DESCRIPTION OF A VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 RUINS OF THE CITY 
 
 POMPEII, 
 
 AND SURROUNDING COUNTRY, 
 
 Now exhibiting in the 
 
 PANORAMA, STRANB: 
 
 i ■■ 1 ' > 
 
 PAINTED FROM DRAWINGS TAKEN ON THE SPOT 
 
 • ’ . '/* ’ . .. .... 
 
 BY MR. BURFORD. 
 
 , : • , '• 1 ' V. ' ' , 
 
 1824. 
 
 Price Sixpence. 
 
 J. and C. Adlavdi Primers, 28, Bartholomew Close 
 
 ' 
 
The Proprietors are indebted to the friendly assistance of Mr. 
 Thomas Leverton Donaldson, Architect, Member of the Aca¬ 
 demies of Rome, Venice, Milan, and Florence, for the following 
 brief History of Pompeii, and the remarks in explanation of the 
 principal objects in the Panorama, which he collected during a 
 residence on the spot in the years 1821 and 1822 . 
 
 As it is desirable to impress the spectator with such feelings as 
 accompany those who visit the desolate and unpeopled ruins of 
 Pompeii, any circumstance that might tend to destroy those im¬ 
 pressions has been carefully avoided: this is the reason why so few 
 figures are introduced in the Panorama 
 
INSCIUFIION IN MOSAIC ON THE PAVEMENT OF THE ENTRANCE VESTIBULE 
 TO ONE OF THE HOUSES OF POMPEII.* 
 
 POMPEII. 
 
 This subject, so interesting to the classical scholar, the 
 historian, the artist, and to the general traveller,’ has 
 now for many years occupied the attention of the li¬ 
 terary world. Anxious, therefore, to allow the British 
 public an opportunity of participating in the advantages 
 of so important a discovery as the excavation of an entire 
 ancient city, Mr. Burfoiid, in November 1822, imme¬ 
 diately after the last eruption of Mount Vesuvius, took 
 drawings for two Panoramas, one of which is the pre¬ 
 sent View, and the other will be opened shortly to the 
 public, in Leicester-square. Mr. Hamilton, our Am¬ 
 bassador to the Court of Naples, with that attachment 
 to the fine arts which pre-eminently distinguishes him, 
 procured the permission to take drawings, and every fa¬ 
 cility to prosecute the undertaking. The remoteness 
 of the excavations from each other, which rendered it 
 impossible to unite in one view all the interesting ob¬ 
 jects, compelled Mr. Burford to take two views'from 
 those points, which offer the details to the spectator on 
 a larger scale, and more immediately command the 
 splendid remains of this ill-fated city. 
 
 * It was customary for the Romans to place this word in Mosaic at the 
 entrance of their houses, to indicate that those who came were welcome, 
 
 A 2 
 
mnnnmmwnh 
 
 As some places have acquired celebrity by their po- 
 litical influence, by their warlike achievements, by their 
 advancement in science, or by their progress m litera¬ 
 ture and the fine arts; so Pompeii, which can lay no 
 claim to distinction in these points, owes its present re¬ 
 putation to the severest calamity that can befal man: 
 but which, however fatal to the inhabitants, has been 
 advantageous to us, by preserving these invaluable do¬ 
 cuments of the manners and customs of the ancients. 
 
 Pompeii stands at the foot of Vesuvius, which rises 
 with majestic grandeur in the midst of a plain, called 
 bv the ancients* Campania. Its walls were once washed 
 bv the waves, but the sea has since retired to some dis¬ 
 tance. Although evidently of Greek origin, nothing- 
 certain is known of the earlier history of this city, the 
 foundation of which is attributed to Hercules. The 
 Oscans, Cumteans, Etruscans, and Samnites, seem to 
 have been the successive possessors of these delightful 
 plains, where Nature has lavished under a pure un¬ 
 clouded sky every luxury that can procuie enjoyment 
 to man, but which too often, unhappily, enervate his 
 frame and debase his mind. Pompeii, with many other 
 cities, underwent various reverses during the punic and 
 social wars. It was besieged by Sylla, and at length 
 yielded to the power of the dictator. After the time of 
 Augustus it became a colony, when its history merges m 
 the more important annals of the Roman empire. 
 
