The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton

1750. He commenced 12th November, 1738, by carrying on a kind of tunnel

1662 words | Chapter 555

laterally from the old well. In a short time (Venuti, p. 40. Gori, p. 42) two bronze equestrian statues were found, and soon after three full length marble figures, larger than life, of Roman dignitaries, dressed in the toga, with massive piers of brick between, plastered with stucco, and painted with arabesques in various colours. The excavators had now reached the interior of the theatre, which the numerous seats and steps clearly indicated. An inscription, moreover, on the architrave contained part of the word Theatre, the name of the person at whose cost the building was erected, and that of the architect. A second inscription on the corresponding architrave of the opposite side is almost a repetition:-- [Illustration: L. ANNIVS. L. F. MAMMIANVS. RVFVS. IIVIR. QVINQ. [TH]EA[T]R... O.... P. NVMISIVS. ARC... TEC...] (Gori, p. 42. Venuti, p. 42.) These architraves covered the side entrances to the orchestra, and both of them supported a colossal group in bronze of a chariot and two horses. The central group of the building was a quadriga, and probably represented the emperor in his chariot with four horses. All these bronze statues had been gilt. Some fine columns of rosso antico were transported to the cathedral of Naples, and others to the Royal Palace; they appear to have adorned the proscenium (Venuti, p. 71). The theatre was one of the most perfect specimens of ancient architecture. It had, from the floor, upwards of eighteen rows of seats (Gori, 44), and above these three other rows which seem to have been intended for the female part of the audience, and were covered with a portico to screen them from the rays of the sun. Statues of Drusus and Antonia, and of the nine Muses, were found in other parts of the building. A bronze colossal statue of Titus filled with lead (Gori, p. 45) was so heavy that twelve men were unable to move it. Many other bronze statues of municipal authorities and benefactors were found with their respective inscriptions. The theatre was capable of containing 8000 persons. Nearly the whole of its surface, as well as the arched walks leading to the seats, was cased with marble. The area or pit was floored with thick squares of _giallo antico_, the beautiful marble of a yellowish hue. The pedestal, of white marble, which supported a chariot and four bronze horses, is still to be seen in its place; but the group itself had been crushed and broken in pieces by the immense weight of lava which fell on it. The fragments having been collected, might have been easily reunited, but they were carelessly thrown into a corner, like old iron, and part of them were stolen. The body of one horse and part of the charioteer, being deemed useless, were accordingly fused, to be converted into two large framed medallions of their Neapolitan Majesties. The remaining fragments were cast into the vaults of the royal palace; and, at last, it was resolved to make the best use of what was left; which was, to convert the four horses into one, by taking a fore leg of one of them, a hinder leg of another, the head of a third, and where the breach was irremediable, to cast a new piece. To this contrivance, the famous bronze horse now in the Museum owes its existence; and, considering its patchwork origin, still conveys a high idea of the skill of the ancient artist. A pompous inscription upon its pedestal records the circumstances of its construction (Bronzi di Ercolano, vol. ii., page 255). On the south side of the theatre, stood a basilica or public building which contained the celebrated equestrian statues of the Balbi--of one block of marble (Gori, p. 59),--These fine statues possess the additional value of having finally set at rest the question respecting the proper name of the city. On the front of the pedestals is inscribed-- M. NONIO. M. F. BALBO. PR. PRO. COS. HERCVLANENSES. (Gerhard, Neapel. p. 22. Gori, p. 167. Venuti, p. 59.) The certainty of this city having been the ancient Herculaneum is said to have materially increased the energy of the excavators. In the same basilica were found the famous pictures of Hercules and Telephus, Theseus and the Minotaur, and many others, together with bronze statues of Nero and Germanicus, and a Vespasian, with two sitting figures of marble, nine feet high. The streets of the city were paved with blocks of lava, they were flanked with causeways, and lined with porticos. The private buildings, which resembled those of Pompeii, were very difficult of access, from the nature of the material that overwhelmed them, and could only be examined in small portions at a time. No maps of sufficient accuracy have been laid down of the earliest excavations, and it will be better to reserve all accounts of domestic arrangements till we can illustrate them