UNBURYING A CITY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 253, 26 October 1938, Page 5

UNBURYING A CITY.

A PRICELESS YIELD. HERCULANEUM TREASURES. WORK LAUNCHED BY DUCE. (Ry Dr. EDWARD STRL'TT.) ROME, September 24. The King of Italy recently visited the excavations of Herciila ileum on the occasion of their 20nth anniversary, as they were commenced in 1735, under Kin;; I harles of Rourbon. the despotic of Naples, under the direction of a Spanish engineer and a Swi.-s architect. The initial excavations la-ted 27 years, and were carried on at ha pha/.nrd. like an exciting gamble at blind man's bull". Tunnels and galleries were bored through houses, temples and palaces, rut hlcr-sl v destroying valuable frescoes and paintings which have been lost for ever to art and archaeology, the only object of tluve vanda,s being to take po>session of priceless statue*, pictures and other works of art in gold, silver and tironze, which they lost no time in selling to the State or to rich foreign travellers. chiefly English milord*, at a huge profit. Most of the magnificent statues, pictures and precioiu* jewellery and plate, such ns goblets, beautiful" chandeliers and candlesticks, inlaid stones and scarabs from Egypt, etc., which nmv adorn the Naples Museum, derive more from Herculaneum than Pompeii. To these must be added important parchment scrolls and volume*, for, as I'liny savs, Herculaneum was the favourite vi"c;-'giatura or summer residence of cultured Roman patricians, who had magnificent libraries in their villas. It is in this direction that the effort* of Professor Maitiri, the eminent archaeologist who now directs the excavation*. are now turned, for he is convinced that the liquid lava and red-hot 'api"i must have spared a considerable portion of the prectous books and parchments. 1

Suetonius says that the Emperor ( lauilnis wrote a treatise in .10 books on the history and language of the ancient Etruscans, so that if this important work of the erudite emperor were recovered, the famous problem of the Etruscan language would be definitely solved. It is. indeed. strSWe that a language which was currentFv spoken in Rome not only at the time r> f the hti iiscan Kinpfs. who peacefully absorbed Rome, was still known in the Imperial era. as.the treatise of Claudius proves, and perhaps still spoken at least 111 Etruria. the modern Tuscanv, should have disappeared mysteriously, only surviving in its monuments and beautiful pottery, a tantalising riddle. Besides the works of Claudius. Professor Maiuri hopes to recover the complete works of Menander and Sappho, of which we have only a few beautiful fragments. He also hopes to recover some of the missing tragedies of Eseln lus. of which onlv seven are extant out of the original 70. The flood of boiling lava which submerged Hereulaneum has, in a certain way, been the only means of preserving through the centuries its precious contents, from kitchen pots and pans to artistic masterpieces and gold and silver and jewellery with which not even Benvenuto Cellini could have vied. Among the heterogeneous objects recovered is a carbonised press to press clothes, exactly like those used now. and hundreds of safety-pins in gold, silver and bronze. Mussolini Undertakes Work. It was only late in the past centurv that excavations were begun from the surface instead of tunneling, a mistaken system which caused wanton waste and destruction. 3iut the three successive attempts, from IH2B to 1!>04. gave very unsatisfactory results, as local landowners objected to having their vineyards and olive groves destroyed for what they considered mere moonshine. The only tangible results were the discovery of some isolated hr.uses of "insulae" and of the monumental Thermae or public baths. Finally the scientific work of bringing to light the remains of Hereulaneum was undertaken by Mussolini, who announced his intention in March 27, 1927.

Two months later, in May, the excavations were inaugurated by King Victor Emmanuel 111., who first attacked the millennial soil with hie pick-axe. I was there on that day, and there was the usual dust and confusion, and the excavation begun between hio-h walls was like a deep pit.

It is now possible to walk through the streets of Herculaneum as through those of her sister-city, Pompeii, with the only difference that a walk through the streets of. Herculaneum i s moTe interesting and reserves areater surprises. Here we breathe a different air not the heavy, asphyxiating atmosphere of an ambitious provincial centre. W e do not find the traces of a busy commercial town, with, ita streets "-deeply

inlaid with the ruts of heavily-laden cartwheels, with amorous inscriptions and electioneerinj; manifestos, praising or insulting civic candidates, shops and taverns crowded with bawling, lin—tliujx people. 1 lereulancum lias and always had an air of distinction and aristocratic reserve quite its own. for it was the hoine, the solace, the "dulce doinuin"* of wealthy ami fastidious patricians and of ijuiet and |ieaeetul men of learning, instead of avaricious business men and wine-sellers or slave-dealers. Its wide and airy streets were not defaced by ruts, for trallic was calm and chiellv limited to pedestrians or Sedan-chairs, in which lovely matrons reclined, while they were carried l>y stalwart slaves. Shocking Pictures Removed. Almost ;il| the houses, whether patrician palaees or dwelling, of artisans, were adorned with fresco paintings, chiellv representing mythological s t7i > - jeets. incidents ot the chase or amorous scenes, the latter conceived in a not o\ er-chaste spirit. Indeed, some of the -hot kiml' ones have had to lie removed to the reserved room of the Xaples Museum. The Archhishop of Xaples, (ardinal recently petitioned the Italian Coverimient to <lestl'ov the otrending works ot art, but his petition "as not granted. Ihe wealthy inhabitants of Hercu'a ileum vied with each other in buying at fancy prices pictures and statues, so that more works of art have been found at Herculaneiim than at Pompeii. and now adorn the .Museums of Naples, the Museo t lenient inn at the Vatican, the Louvre and the Jhitish Museum. It is with tho hope of finding other treasures, both artistic and literary, that Professor Maiuri. director of excavations. is now working with the enthusiasm of all true archaeologists.— (X.A.X.A.)