Pompeiana
by William Gell (9781458894717)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: OOOOOOOOOOO Q Q Q Q Q CHAPTER XIII. HOUSE OF THE DIOSCURI. The extent and apparent consequence of the habitation commonly called that of the Dioscuri, from the pictures of Castor and Pollux in the vestibule, but which some haveimagined the house of the Roman quaestor of the city, renders it an object of more than ordinary interest, and the observer is, consequently, disposed to lament that it has not been better preserved, and restored, as nearly as possible, to its original state. This would have cost but a trifling sum, and the lower story, which was the principal apartment, might have afforded an excellent idea of Roman houses in general. The walls of the second story, or what is commonly called the first floor in a modern house, existed in some portions of the dwelling, but in so tottering a state that it was thought necessary to remove them, lest they should ruin the lower part in their fall. A projecting cornice of stone ran in front toward the street of the Mercuries, but it is not clear whether it was situated between the two stories or on the top of the house, though some vestiges of ornament, yet visible on the wall, seem to render the former position probable. This cornice is remarkable for the lyres and dolphins roughly sculptured on the stone, not unlike that given in Plate LXXV., painted white or yellow on a red ground, which yet remains. The first division of this house, which is separated only by a narrow lane, or vicus, from the lupanare, has been, by some, taken for the dwelling of the domestics, and, by others, as the apartment of the females of the family, notwithstanding the bad reputation pf the neighbouring house. After passing the vestibule, or thyroreum, or divesting it of those Vitruvian names to which a simple aditus, limen, or entrance se...

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