r Prince Elbeuf at
Portici, a village situated on the site of ancient Herculaneum. In 1738
the well was dug deeper, and the theatre of Herculaneum was first
discovered. In 1750, Pompeii and Stabiae were explored; the former place
being covered with ashes rather than lava, was more easily examined.
Here was discovered the extensive remains of an amphitheatre. In the
cellar of a villa twenty-seven female skeletons were found with
ornaments for the neck and arms; lying around, near the lower door of
another villa, two skeletons were found, one of which held a key in one
hand, and in the other a bag of coins and some cameos, and near them
were several beautiful silver and bronze vessels. It is probable,
however, that most of the inhabitants of this city had time to save
themselves by flight, as comparatively few bodies have been found. The
excavations since the discovery, have been continued by the government,
up to the present time, with more or less interruptions. For the
antiquary and the archaeologist, antiquity seems here to revive and
awaken the sensations which Schiller has so beautifully described in his
poem of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The ancient streets and buildings are
again thrown open, and in them we see, as it were, the domestic life of
the ancient Romans. We had never before such an opportunity of becoming
acquainted with the disposition of their houses, and of their utensils.
Whole streets, with magnificent temples, theatres, and private mansions,
have been disentombed. Multitudes of statues, bas-reliefs, and other
sculptures have been found in these buried cities; also many fresco
paintings, the most remarkable of which are Andromeda and Perseus, Diana
and Endymion, the Education of Bacchus, the Battle of Platea, &c. In one
splendid mansion were discovered several pictures, representing
Polyphemus and Galatea, Hercules and the three Hesperdies, Cupid and a
Bacchante, Mercury and Io, Perseus killing Medusa, and other subjects.
There were also in the store rooms of the same house, evidently
belonging to a very rich family, an abundance of provisions, laid in for
the winter, consisting of dates, figs, prunes, various kinds of nuts,
hams, pies, corn, oil, peas, lentils, &c. There were also in the same
house, vases, articles of glass, bronze, and terra-cotta, several
medallions in silver, on one of which was represented in relief, Apollo
and Diana. A great treasure of ancient books or manuscripts, consisting
of