A DESCRIPTION O F T H E Firft DISCOVERIES O F T H E Antient City of Heraclea^ FOUND Near Portici, a Country Palace belonging to the King of the T/FO SICILIES. In TWO PARTS. Part I. Gontaining an Account of the Foundation of Hera- CLEA, together with a Defcription of that fatal Eruption of Mount Vesuvius, by which it was deftroyed. Part II. Containing a curious Account of the Difcoveries which were made in the Years 1689 and 171 1, and thofe of a later Date, giving a full Defcription of the Grand Theatre, Temples, Infcriptions, Statues, Columns, Lamps, Urns, Veffelsof Glafs, and other Metals, Paintings, Medals, and fundry other Cu- riofities found therein. Done into En^Ji/h from the Original Ital'on of the Marquis Den MARCELLO di VENUTl. By TFICKES SKURRAT. ' To which are added. Some Letters that paffed between the learned Jo. Matthia Gefner, Profeffor at Gottenburgh, Cardinal ^irini, and Her- mannus Samuel Reimarus^ ProfeiTor at Hamburgh, concerning thefe Difcoveries. LONDON: Printed for R. Baldwin, jun. at the Rofe^ in Pakr^NoJlsr-Row. M.DCC.L. ADVERTISEMENT. THE following Treatise, entitled, ^Description of the fi7'Ji Dif- coveries of the antient City of Hera- CLEA, ^c. being entered in the Sta- tioners Hall Book : Whoever offers to pirate it, or to reprint the Whole, or any Part of it, will be profecuted ac- cording to Law, T O Sir Hans Sloane, Bart. Fellow of the Royal Society, AND Phyfician in Ordinary to his Majefty. S I R, E pleafed to accept the follow- ing Tranflation, from one who, though an entire Stranger to your Perfon ; yet (having heard of your great Renown, as a learned and curi- ous Enquirer into, and Encourager ofj the Study of Antiquity,) prefumes to offer you his Performance ; hoping that the Subjed it treats on, (being the bring-: DEDICATION. ing to light an antient City, which had lain buried under Ground fo long, that it was almoft forgot to have exifted ;) will plead my Excufe for attempting to trouble you therewith: And as the King of the Two Sicilies did not difdain to patronize the Original, I hope you, Sir, will not refufe the fame Honour rq the Operations of, SiRy Tour mojl ohligedy And mojl obedient^ Humble Servant^ Wickes Skurray. THE Tranflator's Preface. HE following fmall Treatife is an authentick and concife Account of the Antiquities and Curiofities, which have been difcovered from Time to Time, in the City of Heradea ; Part of which was overwhelmed and covered with Afhes by an Eruption of Mount Vefuvlus, and Part was fwallowed up by an Earthquake, and remained in that Situation, as it were in a State of abfolute Oblivion, during the Space of one Thoufand fix Hundred and ten Years, when fome few Difcoveries were made, though very trifling to what has been within thefe ten Years : Wherefore I (out of a Curiofity, which is natural to any one) no fooner faw the Original hereof advertifed, but I bought it, at firft barely with a Defign of perufing and tranflating it, for my own Amufement in my leifure Hours : But on fliewing my Tranflation to fome Gentle- men of my Acquaintance, who had adually been on the very Spot, and even in the fubterraneous City herein treated of ; They, after a proper Revifal and Corre6lion, gave me Encouragement to offer it to the Publick ; and though fome few (and I hope) trivial Faults may have been inadvertently pafled over ^ yet, as it is the firft At. tempt I ever made of the Kind, their * known Indulgence leaves me no Room to doubt of their giving it a favoura- ble Reception, » The Publick's. ^ THE THE Author's Preface. F the Fmding of any curious Monuments of Antiquity has always been reckoned one cf the nohlefl Pleafures of the Learned^ and all thofe who would be accounted the Patrons and Friends of the Arts and Sciences : How much greater will he the Glory of the King of the 'Two Sicilies^ who has had the good Fortune^ not barely of finding fmall Fragments^ &c. but (if cm may ufe the ^erm) he has^ as it were^ unburied an entire City^ be- decked with magnificent and -precious Ornaments^ viz. theatres, Temples, Paintings, Buildings, Colojfal and Equeftrian Statues, both of Marble and Brafs, &c. 7he Fame of this lucky huident, worthy of only ftich a King, who takes a Plea fur e in encouraging Arts and Sciences, has excited throughout the World fuch Amazement, as raifes both a Kind of Envy, and lau- dable Curiofity, in thofe who delight