by the Pompeian remains. One large villa, however, seems to have been a very important structure. It was surrounded by a garden enclosed within a square wall and ditch. The floors were ornamented with beautiful mosaics and the halls contained a rich variety of busts and statues. One of the chambers served the purpose of a bath; another, supposed to have been a sacrarium, was painted with serpents, and within it was found a brazen tripod, containing cinders and ashes; but the most curious discovery of all, was an apartment in this villa used as a library, and fitted up with wooden presses around the walls, about six feet in height; a double row of presses stood in the middle of the room, so as to admit of a free passage on every side. The wood of which the presses had been made was burned to a cinder, and gave way at the first touch; but the volumes, composed of a much more perishable substance, the Egyptian or Syracusan papyrus, were, although completely carbonised, through the effect of the heat, still so far preserved as to admit of their removal. A number of these supposed pieces of charcoal were at first carried off, which by accidental fracture exposed the remains of letters and proved to be so many ancient manuscripts. The Greek manuscripts consisted of rolls scarcely a foot in length, and but two or three inches in thickness. Some had a label in front, at one end of the roll, with the name of the work or the author, which was visible from its place in the library.[51] [51] See a Pompeian painting described at p. 50, Cubiculum 3. The sixteen centuries during which the substances had been crushed together, rendered it almost hopeless to unroll, and still less to decipher them; but Camillo Paderni devoted twelve days to the occupation underground, and succeeded in carrying away 337 manuscripts. Almost all are in Greek, very few in Latin, and some of the rolls are forty or fifty feet in length. The lines are arranged in columns across the shortest surface, as in our newspapers, each line extending only about two or three inches in length. The greater part of the works in this collection relate to Epicurean philosophy. Their decipherment has naturally occupied much of the attention of the learned, and many of the manuscripts have been published at Oxford. The condition of Herculaneum was at the period of its discovery more interesting and much more worthy the notice of the traveller than it is at present. The object of its excavation having unfortunately been confined to the discovery of statues, paintings, and other curiosities, and not carried on with a view to lay open the city, and thus to ascertain the features of its buildings and streets, most of the latter were again filled up with rubbish as soon as they were divested of everything moveable. Even the marble was torn from the temples. Herculaneum may therefore be said to have been overwhelmed a second time by its modern discoverers; and the appearance it previously presented can now only be ascertained from the accounts of those who beheld it in a more perfect state. The existence of the large towns of Portici and Resina overhead render it impossible for many parts of the excavations to remain open to the sky; one portion, however, was allowed to be so until the sinking of the main road, subject to incessant traffic, compelled the government to have the undercuttings filled in, and the apertures blocked up. A part of the city nearer to the mountain has been thrown open and the sun is again permitted to shine upon gardens and habitations now desolate and mouldering. From the hard nature of the rock at Herculaneum, the city was for a long time supposed to have been buried in lava, and the darkness and obscurity of the passages prevented the discovery of the truth. But now, since daylight has been admitted, the whole mass is found to be nothing more than hard tufa, rendered, at the lower parts, still more compact by the percolation of water, which in all cases leaves the finest possible sediment. Lava is stone that has been actually melted, and flows over the surface in the same way as molten iron issues from a furnace. The beds of real lava may be easily distinguished in the upper levels of the earth laid open in these excavations. All the timber of the houses has been completely reduced to charcoal, but every beam was found perfect as to shape and in its proper position; many of the bronzes, however, were melted. These effects seem to be the result of an intense heat diffused through the entire mass at a subsequent period; for, at the time of the first eruption, great quantities of boiling water appear to have been mixed with the fine dust and scoria, the same materials that fell dry and loose upon Pompeii. An entrance from the road at Resina to the excavations was formed in

Chapters

Reading Tips

Use arrow keys to navigate

Press 'N' for next chapter

Press 'P' for previous chapter