DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61387#0101
THE RUINS OF POMPEII
57
the walls of this temple, show that its priests formed no exception to the
remark. We have already given from these pictures a representation of
Cupids making bread; we now subjoin others of lobsters, fruit, birds, and
other articles.
In front of this building, under the portico of the Forum, were seven
small shops, the lower part of the walls of which may still be seen in our
view. They were probably tabernce argentarice, or shops of money-changers;
a view which is corroborated by there having been found in one of them, in
a box almost destroyed, between 1200 and 1300 silver and brass coins.
The pedestals of some of the tables still remain. Still further in front, at
the edge of the foot-pavement, may be seen one of the pillars of the portico
of the Forum; and on a line with it, several pedestals which appear to have
supported statues.
From the point of view whence the preceding photograph is taken, only
a small portion of the Forum, forming its north-eastern corner, can be seen.
To obtain a better prospect, we should proceed to its southern end, when
facing round to the north, the whole area lies before us. When the Forum
and its buildings were in a perfect state, the view must have been very
beautiful and striking. Even in superficial size it is not much surpassed by
the Forum Romanum, or original Forum of Rome, while its situation is far
superior. Sunk in a deep hollow between the surrounding hills at the very
lowest level in the city, the prospect from the Roman Forum was of the
most confined description, though doubtless this defect must have been
partly compensated by the aspect of the magnificent buildings with which
the hills were lined and crowned. The Forum of Pompeii, on the contrary,
occupies one of the most elevated sites in the town, and commands magnifi-
cent views of the surrounding country. On the north rises Vesuvius with
its two summits, from the higher one of which wreaths of smoke are con-
tinually ascending. On the south are seen Mount St. Angelo and Mount
Lactarius, gradually sinking down towards Cape Campanella, the southern-
most boundary of the Gulf. Nor was the Forum of Pompeii deficient in
architectural grandeur. When all that area was paved with pure white
marble—of which only a few isolated slabs now remain—when numerous
statues, some of them equestrian, stood on those dilapidated pedestals, the
coup-d'oeil must have been sufficiently striking. And as the ground-plans
in toto^ partly also the elevations of the temples and other buildings which
surround it are still perfect, there is at present no spot more calculated to
i
57
the walls of this temple, show that its priests formed no exception to the
remark. We have already given from these pictures a representation of
Cupids making bread; we now subjoin others of lobsters, fruit, birds, and
other articles.
In front of this building, under the portico of the Forum, were seven
small shops, the lower part of the walls of which may still be seen in our
view. They were probably tabernce argentarice, or shops of money-changers;
a view which is corroborated by there having been found in one of them, in
a box almost destroyed, between 1200 and 1300 silver and brass coins.
The pedestals of some of the tables still remain. Still further in front, at
the edge of the foot-pavement, may be seen one of the pillars of the portico
of the Forum; and on a line with it, several pedestals which appear to have
supported statues.
From the point of view whence the preceding photograph is taken, only
a small portion of the Forum, forming its north-eastern corner, can be seen.
To obtain a better prospect, we should proceed to its southern end, when
facing round to the north, the whole area lies before us. When the Forum
and its buildings were in a perfect state, the view must have been very
beautiful and striking. Even in superficial size it is not much surpassed by
the Forum Romanum, or original Forum of Rome, while its situation is far
superior. Sunk in a deep hollow between the surrounding hills at the very
lowest level in the city, the prospect from the Roman Forum was of the
most confined description, though doubtless this defect must have been
partly compensated by the aspect of the magnificent buildings with which
the hills were lined and crowned. The Forum of Pompeii, on the contrary,
occupies one of the most elevated sites in the town, and commands magnifi-
cent views of the surrounding country. On the north rises Vesuvius with
its two summits, from the higher one of which wreaths of smoke are con-
tinually ascending. On the south are seen Mount St. Angelo and Mount
Lactarius, gradually sinking down towards Cape Campanella, the southern-
most boundary of the Gulf. Nor was the Forum of Pompeii deficient in
architectural grandeur. When all that area was paved with pure white
marble—of which only a few isolated slabs now remain—when numerous
statues, some of them equestrian, stood on those dilapidated pedestals, the
coup-d'oeil must have been sufficiently striking. And as the ground-plans
in toto^ partly also the elevations of the temples and other buildings which
surround it are still perfect, there is at present no spot more calculated to
i