Very near to the temple of Isis is a small square cell attributed to Æsculapius, in which there are remains of a handsome pilaster capital, resembling in style those of Tivoli, but of superior execution. A flight of steps occurs at a little distance from the cell, leaving space for a small tetrastyle portico. The god was probably out of fashion, for there are no marks of restorations. At the foot of the steps is a tomb or altar, ornamented with Doric triglyphs, and having much of the character of the tomb of Scipio, of which I dare say you have seen engravings in abundance. Next to this temple is a house belonging to a sculptor, known by the tools found there, and by the unfinished works.
From this part of Pompei (all the objects I have hitherto mentioned lying close together) are two streets which are now cleared out, leading to the forum. In the way we meet only with private houses, of which by and by I shall give you a general idea.
In spite of bad architecture, small parts, and many encumbering pedestals placed for ornament, or to receive the statues of the gods and benefactors of the city, the Forum certainly was magnificent. What then may we imagine those of Rome to have been, where the size of the parts, and of the whole, the materials and the architecture, were so much superior. Magnificence in Italy is a very different thing from what it is north of the Alps, but that of the Romans appears as much to have surpassed modern Italy, as this latter surpasses that of the northern nations. This Forum was an oblong above 500 feet in length, and about 140 in width. At the south end is a double range of columns. A single row, but apparently supporting another above it, extended all along the west side. On the east side there seems not to have been a continued range, but a succession of detached porticos belonging to the different public buildings; or if the range of columns was continued, it was probably without a roof, since the space between it and the walls is always great, though very unequal. Some remains of cornice exist, complete on both faces, and there are plug-holes on the top of this cornice, which render it probable that the whole was crowned by a range of statues, or other ornaments. On the north, between two decorative arches, are the remains of the temple of Jupiter. Here is a magnificent, though somewhat irregular avenue, leading to a splendid object, and though encumbered by too many pedestals and statues, yet these being fine objects in themselves, were probably not very injurious to the expression of magnificence. Their very number alone would produce a striking effect, heightened rather than diminished by the irregular manner in which they are placed, because this apparent confusion, like that of the stars, would make the number appear greater. The surrounding buildings were worthy of the situation they occupied. Near the southern end we see very evidently the progress of restorations. The older columns were a well-wrought Doric, of a dark coloured, volcanic stone, much resembling peperino, the lower part of the shaft being cut into a prism of twenty faces, while the upper part had as many flutes; the capital was handsome, and the entablature by no means inelegant. The later columns are of coarse limestone or travertine, clumsy in design throughout the whole order, and very irregularly and unskilfully executed. There are remains scattered about of an Ionic order, which seems to have surmounted the Doric. On the south side of the forum there are three large halls, which according to some persons were temples, while others suppose them to have been courts of justice. They must have been in great measure built or rebuilt after the earthquake, as most of the brickwork still looks fresh and new, and they have never been completed.
The first building on the western side is called the Basilica. It consisted of a magnificent court surrounded by colonnades, the columns of which were of considerable size. At the upper end are the remains of the ornamented tribune, or seat of justice, adorned with smaller columns, and faced and cased with marble. Some doubts arise as to the disposition of some of the parts, but enough remains to furnish a very interesting comment on what the ancients have left us respecting their basilicas. The open court is about 37 feet wide and 141 feet long. The columns surrounding it are twenty-eight in number; and of these, the bases and lower parts of the shaft, curiously formed of bricks made for the purpose, are still to be seen, together with some traces of the stucco with which they have been covered. This stucco appears to have been in great measure knocked off, probably in order to prepare for the restoration of the brickwork after the earthquake. These columns are 3 feet 5½ inches in diameter measured in the brickwork on the angle of the flutes, and could not have been less than 3 feet 7 inches in the stucco. Corresponding in position with these columns, is a series of half columns, against the walls of the building, but if measured likewise in the brickwork, their diameter is only 2 feet 8¼ inches; too small apparently to be carried up to the same height as the entire columns, and too large to admit a gallery above them within the principal order. A considerable number of capitals were found within the circuit of the building, but it does not appear that any of them can be attributed with certainty to either of these orders. They were of two sorts; the one an Ionic, resembling that of the portico before mentioned, but with the addition of a bold flower springing upwards and inwards from the base of the volute. The diameter of the capitals of this nature, below the necking, varies from 2 feet 5 inches to 2 feet 1 inch. It may be considered quite as a new style (to us) of the Ionic order. The other is Corinthian, in the style of Tivoli, which was without doubt that of Italy, before the general employment of Greek artists and Greek taste. The Corinthian column is 1 foot 6½ inches in diameter under the necking, and fluted; whereas the shaft of the Ionic column appears to have been quite plain. No entablature is found which can probably be attributed to either of these orders, but we may conclude from other examples, as well as from the authority of Vitruvius, that the dentilled cornice without the modillions was used in both. The dentils here, as already observed, bore a peculiar character. Both these capitals have been coated with a fine stucco, rarely exceeding half an inch in thickness.
