for the convenience alike of sellers and
purchasers. "Priestess Eumachia," remarks a modern critic, "has done the
thing well; no expense has been spared in the building and its
decorations. The columns of the portico are of white marble; the statues
of Piety and Concord, works of art; and the flower-borders along the
panelled walls, prettily conceived and carefully executed. After so much
plaster and stucco, it is a relief to see something so solid and genuine.
When a third-rate city apes the capital, there must needs be a certain
amount of sham. But at Pompeii it is all sham, or next door to it. In the
entire city are not more than half a dozen edifices whose columns are of
real marble, the bas-reliefs and cornices of anything more solid than
stucco; and of these half-dozen, the Exchange heads the list."

We feel tolerably secure in assigning this fine building to the early
years of the Emperor Tiberius, and in naming the Emperor's mother, Livia,
as the divinity to whom it was dedicated. The statue of Concord with the
golden horn of plenty doubtless once adorned the large pedestal which
still stands in the eastern apse of the Exchange, but though the figure
and emblem were those of Concordia, the face bore certainly the features
of Imperial Livia. Yet more interesting than the various speculations as
to the actual uses of this edifice and the different names of the statues
which once embellished its alcoves, is the circumstance that the marble
portrait of the foundress herself has been discovered. It is true that
only a copy in plaster now occupies the pedestal at the back of the apse
where Eumachia's statue once stood, for the original has been removed for
safety to Naples, but it is not difficult to call to mind the calm gentle
face of this Pompeian Lady Bountiful, and her graceful figure in its
flowing robes. The existence of this statue adds undoubtedly a touch of
special human interest to the whole building, and we find our minds
excited by the brief inscription which still informs the curious that the
fullers of Pompeii erected this portrait in marble in grateful
appreciation "to Eumachia, a city-priestess, daughter of Lucius
Eumachius."

Outside the Chalcidicum, at the corner of the lane usually termed Via
dell' Abbondanza, is to be seen a pathetic little memorial of the working
life of the city: the fountain of Concordia Augusta, the divinity of
Eumachia's noble building hard by. Dusty and heating is the busin