held the sacred fire; those on the sides are large, low, and shaped like sarcophagi; the latter kind of altar, called ara, being, when sacrifices were made to the terrestrial deities, the place on which the victim was burnt. Behind these altars is a receptacle for the sacred ashes; near the temple is a burial-place, and on the left, a semicircular bench, decorated with lions' claws carved in tufo: it resembles the seats near the Herculaneum-gate.

Upper Entrance to the Tragic Theatre.-This wall has been restored, and beyond it, are steps leading down to the postscenium of the tragic theatre; and likewise to the Forum Nundinarium; so called because a market was held there every ninth day. Not far hence was the great reservoir of the water of the Sarno, which supplied the lower part of the city, and particularly the Forum Nundinarium.

Tribunal, or Curia of Pompeii.-This is an oblong court, surrounded by porticoes; and containing a rostrum, built of peperino, with steps ascending to it. Tribunals were usually placed near forums and theatres: and this tribunal is supposed to have been erected by a family who likewise built at their own expense the tragic theatre, and a crypto-porticus, in order to adorn the colony.

Temple of Isis.-It appears, from an inscription found here, that this edifice was thrown down by the earthquake of 63, and rebuilt by Numerius Popidius Celsinus. It is sixty-eight feet long by sixty feet wide in good preservation, and peculiarly well worth notice; for to contemplate the altar whence so many oracles have issued, to discern the identical spot where the priests concealed themselves, when they spoke for the statue of their goddess, to view the secret stairs by which they ascended into the sanctum-sanctorum; in short, to examine the construction of a temple more Egyptian than Greek, excites no common degree of interest. This temple is a Doric edifice, composed of bricks, stuccoed, painted, and polished. The sanctum-sanctorum stands on seven steps (once cased with Parian marble), its form being nearly a square; its walls, which are provided with niches for statues, display among other ornaments in stucco, the pomegranate, called in Greek, roia, and one of the emblems of Isis. The pavement is mosaic. Here, on two altars, were suspended the Isiac tables; and two quadrangular basins of Parian marble, to contain the purifying water, were likewise found here, each standing on one foot of elegant workmanship, and bearing this inscription: "LONGINUS II VIR." On the high altar stood the statue of Isis; and immediately beneath this altar are apertures to the hiding-place for the priests; contiguous to which are the secret stairs. The lower end of the temple, fronting the sanctum-sanctorum, contains the altars whereon victims were burnt; together with the receptacles for their ashes, and the reservoir for the purifying water. A figure of Harpocrates was found in a niche opposite to the high altar. Other parts of the

temple contain small altars, a kitchen, in which were found culinary utensils of cretacotta (containing ham-bones and remains of fishes), together with the skeleton of a priest leaning against the wall, and holding in his hand a hatchet. Here also is a refectory, where the priests were dining at the moment of the eruption which entombed their city; and where chickens' bones, eggs, and earthen vessels, were discovered: burnt bread was likewise found here; together with the skeletons of priests who either had not time to make their escape, or felt it a duty not to abandon their goddess. When this temple was excavated, its walls exhibited paintings of Isis with the sistrum, Anubis with a dog's head, priests with palm-branches and ears of corn, and one priest holding a lamp; the hippopotamus, the ibis, the lotus, dolphins, birds, and arabesques. Most of these, however, have been removed to Naples; as have the statues of Isis, Venus, Bacchus, Priapus, and two Egyptian idols, in basalt, which were likewise found here. Sacrificial vessels of every description, candelabra, tripods, and couches for the gods, were also discovered in this temple.

Candelabra found at Pompeii.

Not far hence is an edifice, which, judging by the rings of iron found in its walls, was probably the receptacle for beasts destined to be slain on the Isiac altars.

Temple of Esculapius.-The centre of this building contains a large low altar,

made with tufo, and shaped like a sarcophagus. The cella is placed on nine steps; and seems, if we may judge by the traces of columns still discernible, to have been covered with a roof. Here were found statues of Esculapius, Hygeia, and Priapus, all in creta-cotta.

Sculptor's Shop.-Several statues were discovered here; some being finished, others half finished, and others only just begun. Several blocks of marble, and various tools, now preserved in the Neapolitan academy of sculpture, were likewise discovered here.

