POMPEII.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 312, 29 June 1912, Page 2 (Supplement)

POMPEII.

FURTHER REVELATIONS OF DECADENT SOCIETY. The newest excavations at Pompeii have proved that ancient blood-stained pleasure-made city, overwhelmed nineteen hundred years ago by divine five in the midst of her crimes, possessed a millionaire row as luxurious, as money-scat-tering, as ostentatious as New York's principal street of fashion, but infinitely more sensual and brutal. This fashion centre of Pompeii was like Millionaires' Row of Upper Fifthavenue, combined with the wildest part of the Great White Way, and then with many features added that can hardly be described and could only have existed in that strange ancient world that has passed for ever. There were the palaces facing on a thoroughfare reserved for patricians, and behind them the dens devoted to secret orgies There were the schook of the patrician children, and tftere within a stone's throw of them were the drinking saloons where wealthy Pompeians could meet with dancing girls and actresses. There was the home of the patrician with all its high art 'and refinement and love of letters, and opposite it was the arena of the gladiator, where the master of the house could irevel in blood and every form of wickedness. The Pompeian Fifth-avenue was called the Street of Abundance, a street already identified, but not thoroughly appreciated because it was not fully excavated. It was only the other day that Cavaliere Boni, the great Italian archaeologist and official director of the excavations, discovered that the Street of Abundance was shut off by closely placed tall stone pillars, so that chariots and other wheeled vehicles could not pass through it. Tt was a corso such as Naples possesses to-day. There was ample access to the palaces from the rear. In this corso sauntered the Pompeian dandies as they ogled the Pompeian ladies of the period who passed before theniJn slave-born litters. | A RICH DRINKING SALOON. Ih the Street of Abundance Cavaliere Boni found a fashionable Pompeian drijiking saloon, preserved with hitherto unequalled perfection, for the ashes had covered it over and hermetically sealed it. I There was a row of great wine jars and there was the vintner, who had perished while he was pouring wine into them in the fatal year of 79 A.D. There were the men and women patrons of the saloon lying on couches in exquisitely painted recesses. Portions of |iheir richly embroidered togas and peplums were still preserved. Drink had these_ people- -indifferent to the dooih that threatened them. TVie fittings were superb. The jars were made of bronze and glass, a material then novel and rare. The cups wjj're of gold. The till was filled with a,'rich harvest of golden aurei, silver sesterces and little ivory coins. This place was called "thermopolium." At another spot in the street Cavaliere Boni identified the Palace of Obellius Firmus, one of the richest citizens of Pompeii, as proved by his dwelling. Before one of the gates lay six bodies. They were the bodies of Obellius Firmus himself, his wife, two children, and two of his slaves. The children were lying in one another's arms as if sleeping, and the parents had huddled close together in their last pitiful embrace. They had been overwhelmed by the eruption as they were running away. So vivid was this picture of the moment of Pompeii's destruction that the authorities decided to leave the bodies as they were instead of removing them to the museum. A MIXED STREET. The Street of Abundance was lined with shops and booths having "show windows," and fitted with marble counters upon which were displayed only such articles as entered into the luxuries and elegancies of life—toilet articles, perfumes, scented unguents, choice fabrics, jewels and art objects, sweetmeats, and there were "beauty parlors" adjoining Roman baths luxuriously appointed for the use of the Pompeian Smart Set. In one of these "beauty parlors" was found a recipe intended for a Roman lady, Julia Fluvia Curva, prescribing a mixture of oil of almonds and spikenard to repair the ravages of time and dissipation to her neck, and a rouge made of colchicum and peacock fat to add a lovely glow to her cheeks. Notices, with bits of news, gossip and choice morsels of scandal, were contained in the "Acta Diurna," or "Daily Doings," the daily newspaper of Pompeii. From references scratched and painted on walls it is learned that the "Acta Diurna," inscribed on sheets of papyrus, was posted in the Basilica, the chief business resort of the city; but copies were made by slave scribes to be circulated for the delectation of indolent Pompeian beauties upon awakening late in the day after a night of feasting, dancing and love-mak-ing.

DAILY PAPER. Manuscripts have hitherto been rare in Pompeii, though many have been found in the neighboring city of Herculaneum, but at last a mass of them have been unearthed in the former city. Among them is a copy of tln j papyrus "Acta Diurna." One item deciphered from this begins, thus:— "Marcus Tulius Servus gave a magnificent spectacle last night to the members of the Roman aristocracy now staying in Pompeii. The Circus Maximus was hired for the occasion. Marcus Tullius appeared in magnificent quadriga (four-horsed chariot), followed by his friends and clients in other, chariots. Naked bacchantes with garlands on their heads and wine-jugs in their hands waited upon the guests. There followed mortal combats between a hundred gladiators, the burning of a hundred dancing girls, who had previously been steeped in wine, and the feeding of one hundred choice slaves to lions and other wild beasts newly imported from Africa. All the guests joined wildly in the revelry, and the superb entertainment had not been concluded when the scribe left to write this account of it. The whole story of the luxurious, reekless, conscienceless daily life of the ancient city was found inscribed on the walls. Remarks and slanders were scratched and carved on solid masonry in plain Italian text. Social scenes were pictured in imperishable encaustic paint- j ings on the walls of rooms in most of the houses and villas. The statues of 1 Greek and Egyptian deities, the implements, instruments and domestic uten , sits, and the interior arrangement of the houses—all these are witnesses thai lay barer and plainer to our eyes the actual life of the Poinpcians than that "f any other ancient city. Scratched upon the wall of a palace kitchen in the Street of Abundance were the words: — ''•Mucins Lolius, our master, was carried home last night, dead drunk, without his purse or toga, and placed noiselessly in the kitchen." Even the jokes are preserved, for in a, barber's shop was written plainly: •'Barber: How shall I remove your hair? Customer: Tn silence." Evidently this was a bright idea of the master barber to teach discretion to his young assistants.

LIVING FOR TIIK DAY. The unspeakably brutal and demoralising practice of gladiatorial combats dominated the life of Pompeii to an appalling degree. Contests were held daily n\ three great circuses, at which upward of 100,000 people were present. A great school, where 4000 gladiators were kept in training, was maintained. Hundreds of gladiators were slain or maimed daily. Millionaire residents of the Street of Abundance gave private gladiatorial contests in the gardens and ballrooms of their houses. While men and women rested in the triclinium (the reclining room), after the luxurious daily public bath, they watched deadly gladiatorial contests. We even learn"the names of prominent gladiators. For instance, on the wall of a gladiator's room is written: "Strax suspirium puellarum," meaning, "Strax, for whom the girls sigh." He was probably a fierce barbarian from some distant country. Though these deadly contests aroused most interest, the ordinary theatre was not neglected. An inscription written by an irritated plebeian on the gallery wall tells us: "Ladies go to the play to be heard rather than to hear." Cock fights and dog fights were exceedingly popular. Apparently the ancient Pompeians were proud of what we should call depravity. Games with dice and othel games of chance are depicted thousands of times on the walls. Even young girls play them! We find inscriptions recording the existence of powerful unions', known as "The Circle of Late Drinkers," "The Society of the Indefatigable Worshippers of Venus," and "The Devotees of Games of Chance." , The drinking cups were often engraved mjith skeletons and fleshless heads for a reminder to revellers of both sexes rccJJningj at the banquet table to make the Host of the present moment. A huge Sinking bowl was inscribed: ■'Ay, this is life, and 'tis naught but flasurc, Throw aside all care! The iB of man is so short; Bring wine at (Be, and dancers and crowns of flowers, aH women! Let us enjoy to-day, for -vS can count on the morrow ?"