POMPEII.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13804, 15 January 1909, Page 8

POMPEII.

RECENT DISCOVERIES

The Ministry of' Public Instruction (Rome, November 20tli) received a report from lAt*oic?ssorI A t*oic?ssor Antonio Sogliaiio, uircctor of the excavations at Pompeii, in winch lie says:— "Tlie long and patient work or excavation outside the Porta \ esuyio (the Vesuvian Gate) has been attended with remarkable success. Along the I'ublia road, a feu" yards outside thegate three sepulchral monuments have been brought to light/ one after the other,, the first having been erected to ai: Aedile, or magistrate, named Cais.is V* stonus Priscus. It consists of an altar decorated in stucco between four j-itlurs also covered with stucco, ;.;:1 •vliicii ■ 've indications that they i'' originally coloured vermilion. The whole stands in. a rectangular enclosure.

"The second monument, however, is tho most beautiful, and consists of a, slender column with two bases, «i square one on which is the inscription, and under it the' second, circular in form, adorned with semi-circular seat known as a schola, completed at each end by a plinth with, bas-reliefs. It lias been ascertained that it was completed by a sundial, emblematic of time which, runs towards eternity, and which-was, moreover, the original of the celebrated sundial to be seen in the mosaic of the philosophiers in tlio museum at Naples. " The third monument is a square block of stone surmounted by an elegant column in tufa, which, unfortunately, is in a rather bad condition. On. the 'front of the block is an inscription by which it is learned that tho monument was erected to a matron called Septiuiia by her daughter, and that, as in the first case, the land was granted by the city, which gave the usual 2000 sesterces for the funeral, showing that the matron was either much beloved by the people or was nearly connected with some great personage." The excavations have now ceased for the winter, except in a spasmodic way, on account of the bad weather.

Serious hopes arc entertained that this is the beginning of the unearthing ot' the long sought Pompeian surburban necropolis spoken of by Pliny.—Router.