DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0072
38
POMPEII
or opus compositum — a course of stone alternating with every
two or three courses of brick. An example of the opus mixtum
is seen in the entrances of the Herculaneum Gate (Fig. 108).
Rubble work is the prevailing masonry at Pompeii; in compar-
ison the other kinds described may be considered exceptional.
The reticulate work, opus reticulcitum, formed the outer sur-
face of a wall, the inner part of which was built up with rubble.
It was composed of small four-sided pyramidal blocks, of which
only the base, cut square and smooth, showed on the surface;
the tapering part served as a key to bind the block into the
wall. These blocks, which measured from three to four inches
square at the base, were laid on their corners, so that the edges
ran diagonally to the horizontal and vertical lines of the wall;
the pattern thus formed had the appearance of a net, hence the
name. The material was in most cases gray, occasionally
yellow, tufa. The corners and doorposts were at first made of
the same kind of stone cut in the shape of bricks ; later of
bricks. This style of masonry was in vogue at Rome, and
apparently also at Pompeii, in the the time of Augustus (Fig.
12 ; see also the pedestal in the foreground of Plate I).
The quasi-reticulate work belongs to the early years of the
Roman colony. In appearance it lies between rubble and reticu-
late work, differing from the latter in that the small blocks are
less carefully finished and are laid with less regularity. The
material is generally lava, but tufa and limestone are also found.
The corners and doorposts are of brick, or of brick-shaped
blocks of tufa or limestone (Fig. 11).
Ashlar work, of carefully hewn oblong blocks laid in courses,
is found in the older portions of the city wall (Fig. 104) and in
the walls of the Greek temple in the F'orum Triangulare ; it
was used otherwise only for the fronts of houses (Fig. 10). The
material in the earliest times was Sarno limestone, later gray
tufa. With the coming of the Roman colony ashlar work went
out of use, even for the corners of houses and doorposts.
In the construction of columns and many architraves large
blocks were used. Previous to the time of the Roman colony
these were of gray tufa, or, in rare instances, of limestone; a
coating of white stucco was laid on the surface. From the
POMPEII
or opus compositum — a course of stone alternating with every
two or three courses of brick. An example of the opus mixtum
is seen in the entrances of the Herculaneum Gate (Fig. 108).
Rubble work is the prevailing masonry at Pompeii; in compar-
ison the other kinds described may be considered exceptional.
The reticulate work, opus reticulcitum, formed the outer sur-
face of a wall, the inner part of which was built up with rubble.
It was composed of small four-sided pyramidal blocks, of which
only the base, cut square and smooth, showed on the surface;
the tapering part served as a key to bind the block into the
wall. These blocks, which measured from three to four inches
square at the base, were laid on their corners, so that the edges
ran diagonally to the horizontal and vertical lines of the wall;
the pattern thus formed had the appearance of a net, hence the
name. The material was in most cases gray, occasionally
yellow, tufa. The corners and doorposts were at first made of
the same kind of stone cut in the shape of bricks ; later of
bricks. This style of masonry was in vogue at Rome, and
apparently also at Pompeii, in the the time of Augustus (Fig.
12 ; see also the pedestal in the foreground of Plate I).
The quasi-reticulate work belongs to the early years of the
Roman colony. In appearance it lies between rubble and reticu-
late work, differing from the latter in that the small blocks are
less carefully finished and are laid with less regularity. The
material is generally lava, but tufa and limestone are also found.
The corners and doorposts are of brick, or of brick-shaped
blocks of tufa or limestone (Fig. 11).
Ashlar work, of carefully hewn oblong blocks laid in courses,
is found in the older portions of the city wall (Fig. 104) and in
the walls of the Greek temple in the F'orum Triangulare ; it
was used otherwise only for the fronts of houses (Fig. 10). The
material in the earliest times was Sarno limestone, later gray
tufa. With the coming of the Roman colony ashlar work went
out of use, even for the corners of houses and doorposts.
In the construction of columns and many architraves large
blocks were used. Previous to the time of the Roman colony
these were of gray tufa, or, in rare instances, of limestone; a
coating of white stucco was laid on the surface. From the