The city of Herculaneum, distant about 11,000 paces from Naples, was so
completely buried by a stream of lava and a shower of ashes from the
first known eruption of Vesuvius, during the reign of Titus, A. D. 79,
that its site was unknown for many ages. The neighboring city of
Pompeii, on the river Sarno, one of the most populous and flourishing
towns on the coast, as well as Stabiæ, Oplontia, and Teglanum,
experienced the same fate. Earlier excavations had already been
forgotten, when three female figures, (now in the Dresden Gallery) were
discovered while some workmen were digging a well for Prince Elbeuf at
Portici, a village situated on the site of ancient Herculaneum. In 1738
the well was dug deeper, and the theatre of Herculaneum was first
discovered. In 1750, Pompeii and Stabiæ were explored; the former place
being covered with ashes rather than lava, was more easily examined.
Here was discovered the extensive remains of an amphitheatre. In the
cellar of a villa twenty-seven female skeletons were found with
ornaments for the neck and arms; lying around, near the lower door of
another villa, two skeletons were found, one of which held a key in one
hand, and in the other a bag of coins and some cameos, and near them
were several beautiful silver and bronze vessels. It is probable,
however, that most of the inhabitants of this city had time to save
themselves by flight, as comparatively few bodies have been found. The
excavations since the discovery, have been continued by the government,
up to the present time, with more or less interruptions. For the
antiquary and the archæologist, antiquity seems here to revive and
awaken the sensations which Schiller has so beautifully described in his
poem of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The ancient streets and buildings are
again thrown open, and in them we see, as it were, the domestic life of
the ancient Romans. We had never before such an opportunity of becoming
acquainted with the disposition of their houses, and of their utensils.
Whole streets, with magnificent temples, theatres, and private mansions,
have been disentombed. Multitudes of statues, bas-reliefs, and other
sculptures have been found in these buried cities; also many fresco
paintings, the most remarkable of which are Andromeda and Perseus, Diana
and Endymion, the Education of Bacchus, the Battle of Platea, &c. In one
splendid mansion were discovered several pictures, representing
Polyphemus and Galatea, Hercules and the three Hesperdies, Cupid and a
Bacchante, Mercury and Io, Perseus killing Medusa, and other subjects.
There were also in the store rooms of the same house, evidently
belonging to a very rich family, an abundance of provisions, laid in for
the winter, consisting of dates, figs, prunes, various kinds of nuts,
hams, pies, corn, oil, peas, lentils, &c. There were also in the same
house, vases, articles of glass, bronze, and terra-cotta, several
medallions in silver, on one of which was represented in relief, Apollo
and Diana. A great treasure of ancient books or manuscripts, consisting
of papyrus rolls, has also been discovered, which has excited the
greatest curiosity of the learned, in the hope of regaining some of the
lost works of ancient writers; but though some valuable literary remains
of Grecian and Roman antiquity have been more or less completely
restored, the greater part remain yet untouched, no effectual means
having been discovered by which the manuscripts could be unrolled and
deciphered, owing to their charred and decomposed state.
The following vivid sketch of the present appearance of these devoted
cities, is from the pen of an American traveler:--
"In the grounds of the Royal Palace at Portici, which are extensive,
there is a small fortress, with its angles, its bastions,
counter-scarps, and all the geometrical technicalities of Vauban, in
miniature. It was erected by Charles III., for the instruction, or
perhaps more correctly speaking, the amusement of his sons. The garden
on the front of the palace next to the bay, is enchanting. Here, amidst
statues, refreshing fountains, and the most luxurious foliage, the vine,
the orange, the fig, in short, surrounded by all the poetry of life, one
may while 'the sultry hours away,' till the senses, yielding to the
voluptuous charm, unfit one for the sober realities of a busy world.
"The towns of Portici and Resinia, which are in fact united, are very
populous. The shops, at the season of my visit, Christmas, particularly
those where eatables were sold, exhibited a very gay appearance; and
gilt hams, gilt cheese, festoons of gilt sausages, intermixed with
evergreens, and fringes of maccaroni, illuminated Virgin Marys, and
gingerbread Holy Families, divided the attention of the stranger, with
the motley crowds in all the gay variety of Neapolitan costume. At the
depth of seventy or eighty feet beneath these crowded haunts of busy
men, lies buried, in a solid mass of hard volcanic matter, the once
splendid city of Herculaneum, which was overthrown in the first century
of the Christian era, by a terrible eruption of Vesuvius. It was
discovered about the commencement of the last century, by the digging of
a well immediately over the theatre. For many years the excavations were
carried on with spirit; and the forum, theatres, porticos, and splendid
mansions, were successively exposed, and a great number of the finest
bronzes, marble statues, busts, &c., which now delight the visitor to
the Museum at Naples, were among the fruits of these labors.
