Notices respecting New Books. 261 



nials : this tomb has no inscription ; the entablature only which 

 contained it is to be seen in the middle of the wall. The name 

 of the person to whom it belonged is therefore unknown. 



M. Millin has devoted three plates to the two tombs just 

 mentioned. The first plate contains the plans and sections, the 

 second gives the perspective, and in the third are figured more 

 at length the bas-reliefs with which it is adorned. 



The third tomb is figured in the fourth plate, and the fifth 

 gives the minor details. The general form of this tomb is very 

 elegant: it is nearly the same with the tomb of Riccius, but it 

 is of very fine white marble and has different ornaments. It is 

 surrounded })y a wall absolutely similar to that of tlie second 

 tomb. We read the following inscrijition on the principal front : 



C. CALVEl^TIO QVIETO 



AVGYSTALI 



HVtC OB MVNIFii ENT DECVRIONA'M 



DECRETO ET POP\ LI CONSESV BlSEhLtt 



HONOR DATVS EST. 



" To Caius Calventius Quietus, Augustalis ; the honour of the 

 Bisellium was decreed to him by a decree of the Decurions and 

 the consent of the people, on account of his munificence." 



M. Millin enters into some interesting inquiries respecting the 

 Bisellium mentioned in this inscription. Notwithstanding the 

 learned and voluminous treatise of Chimentelli, entitled Mor/«07' 

 Plsanum de konnre Bisellii, and the labours of Noris and Ma- 

 zocchi on the same subject, the former in his Cenotaphin Plsana, 

 and the latter in his TahulcB Heracleenses, p. 155, neithet the 

 use nor form of the Bisellium was known, and it was equally un- 

 certain what was the meaning of the " honour of the BiseUium." 

 The torn!) at Pompeia now under examination is the first mo- 

 nument which affords us an authentic representation of this kind 

 of seat ; it is given under the inscription which we have cited, 

 and M. Millin has exhibited it separately in his fifth plate. It 

 is a kind of bench capable of holding two persons, although it 

 was used by one only, and it was more or less ornamented, as 

 well as the cushion which was placed upon it: this is evident, 

 on comparing this bisellbim with that which will be found in 

 the next tomb described in the seventh plate. As to the kind 

 of honour of which the lisellium was the distinctive mark, 

 M. Millin, in comparing the above inscription with that in the 

 fourth tomb, and with another which has been published by 

 Fabrotti, Insaipt. III. 324, deduces from the comparison the 

 following facts; viz. that tlie use of the biseU'mm was granted 

 to persons of high consideration ; that they had a right to sit 

 higher than the rest at the theatre, the forum, aud at public 

 P 4 games 



