306 



POMPEII 



I'O.MI'KV 



occur frequently on the street walls, while trncle- 

 signs are few and far hetween. An occasional 

 1 phallus, ' to avert the evil eye, projects from over 

 a doorwav, and, much more common, one or two 

 large snakes, emblems of the Lares, are to l>e seen. 

 The stuccoed walls, to judge from the Crnjffiti '(q.v.) or 

 roughly-scratched drawings <m thrni, were as tempt- 

 ing to the Pompeian gamin as to our own. House 

 construction consists mainly of concrete (rubble 

 helil together by cement) or brick, and sometimes 

 of stone blocks, especially at the corners. Two- 

 storied, sometimes three-storied houses are numer- 

 ous, though the upper floors, built of wood, have 

 lieen consumed by the eruption. Shops usually 

 occupied the ground floors of dwelling-houses, on 

 their street aspect, let out to merchants or dealers 

 as at the present day, but not connected with the 

 back part of the house. They could be separated 

 from the street by large wooden doors, while inside 

 they had tables covered with marble, in which 

 earthen vessels for wine or oil were inserted. The 

 shopkeeper had sometimes a second room at the 

 bock, when he did not live on an upper floor or in 

 another part of the town. Retail traffic must have 

 been considerable at Pompeii, to judge from the 

 number of those shops along the streets, which, 

 when not so flanked, presented bare walls, occa- 

 sionally enlivened with a painting. Only a per- 

 sonal visit can convey an idea of the indoor life of 

 the Pompeians, with whom the absence of glass, 

 the fewness of the openings in the street aspect of 

 the house-wall, and the protection of these with 

 iron gratings are among the points noted by the 

 most casual visitor. Models of the interior of an 

 entire house in its original form are given in the 

 fuller guide-books to Pompeii the feature that 

 most strikes the northerner being the smallness 

 of the rooms, particularly the dormitories quite 

 intelligible, however, when he realises that the 

 Pompeians led an open-air life, and performed their 

 toilets at the bath, public or private. As rebuilt 

 after 63, Pompeii shows little marble, the columns 

 being of tufa or brick cemented by mortar. A 

 coating of stucco was laid over wail or column, 

 and presented an ample field for ornamental paint- 

 ing. This must have given to Pompeii its bright, 

 gav colouring, which, with its reds, blues, and 

 yellows, on column and capital, on wall and par- 

 tition, harmonise so well with the glowing sunlight 

 of the south. On the centre of the interior walls is 

 generally seen a painting unconnected with the 

 others often of a nymph, or a genius, when not 

 distinctly erotic in theme typifying faithfully the 

 voluptuous sensual life of this pleasure-haunt of 

 paganism. 



Thanks to photograph*, to the excellent plans in the 

 best guidebooks, and to models, the reader, aa the next 

 bent thine t > a personal visit, can make a tour of the 

 excavated portion of Pompeii, and, from the minute and 

 trustworthy descriptions of the temples, basilicas, public 

 bnildirg*. and private houses, fonn a vivid realisation of 

 the city in its most frequented and animated quarters. 

 Perhaps tho most complete substitute for such a visit 

 is E. Neville Kolfe's Pompeii, Pott and Present, illus- 

 trated by photographs of the ruins as they arc, with 

 sketches of their original elevations ( Lond. 1884 ). The 

 student who wishes to enter fully into the whole subject 

 should read Mazoin, La Ruinei dc Pt>mprii(4 vols. Paris, 

 1812-38); Nissen, /'i;ian. Studieniur Ntiidtrtuniir d(* 

 Altfrthatiu(Leip. 1877); Man, Ottrht rhtf drr drkoratirrn 

 Wandmalerei in Pnmpeii (Jivrl. 1K82); Overbeck-Man, 

 Pompeii (Leip. 1884); K. Lange. ffaui und Halle 

 (Leip. 1885); while Professor Fiorclli's great work, ff/i 

 Sfari di Pompei dal /,%'/ al 1871, is a mine of informa- 

 tion, supplied at first hand by the official excavator, and 

 betide* other matter contains an account of the ingenious 

 method by which, pouring in liquid plaster of Paris into 

 the hollows occupied by the skeletons of the victims of 

 the eruption, and allowing it to harden, he obtained a 

 'perfect cast, consisting of the bones of the deceased 



Roman citizen, clad no longer in flesh, but in piaster of 

 Paris. 



