to see
what lay buried there, for there was a
| portion of a very large and handsome red
marble pillar which had long been above
ground, and had given rise TO sundry con-
| lectures.
On removing the soil the site was found
| to be occupied by the foundations of a tenn
pie which was in course of construction
at the time of the destruction of the city in
| - A. ID. This is particularly interesting, be-
| cause 1t was supposed that all the sacred
edihces of the city had been discovered
| long ago, no important deity being without
| a representative temple; but unfortunately
| there Is nothing in the rudiments of the
| temple before US to indicate TO whom il
was 10 be dedicated on its completion. 1t
| is evident that, though very small, it was
| intended to rival in its decora ton any tenn
pie which existed in the city, and though
1t had scarcely risen above the ground
| level, the marble aTchitraves, carved with
| the usual egg-and-tooth molding, are lying
around it ready to be put up, and the
| Cor!nthian capitals, some finished and 9TH
ers only partly executed are displayed in
the inclosure, as weH as the base of a pill
| lar upon which the mason was at work at
the time of the catastrophe which over
whelmed the city. The tool marks on this
base are clearly percepube, and look as
| If the workman had only just left his task
AS to the handsome red marble pillar to
| which we have alluded it is reasonable to
| conjecture that it was the base Cor the
statue of the god as 1t is about four feet
| long, and The only piece of colored marble
| found on the site. The partly executed
ccptals are extremely interesting. as
showing the methods of the Roman artist
| who was engaged upon Them while those
thar are completed are very good speci-
mems indeed, considering that they belong
TO an age of decline.
! If Pompeii itself has not been productive
! of sensation this year a small excava ton
| on private ground only few yards out
| side the walls has more than made up for
| this by revealing one of the finest and
| most interesting mosaics of antiquity
| Surrounded by a most exquisite garland
of flowers. with theatrical mask thrown
in here and there TO break the pattern. is
picture representing a group of seven
philosophers. one of whom is seated with
a papyrus in his hand, and the others are
grouped around listening to him. In the
background are some ruined pillars, and
in the right-hand upper corner is a repre-
sentation of the Areopagus of Athens
with It's rocks and buildings.
The mosaic is polychrome and in diminu-
tive cubes, of very fine workmanship,
equal in merit to those by Dioscorides Of
Samos in the Naples Museum which are
believed to be the only signed mosaics of
| antiquity. 1t is about three feet square,
and was no doubt Intended for the center
! of the pavement of a room It had prob
ably never been used, and was a new
mosaic, because it was not found on the
| ground, but leaning against a wall show
! ing either that il had been moved from
some other place or that it was about to
be put down for the first time It's perfect
! condition leads one to prefer the latter
| conjecture The government has purchased
! it from Siguor D'Acquino, and ii will
shortly be exhibited TO the public in the
| mosaic department of the Naples museum.
1t is generally admitted that the earlies
mosaics in Italy date from about 50 B. c.,
| and there can be no doubt that in many
cases they were reproductions, or at all
| events traditions of famous pictures. In
the case before us the sketch of the Are
opagus, concerning the identity of which
there can be no doubt in the mind of any
| one who knows the spot even in it's pres
ent state, displays the Greek origin OF the
work, and the scene depicted must either
be some celebrated discussion on MARS
| IIill' or, what is more unlikely, a casual
| group of one the Attic schools of thought
! such as might be seen there any day. At
any rate, a sketch of the Areopagus which
| is recognizable at the end of the nineteenth
| century is no mean treasure, and we are
| encouraged to hope that one or other of
the archaeological schools of Athens may
| be able to throw some light on the sub
| jest of this interesting mosaic.
1t is not thought likely that the D'Ac-
| quino excavation will produce other OBJ
| jects of great Importance, as the house so
| far has shown no signs of being anything
more than a suburban villa. After the
| rich find of silver which was made some
| three years ago in a house about mile
| from Pompeu and presented by Baron
! Rothschild to the Louvre, II is unsafe 10
speak with too much confidence, but the
| above is the opinion of the expert who is
| in charge of the excavation.