DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1082#0041
POMPEIANA.
temples, constructed as they are of the most
perishable materials, can remain for the
satisfaction of posterity: and although, in
this point of view, it may be considered
fortunate for the succeeding generation
that the operations proceed so slowly; still
too much cannot now be done to preserve
the memory of what exists. The fortifi-
cations, howeVer, which are in some parts
built with solid blocks of stone, may yet
remain for many centuries, as the doric
temple would have done had it not been
destroyed by external force; whereas a
short period must suffice to destroy every
vestige of the rest of the city, which is
built of bricks, and rubble work, without
any pretension to durability or excellence
of construction. The streets are curiously
paved, with irregularly shaped pieces of
black volcanic stone, well put together, and
generally exhibiting the tracks of wheels.
The town was originally founded upon an
ancient bed of lava, though there exists
temples, constructed as they are of the most
perishable materials, can remain for the
satisfaction of posterity: and although, in
this point of view, it may be considered
fortunate for the succeeding generation
that the operations proceed so slowly; still
too much cannot now be done to preserve
the memory of what exists. The fortifi-
cations, howeVer, which are in some parts
built with solid blocks of stone, may yet
remain for many centuries, as the doric
temple would have done had it not been
destroyed by external force; whereas a
short period must suffice to destroy every
vestige of the rest of the city, which is
built of bricks, and rubble work, without
any pretension to durability or excellence
of construction. The streets are curiously
paved, with irregularly shaped pieces of
black volcanic stone, well put together, and
generally exhibiting the tracks of wheels.
The town was originally founded upon an
ancient bed of lava, though there exists