DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0516
410 VULCI. [chap. xxi.
and tenderness, little of which, however, was here used, for
it was seen by the first objects brought to light that
nothing of value was to be expected—hoc miserce plebi
stabat sepulcrum. Coarse pottery of unfigured, and even
of unvarnished ware, and a variety of small articles in
black clay, were its only produce; but our astonishment
was only equalled by our indignation when we saw the
labourers dash them to the ground as they drew them
forth, and crush them beneath their feet as things " cheaper
than seaweed." In vain I pleaded to save some from
destruction; for, though of no marketable worth, they
were often of curious and elegant forms, and valuable as
relics of the olden time, not to be replaced; but no, it was
all roba di sciocchezza—"foolish stuff"—the capo was
inexorable ; his orders were to destroy immediately what-
ever was of no pecuniary value, and he could not allow me
to carry away one of these relics which he so despised.
It is lamentable that excavations should be carried on in
such a spirit; with the sole view of gain, with no regard
to the advancement of science. Such is too frequently
the case. Yet they are occasionally conducted, as by the
Cavalier Campana of Rome, by men whose views are not
bounded by money-bags, but who are actuated by a genuine
love and zeal for science. The man to whom the Princess
had intrusted the superintendence of her scavi was " a
lewd fellow of the baser sort," without education or anti-
quarian knowledge, though experienced, it may be, in
determining the localities of tombs, and the pecuniary
value of their contents. Matters were differently conducted
during Lucien's lifetime, for he often personally super-
intended the excavations.6 Surely the Papal government,
6 Gerhard (Bull. Inst. 1831, p. 88) making a particular exception in farour
complains of the incivility and vandalism of the Prince. Chevalier Bunsen (Ann.
of most of the excavators at Vulei, Inst, 1834, p. 85) pronounces the same
and tenderness, little of which, however, was here used, for
it was seen by the first objects brought to light that
nothing of value was to be expected—hoc miserce plebi
stabat sepulcrum. Coarse pottery of unfigured, and even
of unvarnished ware, and a variety of small articles in
black clay, were its only produce; but our astonishment
was only equalled by our indignation when we saw the
labourers dash them to the ground as they drew them
forth, and crush them beneath their feet as things " cheaper
than seaweed." In vain I pleaded to save some from
destruction; for, though of no marketable worth, they
were often of curious and elegant forms, and valuable as
relics of the olden time, not to be replaced; but no, it was
all roba di sciocchezza—"foolish stuff"—the capo was
inexorable ; his orders were to destroy immediately what-
ever was of no pecuniary value, and he could not allow me
to carry away one of these relics which he so despised.
It is lamentable that excavations should be carried on in
such a spirit; with the sole view of gain, with no regard
to the advancement of science. Such is too frequently
the case. Yet they are occasionally conducted, as by the
Cavalier Campana of Rome, by men whose views are not
bounded by money-bags, but who are actuated by a genuine
love and zeal for science. The man to whom the Princess
had intrusted the superintendence of her scavi was " a
lewd fellow of the baser sort," without education or anti-
quarian knowledge, though experienced, it may be, in
determining the localities of tombs, and the pecuniary
value of their contents. Matters were differently conducted
during Lucien's lifetime, for he often personally super-
intended the excavations.6 Surely the Papal government,
6 Gerhard (Bull. Inst. 1831, p. 88) making a particular exception in farour
complains of the incivility and vandalism of the Prince. Chevalier Bunsen (Ann.
of most of the excavators at Vulei, Inst, 1834, p. 85) pronounces the same