r^ ^p:^^ - -i',^ ^': ^^^^»Wa= i' ■"^'-^;^ ^-^y ', r"" ^./^ '■^'^,A/'>^.,A,'";!?^ r^■^ .■' ^ / \ ■'^ /^, /"^ : (It/,../. ■'^-'^ -N '"^ /-"N f~ , " . .-^> '^ ■"'■■A;^!^,' (^ -.' ''A''/^ /*\'/*\''^S ■>SI>,'/*^»,«S4 /^';*^^M''^ ''' ' ' ' ''^-v:.-- :^; .C-, /^^ ,"/*"- .'- T^ „ j**^ ,-.--- /^/^AAi ,-^/-y^>^ f^K . - ,- ,.. .^Y^/^N.^^,/-^ /'•■■'■ ^n/ }*^ -••'-''i. »'^ /-^^/^r\/*N ^^^ /"^ ^ '^> , ^"^^ ."N B^; ■ «I^S^. o- ';-:• ,o 'W rv -;■ ^, ■I...;. ■■■^■(gi..ii;;iiiiliN mmm'^ri^mh ' ■' |[!| If' hmmp '•^-^r.r.->V^^^^^^-"^--Ar.A ', , 'I -Y' K«&rfn«ai^^^^'] Ar^^ '-yw^^,^^^ ^v i~ *■ r\ ■' <;-.'' i^, /Tj .;:v. ^'^P'r^r^^ ■"^^^^■^^^Y-^^/^^^^ :>■,-. '>r ^, .■ ^s^r\^-/ \'i/ .1 .--N".: r^nr\r\r^:r^^rM ^-^, ^^ .•> ^^v ■ :i^nr^!^f^^'^:r\'^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^-^J^L^i^ '^,/-.,, V-N/ 'V. <^^/?:^/?^ ^'"^■^^^-^f^Rvf^^^^'^ ^3^ /-^, i?" ;^^A'^/-^/-^,/^r^ ^"'3 ' " / uid^miiMmnm. .&ii Ml^z-d <^^' S. /^&J ^^?^^^^^-^^ l^n^ e^Oy^yz. ^^^^^-/.^^^a— % ACCOUNT O F The DISCOVERIES at POMPEII, COMMUNICATED TO The SOCIETY of ANTIQUARIES of LONDON B Y The Hon. Sir WILLIAM HAMILTON, Knight of the Bath,. ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY and PLENIPOTENTIARY From HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY to the COURT of NAPLES. LONDON: PRINTED BY W. BOWYER AND J. NICHOLS. MDCCI-XXVII. [ 3 ] Account of the Difcovenes at Pompeii, communicated by Sir W illiam Hamilton. Read at the Society of Antiquaries, Jan, 26, Feb. 2 — 9, 1775. Plate I. View of the Place of Arms at the little Gate of Pompeii towards Stabia. ACoLONADE, round a fquare court, not yet cleared from the rubbifti of pumice flones, and afhes, B. B. by which the city was overwhelmed. The columns are of coarfe flone, coated with plaifteror flucco, and coloured. On many of the columns, the foldiers have idly fcratched their names, fome in Greek, and fome in Latin. C, C. C Rooms, in which the .foldiers were quartered. The {keletons of fome were found in them ; as alfo feveral helmets, and pieces of armour for the arms, thighs, and legs, but none for the breaft. Thefe pieces of armour are moftly ornamented with Dolphins and Tridents in relievo, and fome are encrufted with fuch ornaments in filvcr, which moft pro- bably indicates then- having been dedined for fea fervice. B The 4 Sir William F^amilton's Account of The helmets are Angularly formed, not unlike the hats ufed by the firemen in London. Some are very richly ornamented, and one particularly beautiful and interefting, with the prin- cipal events of the taking of Troy admirably executed ia relievo. Some have vizors, like the helmets of the lower ages, with gratings or round holes to fee through. From their fize and weight, it has been d.fputed, whether they had been really worn, or were only intended as ornaments for trophies; but, as I was prefent at the dlfcovery of fome of them, and faw diftindly part of the linings which were then adhering to them, and are now fallen out, I have no doubt as to their having been worn. A curious trumpet of braf-^, wnth fix ivory flutes at- tached to the outfide of it, and all communicating to one mouth- piece, was found in one of thefe rooms. The flutes are without holes for the fingers. A chain of bronze hung to it, probably that the trumpeter miglit fling it over his flioulder. It might be a very proper military inftrument, and produce a fpirited Clangor Tubanim, but not much variety or harmony. In the prlfon of this barrack, the fkeletons of leveral foldiers were found, and fome with iron fetters on their leg-bones ; their fculls are now placed on the flielves D. for the inlpedion of the curious. It is certain, that in thefe fculls, and in many others, that have been found at Pompeii, the teeth are re- markably found ; perhaps among the Ancients, who did not make ufe of fugar, they might not be fo fubjed to decay as ours. Plate •^ Di/covenes at Pompeii. Plate II. The poor remains of a temple and altar near the place of arms. It had been difcovered and ftripped before his Sicilian Majefty carried on his works here. The peafants, digging