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May 4 2008, 9:41 AM EDT	meggle	1 photo added, 1 photo deleted
Apr 30 2008, 1:24 PM EDT	clemio	1 photo added, 1 photo deleted

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Stabian Baths (Reg VII, Ins 1, 8)

The baths complex centres on a large trapezoidal peristyle illustrated opposite. The eastern part was taken up by the men's and women's baths with the furnace room between. This room had three large boilers (one for warm, one for hot and one for very hot water). The most important innovation during the Imperial age was the gymnasium facilities. Here swimming could be alternated with athletic exercise and various sports. ..

.. The swimming pool itself measures 13 x 8 metres and was 1.5m deep. On the sides the lead pipes that carried the water to the pool can be seen. The large pool is flanked by two room where clients washed before entering the pool, and by a dressing room (left). These rooms are decorated with polychrome stuccoes that can be dated to the years after the earthquake of 62 AD.

Basilica (Reg VIII, Ins 1, 2)

The Basilica stands near the west corner of the Forum and is the oldest and most important public building in Pompeii. Measuring 24 x 55 metres, it was built between 120 and 78 B.C. and is the best example in Pompeii of pre-Roman architecture. The building reflects some of the structural conventions later codified by Vitruvius in his Ten Books on Architecture (Book V, chapter I - 'The Forum and Basilica'), .. .. The interior has a nave and two isles; the nave is bordered on four sides by twenty-eight large brick built columns. The illustration above shows quite clearly the brick columns and also, on the right, the half columns on the aisle wall. The Basilica played an important role in both civil and commercial life of Pompeii. Not only was justice administered here, but it was also a focus for commercial business.

.. However, it differs in the proportions and the fact that the entrance is on the short side, overlooking the Forum, instead of on the recommended long side; as a result the tribunal (the raised area on which the presiding judges were seated) is also on the short back wall, on an axis with the entrance. ..

Building of Eumachia (Reg VII, Ins 9, 1)

This large building, situated on the east side of the Forum between the Temple of Vespasian and the Comitium was built by the priestess Venus Eumachia for the corporation of weavers, dyers and launderers.

The building is as large as the Basilica, consisting of a impressive courtyard surrounded by a two-storey colonnade.

Of the fine facade that once faced the Forum only the marble cornice, decorated with acanthus leaves and birds (below) remains, the rest being rebuilt of brick after the earthquake of 62AD.

Two small rooms flank the entrance corridor, in one of which is to be found a large vase used to collect the urine utilized in the fullonicas for the degreasing of cloth.

The entrance corridor leads to the interior courtyard where buying and selling of cloth (presumably) took place.

A criptoporticus, lit by large windows, runs along 3 sides of a porch-like structure at the rear of the courtyard.

At the end of the portico are three apses which contained statues of Tiberius, Drusus and, between them, a statue of Livia, hailed as the Augustan Concordia.

In the back wing is a niche with a statue of Eumachia (pictured above) dedicated by the launderers (the original of the statue can be seen in the Archeological Museum of Naples).

Scattered bases around the courtyard imply that it must have contained a considerable amount of statuary, but the statues had most likely been removed after the great earthquake.

Forum (Reg VII, Ins 8)

The Forum was the centre of Pompeii when it was first founded and even after the city's enlargement, when it could hardly be called 'central', it remained the focus of political, economic and religious life. The Forum was quite large, measuring 157 x 38 metres and, together with the surrounding public buildings could contain all the inhabitants of the city.

The colonnade with solid Doric columns made from Nocera tufa (on the right of the photograph) was built round the Forum in the Samnite period.

The Romans paved the square with travertine and had begun renovating the colonnade along the east and west sides, erecting Doric columns, also of travertine, with a second order of Ionic columns above.

The Forum was arcaded on three sides, the exception being the north side which comprised a building, the Temple of Jupiter, and two honorary arches.

The base of the portico was raised above the level of the square in order to keep vehicles out of the Forum.

On the south side of the Forum were all the buildings involved in Pompeii's public life; the Basilica, the Municipal Offices and the Comitum.

The east side of the Forum was occupied by the Building of Eumachia, the Temple of Vespasian and the Sanctuary of the Lares Publici.
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Aside from the bases, nothing remains of the many honorary statues that graced the Forum - they were probably never replaced after the earthquake of 62 AD.


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