Unfortunately, the parts excavated, upon the removal of the objects of
art discovered, were immediately filled up in lieu of pillars, or
supports to the superincumbent mass being erected. As the work of
disentombment had long since ceased, nothing remained to be seen but
part of the theatre, the descent to which is by a staircase made for the
purpose. By the light of a torch, carried by the _custode_, I saw the
orchestra, proscenium, consular seats, as well as part of the corridors,
all stripped, however, of the marbles and paintings which once adorned
them. I was shewn the spot where the celebrated manuscripts were found.
The reflection that this theatre had held its ten thousand spectators,
and that it then lay, with the city of which it was an ornament, so
horribly engulphed, gave rise to feelings in awful contrast to those
excited by the elysium of Portici almost immediately above. About seven
miles further along the base of the mountain, lies the long lost city of
Pompeii. The road passes through, or rather over Torre del Greco, a town
almost totally destroyed by the eruption in 1794. The whole surface of
the country for some distance is laid waste by the river of lava, which
flowed in a stream or body, of twenty feet in depth, destroyed in its
course vineyards, cottages, and everything combustible, consumed and
nearly overwhelmed the town, and at last poured into the sea, where as
it cooled, it formed a rugged termination or promontory of considerable
height. The surface of this mass presented a rocky and sterile aspect,
strongly opposed to the exuberance of vegetation in the more fortunate
neighborhood. Passing through Torre del Annunziata, a populous village,
the street of which was literally lined with maccaroni hanging to dry, I
soon reached Pompeii. Between these last mentioned places, I noticed at
the corner of a road a few dwellings, upon the principal of which, an
Inn, was inscribed in formidable looking letters, GIOACHINOPOLI. Puzzled
at the moment, I inquired what this great word related to, when lo, I
was told that I was now in the city of Gioachinopoli, so called in
compliment to the reigning sovereign, Gioachino Murat, the termination
being added in imitation of the emperor Constantine, who gave his name
to the ancient Byzantium!
"Although suffering a similar fate with the sister city Herculaneum, the
manner of the destruction of Pompeii was essentially different, for
while the former lies imbedded at a great depth in solid matter, like
mortar or cement, the latter is merely covered with a stratum of
volcanic ashes, the surface of which being partly decomposed by the
atmosphere, affords a rich soil for the extensive vineyards which are
spread over its surface. No scene on earth can vie in melancholy
interest with that presented to the spectator on entering the streets of
the disinterred city of Pompeii. On passing through a wooden enclosure,
I suddenly found myself in a long and handsome street, bordered by rows
of tombs, of various dimensions and designs, from the simple cippus or
altar, bearing the touching appeal of _siste viator_, stop traveler, to
the Patrician mausoleum with its long inscription. Many of these latter
yet contain the urns in which the ashes of the dead were deposited.
Several large semicircular stone seats mark where the ancient Pompeians
had their evening chat, and no doubt debated upon the politics of the
day. Approaching the massive walls, which are about thirty feet high and
very thick, and entering by a handsome stone arch, called the
Herculaneum gate, from the road leading to that city, I beheld a vista
of houses or shops, and except that they were roofless, just as if they
had been occupied but yesterday, although near eighteen centuries have
passed away since the awful calamity which sealed the fate of their
inhabitants. The facilities for excavation being great, both on account
of the lightness of the material and the little depth of the mass, much
of the city has been exposed to view. Street succeeds street in various
directions, and porticos, theatres, temples, magazines, shops, and
private mansions, all remain to attest the mixture of elegance and
meanness of Pompeii; and we can, from an inspection, not only form a
most correct idea of the customs and tastes of the ancient inhabitants,
but are thereby the better enabled to judge of those of contemporary
cities, and learn to qualify the accounts of many of the ancient writers
themselves.
"Pompeii is so perfectly unique in its kind, that I flatter myself a
rather minute description of the state in which I saw it, will not be
uninteresting. The streets, with the exception of the principal one,
which is about thirty-three feet wide, are very narrow. They are paved
with blocks of lava, and have raised side-walks for pedestrians, things
very rare in modern Europe. At the corners of the streets are fountains,
and also stepping-stones for crossing. The furrows worn by the carriage
wheels are strongly marked, and are not more than forty-four inches
apart, thus giving us the width of their vehicles.
"The houses in general are built with small red bricks, or with volcanic
matter from Vesuvius, and are only one or two stories high. The marble
counters remain in many of the stores, and the numbers, names of the
occupiers, and their occupations, still appear in red letters on the
outside. The names of Julius, Marius, Lucius, and many others, only
familiar to us through the medium of our classic studies, and fraught
with heroic ideas, we here see associated with the retailing of oil,
olives, bread, apothecaries' wares, and nearly all the various articles
usually found in the trading part of Italian cities even at the present
day. All the trades, followed in these various edifices, were likewise
distinctly marked by the utensils found in them; but the greater part of
these, as discovered, were removed for their better preservation to the
great Museum at Naples; a measure perhaps indispensable, but which
detracts in some degree from the local interest. We see, however, in the
magazine of the oil merchant, his jars in perfect order, in the
bakehouse are the hand mills in their original places, and of a
description which exactly tallies with those alluded to in holy writ;
the ovens scarcely want repairs; where a sculptor worked, there we find
his marbles and his productions, in various states of forwardness, just
as he left them.