to plant their vines, often broke into houfes and temples, and ufed to carry on a good trade with what they found therein. The prefent workmen often dlfcover the evident ligns of former excavations. B. A Semicircular ftone-feat at the fide of the temple. C. Pumice, and rubblfli, over the uncleared part of the city. D. The ifland of Caprea. E. Th« coaft of Sorrento. F. The town of Gaftel a Mare ; near which is the ancient city of Stabia, buried at the fame time as Pompeii by the afhes of Mount Vefuvius. Here it was alfo that Pliny the Elder loft his life. Before the king of Spain left Naples, excavations were carried on there, and many of the beautiful, monuments of an- tiquity, now in the Mufeum at Portici, were taken from thence. When the refearches were carried on at Herculaneum, and Pompeii was opened, the entrance into the ancient city of Stabia Vv^as walled up, and remains fo. By the accounts I have received from the infpedtor of thefe works, when carried on at Stabia,' there is a great probability, that further very curious and interefting difcoveries might be made in that city. B 2 Plate 6 Sir William Hamilton's Account of Plate III. A. Uncleared rubbilh. Over the pumice flones and afhea is a ftratum of good foil, on which vines grow, as they do over every uncleared part of the buried city. B. B. B. Rooms, fome of which were enriched with elegant paintings in Arabefque compartments, that have been cut out,, and depolited in the Mufeum at Portici. Moil of the floors are of tefierated Mofaic ; the beft of which have been carried alfo to the Mufeum at Portici, and aftually ferve as floors of rooms in that Mufeum. C. Little door, through which you defcend a ftair-cafe into the fubterraneous room reprefented in Plate IV- Plate IV. K, Room adjoining to the bathing apartment, and where, probably, the linen belonging to the baths was wafhed. B. Well. C. Wafhing vefTel of earthen ware. D. Fire-place, on which a large boiler of bronze was found, which is now, amongfl the kitchen utenfils, depofited in the Mufeum at Portici. E. Skeleton of the waflier-woman (for anatomifts fay it is that of a female) .; (he feems to have been (hut up in this vault. Difcoveries at Pompeii. y vault, the ftair cafe having been filled with rubbifli, and to have waited for death with calm refignation, and true Roman for- titude, as the attitude of the Ikeleton really feems to indicare. It was at my inftigation, that the bones were left untouched on the fpot where they were found. F. Door leading to the flove-room next the bath, which is in a fmall circular room. G. Fire-place, that heated the flove-room. Plate V. . A fmall houfe, and garden, near the Temple of Ifis. A covered cloyfter, fupported by columns, goes round the houfe, as was cuftomary in many of the houfes at Pompeii. The rooms in general are very fmall, and in one, where an iron bedflead was found, the wall had been pared away to iTiake room for this bedflead; fo that it was not fix feet fquare, and yet this room w-as mofl elegantly painted, and had a tefferated or Mofliic floor. The weight of the matter erupted from Mount Vefuvius has univerfally damaged the upper parts of the houfes ; the lower parts are moftly found as frefh as the moment they were buried. The plan of moft of the houfes at Pompeii is a fquare court, with a fountain in the middle, and fmall rooms round, communicating, with that court. By tlie conftrudion and diftVibutioii of the houfes, it feems that the inhabitants of Pompeii were fond of privacy. They had few vviudows towards the ftreet, except when, from the nature of the plauj they could not avoid it; but even in that cafe the windows 8 iSVr W I L L I A M Ha M I L ton' s Account of ■windows were placed too high for any one in the flreets to over- look them. Tkeir houfes nearly refembled each other, both as to diftri- butioi) of plan, and in the manner of finifliing the apartments. The rooms are in general fmall, from ten to twelve feet, and from fourteen to eighteen feet; few communications between room and room ; almoft all without windows, except