 Placed on an insulated elevation, formed of the lava, 
 and by some thought the summit of a volcano, on the 
 borders of a seaf celebrated for the beauty of its 
 shores, at the entrance of a fertile plain, and watered by 
 a pure stream ,% Pompeii offered a position, strong in a 
 military point of view, and favourable to commeice. noi 
 was its situation less enchanting from being surrounded 
 by villas, which, like so many gems, adorned the neigh¬ 
 bouring declivities of Vesuvius. The Pompeians, in the 
 
 * Mela, I. 2: c. 4. Solinus, cap. 8. 
 + Mare Tyirhenum. 
 
 J Fluvius Sarnus. 
 
3 
 
 midst of their tranquil existence in the month ofTe- 
 bruary, A.D. 63 ,* were surprised by a terrible earth¬ 
 quake and eruption, which caused considerable damage. 
 As soon as the inhabitants had recovered from their 
 consternation, they began to clear away the ruins, and 
 to repair the damage sustained by the edifices; a fact 
 that is evident from the quantity of parts wanting in 
 many of the buildings, even at this time. The taste, 
 however, seems to have become materially corrupt, and 
 purer details are covered by stuccoes, composed in a 
 barbarous style. After an interval of sixteen years, 
 during which several shocks were experienced, on the 
 night of the 23d of August, A.D. 79,f a volume of 
 smoke and ashes issued from the mouth of tjie crater of 
 Vesuvius, with a tremendous explosion : after rising to 
 a certain height, it extended itself like a lofty pine, 
 and, assuming a variety of colours, fell and covered the 
 surrounding country with desolation and dismay. The 
 inhabitants, terrified by repeated shocks, and breathing 
 an atmosphere no longer fit to support life, sought re¬ 
 fuge in flight- but were suffocated by the ashes, op¬ 
 pressed by flames of fire, or overwhelmed by the falling 
 edifices. Some skeletons, which have been found, shew 
 the futility of the attempt in many instances :—here a 
 master seeks for safety, and is arrested at the threshold 
 of his door by a shower of ashes ; he carries in his hands 
 keys, coins, and precious ornaments ; and is followed by 
 a slave bearing vessels of silver and bronze;—there we 
 discover the skeletons of a groupe of females, one of 
 whom is adorned with gold trinkets, and the impressions 
 of some of the forms remain traced upon the ashes. At 
 length, after four days of impenetrable darkness, light 
 re-appeared; but sombre, as when an eclipse obscures 
 the brilliancy of the sun’s rays. 
 
 * Senecae Quest. Nat. 1. 6 : c. 1. Tacitus Annal.; I. 15. 
 t Plinii Epistolae, lib. 6, ep. 16 and 20;in which the younger Pliny describes 
 the eruption of Vesuvius, and the death of his uncle, the naturalist, which oc* 
 curred on this occasion. 
 
 A 3 
 
6 
 
 Herculaneum, which lies about nine miles distant, was 
 destroyed at the same time; but, being imbedded in a 
 compact volcanic matter, it is covered so as to render 
 its excavation a matter of extreme difficulty; and its 
 being situate under two villages and several palaces, 
 precludes the possibility of continuing the researches 
 already begun*, The lighter ashes, which cover Pompeii 
 to the depth of about eighteen feet, render this city of 
 easier access; although the accumulation on the roofs 
 of the edifices caused the destruction of the upper parts 
 of the buildings. Some of the ancient inhabitants who 
 had escaped the dreadful calamity, appear to have re¬ 
 turned, and excavated in some parts, but were forced to 
 leave their city, immersed in hopeless ruin and devoted 
 to oblivion for many ages. 
 
