DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61387#0091
THE RUINS OF POMPEII.
51
The general narrowness of the streets of Pompeii may be inferred from
those seen in the preceding view; where, however, it will also be perceived
that they were commonly provided with trottoirs. The convenience of the foot
passengers was also consulted by placing large stepping-stones for crossing.
In the narrower streets or lanes one of these sufficed; for three or four steps
brought a man from one wall to the other; but in the broader streets may be
seen three stepping-stones or even four. The wheels of the carriages passed
at the sides of the stones, while the horses probably stepped over. From
the few remains of horses or carriages discovered at Pompeii it may be in-
ferred that its streets were not so encumbered with this sort of traffic as
those of a modern town of the same class. Pompeii, however, standing on
the road to southern Italy, must have been a considerable thoroughfare; to
which, indeed, the deep ruts visible in some of its streets, and even marks of
the iron tyres of the wheels, bear satisfactory evidence. The narrowness of
the streets, especially as the houses were not very lofty, must have been
rather agreeable than otherwise in that hot climate, as calculated to afford
more shade. In some of the lanes the view of the sky must have been
almost excluded by the projecting moeniana, or balconies. We may judge
of their effect by the restoration of one effected by the Commendatore
Fiorelli, the present director of the excavations, in the street called after it,
Vico del Balcone Pensile, the only example in the place.
Nearly opposite to the main entrance to the house of Pansa stands one of
the public baths, excavated in the year 1824. These establishments are a
characteristic feature of ancient life, to which modern times can offer no
parallel. At Rome especially they were ultimately carried to an extraordi-
nary pitch of magnificence. The vast remains of the Baths of Caracalla and
Diocletian that may be seen in that capital still strike the spectator with
astonishment. But though these establishments provided accommodation for
hundreds of bathers at once, this was only part of their attraction. They
stood among extensive gardens and walks, and often were surrounded with
a portico. Besides vast halls for swimming and bathing, they contained
numerous others for conversation, for various athletic exercises, for the de-
clamations of poets and the lectures of philosophers; in a word, for almost
every species of polite and manly amusement.
We must not of course expect anything approaching these establishments
in a provincial town like Pompeii, which perished too in an age when, even
at Rome, the extent and splendour of the public baths had not yet attained
51
The general narrowness of the streets of Pompeii may be inferred from
those seen in the preceding view; where, however, it will also be perceived
that they were commonly provided with trottoirs. The convenience of the foot
passengers was also consulted by placing large stepping-stones for crossing.
In the narrower streets or lanes one of these sufficed; for three or four steps
brought a man from one wall to the other; but in the broader streets may be
seen three stepping-stones or even four. The wheels of the carriages passed
at the sides of the stones, while the horses probably stepped over. From
the few remains of horses or carriages discovered at Pompeii it may be in-
ferred that its streets were not so encumbered with this sort of traffic as
those of a modern town of the same class. Pompeii, however, standing on
the road to southern Italy, must have been a considerable thoroughfare; to
which, indeed, the deep ruts visible in some of its streets, and even marks of
the iron tyres of the wheels, bear satisfactory evidence. The narrowness of
the streets, especially as the houses were not very lofty, must have been
rather agreeable than otherwise in that hot climate, as calculated to afford
more shade. In some of the lanes the view of the sky must have been
almost excluded by the projecting moeniana, or balconies. We may judge
of their effect by the restoration of one effected by the Commendatore
Fiorelli, the present director of the excavations, in the street called after it,
Vico del Balcone Pensile, the only example in the place.
Nearly opposite to the main entrance to the house of Pansa stands one of
the public baths, excavated in the year 1824. These establishments are a
characteristic feature of ancient life, to which modern times can offer no
parallel. At Rome especially they were ultimately carried to an extraordi-
nary pitch of magnificence. The vast remains of the Baths of Caracalla and
Diocletian that may be seen in that capital still strike the spectator with
astonishment. But though these establishments provided accommodation for
hundreds of bathers at once, this was only part of their attraction. They
stood among extensive gardens and walks, and often were surrounded with
a portico. Besides vast halls for swimming and bathing, they contained
numerous others for conversation, for various athletic exercises, for the de-
clamations of poets and the lectures of philosophers; in a word, for almost
every species of polite and manly amusement.
We must not of course expect anything approaching these establishments
in a provincial town like Pompeii, which perished too in an age when, even
at Rome, the extent and splendour of the public baths had not yet attained