the apartments fituated to the garden, which are thought to have been allotted to the women. Tk E I R Cor tiles were often furrounded by porticos, in very fmall houfes. Not but there were covered galleries before the doors of their apartments, to afford (hade and fhelter. No timber was ufed in finifliing their apartments, except in doors, and windows. The floors w'ere generally laid in Mofaic work. One general tafte prevailed of painting the fides and cielings of the rooms. Small figures, and medallions of low relief, were fometimes introduced. Their great variety confifted in the colours, and in the choice and delicacy of the ornaments, in which they difplayed great harmony and tafte. Their houfes were fome two, others three {lories high. Plate VI. - Interior View of the Chapel of Ifis. A, Covered Cloyfter. B. Great Altar, on which probably was placed the principal flatue of the Deity ; but, as there were evident figns of previous fearches in this fpot, nothing of confequence was found. C. Temple, Difcovenes at Pompeii. p C. Temple, covering the facred well, to which you defcend by fteps. Generally, there is a foul vapour, or mofFette, as it is called here, like the damp of mines, which prevents your going down thefe fleps. In the pediment over the dcor of the temple, in flucco relief, is a vafe with a figure on eacli fide of it in the acl of adoration. This vafe was probably tlie fymbol of Ifis, who was adored as water, earth, or fire. The other flucco ornaments on the front of the temple allude to the Egyptian worlhip, being compofed of the flovv-er Lotus, the Siftrum, the Gods Anubis, Harpocrates, &c. and the ftuccos are in fome parts coloured. The ornaments on the fide D. reprefent Perfeus with the Gorgon's head ; and on the oppofite fide Mars, and Venus, with flying Cur-ids carrying the arms of Mars. E. E. E. Altars of different fizes. Oh the great one, next the facred well, the burnt bones of the vidims were found, fome of which ftill remain there. ¥. Nich, in which v^^as found a marble ftatue of a female, with her fore-finger on her lips. G. A well into which tlie adies of the vidlims were thrown. H. H. H. The wall-, of the cloyfters, that were beautifully ornamented with A.rabefque paintings, mofc of which have been cut out, and carried to the Muleum at Portici. Nothin^^ can be ui a more exquifite tafte, than the great foliape orna- ment, that went round trie whole cloyfler. Near the great altar B. and againfh the wall marked I. was a tablet of bafalre, with Egyptian hieroglyphics en- graved thereon, which has been carried to the Mufeum at Portici. Over lo Sir William Hamilton's Account of Over the great gate of the Chapel was the followhig In- fcription in large charadters, which has been likewife depofited in the Muleum at Portici : N. POPIDIVS N.F. CELSINVS AEDEM ISIDIS TERRAE MOTV CONLAPSAM A FVNDAMENTO P. SVA RESTITVIT. HVNC DECVRIONES OB LIBERALITATEM CVM ESSET ANNORVM SEX. ORDINI SVG GRATIS ADLEGERVNT. It is pity tliat fuch monuments of antiquity as are not in immediate danger of fufFering from the injuries of the weather, fliould have been removed from their places, where they would have afforded fatisfaftion and inftru6tion to the curious who vifit thefe antiquities. Many travellers have feen this chapel without knowing that it was certainly a chapel of Ifis, and rebuilt by N. Popidius, after having been deftroyed by an earthquake. The infcription, being now confounded with many others frorti Herculaneum and Stabia, in the court of the Mufeum at Portici, may have eafily efcaped their notice. The columns of the chapel of Ifis are of brick covered with ftucco, and painted. In a room behind the altar B. a ilceleton was found with a plate near it, on which were the bones of a fifh ; and the utenfils that had been ufcd in drefling that fifli were found in a little kitchen adjoining. In another room was likewife found a Ikeleton with an iron crow lying near it. The paintings of the fides of this room, and even the brick wall, are much broken, probably by this perfon, who was inclofed by the