No names are given with the figures in the other scene; a kind of genre picture is presented. The skeleton in the middle is placing a wreath of flowers upon his head. The one at the right holds in one hand a skull which he examines contemplatively—we are reminded of Hamlet in the scene with the gravedigger; in the other hand (not seen in the illustration) is a wreath of flowers. The third of the principal figures holds in his right hand a bag exceedingly heavy, as indicated by the adjustment of the bones of the right arm and leg; over the bag is the word φθόνοι, 'envyings.' The object in the left hand is so light that its weight is not felt; it is a butterfly, held by the wings, and above it is inscribed ψύχιον, a diminutive of ψυχή, 'soul'; we shall later find another instance of the representation of a disembodied soul as a butterfly ([p. 398]). It was perhaps the design of the artist to represent the figure as holding the bag behind him while presenting the butterfly to the one who is putting on the wreath.
Fig. 217.—Silver cup with skeleton groups. From the Boscoreale treasure.
On either side of the middle figure are two others less than half as large. One, under the butterfly, is playing the lyre; over his head is the word τέρψις, 'pleasure.' The second is clapping his hands, and above him is a Greek inscription which gives the thought of the whole design: 'So long as you live take your full share' of life, 'for the morrow is uncertain.'
Both cups had evidently long been in use; there are still some traces of gilding, which, however, seems not to have been applied to the skeletons. While the explanatory inscriptions are in Greek, a Latin name, Gavia, is inscribed on the under side of the second cup, in the same kind of letters as the record of weight ([p. 508]). The Gavii were a family of some prominence at Pompeii; we are perhaps warranted in concluding that the cups were made by a Greek for this Pompeian lady, and that afterward they came into the possession of another lady, Maxima, who formed the collection.
PART III
TRADES AND OCCUPATIONS
CHAPTER XLVII
THE TRADES AT POMPEII.—THE BAKERS
In antiquity there was no such distinction between trades and professions as exists to-day. In the Early Empire all activity outside the field of public service, civil and military, or the management of estates, was considered beneath the dignity of a Roman; the practice of law, which had received its impulse largely from the obligation of patrons to protect their clients, was included among public duties. The ordinary work of life was left mainly to slaves and freedmen. Not only the trades, as we understand the term, but architecture and engineering,—in antiquity two branches of one occupation,—the practice of medicine, and teaching, were looked upon as menial. A Roman of literary or practical bent might manifest an interest in such vocations, but it was considered hardly respectable actively to engage in them.
This attitude of mind, especially toward the higher occupations, is only explicable in the light of the social conditions then existing. Men who kept slaves of every degree of intelligence and training, and were at all times accustomed to command, were not disposed to hold themselves in readiness to do another's bidding, excepting in the service of the State alone; and work committed to slaves and freedmen naturally came to be considered unworthy the employment of a gentleman. The freemen of the same craft were often united in guilds or corporations, for the administration of certain matters of mutual interest; but nothing is known in regard to the activities of such organizations at Pompeii.