I'oiniH'lmoose, or PDMF.I.O ( Fr. /'/////- 

 mouse), also ' pumelon,' names for a kind of Shad- 

 dock (({.v.), all corrupted from the specific, name 

 Pomum melo. 



l"oni|M"i . Cneius Poni|ieiti8 Magnus, the rival 

 MI i ;i-sar, was born in 100 B.C., and at seventeen 

 fought along with his father in the Social or Italian 

 war on the side of Sulla against the fan inn of 

 Marius and Cinnn. \\lien Sulla returned from 

 (Ireeee to Italy to oppose Marius (N4) Pompr> 

 hastened into i'icenum. and there raised an army 

 of three legions, with which he drove the soldiers 

 of Marius out of the district, and then joined Sulla. 

 For his prudence, valour, ami good fortune through- 

 out the war he was sent to destroy the remains of 

 the Marian faction in Africa ami Sicily. On his 

 triumphant return to Kome he was honoured with 

 the name of Magnus, or the Great. His triumph 

 was an unprecedented distinction for one who had 

 not yet held any public oflice and was merely an 

 eyues. His next exploits were the reduction of the 

 followers of Lepidus, whom he drove out of Italy, 

 and the extinction of the Marian party in Spain 

 under the brave Sertorius (70-71). Pompey suf- 

 fered some severe defeats from Sertorius, ami, 

 indeed, put an end to the war only after his 

 antagonist's assassination, lietnrning to Italy, he 

 fell in with tin 1 remnants of the army of Spartacus, 

 and thus closed the Servile war. He was now 

 the idol of the people, and, though legally ineli- 

 gible for the consulship, was elected for the year 

 70, the senate relieving him of his disabilities 

 rather than provoke him to extremities. Hitherto 

 Pom pry had belonged to the aristocratic party, 

 but of late years he had been looked upon with 

 suspicion by some of the leading men, and he now 

 publicly espoused the people's cause. lie carried 

 a law restoring the tribunieian power to the people; 

 and aided largely in introducing the Lex Aure/m, 

 by which ihejuaires should for the future lie taken 

 from the. smutc, the etjiiiltt, and the trilmin ' tn-rarii, 

 instead of from the senate alone. In 67-66 Pompey 

 cleared the Mediterranean of the pirates who 

 infested it ; and during the next four years (65-62> 

 conquered Mithridates, king of Pont us, Tigrancs. 

 king of Armenia, and Antiochus, king of Sviia. 

 At the same time he sulidued the Jews and cap- 

 tured Jerusalem. On his return to Italy he dis- 

 banded hi- army, and entered Home in triumph for 

 the third time in 01. But now his star liegan to 

 wane. Henceforward we find him distrusted by 

 the aristocracy, and second to < ':esar in popular 

 favour. After his return lie was anxious that hi* 

 acts in Asia should lie ratified by the senate, ami 

 re. i.iin lands apportioned mining his veterans. Hut 

 the senate declined to accede to his wish, and he 

 therefore formed a close intimacy with Ciiwar, and 

 the pair, together with tin- plutocrat Crassus. 

 formed that coalition which is commonly called 

 the First Triumvirate,' and which for a time 

 frustrated all the efforts of the aristocratic party. 

 This small oligarchy carried all before them . 

 Pompey's acts in Asia were ratified, and his 

 promises to his troops fulfilled; C:i sal's designs 

 were all gained, and his agrarian law, distributing 

 land in Campania among the poorer citizen, was 

 passed. Cn-sar's daughter, Julia, was given in 

 marriage to Pompev, and private relationship was 

 thus made to bind tighter the tie of political 

 interest. In the year following Ca'jar repaired to 

 Caul, and therefor nine years carried on a career 

 of conquest that covered him with glory, while 

 Pompey was idly wasting his time and his energies 

 at Rome. But Pompey could not bear a rival. 

 Jealousies arose betwixt the two ; Julia died in 

 64, and thus father-in-law and son-in-law were 