cruel fhower of pumice-ftones and afhes that covered the city, and had been endeavouring, in va'.n, with the iron crow, to force his way our. Di/coven'es at Pompeii. i r cut. Clofe to the chapel of Ifis is a theatre, no more of which has been cleared than the fcene and the corridor that leads to the {eats. In this corridor, was a retiring-place for neceflary occafions, where the pipe to convey the water, and the bafon, like that of our water-clofets, Itill remain ; the wood of the feat only ha\dng mouldered away by time. Plate Vli. A. Principal entrance of the city of Pompeii. B. B. Seats of ftone, one of which, with a fepulchral in- fcription, is now in the court of the Mufeum at Portici. C. Pedeftalof a coloffal flatue of bronze, fome fragments «f the drapery of which were found near it, the reft having probably been carried off by the peafants. Many curious mo- numents of this kind have been, as I am informed, melted down by them, and fold for the weight of the metal. The width of the horfe-way of the flreet is in general about ten feet eight inches Englifh, and the elevated foot V'.ay, on each fide, is about three feet wide ; but in fome parts both horfe and foot way are wider. The tracks of the wheels of carriages are plainly marked on the pavement, by which we fee, that the wheels were near 4 feetafunder, and the wheel itfelf about 3 | inches broad. In a little room which you enter by the door D, was found the famous and beautiful Tripod of bronze fupported by Priapi Fauns, which now ftands on a table in the firft room of the Mufeum at Portici. This gate of the town was difcovered many years ago, (it is now twenty-feven years fnice the king of Spain began firft to fearch at Pompeii), but it is not above five years C that 12 Sir William Ham iLTOii*s Account oj that they have thought proper to enter the town by the gate, having contented themfelves with digging into houles here and there at random, taking out what they could find, and filling up the holes again. E. E. Fragments of columns. F. F. Uncleared rubbilh over the city. Plate VIII. View of the ruins of the houfes on the right-hand fide of the ftreet as you enter the gate. A. The firfl houfe was thought to have been an Inn. The bones of horfes were found in the flables ; and in the cellar large e^then vefl'els for wine. Through flones of the foot-pavement B.B. B. are holes bored, which probably ferved to pafs the halters of horfes or mules, while they ftood at the doors of the houfes. C. The next houfe feemed, by what was found in the (hop, to have been that of an apothecary. D. The Priapus, cut in floue, and placed in a niche on the outfide wall of this houfe, is called here the fign of the Brothel, which they fuppofe to have been kept in the houfe; but it has more probably been placed there in honour of the Deity fo called, in the fame manner as we fee frequently now, againft the houfes of this country, a' St, Francis, a St. Antony, &c. It is evident, from the very public fituation, that fuch a re- prefentation did not in thofe days convey any indecent idea. E. E. Vine yards over other parts of the city, as yet un- cleared. Plate Dtfcoveries at Pompeii. r^ Plate IX. View of the left-hand fide of the ftreet as you enter the gate. A. A. A. Shops. The tiled fiaeds, reprefented in the plate, are modern, and placed there to preferve the paintings on the walls, which are very lively. About one hundred yards only of the ftreet has been as yet cleared ; it is thought to run through the whole city, which is about an Italian mile in length, and about 3 miles | round. B. B. Vine yards and cottages over the uncleared city. C. Entrance to the houfe, one of the beft as yet difcovered, and reprefented in Plate V, Plate X. A. Court with feveral rooms opening to it, one of which is thirty feet long by fifteen, the largeft room as yet difcovered at Pompeii. B. B. B. The rooms ; the paintings of which were very elegant ; but the beft parts have been cut out and tranfported to the Mufeum at Portici. C. Where the rain-water was colleded, and ran into a re- fervoir