ARCHITECTURE. 79 
zeal and diligence, and the result was the discovery of a great mass of antiquities 
ofall kinds. Butas the city was buried under a great accumulation of lava and 
a new city was built over it, the work could only advance as in a mine, by 
shafts, and for this reason the work is nearly discontinued, because it required 
a disproportionate sum of money to forward it. The theatre has been entirely 
laid bare, and it is evident from that that Herculaneum was by no means 
a little provincial town. This theatre offers the best study of the theatre- 
building of the ancients. 
The excavation of Pompeii was much easier and more convenient, for 
there was no overflow of lava here, and the town hes buried only under 
ashes and little stones, a few feet beneath a vineyard. Here buildings, 
streets, and places have been restored to the light, and therefore all available 
funds are devoted to the excavation, which constantly progresses with more 
or less diligence, so that a very tolerable conception of the structure and 
arrangement ‘of an ancient city is now possible. The town, although 
not small, was only a provincial town of the third degree, but had all the 
buildings necessary to the business and amusement of a city, except that 
they are on a smaller scale than those of which we find traces in the large 
cities. The private houses also are lower and smaller than in a great town. 
They are of one story only, and evidently adapted to a single family. Only 
a very few of the recovered houses have two stories arranged with terraces. 
A wanderer through the city discovers many buildings, chiefly public 
buildings, which at the time of the volcanic eruption were in process of 
building, and Tacitus relates that Pompeii was almost destroyed by an 
earthquake a little before its final catastrophe. According to Seneca, this 
event preceded the final one by sixteen years, and hence we find most of 
the private houses restored, but with only one story to provide against 
similar misfortunes. The rebuilding of the public edifices progressed more 
slowly, yet the amphitheatre was entirely completed, although the other 
’ theatres and the forum with its adjacent buildings were not so. Few of the 
streets are broad enough to allow the passage of a carriage, but they are 
well paved, and have elevated side walks. At the corners of the streets are 
fountains. Quite as carefully paved and provided with side walks are the 
streets outside the city, and upon these streets were the family sepulchral 
monuments. We have treated of the city walls of Pompeii, illustrating 
them in detail under the head of Military Sciences (Fortification) ; see Plates, 
Division V., pl. 43, jigs.10-15. The sole remaining gate has three entrances; 
the middle one for carriages, and one on each side for foot passengers. 
The dwelling houses are built together, but without communication with 
each other, and the main walls in common. Upon entering you pass into a 
court, small or large, generally surrounded by a colonnade, and with the 
sleeping rooms, sitting rooms, and kitchen opening upon it. It is all small 
but tasteful, with pavements of marble and mosaic. The walls and columns 
are covered with a coating of chalk and marble dust, smooth as glass, with a 
surface colored in fresco, upon which are laid the water colors. When 
treating of the Fine Arts we shall return to these wall paintings. In two 
bakeries the ovens are yet standing ; they were heated from below. 
79 