"The mansions of the higher classes are planned to suit the delicious
climate in which they are situated, and are finished with great taste.
They generally have an open court in the centre, in which is a fountain.
The floors are of mosaic. The walls and ceilings are beautifully
painted or stuccoed and statues, tripods, and other works of art,
embellished the galleries and apartments. The kitchens do not appear to
have been neglected by the artists who decorated the buildings, and
although the painting is of a coarser description than in other parts of
the edifices, the designs are in perfect keeping with the plan. Trussed
fowls, hams, festoons of sausages, together with the representations of
some of the more common culinary utensils, among which I noticed the
gridiron, still adorn the walls. In some of the cellars skeletons were
found, supposed to be those of the inmates who had taken refuge from the
shower of ashes, and had there found their graves, while the bulk of
their fellow citizens escaped. In one vault, the remains of sixteen
human beings were discovered, and from the circumstance of some valuable
rings and a quantity of money being found with the bones, it is
concluded that the master of the house was among the sufferers. In this
vault or cellar I saw a number of earthen jars, called Amphoræ, placed
against the wall. These, which once held the purple juice, perhaps the
produce of favorite vintages, were now filled to the brim with ashes.
Many of the public edifices are large, and have been magnificent. The
amphitheatre, which is oval, upon the plan of that at Verona, would
contain above ten thousand spectators. This majestic edifice was
disentombed by the French, to whose taste and activity, during their
rule in Italy, particularly in the district of Naples, every lover of
the arts stands indebted. I had the good fortune to be present at the
clearing of a part of the arena of this colossal erection, and witnessed
the disclosure of paintings which had not seen the light for above
seventeen hundred years. They were executed in what is termed _fresco_,
a process of coloring on wet plaster, but which, after it becomes hard,
almost defies the effects of time. The subjects of those I allude to
were nymphs, and the coloring of the draperies, in some instances, was
as fresh as if just applied.
"Not far distant from the amphitheatre are two semicircular theatres,
one of which is supposed to have been appropriated to tragedy and the
other to comedy. The first mentioned is large, and built of stone, or a
substance called _tufo_, covered with marble. It had no roof. The
Proscenium and Orchestra remain. The stage, or rather the place where it
was, is of considerable width, but so very shallow that stage effect, as
regards scenery, could not have been much studied, nor indeed did the
dramas of the ancients require it. The comic theatre is small, and
nearly perfect. It appears to have had a roof or covering. These two
theatres are close together. Of the public edifices discovered, the
Temple of Isis is one of the most interesting. It is of brick, but
coated with a hard and polished stucco. The altars for sacrifice remain
unmolested. A hollow pedestal or altar yet exists, from which oracles
were once delivered to the credulous multitude, and we behold the
secret stairs by which the priests descended to perform the office. In
the chamber of this Temple, which may have been a refectory, were found
some of the remains of eatables, which are now in the museum. I
recollect noticing egg-shells, bread, with the maker's name or initials
stamped thereon, bones, corn, and other articles, all burnt black, but
perfect in form. The Temple of Hercules, as it is denominated, is a
ruin, not one of its massive fragments being left upon another. It was
of the Doric order of architecture, and is known to have suffered
severely by an earthquake some years before the fatal eruption. Not far
from this temple is an extensive court or forum, where the soldiers
appear to have had their quarters. In what has evidently been a prison,
is an iron frame, like the modern implements of punishment, the stocks,
and in this frame the skeletons of some unfortunate culprits were found.
On the walls of what are called the soldiers' quarters, from the
helmets, shields, and pieces of armor which have been found there, are
scrawled names and rude devices, just as we find on the walls of the
buildings appropriated to the same purpose in the present day. At this
point of the city, travelers who have entered at the other, usually make
their exit. The scene possessed far too great an interest, however, in
my eyes, to be hastily passed over, and on more than one visit, I
lingered among the deserted thresholds, until the moon had thrown her
chaste light upon this city of the dead. The feelings excited by a
perambulation of Pompeii, especially at such an hour, are beyond the
power of my pen to describe. To behold her streets once thronged with
the busy crowd, to tread the forum where sages met and discoursed, to
enter the theatres once filled with delighted thousands, and the temples
whence incense arose, to visit the mansions of the opulent which had
resounded with the shouts of revelry, and the humbler dwellings of the
artisan, where he had plied his noisy trade, in the language of an
elegant writer and philosopher, to behold all these, now tenantless, and
silent as the grave, elevates the heart with a series of sublime
meditations."