underneath. D. D. Vine yards over the uncleared parts of the city. C a Plate 14 Sir William Hamilt on' s^cccunf oj Plate XI. A> View of a great fepulclire, or columbarium, out of the gates of the city : feveral marble (latues, not very well executed, were found therein, which are now in the Mufeum at Poriici. B. Coloffal maflcs of terra cotta, in the fituation in which they were found. Under them in vaults C. C. were found fome fepulchral urns with afhes therein. One of the urns was of glafs, with a cover of the fame material J this urn was- depofited in an earthen one, and that again covered with lead, which is now preferved in the Mufeum at Portici. D. Uncleared parts of the city. Plate XII. The prefent excavations are carrying on at a fort of Villa Ruftica out of the city. The Villa appears as reprefented A. The lower arcade is a covered walk for fummer, looking into a garden and yard, into which open feveral coved rooms richly ornamented with paintings, as frefh as the day they were executed. Over this walk is an open terras leading to the greater apartments of the ■upper f!:ory. There is a hot and cold bath in this houfe. Below flairs is a room, B. with a large bow-window; fragmentsof large panes of glafs were found here, fhewing, that the ancients knew well the ufe of glal's for windows. Im Difcoveries at Pompeii. i ij In the cel-lars, which are very fpacious, and run under the covered arcade, are numbers of lirge earthen vafes for wine rangetl againft the walls ; they are full of earth ; the wine was probably covered with oil, and no otherwife fecured, as is pradliled here now, the great bottles having no corks, but oil. The Ikeletons of twenty -three of the family were found in this cellar ; Ibme rings, ear-rings, &c_ &c. and Ibme coins of gold, filver, and brafs, mod of which are of the Emperor Galba. The back part of the Villa was defigned for the farmer, the rooms of which are fimply ornamented ; feveral fpades, pickaxes, and other implements of iiuihandry, were found there. It has a feparate entry, and is perfectly ihut out from the noble part of the Villa. Upon the whole, the plan of this houfe is very curious. It has been well taken by his Sicilian Majefty's order and will probably be publiflied in time, with the reft of the difcoveries at Pompeii; and will afford infinite fatisfadlion to the lovers of antiquities. In the l^reet, juft. out of the gate of this- Villa, I faw lately a fkeleton dugout ; and, by defirijig the labourers to remove the fculi and bones gently, I perceived diftindtly the perfe£l mould of every feature of the f^Ke, and that the eyes had been (hut, I ahb faw diftindly the imprclfion of the large folds of the drapery of the toga, and fome of the cloth itielf ftili ftitking to the earth. The city was firft covered by a fhower of hot pumice-ftones and alhes, and then by a Ihower of fmall afhes mixed with water It was in the latter llratum that the (keieton above defcribed was found. In the Mufeum at Portici a piece of this fort of hard-- ened mud is preferved ; it ib ftamped with the impreflion of the bread of a woman, with a thin drapery over it.. The Ikeleton. 1 6 Sir William Hamilton's Account of I faw dug out was not abov^e five feet from the furface. It is very extraordinary, that the impreffion of the body and face fhpuld have remained fo entire from the year ^9 to this day, efpecially as I found the earth fo little hardened, that it leparated upon the leafl touch. C. Ruins of a building in the gardenof the Villa. D.Di Uncleared parts of Pompeii. Plate XIII. Ground Plan of the Chapel of Ifis. a. Covered portico, or cloyfter. A gutter runs round this portico to convey away the water, which fell from the roof and is defcribed in the plan. b. The Temple fituated in the area of the portico. c. Cell of the Temple. d. An altar the length of the temple, on which the idols were placed ; it was hollow beneath, and formed a cell, from whence it is fuppofed the oracles were iflued. e. e. e. e. Large altars before the Temple, without any marks of fire having been placed on