DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61387#0104
60
THE RUINS OF POMPEII.
form of the cella; at the further end of which is a basis for the statue of the
deity. In the middle of the area, in front of the chapel, is an altar of white
marble, with an unfinished bas-relief representing a sacrifice. The sacrificer
appears to be a magistrate; he has a wreath round his head, which is also
partly covered with his robes. In his hand is a patera, with which appa-
rently to sprinkle and purify the victim before it is offered up. This figure
has sometimes been imagined to represent Cicero, from a fancied likeness to
the great orator; an idea springing from a natural desire to identify the
objects which, after so many centuries, the excavations have brought to
light. The victim is led by the popa, or man whose office it was to kill it.
He is naked to the waist, and bears the sacrificial axe (malleus). A boy
holding a vase and patera, the sacred vitta, or fillet, hanging from his neck,
follows the principal personage. Near him is a figure holding a patera that
seems to be filled with bread, whilst another figure is sounding the tibia or
double flute. Behind are lictors; and in the back is represented a temple,
decorated with garlands, before which the sacrifice is offered. On the side
of the altar opposite to this is a bas-relief of a wreath of oak-leaves, bound
with a fillet, with a young olive tree on each side; while the other two sides
are decorated with sculptures of instruments used in sacrifice, as shown in
the annexed cut. These consist of a patera, a vase, a vitta or fillet, an
ORNAMENTS OF SACRIFICE ON THE SIDES OF THE ALTAR.
incense box, a ladle, and a spiral in-
strument, the purpose of which is not
precisely known, but which may have
been used by the haruspex who in-
spected the entrails of the victim.
The little chapel, or sacellum, is only
about fifteen feet long by thirteen
broad, so that it could contain little
more than the statue of the deity.
The building, like others of the same kind, had apartments destined for the
priests, in which numerous amphora, or wine jars, were discovered. Those,
however, as well as other articles, seen in the view, are the produce of
different excavations; the Temple of Mercury having been converted into
a temporary place of deposit for such articles as are not thought worthy of
being carried to the Museum: and on this account it is closed with a railing.
The appellation of the Temple of Mercury, commonly given to this
building, rests on no better foundation than that of the Temple of Jupiter.
THE RUINS OF POMPEII.
form of the cella; at the further end of which is a basis for the statue of the
deity. In the middle of the area, in front of the chapel, is an altar of white
marble, with an unfinished bas-relief representing a sacrifice. The sacrificer
appears to be a magistrate; he has a wreath round his head, which is also
partly covered with his robes. In his hand is a patera, with which appa-
rently to sprinkle and purify the victim before it is offered up. This figure
has sometimes been imagined to represent Cicero, from a fancied likeness to
the great orator; an idea springing from a natural desire to identify the
objects which, after so many centuries, the excavations have brought to
light. The victim is led by the popa, or man whose office it was to kill it.
He is naked to the waist, and bears the sacrificial axe (malleus). A boy
holding a vase and patera, the sacred vitta, or fillet, hanging from his neck,
follows the principal personage. Near him is a figure holding a patera that
seems to be filled with bread, whilst another figure is sounding the tibia or
double flute. Behind are lictors; and in the back is represented a temple,
decorated with garlands, before which the sacrifice is offered. On the side
of the altar opposite to this is a bas-relief of a wreath of oak-leaves, bound
with a fillet, with a young olive tree on each side; while the other two sides
are decorated with sculptures of instruments used in sacrifice, as shown in
the annexed cut. These consist of a patera, a vase, a vitta or fillet, an
ORNAMENTS OF SACRIFICE ON THE SIDES OF THE ALTAR.
incense box, a ladle, and a spiral in-
strument, the purpose of which is not
precisely known, but which may have
been used by the haruspex who in-
spected the entrails of the victim.
The little chapel, or sacellum, is only
about fifteen feet long by thirteen
broad, so that it could contain little
more than the statue of the deity.
The building, like others of the same kind, had apartments destined for the
priests, in which numerous amphora, or wine jars, were discovered. Those,
however, as well as other articles, seen in the view, are the produce of
different excavations; the Temple of Mercury having been converted into
a temporary place of deposit for such articles as are not thought worthy of
being carried to the Museum: and on this account it is closed with a railing.
The appellation of the Temple of Mercury, commonly given to this
building, rests on no better foundation than that of the Temple of Jupiter.