Pompeii, Its Life and Art

by August Mau

The other bench (4) was evidently built by the heirs of a priestess, Mamia, upon a lot given by the city. The inscription appears in large letters on the back of the seat: Mamiae P. f. sacerdoti publicae; locus sepultur[ae] datus decurionum decreto,—'To the memory of Mamia, daughter of Publius Mamius, priestess of the city. Place of burial granted by order of the municipal council.' In this instance, also, the cinerary urn was probably buried in the earth behind the bench. A certain delicacy in the modelling of the lion's paws seems to indicate for this monument a somewhat later date than that of the monument to Veius,—possibly the end of the reign of Augustus, or the reign of Tiberius. The date of erection is not given in the case of any Pompeian tomb.

Between the two benches we see a lava base and the core of a superstructure; they belong to the tomb of Marcus Porcius. The name is known from a boundary inscription which appears on two small blocks of lava at the corners of the lot in front: M. Porci M. f. ex dec. decret. in frontem ped. xxv, in agrum ped. xxv,—'(Lot) of Marcus Porcius son of Marcus, granted by order of the city council; twenty-five feet front, twenty-five feet deep.'

This Porcius may have been one of the builders of the Small Theatre and the Amphitheatre, or a son of that Porcius, whose name appears on the altar of the temple of Apollo. The tomb was in the form of an altar; the terminal volutes at the top, of travertine, have been preserved. The sides were of tufa blocks, which may have been carried off for building purposes after the tomb was damaged by the earthquake of 63. The interior was made hollow to save expense; there was no sepulchral chamber, the ashes being placed in the earth under the monument. This tomb is the oldest of the group.

Fig. 237.—The tomb of the Istacidii, restored.

The conspicuous monument of the Istacidii (4 a) stands behind the tombs of Mamia and Porcius, at the left of the Bay Road. It is raised upon a narrow terrace, enclosed by a balustrade of masonry, and has the appearance of a temple, with half-columns at the sides. The remains of the lower story alone are seen in [Fig. 236]; above this was a circular structure formed by columns supporting a roof, under which were placed statues of members of the family ([Fig. 237]). The lower story contains a sepulchral chamber, entered by a door at the rear; in the middle of the chamber is a massive pillar reaching to the vaulted ceiling. The decoration of the room is simple, of the third style. On one side is a large niche, for two urns, those of the head of the family and his wife; the other three sides contain ten smaller niches.

The principal inscription of the tomb has not been found, but a number of names are preserved on the commemorative stones set up in the plot of ground about it. These stones are of a peculiar type, met with elsewhere only at Capua and Sorrento; we shall call them bust stones. The outline resembles that of a human head and neck terminating below in a pillar, but the front was left smooth, and an inscription was cut or painted on the bust. Difference of sex was indicated by the treatment of the hair; an example maybe seen in [Fig. 240]. The bust stones of men are generally larger than those of women; those of children are still smaller, the size perhaps varying with the age.

The bust stones here may refer to those whose ashes were deposited in urns in the tomb, or to others whose urns were buried in the plot of ground in which it stands. From them we learn that the head of the family was Numerius Istacidius, and that he had a daughter, Istacidia Rufilla, who was a priestess. Representatives of two other families, the Melissaei and the Buccii, are named on similar stones found in a plot connected with that of the Istacidii at the rear. The three families were perhaps closely connected by intermarriage. The bust stone of one of the Melissaei, Gnaeus Melissaeus Aper, duumvir in 3-4 A.D., stood in the same enclosure with those of the Istacidii.

Only one of the nine tombs in the second group (2) bears a name. In the case of two (3 and 4) the superstructure has completely disappeared, leaving only the lava bases in place. Another (5) has not been excavated; the front of the burial lot has been cleared, but the monument, lying further back, is still covered.