them. f. Altar on which the facrifice was ufually offered, if we may judge from its top being burnt, and from the wall of the adjoining building being much ftained with fmoke. g. Altars placed between the columns of the portico of which five only remain. h. Thefacred well, covered with a temple. i. Well, in which the afhes of the vidims were depofited. k. Pedeftal, >L1U Difcoveries at Pompeii. i - k. Pedeftal, on which was found a beautiful ftatue of Ifis about two feet high. It is of marble, the drapery was painted of a tender purple colour, and fome parts of it gilt. She had a fiftrum of bronze in her right-hand ; and in the left, the common Egyptian fymbol which is explained by Antiquaries as the key to the fluices of the Nile. 1. Niche in the wall for a Statue. m. Room where the utenfils, perfumes, gums, &c. ufed at the facrifices, were kept. n. A great hall, where it is fuppofed that parts of the viftim were eaten by the prieft. There are marked on the floor, in Mofaic fome names of the family of Celfinusj for what purpofe is not known. o. A kitchen. p. Room with a fmall veflel for bathing, q. Apartment for the keeper of the temple. f. Corridor of the great theatre, which adjoined to the temple. u. Principal llreet through the city, the horfe-way of which in this part is only ten feet lo inches wide, paved with flat ftones of an irregular pentagon figure, their thicknefs from ten to fourteen iiiches. On each fide is a foot- way raifed eight inches, and three feet wide paved with fmall ftones at random. It is fenced by a curb /lone, in uhich, at the diftauce of every twelve or fourteen {ttt, is placed a guard ftone fixteen inches liigh, to- keep off the carriages, and it might alio have f.rved the purpofe of horfe-blockb, which were ver^ necefiary for the ancients,, who did not make ule of ftirrups. This ftreet is much narrower than any I have ieen ; the Appian way at Puzzole is thirteen feet feventeen inches wide in the clear of the horfe-way. The tracks iS Sir William Hamilton's Account, tic. tracks of the wheels of the carriages are worn in fome parts iiito the pavement of Pompeii four inches deep. w. Paflage to the keeper's apartment. The difpofition of this temple is very different from thofe defcribed by Vitruvius, and it was probably built on the plan fettled for the Egyptian worlhip. By the fize of this temple, it does not appear to have been of much confequence ; and indeed in the infcrlption it is only called the Chapel of Ills. There are ruins of another temple at Pompeii, the columns of which were between four and five feet diameter. Some traces of a deviation from the original plan of this temple (when it was rebuilt by N. Popidius Celfinus) are vifible : the columns do not all ftand in their original fituation. Perhaps the archite6l found it advifeable to give a different dif- pofition to the inter-columnatlon of the portico. In an appartment near the temple is a bronze-ring fixed into the pavement marked t. in the plan. Perhaps the larger viftims, offered in this temple, were firfl: flaughtered in that place ; and the parts, or whole of the beaft, were carried from thence ' to the altars ; which was not the cafe at the temple of Serapis at Puzzole, where the rings, to which the viaims were tied, are ftill to be feen in the pavement of that very magnificent temple. -^ rr ^^f^.fSf^sr^^f^^K. i.N , ■ I r-^ ■,.1 nnn '■^■: '■ •=*, .<■*, r :^^mmmm^mm^§mm^em / ■>'7,'~ A'^,^ ^ /-A ,-■• .^.. •,P., A ^ /^, H ;.^ W .-N ^ ' ,' ^ ' - . ■ ■' ■> 'AAArN/^':- A H^ 'Sp&-. ^^^^aaaaa!^''-<''/>K'^wQc % ■> '"A .- \ A ' ' ^' /A v-s /A /-x ^ .^ _ A^^U^, "yrOQ-^c ^'-^'^r^',^'--^ \y (•■-I '1 ■ A■,'^'.'A^ ,-^ ■ >rN,/AVA ,,^, ,'A .j**v .-'^'i /*\ j'**. , yCA> ^ ^-N/^,-^ ,/-%. -', ,.-~s .-> _ '■ >'A/Aos/- - - - '-'.-'-./->'.--.' -^/^i^ ■/.A/'>/:",p .r^A --^ ,-- ./^ ^ '"\ N /- '-^ '-•„'"■'/ V\ ,^ '^r'\ >^ '^v /*> XE\^'^i5^«f . *i * ^ /*> /"^ '"^N .v^ /ii\ ,'->^ /a^^jwmF^ ^^r.^^^.r\^^rr^^ \C\r\rs vAr^/ APT '^^/•^, ,--s /~\ ,-S -". ^; <^K^.r^^,-- ^'"■'' ,/-~\ /~ ■, '^ ■'■""' \ ' /^r^/^.An' -^-"^^ '•• ^^f1 '~S •■'--Ar^r^.^^.-...