The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-04-01

with the architecture, social customs lit
erature, and art of the Roman people, ard
those who read it will probably get a bet
ter idea of the daily life of the subjects
of the Caesars than they ever had before.
There is something cGriously dry and
dead about the Latin tongue. to the aver
age mind The schoolboy learns declen-
sions and conjugations by rote, digs cut
his translations of Virgil and Cicero rs if
he were working at a mathemati al for
mula. and finds it almost impossible TO
conceive of a nation who actua ly talked
the language which he is acquiring so
painfully. He could as well imag ne PEG
pie conversing in algebraic terms or re-
peating the multiplication table by way of
"A good norning. Owing to the ineXtin-
guishable human quality Of Homer, Greek
seems more or less Ineligible, but Latin
is as dry as dry bones TO ninety nine peo-
pie out OF hundred. The idea of street
urchins shouting maledictions to one an
other in Latin, or young people using 1t
for purposes of love-making, is inconceiv-
able. The modern mind can realize The
this dead language was ever living only by
a struggle as did the philosopher who
said that the Romans could conquer the
world because they were born with the
knowledge what nouns formed their ac-
cusatve in i'm
But Prof Thomas little book makes us
realize that the inhabitant OF ancient
Rome did something besides fight. and so
TO the circus. Most of us, when We think
of a Roman, picture stern soldier. clad
in armor, with a broadsword and a spear
forming one of a compact column, or
stately senator In a toga, delivering one
of those orations which are still preserved
as models of Latin style; or we see an
amphitheatre full of blood-thirsty people
~ 81 Wa-Sr~a
Christians. 1t is a fact, however. that
there was a great deal of human nature
in the average Roman, and il is that side
OF him which strikes the reader of this
little book. He seems suspiciously like a
man of our own day.
The first chapter is devoted entirely to
Pompeii the wonderful buried city where
50 much of the daily life of the people has
been preserved for curious eyes, through
centuries of change and turmoil in the
outer world. There is very little of the
guidebook about the authors descriptions,
but, after reading them, one seems TO have
seen the place in person. He begins with
the explanation:
On entering the town, our frs; impression and
a very important one it is. harm3nizins as it does
with a truth too often lost siGnt OF 10y those
Who write about PompeiI--is thar cscgNthing is
here on a sriail scale. Take the sitce.s for in
ttance-some Of them not more than ten
feet wide; so, too, with the open SpaccS-rhe lars
ct OF them, the forum cyile, is barely $50 yards
long, whereas the House OF Pansl for instance is
100 yards in length.
We are also informed that there is but
enc monument OF any size in the town,
and that is the amphitheatre. An incident
in the history of this structure is delight
fully human and natural 4 certain Ii
vinius Regulus, who had been banished
from Rome by the Senate, gave a gladia-
torial show there. as the custom of wealthy
men was. A part Of the spectators were
from the neighboring town of Nuceria. and
a quarrel which was started bs somebody
resulted in free fight. The Pompeiisns
being the more numerous, had decidedly
the best of it, and the visitors such of
them as could get home. took themselves
off, vowing vengeance. They went 10 Rome
and told the story TO the Emperor. He re-
ferred the matter to the Senate the Senate
10 the Consuls, and the uTshot of il all was
that the Pompeiians were forbidden to have
any more shows Of that character for the
next ten years. This was hard. but they
took it out in the glory Of having won the
fight, and besides monuments erected TO
commemorate the event. We find repro
duced a caricature which was discovered
Oh wall, and is Enthusiastically intended
10 represent the combat.
There is also in this chapter a reproduc-
tion of the famous mosaic Cave Canem"
which adorned POmpeiian house. But one
feature of Pompeii which is perhaps more
characteristic than any other is not de-
scribed in books on art. nor in most an
cient histories. The inhabitants enjoyed
scribbling on walls as much as small boys
like to decorate the schcolhouse doors with
chalk; and considerable part Of this chap /
ter is devoted to these inscriptions. Prof /
Thomas says:
In order to see Pomprii il actually was. We
theuid nave TO borrow pair Of those tairy spec
1aelcs Which possessed the power Of anuihiiating
time and space. 1t would he delightful thus to
follow. MINIATURE, tiIe comings and Soings OF
life amcng the ancient Romans. and 70 he present
town. As matter OF fact, We still do so-to
certain extent: the only difference is that IN
place OF looking we must be content 10 listen
hppaTeEtly speed Ma not enough Tor the POM !
StiiInE, for some Of them mast needs write while
Lthers read. and there vtr. not few Of both (
rl2Sscs- We are acquainted with iheir language
and the wallis have preserved their words; have f
but to read in Our urn And what do we md
o. those wallis In the first place ordinary in /
Icrp;ions. such dedicaiious vows, epitaphs. 4
thank sgiyings. hut side hv side OF interlincd .
NTH these words. phrases. and verses such as
ihe P0npeiians handicd about between Themselves.
the walls of public buildings being constituted (
The iDdiscTeet bearer ~ these singular nissyes
These graftii show IL the life Of th5 PGmpciians
IN all its naked simplicity Their vices, their
npusIve character. their eisy-goiug ways. and ,
sow and then. their grace. The needle Of the /
richer could draw no more truthful or accurate
picture.
Graffiti have been found at Other places besides /
Pompeii, during the recent excavations in the }
Ptlatine al Rome and elsewhere. Wherever
louBd, they have been oIIeinlly colcctcd. Even 4
M the Sahara, lie wells ia the cases
serber inscriptions have been met with. scratch
I'd with the point OF dagger pn the wall OF /
tome gTutto or tnc lace Of some cliff In this
= sIlr
ago have been repeated by an unexpected echo
which has continued 20 reyerbciate down 10 our
lay.
Often these sraf1ti run in what is evil
IDENTIFY series. each scribbler making fun
of his predecessors. fac simle of some
Of this wall-writing is given, and it looks
very much like the mouse's tale" in
Alice in Wonderland" being curved in
and out like snake. A large percentage
Of the inscriptions are insulting or satiri-
cal in character, and a collection of them
would probably contain a tolerahly COM
plete dictionary OF Pompeiian slang Two
or three proverbs Of the day are quoted in
this chapter, as appearing in the inscrip-
tions:
What. are You to give me lcssans2 Look at this
mule who has uHdeTtskcn TO educate te tiny
hies.
he sch. water. hut drinks wine himself
On another wall a parasite calls down
blessings on those who invite him TO din
ner and invokes the wrath OF the gods on
those who neglect to do So
The next chapter is given TO The Fo-
rum" and it is first explained that this
tiny building -diminutive in comparison
with modern structures-is hardly large
enough for all the associations which the
visitor would like 70 crowd into it, In
reality it is about $50 by $50 feet in shape
an irregular trapezium. We are informed