1826.

Since my former visits I find some additions to the number of objects which have been excavated. A new street usually known by the name of Strada de’ Mercanti has been opened into the forum. Part of this street was exposed in 1818, but the whole is now cleared, and the communication with the theatres completed. Towards the forum there is a step, and just at the foot of this step, a small cone, and about three feet above it, some places rubbed smooth, and somewhat hollow. Sir W. Gell has suggested that to stand upon this cone might be a mode of punishment. In another place in the same street there are remains of iron staples in the wall. One apparently to confine the elbow, and one to fasten a chain round the neck of some unfortunate offender. The stone here has been rubbed smooth and hollow by the shoulder, and in some degree also by the head of the prisoner; and there are other places in the street which seem to have been rubbed by the shoulder. If we suppose the ancients to have chained to their posts, the slaves who were employed as shopmen, we can hardly imagine that the confinement was so close as to give occasion to these marks.

An edifice of considerable splendour has been discovered at the north-east angle of the forum. Twelve pedestals disposed in a circle in the midst of a large open court, are imagined to have supported as many statues of the Dii majores gentium, and the building has thence obtained the name of Pantheon. The court seems to have been surrounded with columns, and to have had a temple-like hall at the further end, on each side of which was a large, irregular room, and one of these has a sort of dresser or counter, with a sloping top, along three of its sides. On the right hand of him who entered from the forum, was a double range of small rooms or cells, one over the other, which communicated by means of a wooden gallery, and probably of a wooden staircase, though of the latter no traces now remain. The walls exhibit historic paintings of no small merit, but neither the stucco nor the painting appear to have been completed. In the same neighbourhood, but beyond the bounds of the forum, we find the Temple of Fortune, a simple, tetrastyle, prostyle edifice on an elevated basement, which you ascend by a flight of steps. Near this are the Baths; the remaining vaulting of which rises so near the surface that we are surprised they should have remained so long unnoticed. There are four rooms; the first we enter was the spoliarium, or undressing room, and some traces were found of the pegs fixed in the wall to receive the clothes of the bathers. From this we may pass into the frigidarium, a room with a small, circular, cold bath, or into the tepidarium or sudatorium, in the wall of which we find a series of small niches, divided by caryatides; an immense brazier of bronze, stamped with a cow, in allusion to the name of the maker, Flaminius Vacca; and two benches of the same material. Beyond this room is the calidarium, containing a vessel of warm water, where the bathers seem to have been seated, leaning their backs against the sloping marble side. One end of this room is semicircular, and in this part there were five windows, in each of which, and also in one in the cold bath, were plates of very thick glass. Both the sudatorium and calidarium were lined with tiles, a little detached from the walls, which received the stucco. Another set of baths less ornamented, in an adjoining edifice, was for the use of the plebeians, or of the women.

Another interesting object among the late excavations is the House of the Tragic Poet: which however is more remarkable for the paintings with which it was adorned, than for the merits of its architecture. At the entrance is the figure of a dog in mosaic, with the inscription Cave Canem. The apartments are numerous and well finished, but one little closet with a stove, seems all that was allotted for the slaves or their employments. Here was found a cistern, of which, if the cicerone may be trusted, the substance has been analyzed, and found to consist of two parts of lead to one of copper. The substance is firm, and seems little, if at all oxidated, so that perhaps it might be worth imitating. Close by is the house of a fuller, with many of the conveniences and utensils of his trade; and what is curious, representations of different parts of the process painted on the piers.

LETTER LVII.
NAPLES—PÆSTUM.

Naples, 20th November, 1818.[[41]]

I went yesterday to a private collection of paintings; and though I had applied for permission without any sort of introduction, the proprietor met me at the door, and attended me round the rooms; taking down many of the pictures, some of which are very fine ones, in order to place them in the best lights. The same gentleman possesses also some admirable fictile vases, but he is afraid of obtaining any reputation for these, as the government claims the right of purchasing all the finest for itself. The tenacity with which the Tuscans still maintain their claim to these vases, and to the style of ruins found at Pæstum, with every sort of evidence against them, is a curious exemplification of the character of that people. A Tuscan cannot bear to give up any thing which appears to make for the honour of his country. The Neapolitans are perhaps equally vain, though in a different way, and without so good a foundation. They have indeed produced at least one good historian, but they seem to have persuaded Eustace that their list of authors was superior to any thing France could shew, and to have made him believe that the lazzaroni were a race of angels descended on the earth to run on errands, carry parcels, and do all sorts of odd jobs for the Neapolitans. What would I think surprise you most with respect to these lazzaroni is, that they are so much like the poorer class in other cities. Certainly not worse clothed, though more lightly so than would be comfortable in London; nor dirtier; and I believe better fed than in most other places. The mildness of the climate enables them to sleep in the open air, and you see them frequently curled up in the basket with which they are provided to carry their loads; but it is not true of the greater part, that they are without any fixed habitation. In most parts of Italy the tradesmen are not accustomed to send their goods home, but he who goes to market hires a porter and a basket, like Amina in the Arabian nights, to carry his goods for him, and for this the lazzarone is always at hand.

They reckon here, that at this time of year, the clouds are three days gathering, and three or five in discharging themselves; after this there is usually an interval of completely fine weather which is truly delightful; and except on one or two wet evenings, I have had no wish for a fire. Two years ago at this season in Venice, I was in the midst of frost and snow. On the 10th I dined and slept at the Villa Galla, which is now occupied by Sir H. L. It is a delightful place, on a hill just out of Naples. The house stands on the top of a steep bank, which forms the head of a deep ravine, the grounds at present are all poplar-grove and vineyard, but with a very trifling sacrifice a most delightful pleasure-ground might be formed. Can you fancy Hampstead heath within view of a beautiful bay surrounded by fine mountains, and Vesuvius included in the prospect; with all the luxuriant vegetation of a warm climate, and all the brilliancy of an Italian sky? The most delightful part was however, within doors, and here we planned an expedition to Pæstum, of which I proceed to give you an account.

We set out on the 12th, passing through Portici, Torre del Greco, and Torre dell’ Annunziata, and changed horses at Scafati; beyond this the road assumes a new sort of beauty, passing along a winding valley between rocks and wooded steeps, mixed with buildings and cultivation, till we open again on the beautiful bay of Salerno. This tract occupies the neck of the bold, mountainous promontory, which divides the two bays, and is full of the most romantic and beautiful scenery. The bay of Salerno is perhaps even finer than that of Naples; making up for the want of Vesuvius by long perspectives of distant mountains, which reminded me of the shores of Greece, and might almost vie with them, were their names as well known. We slept at Salerno, and at four o’clock next morning were seated in the carriage, and proceeded by a beautiful moonlight to Eboli. The high road does not pass through the town, and the inn is not within the walls, but the road to Pæstum turns off a little before reaching it. A little beyond Eboli, the banks of the Sele, or Silero, exhibit some very pleasing scenery. The road winds along the shores of the river, under a steep and woody bank; on the opposite side of the stream are a mixture of wood and lawn, and the towers of the royal palace of Persano, bosomed in tufted trees; beyond are gentle hills and lofty mountains in successive distances, the lower parts of which are covered with wood, the upper bare and craggy.