Comic Theatre.-This edifice, built of tufo, and supposed to have been the Odeum for music, is small, but nearly perfect; and was covered with a roof resting upon columns, between which were apertures for light. Here are the places for the proconsul, and vestals, the orchestra, the proscenium, the scenium, and the postscenium; together with all the benches and staircases leading to them, for male spectators; and another staircase, leading to the portico, or gallery, round the top of the theatre; in which gallery the females were placed. The orchestra is paved with marble, and exhibits the following inscription in bronze capitals:

"M. OCVLATIVS M. F. VERVS II VIR PRO LVDIS."

On the outside of this edifice is another inscription, mentioning the names of the persons at whose expense it was roofed.

Two admission tickets for theatrical representations have been found at Pompeii: these tickets are circular, and made of bone; on one of them is written " AICXYAOY;" and above this word is marked the Roman number, XII., with the Greek corresponding numerical letters, IB, beneath it. The other ticket is numbered in a similar manner, and likewise marked with the name of a Greek poet: both tickets having, on the reverse side, a drawing, which represents a theatre. The Odeum seems to have suffered from the earthquake of 63.

Tragic Theatre.-This edifice, which stands upon a stratum of very ancient lava, is much larger than the Odeum, and in point of architecture one of the most beautiful buildings in Pompeii. It was composed of tufo, lined throughout with Parian marble, and still exhibits the orchestra, the proscenium, the stage; the marks where scenes or a curtain were fixed; the podium on the right of the orchestra for the chief magistrate, where a curule chair was found; the podium on the left for the vestals; the benches for patricians and knights in the lower part of the cavea, and those for plebeians in the upper part; the entrance for patricians and knights; the entrance and stairs for plebeians; the gallery round the top of the theatre for ladies, fenced with bars of iron (as the holes in the marble, and the remains of lead used for fixing the bars, may still be discovered); the stairs of entrance to this gallery, and the blocks of marble projecting from its wall so as to support the wood-work, to which, in case of rain or intense heat, an awning was fastened. The Campanians invented awnings for theatres, to shelter the audience from the rays of the un; but were, in consequence, called effeminate, a character which still seems appropriate to them. The stage, judging by the niches that still remain, appears to have been adorned with statues

The partition between the dressing-rooms and the stage was called the scena, and decorated with statues, columns, &c., for a tragedy, and, for a comedy, with cottages and other pastoral objects. The proscenium is enclosed by dwarf walls, and divides the stage from the orchestra and seats appropriated to the audience. This stage, like those of modern days, is more elevated at the upper than the lower end, and very wide, but so shallow that much scenery could not have been used, although the ancients changed their scenes by aid of engines, with which they turned the partition, called the scena, round at pleasure. There are three entrances for the actors, all in front; and behind the stage are remains of the postscenium.

This theatre stands on the side of a hill, according to the custom of the Greeks; and on the summit of this hill was an extensive colonnade (already mentioned), destined, perhaps, to shelter the spectators in wet weather, and likewise to serve as a public walk, the view it commands being delightful.

Tragic Scene. From a Painting found at Pompeii.

The comic and tragic theatres stand near each other, and contiguous to a public building surrounded with colonnades, and supposed to have been the Forum Nundi

narium.

This forum is of an oblong shape, and bordered by columns of the Doric order, without bases; the materials of which they are composed being tufo stuccoed, and painted either red or yellow, as was the general practice at Pompeii. These columns still exhibit figures in armor, and names of persons, traced, no doubt, by the ancient inhabitants of this forum to while away their vacant hours. Within the colonnades are rooms of various dimensions, supposed to have served as shops and magazines for merchandise, some of the largest being about fifteen feet square; and above these rooms was a second story, which appears to have been surrounded with wooden balconies. In one room was found an apparatus for making soap, in another a mill for pulverizing corn, and in another an apparatus for expressing oil. On the eastern side of this forum were stalls for cattle; and in the prison or guardhouse were found skeletons in the stocks, armor, and the crest of a helmet adorned with a representa. tion of the siege of Troy: the ancient forums were always guarded by soldiers, and therefore the place wherein the stocks and armor were found most probably was the guardhouse. The square contains a fountain of excellent water, a small ancient table, and likewise a large modern table, shaded by weeping willows, so as to make a pleasant dining-place in warm weather. The model of the stocks, the skulls of the persons whose skeletons were found in them, and some of the half-finished sculpture discovered in the statuary's shop, are kept here.

The Amphitheatre.-In the centre of a spacious piazza (probably a circus for chariot races), stands this colossean edifice, which, when disentombed, was so perfect that the paintings on the stuccoed wall surrounding the arena appeared as fresh as if only just finished; but, on being too suddenly exposed to the air, the stucco