PRIVATE HOUSES

To notice all the houses excavated at Pompeii, even if there were materials for it, would be wearisome in the extreme. We intend therefore merely to select some of the most important, to be described at length, the arrangement of which may serve, with variations according to place and circumstances, as a type of the whole. Some, which offer no particularity in their construction, are remarkable for the beauty of their paintings or other decorations; and, indeed, it is from the paintings on the walls that many of the houses have derived their the names. Some again are designated from mosaics or inscriptions on the threshold, from the trade or profession evidently exercised by the proprietors, or from some accident, as the presence of distinguished persons at their excavation as, for instance, those called the House of the Emperor Joseph II., del Gran Duca, degli Scienziati, &c. As it is the object of this work to convey a general notion of the remains of Pompeii, and to exhibit, as far as our materials will permit, the private life of the first century in all its degrees, we shall begin with one or two of the shops. These present great similarity in their arrangements, and indicate that the tribe of shopkeepers was very inferior in wealth and comfort to that of our own time and country. They are for the most part very small, and sometimes without any interior apartment on the ground floor. The upper floor must have comprised one or two sleeping-rooms; but there is, as we believe, only one house in which the upper floor is in existence.

It is rare at Pompeii to see a whole house set apart for purposes of trade, a part being occupied by the shop itself, the rest furnishing a comfortable dwelling for the owner. The houses of the richer classes, instead of presenting a handsome elevation to the street, were usually surrounded with shops, let out to hire, of that mean, or at least uncomfortable sort, which we have already described. They furnished a very considerable source of revenue. Cicero, in a letter to Atticus, speaks of the ruinous state into which some of his shops had fallen, " insomuch that not only the men, but the mice had quitted them," and hints at the gain which he hoped to derive from this seemingly untoward circumstance. One Julia Felix possessed nine hundred shops, as we learn from an inscription in Pompeii, to which we have already adverted. We give here the ground-plan of a shop, together with a view of the interior, as it has been restored, somewhat fancifully, or at least without very sure data, by Mazois. 1. Curb-stone, which is pierced with several holes, perhaps to attach beasts of burden. 2. The footpath. 3. The shop. The whole front was entirely open, excepting in so far as it is occupied by a broad counter of masonry, into which are built four large jars of baked earth, their tops being even with the surface of the counter. Behind are two small rooms (5, 5), containing nothing of importance. The traces of a staircase (4) indicate that there was an upper floor. At night the whole front was closed with shutters, sliding in grooves cut in the lintel and basement wall before the counter, and by the door, which in the restored view annexed is thrown far back, so as to be hardly visible There is an oven at the end of the counter furthest from the street, and three steps on the left side, which in the view have been presumed to support different sorts of vessels or measures for liquids. From these indications it is supposed to have been a cook's shop; for the sale, perhaps, both of undressed and dressed provisions, as is indicated in the view. The oven probably served to prepare, and keep constantly hot, some popular dishes for the service of any chance customer : the jars might hold oil, olives, or the fish-pickle called garum, an article of the highest importance in a Roman kitchen, for the manufacture of which Pompeii was celebrated. Fixed vessels appear inconvenient for such uses on account of the difficulty of cleaning them out; but the practice, it is said, continues to this day at Rome, where the small shopkeepers keep their oil in similar jars, fixed in a counter of masonry. All the ornaments in the view are copied from Pompeii. In front of the shop, which stands opposite the passage leading behind the small theatre to the Soldiers' Quarters, are three stepping-stones, to enable persons to cross the road without wetting their feet in bad weather. In conjunction with a street view, we give the view of another shop, which has also a counter containing jars for the reception of some liquid commodity.

View of a Cook's Shop restored.

By some it is called a Thermopolium, or shop for the sale of hot drinks, while others call it an oil-shop. In front is a fountain. It is situated at the angle of the street immediately adjoining the House of Pansa, and, as may be seen by referring to the map, appears to be of greater extent, and to contain more conveniences than is usual in establishments of this sort. The left-hand street leads to the Gate of Herculaneum; the right, skirting Pansa's house, is terminated by the city walls. Tracks of wheels are very visible on the pavement. The interior was gaily painted in blue panels and red borders, as we learn from the coloured view in Mr. Donaldson's Pompeii, from which this is taken. The counter is faced and covered with marble. Numerous thermopolia have been discovered in Pompeii, many of them identified, or supposed to be identified, by the stains left upon the counters by wet glasses.

Street view near the Baths.

The following engraving is the ground-plan of another shop, affording much more accommodation, and, therefore, probably occupied by a more wealthy tradesman. 1. Entrance. 2. Shop. 3. Covered court, which, in a house of more pretension, would be called an atrium. It is pseudotetrastyle, the roof being supported by four pillars, two of which are engaged in the wall.

Ground-plan of a Shop.

4. Impluvium. 5. This room probably was the owner's bedchamber. 6. Staircase leading to one small room over the kitchen, 7. Part of the wall of the small upper chamber still remains. The column, are perfect, and are painted red for the lower third of their height : the rest is white. It would be easy to multiply examples, but those already given are enough to convey a general notion of this class of houses, and there is little or nothing interesting in their details.