 The decomposition of the volcanic matter, which took 
 place in the course of time, produced a rich soil pe¬ 
 culiarly favorable to the cultivation of vines, which, 
 trained up the stems of poplars planted in groves for that 
 purpose, hang in graceful festoons, and produce a beau¬ 
 tifully picturesque effect. 
 
 After a lapse of fifteen centuries, a countryman, as he 
 was turning up the ground, accidentally found a bronze 
 figure. This discovery excited the attention of the 
 learned, and the government immediately appropriated 
 to itself the right of further researches, which, however, 
 it did not commence till the year 1748, about eighty 
 years after the first discovery. 
 
 The excavations were prosecuted with little energy, 
 till the arrival of the French, who cleared away the 
 greater part of that which is now open. The return of 
 the King suspended the works for a time, but they were 
 resumed, though with less activity. This is to be re¬ 
 gretted, as the progress of excavation is so slow that the 
 present generation will reap, comparatively, few advan¬ 
 tages from the discoveries. 
 
EXPLANATORY REMARKS. 
 
 As the description will commence with an enumeration 
 of the Edifices which surround the Forum, it may not per¬ 
 haps be thought irrelevant to give some slight explanation 
 of the use of the Forums of the ancients. Among the 
 Romans, the Forums were used as market-places, and 
 were surrounded by buildings dependant thereon. These 
 markets were divided into two classes, the “Fora Ve- 
 nalia,” and the “ Fora Judiciaria—in the former were 
 sold cattle, fruits, vegetables, and similar commodities: in 
 the latter, people assembled for the dispatch of public as 
 well as private business; for the various elections; and for 
 the judiciary proceedings in the halls. Very often, in the 
 smaller cities, one Forum served for all purposes. The 
 form w'as oblong, and, as in the centre combats of gladiators 
 sometimes took place, they were surrounded by ample por¬ 
 ticoes, for the shelter of the people, under which were 
 shops of the goldsmiths and money-brokers. Very often 
 there w-as, in addition, an upper colonnade and shops, 
 which allowed a numerous concourse of spectators. Va¬ 
 rious temples were placed in the Forum ;—one to Jupiter, 
 as the father of the gods, always occupied the most con¬ 
 spicuous site; and another to Mercury, as the god of 
 traffic, was considered no less necessary. There w'as also 
 a basilica, which combined the double purposes of our 
 exchange and county halls, with the prisons, courts of 
 
8 
 
 justice, public granaries, treasury, record offices, and va¬ 
 rious other buildings. The centre was paved with marble 
 or stone slabs, unintersected by any road. As the Forum 
 was the most conspicuous and important place in every 
 city, in it the inhabitants erected statues to those public 
 characters whose virtues or whose pow'er rendered them 
 objects of their admiration or fear. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTS. 
 
 No. I. Temple of Jupiter.—There are but few instances in which 
 inscriptions or collateral circumstances furnish sufficient authority for 
 prefixing with any degree of certainty the destination of the edifices 
 round the Forum ; so that, unless contradicted by stronger indications, 
 the generally received names will be given. In this instance, the au. 
 thority of Vitruvius, and the discovery of a colossal foot and head, 
 possessing the dignified character of Jove, seem to support the appel¬ 
 lation by which it is generally distinguished. 
 
 No. 2. This mass of building is the part last excavated, and has 
 been named the Pantheon, on account of the subjects represented in 
 the beautiful paintings on the walls, and from there being in the centre 
 of the court a circular temple, with twelve pedestals for statues. 
 
 No. 4. This arch was covered with marble, some fragments of which 
 still remain. 
 
 No. 6. This building seems to have been, if we may judge from the 
 form, a court of justice : in the centre is a pedestal, and the large niche 
 in the end, called the 41 hcmicyclum,” appears suited for the tribunal. 
 The slabs in front indicate the position of the eight columns of the 
 portico. 
 
 No. 7. Temple of Mercury .—In the centre of the court, in front of 
 the cella or inner temple, is a marble altar with a 44 basso-relievo,” 
 representing a sacrifice, hid from the view of the spectator by a wall. 
 
