To the Pompeians of the Empire the modest structure of Republican days seemed unworthy of the tutelary divinity of their city. On the same podium they built a temple of marble. Of this are preserved the foundations of the door posts of the cella ([Fig. 56] a) and the core of the pedestal (D) on which stood the statue of the divinity, besides some bits of the cella floor, which consisted of a border of white mosaic (b), a broad strip of pavement of small flags of colored marble (c), and an ornamental centre (a) now entirely destroyed. The only remains of the superstructure that can be identified are in a storeroom north of the temple of Apollo. They consist of fragments of large marble columns, nearly thirty-two inches in diameter, and of an entablature of corresponding dimensions.

Fig. 56.—Plan of the second temple, restored.
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After the completion of the temple the Pompeians set about rebuilding the colonnade, on a scale of equal magnificence. First of all they enlarged the court by removing the old walls to the foundations, and constructed new outside walls (a-b-c-d), the corners of which form right angles. The wall on the north side, of reticulate work, can be distinguished in [Fig. 55]. That on the east side is also well preserved, but of that on the south side no trace remains. The deep foundation of the wall on the west side forms the farther wall of the present Museum, the roof of which very nearly represents the level of the floor of the ancient court. The colonnade was to be single on the north, double on the east and west sides. The principal entrance was at the northeast corner (K), with a smaller entrance (L) at the end of the narrow street south of the Basilica.

How far the work had progressed before the earthquake of the year 63 it is not easy to determine. The new gutter along the front of the colonnade had not yet been laid, but the foundations of the rows of columns (e-f-g-h, e'f', g'h') were for the most part ready. From the Corinthian capital and fragments of shafts and entablature lying about the court it is clear that these members were fitted and in place when they were thrown down. Part of the colonnade was therefore finished. It was in two stories, probably without an intervening floor, like the porticoes in front of the Macellum and the building of Eumachia. Not less than three hundred marble columns must have been required to complete the work; undoubtedly the wall back of the colonnade was divided off by pilasters below and half columns above, the intervening spaces being filled with marble. In point of size, the temple with its court formed the largest sanctuary, in richness of materials the most splendid edifice of the entire city.

The great earthquake felled to the ground alike the finished temple and the unfinished colonnade. But the Pompeians, in their time of trouble least of all disposed, we may assume, to forsake their patron goddess, soon commenced the work of rebuilding. Postponing the renewal and completion of the colonnade as of secondary importance, they cleared away the débris of the temple, and on the podium where the cella had stood constructed a temporary place of worship, a small wooden building strengthened at the bottom by a low wall around the outside. Then they proceeded to enlarge the podium; the third temple was to be even more imposing than its predecessor. The old steps were removed from the front. The existing podium was cut back five Roman feet on each side, and four inches at the rear, to form the core of the new podium; on all sides of this a massive foundation wall was commenced, five and a half Roman feet thick, made of large blocks of basalt carefully worked and fitted. A similar wall was carried through the old podium (B—B'), to serve as the foundation for the front wall of the cella. The relative size of the component parts of the new temple is thus clearly indicated. The cella was to extend over the space B—C—C'—B', the portico over that marked A—B—B'; how far the steps were to project in front is uncertain.

At the time of the eruption five courses of basalt had been laid, reaching a height of more than four feet, the space between the core of the old podium and the outer wall being filled with concrete as the work progressed. On the north side of the court are still to be seen a number of blocks of basalt not yet trimmed and fitted, just as they were abandoned by the workmen when the work was stopped forever.

CHAPTER XIX
THE TEMPLE OF FORTUNA AUGUSTA