Gell, William: Pompeiana: the topography, edifices and ornaments of Pompeii ; the result of excavations since 1819 ; in two volumes (Band 2) (London, 1832)

THE PLATES. 113

" Tu Marcellus eris" threw her into a swoon,
from which she recovered to present a sum
equal to 2000 of our pounds sterling to the
poet whose verse had done so much towards
immortalizing the memory of her son.

On a closer examination, however, it must
be acknowledged that an emperor, in the
time of Virgil, would not probably have ap-
peared so little covered, nor would the Poet,
whose skin is of a deep red hue, have been
in the same predicament, in the presence of
the empress.

Moreover, the nearer sedent figure is so
decidedly of an androgynous nature, while
the middle-aged female has all the marks of
ordinary humanity, that Augustus and Oc-
tavia can scarcely be the persons represented.

The dark colour of the Poet seems to have
induced many persons to imagine that he
must be a slave ; but, admitting this, we are
still in the dark as to the subject of the
picture.

The locality resembles a modern theatre,
with three persons in the pit, and four others
in the boxes, one of whom, on the right, has

VOL. II. Q