 No. 8. Wall of the Theatre .—This fragment always remained above 
 ground ; and it seems extraordinary that such an indication should not 
 have paused, at au earlier period, an excavation in this part. 
 
9 
 
 No. 9. The following inscription, discovered in this building, has 
 given it the name of the Portico of Eumachia. 
 
 EVMACHIA • L • F- SACERD • PVB'NOMINE • SVO -eT-M ■ NVMIS-TrI. 
 
 • FRONTONIS • FILI • CHALCIDICVM • CRYPTaM • PGRTICVS. 
 
 CONCORDTAE • AVGVSTaE • PIET ATI • SVA- PEQVNIA • FECIT. 
 
 EADEMQVE • DEDIC AVlT. 
 
 In a niche at the further end was found the statue of Eumachia, 
 erected by the Company of Fullers. 
 
 No. 11. This arch, according to Sir William Gell, is a Janus , which 
 he describes as a species of arch used to protect the statue of some im. 
 portant person from the inclemency of the weather. Nardini, how¬ 
 ever, (lib. v. cap. vii.) seems to consider the Jani to be mere porches for 
 the accommodation of persons transacting business in the forum, as 
 also temples. No ancient writer appears to authorize the opinion of 
 Sir William Gell. 
 
 No. 14 and 15. These buildings seem adapted to the uses of the 
 Treasury , Record Offices, and Court of Justice, One of them, to 
 which there is a gate, is now appropriated to the reception of some of 
 the scattered marble fragments. 
 
 No. 16 . The Basilica, served as an exchange and court of justice. 
 It was open in the centre, of an oblong form, and surrounded in the 
 interior by a colonnade, with a gallery for the convenience of the mer¬ 
 chants and brokers. At the end was a raised tribunal for the judge, 
 and before it the pedestal and statue of a deity, whom the witnesses 
 invoked, in attestation of the truth of their evidence. 
 
 No. 17. is generally called the Temple of Venus, on account of a 
 small marble fragment of a female found among the ruins; but the opi¬ 
 nion on the character of the figure is disputed. Sir William Gell, with 
 apparently more reason, supposes it the temple of Bacchus, in which he 
 is authorised by the '^ l ■fresco ,, painting of Bacchus and Silenus, 
 (No. 18,) seen in the foreground. The spacious court was surrounded 
 by a colonnade of rude columns, decorated in a barbarous taste; and 
 the walls underneath were ornamented with numerous fine paintings of 
 various subjects, the figures of which are pigmies instead of men. The 
 cclla, or inner temple, (No. 19,) is raised on a lofty sub basement, and 
 was once surrounded apparently by columns. 
 
 No. 20. Site of Stabia, which city was overwhelmed at the same 
 time as Herculaneum and Pompeii; on the shore of Stabia, the elder 
 Pliny was suffocated by the fall of ashes. 
 
 1 
 
10 
 
 No. 21. Excavations made by General Championet, in which were 
 found four skeletons of females, denoted by their trinkets, bracelets, 
 and ear-rings, lying among the ashes. There were found also some small 
 coins of gold, silver, and brass; all these objects were taken to Paris. 
 
 No. 23. Mount Lactarius, was celebrated by Galen for its mild and 
 salubrious air. 
 
 No. 27. Rivegliano , a rock in the sea, called by the ancients 
 “ Herculis Petra,” or rocks of Hercules. 
 
 No. 29 . Capri, called by the ancients Capre.ce, celebrated as the 
 island to which the Emperor Tiberius retired, after having entrusted the 
 care of the empire to his favorites; and w'here he gave himself up to 
 the most dissolute and infamous depravities, that could disgrace human 
 nature. 
 
 No. 30. Groups oj Peasantry, celebrating the festival of the patro¬ 
 nising saint of the master of the vineyard, (a) Mountaineers, called 
 Piflerari, who play a pipe very similar in form and sound to the bag¬ 
 pipe of the Highlanders. Just before Christmas they descend from the 
 mountains to Naples and Rome, in order to play before the pictures 
 of the Virgin and Child, which are placed in various parts of every 
 Italian town. 
 