Besides these four kinds of columns, we have the remains of another set, probably Corinthian, which adorned the tribunal; these are 1 foot 9 inches in the bottom diameter, and consequently not unsuitable for the Corinthian capitals above described; but only six such entire capitals would have been required, and above twenty exist of that size and character; and besides we may observe stones which seem to form part of the shaft under these capitals, 21½ inches in diameter, or rather more than that of the remaining bases. Some of these capitals are attached to square blocks of stone, but these differ from the others by a row of low water-leaves, immediately under the volutes and caulicolæ.
The Basilica was closed in front by portcullises, the grooves for which remain. It is remarkable that in this part we see the stucco of two different operations. Each is in two coats. The earliest is very good and firm, the two coats not occupying half an inch; but it has evidently in most places been cut away to make room for the second, of which very little remains, and that little is much inferior to the older work. The two coats occupied about one inch.
Next to the basilica is the Temple of Venus, surrounded with a colonnaded court, and standing itself on a lofty basement. This court is very curious, as we find in it fragments of columns of the Ionic order about 2 feet in diameter, resembling those of the basilica, but without a central flower in the capital, and of a Doric entablature. The capitals have been defaced in order to receive a poorly designed Corinthian foliage of stucco, and the old lines and decorations of the entablature were entirely hid by a plaster coating, full of ornaments, painted in all the colours of the rainbow. I suspect that this entablature in its original form belonged to some other building. Perhaps it made part of that of the forum previous to the earthquake. Before every other column there appear to have been a pedestal and a statue. Nine columns occupy the entrance side, and the door was not in the centre; but the Pompeians do not seem to have been in any respect remarkable for the accuracy of their workmanship. The stucco walls of this court have been elegantly painted. In one part this stucco is laid on tiles, which by means of little feet are kept hollow from the walls. An aqueduct at the back, probably rendered such a precaution necessary. The temple seems to have been hexastyle and peripteral, though not only the columns, but the external stones of the basement on which they stood, have been displaced, so that it appears at first sight as if there could have been no room for them. Some fragments remain below, which probably formed parts of the shafts. Both the cell and the portico were ornamented with mosaic pavements.
Returning to the forum, we find beyond this temple, a range of piers and arches, built also after the earthquake, and opening into a large hall or court, which exhibits no appearance of decoration.
On the east side of the forum, beginning again from the south end, we have first a double portico, in front of a large decorated enclosure, then a large building, which has been very richly ornamented. A range of columns separated it from the forum, and the remains of a pedestal in front of each column gives reason to suppose that there were an equal number of statues. Behind is a wall ornamented with arches and niches, which probably also contained statues. The whole of this work was faced with marble, and the wide space between the wall and the columns exhibits remains of a marble paving. Within, was a large court, surrounded by columns, with a continued gallery on three sides, and three niches at the end. A statue was found here, but the place appeared to have been previously despoiled. This may have proceeded from the researches of the inhabitants themselves, who probably returned after the danger was over to seek for their property; or it may have been done at a recent period; for many marbles have at intervals been dug up at Pompei, but the different claims of the finder, the landlord, and the government, occasioned the concealment of the place of discovery. It was known however, that numerous fragments had been found here; and acknowledged that some ancient city had probably occupied the site, though for a long time the learned were perfectly agreed that it was not Pompei. An inscription collected from the remaining portions of the epistylium of the columns towards the forum, which is also repeated at a smaller entrance from the Via de’ mercanti, informs us that this chalcidicum and cryptoporticus, were built and dedicated by a certain Eumachia. Here would seem to be the means of explaining two rather obscure terms of architecture, but nothing has been made of them.
Continuing our progress along the east side of the forum, we arrive at another enclosure surrounded with pilasters and niches, and a little temple or sanctuary in the middle of the side opposite to the entrance. It appears unfinished, and it is very probable that this and the building just mentioned were ruined by the earthquake, and not restored. There is a platform in front of the cell, the steps to which are behind the platform, and on the flank of the cell; in front of this platform there is a very beautiful marble pedestal, or altar. This building is called the Temple of Mercury. The angles of the court are all oblique: there are many little irregularities of this sort in the edifices of Pompei.