POMPEII YIELDS UP SECRETS OF HISTORY AND ART TREASURES

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6850, 4 March 1929, Page 9

POMPEII YIELDS UP SECRETS OF HISTORY AND ART TREASURES

Election Notices Still Found on Inns

Much has been said and written about the famous “Street of Abundance’' at Pompeii, perhaps the most representative landmark of a civilisation overwhelmed by the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79, writes Paul Cremona, in an overseas paper. The area already explored comprises the House of Paquius Proculus, nestling close under the protecting shadow of the Temple of Isis, and again a labyrinth of small streets, evidently inhabited by the small bourgeoisie and little “tabernae” or inns plastered with electioneering manifestoes or bookmakers’ tips for tho gladiatorial favourites in the arena. While carrying on . excavations in a part of the quarter of Pompeii which had hitherto been untouched oy pick or spade, Prof. Alberto Majuri, who has been working on the region for three years, discovered a house almost perfectly preserved under tho think stratus of lava and volcanic ashes. It was evidently the home of a wealthy man, for the ample “trilinium” or banqueting hall is beautifully adorned with frescoes of mythological subjects. Art and Gardens. In tho hall that doubtless resounded with laughter and song shortly before the great eruption, Professor Majuri has found the remains of the members of an entire family giving the feast at tho time of the catastrophe, namely, those of the host, his wife and their children, nine in all. They were wearing heavy gold bracelets and priceless jewellery, which has now been placed in the Naples Museum.

Quite close to tho Street of Abundance is the “House of the Bronze Ephoebus,’’ so called because the famous masterpiece was discovered there in 1925. This is one of the most imposing palaces of ancient Pompeii, and must have comprised three different mansions, afterward joined together. The magnificent mosaic floors and decorations constitute its almost unique characteristic, for they are unrivaled throughout the world. Attached to the palace was a fine garden with a vinc-vlad bower, where tho owner entertained his friends, and among the ruins have been found several wellpreserved statues of Cariatids and a magnificent statue of a Greek athete, in gilt bronze, attributed to the fifth century, 8.C., when Greek art was at its best. Problem in Mechanics Solved.

Another feature of this unique Pompeian mansion is the little temple dedicated to Isis, with beautiful decorations in Egyptian and Alexandrine style, depicting the overflow of tho Nile, and fights between pigmies and storks. The Ethiopian race also figures largely in these paintings, which moreover solve a long-debated problem in mechanics, for here we have a slave treading the “cochlea” an hydraulic machine invented by Archimedes, but which Vitruvius had insufficiently described, so that Newton, much to his regret, could never make out how this “cochlea” or treadmill for drawing up water was worked, while 'here the whole problem is solved. The palace explored by Professor Majuri consisted of 30 largo rooms, all magnificently furnished, and the trea-sure-trove in statuary, bronze and gold and silver ornaments has been very considerable. Encouraged by this success, Professor Majuri is planning a still more active campaign, wliich ho confidently believes will yield very satisfactory results.