 No. 31. The Island of Ischia , was called by the Romans, Aenaria 
 and Inarime, The mountain is the crater of an extinguished volcano: 
 under it the ancients fabled Jupiter to have confined the giant Typhceus. 
 Ischia is now celebrated for its fertility, its wine, and warm baths. 
 
 No. 33. This road, which branches off from the high road from 
 Naples to Salerno, leads to one of the entrances to Pompeii, called by 
 the moderns, the Gate of the Tombs ; and, by the ancients, the Uer- 
 cutanean Gate , which is shewn at No. 43. 
 
 No. 36. Cape Misenum is the northern promontory of the Bay of 
 Puzzoli. It had a capacious harbour, where was generally stationed a 
 Roman fleet. At the time of the celebrated eruption, Pliny commanded 
 the fleet, and sailed thence to afford assistance to the Pompeians, and 
 to observe nearer the eruption of Vesuvius. The Emperor Tiberius 
 died at Misenum. 
 
 No. 46". Ruins of an Inn , near the Hcrculanean Gate. In it were 
 found the bones of horses, and rings for tying them to the mangers; large 
 earthen vases for wine in the cellars, and three cars with light wheels, 
 tour feet three inches diameter. Chequers were also painted on the side 
 of the door-way, and still remain. 
 

 11 
 
 No. 49. A Fountain , adorneil with a small subject of sculpture, in 
 Sow relief, representing an eagle bearing oil' a hare in its beak. ’.Sir 
 William Gell imagines, that, by this allegory, the ancients wished to in¬ 
 spire with terror those who might deface an object of such public utility, 
 indicating that the law would punish those who should destroy the 
 fountain. Behind it is seen the shop of a Thermopolite, or vender of 
 warm drinks. Such shops were frequented as great luxuries by the 
 ancient Roman epicures, who took the drinks medicinally to proiou- 
 their appetite. Vitellius thus contrived to sup the whole night. Sweet 
 liquors and stewed meats were also sold here. In front of the foun¬ 
 tain is seen the ancient pavement, which is formed of large polygonal 
 blocks, of the lava of Vesuvius, in which may be distinguished the ruts 
 of the ancient wheels. Few of the streets were more than fifteen feet 
 wide, and some only eight feet. On one or both sides there was a 
 foot-way for passengers, seldom more than two or three feet wide, with 
 stepping-stones from one curb to the other, to allow passengers to cross 
 the street without stepping on the carriage-way. Of the two streets 
 which meet at the fountain, the one to the left (No. 48,) leads to the 
 Herculanean gate; in it is the house of Caius Sallust, in which is a ce¬ 
 lebrated fresco painting of Actreon. In one of the houses in this street 
 were found a variety of surgical instruments, which are now preserved 
 in the Borbonic Museum at Naples; to which have been transported alt 
 the removeable objects excavated at Herculaneum, Stabia, and Pompeii. 
 
 No. 50. Baker’s Shop. — In it are preserved the oven, as also three 
 mills, in which the ancients ground corn:—there was found here a loaf 
 of ready-baked bread. 
 
 No. 51. Kitchen in the House of Pansa. The stoves still remain very 
 perfect. On the wall is a painting, representing two figures sacrificing 
 on an altar; underneath are two serpents, indicating that the genius 
 health presided over the culinary operations. On the side is painted a 
 ham, or leg of mutton. 
 
 No. 53. The House of Panza. —On one of the piers are painted 
 these words— pansam • aed • pa rat vs • rog. This custom of the Pom¬ 
 peians of writing similar inscriptions on the walls is not the least curious 
 of those which these ruins alone have brought to light. On the walls 
 of the habitations were painted the names of the proprietors, the num¬ 
 bers of the houses, manifestoes, notices of plays, of gladiatorial games 
 and hunts,—as this, “ The gladiatorial family of N. Festus Ampliatus 
 will repeat the combats on the 1 6 th of the calends of June: —there 
 will be a hunt, and the awning will be put up." —We find announce¬ 
 ments also of sales, and of houses to let: in one of the last description, 
 a certain Julia Felix offers to let nine hundred shops, with their apper- 
 tenances, for six years. 
 
 The House of Panza is a very complete example of a Pompeian man¬ 
 sion, which in general consisted of a succession of two courts, surrounded 
 
 / 
 
 ( 
 
12 
 
 by chambers opening into them, two stories high, and at the further end 
 a garden. The habitation being surrounded by a great number of small 
 shops, which were either let out or used by the landlord for the sale of 
 the produce of his estates, occupied a space called Insula by the 
 ancients, and was enclosed by streets on each side. The opening of 
 the principal entrance exposes the whole length of the range of building. 
 
 No 54 The summit of Vesuvius , consists of three heads The same 
 number is the crater now in action, occasionally sending forth erup- 
 and is separated from the other two (o5), called Somma and 
 Ottaianus. Th/circumferencc of Vesuvius at the base is about thirty 
 
 miles. 
 
 No 57 is an example of one of the shops appropriated to the sale of 
 eatables; in the counter are sunk large fixed jars, as here shewn, which 
 held the Materials to be sold. 
 
 No 58 On the pier of this shop is a basso relievo of terra cotta, 
 representing a cow or a goat, seeming to indicate the sale of milk. 
 
 No 5Q Prisons, in which were found some skeletons of prisoners, 
 with the irons, attached to the wall, by which they were confined. 
 
 No. 60. Entrance to the Forum, to which is a descent of five or six 
 steps. 
 
 J. and C. Adlard, Printers, 
 
 23, Bartholomew Close. 
 
EXPLANATION of a VIEW of the CITY of POMPEII, exhibiting i u the PANORAMA, STRAND. 
 
 1. Temple of Jupiter. 
 
 2. Pantheon. 
 
 3. Appennines. 
 
 4. Triumphal Arch. 
 
 5. Remains of Public Granaries. 
 
 6. Court of Justice. 
 
 7. Temple of Mercury. 
 
 8. Wall of great Theatre. 
 9• Portico of Euiuachia. 
 
 10 . 
 
 11 . 
 
 12 . 
 
 for Statues in the Forum. 
 Arch called a Janus. 
 
 Street leading to Queeu Caroline’s Ex. 
 cuvation. 
 
 13. Town of Letlere. 
 
 14 and 15. Treasury, Record Offices, &c. 
 l(i. Basilica. 
 
 17. Temple of Venus, or Bacchus. 
 
 18. Ancient Painting of Bacchus and Silenus. J 
 
 19. Celia of the Temple. 
 
 20. Site of Stabia. 
 
 21. General Championet's Excavation. 
 
 22. Castell’ a Mare. 
 
 23. Mount Lactarius. 
 
 28. Point of Minerva. 
 
 29. Island of Capri. 
 
 30. Peasants celebrating a Festival. 
 A. Pift'erari, or Pipers. 
 
 31. Island of Ischia. 
 
 32. Island of Procida. 
 
 and Ottaianus. 
 Reale. 
 
 Shops. 
 
 Shop, 
 of Prisons, 
 of the Forum. 
 
 I 24. River Samus. 
 
 25. Vico 
 J 26. Sorrento. 
 
 I 27- Rivegliano, or the Rocks of Hercules. 
 
 33. Road leading to the Street of the Tombs. 
 
 34. Torre dell’Annunziala. 
 
 35. Point Scassata. 
 
 36. Cape Misenum. 
 
 37- Mount Selvaggi. 
 
 I 3S. JrfcighJs of Posilipo. 
 
 41. Camalrloli near Torre del Greco. 
 
 42. Bosco Trc Case. 
 
 43. Extinct Craters at the Fool of Vesuvius. 
 
 45. Herculanean Gate. 
 
 46. Ruins of an Inn. 
 
 47. Part of the Town-Wall. 
 
 48. Street with Ruts ofancient Chariot-wheels.