in Antiquity, and have any tolerable Share of good Senfe, And as it happened to be my hot to he the fir ji that had the Honour to participate and explain to his Ma- jefty the firfi Bifcoveries of thefe Curiofities, and alfo feeing fo many Accounts daily piiblifhed, and fever al il- luftrious Members of the learned Refuhlick ftriving, with a Kind of Emulation, which fhall be the firfi to difcourfe thereon \ I refolved (with the fole View of fatisfying the many Requefts which I have had from feveral Parts of Europe) to publijh a fhort and minute 5 Defcriptic.n The AuTHOR*s Preface.' vii Befcription of the firft Difcoveries^ which were made under my Dire^fion , together with fome frjort Dijfer- tations^ which I read on that Suhje^i^ in our ^ufcan Academy at Cortona -, and in order that thofe who have taken upon them to puhlijh the Beftgns^ may be able fecurely to purfue the Befcription, And Signor Mu- ratori fpeaks thus ^ : Inter tot pretiofa antiquitatis Romanse monumenta, ftatnas, columnas, aliaque elaborata marmora, qu^ in Villa Refine extra Neapolim, anno 1739, effofla lunt, & adhuc effo- diuntur, & quorum defcriptionem fperare nos facit dodiflimus Eques Venuti, primum hoc marmor effodientibus fefe obtulit, ex quo innotuit ibidem extitiffe Theatrum cum orcheftra, &c. 7his and other Accounts were tranfmiited him from Time to *Time^ by me, and the Abbot PJdolfino Venuti my Bro- ther. Signor Gori is publifoing a Book^ entitled^ C^ol- leftanea Antiquitatum Herculanenfium : ThislVork cciififls cf a ColleBion of all the Accounts^ which have been publifned to this very Bay^ by him carefully re- vifed and put together -, where., among the many other ^Things., he produces fever al Letters ., which he received frojn my Brother and me^ concerning thefe Bifcoveries, But I being called away by my domeflick Affairs^ fho'' very much againfl my JVill^ obtained the King^s Permiffwn to return Horne^ wherefore I could not be prefent at the Profeculivn of this grand Entdrprize : And as the King was pleafed to order me to write a Biffertation of the Antiquities of that Place^ which he tranfmitted to the Court of Spain ; and being wrote within the Space of a few Hours ^ I find myfelf necef fitated to publifh it in a more diftin5i and better Man- ner.^ to fatisfy {as I faid before) the impatient Curiojity cf fome Perfons ; in order,, that if this my fuccin£i Bttail fhould fall into other Hands,, they may be better informed of the Bifcoveries and the Hiflory thereof : Which (Difcoveries) have daily increafed, and have^ • Teforo dcllc Ifcrizioni, p. 202/, i. to viii The Author's Prefacf.' to my great Satisfaction^ confirmed all that I from the Beginning (as it were hy a Kind of Foreknowledge) furmifedy i. e, that under the Spot where they firfi be- gun to dig^ was buried^ not only a grand^ ?ioble^ and fumptuous antique Theatre^ but alfo an antient City^ which by the Grecians^ and in particular by Strabo^ was called *HPAKAEIO'N, and by the Latins^ as Pliny ^ and many others^ Herciilanium and Hercula- ' neiim, fituated in Campania Fcelix ; the Situation of which^ I cannot better defcribe^ than by giving you the very Words of ^ Florus^ who fays ^ Omnium non modo Italia, {ti toto orbe terrarum pulcherrima CampanisE plaga eft •, . . . Hie illi nobiles por- tus . . . Hie amidi vitibus montcs Gaurus, Fa- Jerniis, MaiTicus, & purcherrimus omnium Vefu- vius iEtnasi ignis imitator. Urbes ad mare For= miae, Cum^e, Puteoli, Neapolis, Herculaneum, Fompei, &c. Permit me here to add^ that this Dif- covery clears our learned Archbifljop Nicolas Perotto^ from an unjufi Cenfure caft upon him by Ritas Vineio^ in his Notes on the above Parage of Florus, by find- ing Fault with his placing Heraclea in Campania Fce- lix, thus : Fuerunt autem hs (urbes) mults*, qua- rum una Campanis hie celebrata? : qus urbs ea~ dem fuit cum Herculaneo, fi quid Perotto, ^ ho- mini multa fine ratione, audoreque tiadenti, ere- dimus. Having divided the Work into two Parts ^ I fhall in the fir ft give an Account of the Foundation of the City Heraelea, beginning fir ft with fear ching out who that Hero (Hereules) was^ and what the Mythologifts fay concerning his 'Travels from Spain into Italy : In the next PlacCy 1 flmll give you the Hiftory of the City Heraelea, and its firft Inhabitants^ beginning from the Ofcians and the Tufcans, and continuing it down to the Romans^ without mentioning the Wars which were » Lib. I. deBell. Samnit. ^ In Cornucop. pag. 207. edit. Venet. anni 149. carried Tiie A U T K O r's P R E F A C E. iK tarried on in Campania Fcelt:<^ and particulardy near Heracka. But as feme Perfcns would blame me (and not without Reafon) for not faying any Thing of the famous Battle that happened there between the Ro- mans^ and King Pyrrhus^ I will not omit givirig yon in this Place the very f Fords of Florus ^ : A pud Heracleam, & Campaniae fluvium Lirini, Lsevino Confiile, prima pugna : quce lam atrox fuit, uc Ferentan^e turmte praefedus Obfidius irivedlus in Regem turbaverit, coegeritque proje6tis infignibus pr^Iio excidere •, but on bringing Elephants into ths Army^ the King gained a compleat Victory ; by which^ as Florus fays^ totam trementem Campaniam, Li- rim, Fregellafque populatus, prope capram Ur- bem a Prseneftina arce profpexic. Elias Vineto con- founds himfelf in this Paffage^ not knowing how to find out what Heraclea that is^ in Campania FoeliXy which is mentioned by Florus^ and Paul Orofius ^ ; feeing there is only one named by Strabo^ and Pliny ^ in the Confines of Italy^ between the Rivers Siris and Aciris, but a great Way from Campania^ and the lUver LinSy where Plutarch (in his Life of King Pyrrhus) fays the Battle was fought ; which^ if he had more nicely obferved Florus^ he would have found ; and thefe new Difcoveries more and more confirm it. But to return to the Diftribution of this V/orky I fhall next treat of the fir ft Eruption of Vefuvius^ as I happened to read public kly in our Tufcan Academy, Finally y in the Second Party I fhall defcrihe the Anti^ quities founds together with the Account of thefirfi^ Difcoveries of the Theatre^ Temples^ and Paintings^ which happened in my Time ; for there have fine e been found fever al other Paintings y ^c, A naked Hercules as large as Life \ a Satire holding a 'Nymph in his Arms ; Virginia accotnpanied by her Father y and let- lius her Spoufcy whilfi M. Claudius is demanding hers he fore the Decemvir Appius : And the Education of » Lib. I, cap. 14. * Lib. 4, cap. i. a Achilles r The Authoi^'s Preface^ Achilles under the Centaur Chiron ; hut that of Vtr* ginia is univtrfally adraired above all the reft^ being o?ie of the beft preferred. Alfo two Baffi Rilievi ; the one reprefenting fome Perfons playing at Bice : U)t^ der each Perfcn is his Name wrote in Greek, ^he ether re-prefcr.ts a Chariot^ dra'-jjn by a Parrot^ and guided by a Cricket, I congratulate our Age^ that it has been able,, as it were,, to look back,, and actually to fee the Cuftoms and Manner of the Aticients. If any 'wijh for the Perpe-- iuity of any Hhing,, that has ever had its defired Effetl^ I fjould imagine it to be that Motto,, which is to be feen on a Medal of Titus,, having on the E.everfe a handfeme Temple adorned with Horfes, fi>c ColumnSj and three Statues. The Motto is this ; ^ ^ERN^ T A T I. FL A V I O R U M. This is not a Place to examine the Legitimacy of that Medal,, nor to what Fabrick it pertains ; but it is eafy to imagine,, that as thefe Monuments of Antiquity {which ^ doubt lefs^ were put up in Heraclea to the Honour of that Family) that have lately been difcovered,, have eternalized the Name of that Imperial Family hitherto ; they will eternalize for the future^ the glorious Name of CHARLES BOURBON, the fortunate King of the Two Si- cilies. The laft Thing I have to fay is,, that whatever I mritCy I fhall only bear Witnefs of what I have feen tvith my own Eyes -, and I folemnly protejl,, that I ■ have no Intention to publifh or defcribe the other Cu- riofities,, which have been fince dug up \ nor to pre- judice any one that propofes to treat thereon : But only that this my fhort Treatife {in which there may be fome Things mentioned y which others know nothing of) may ferve as a Forerunner and Co^nduolor of the curious Work,, which, by Order of hi^s Majefly, is preparing. And for Example , I faw in a French Account (which is now printed) the Infcription on Mamrmanus Ru- fns {poffibly a Pefctndant of that L. MammiuSy called The Author's Preface. m hy Dionyfius " vir non obfcurus, who f aw the Oracle engraved in the 'Temple of Jupiter Dodcneus) found in the Theatre towards the Sea^ as is the Manner of other Theatres^ and particularly according to Florus^ and Orofio del Tarentino, who fays thus : L, ANNIVS. L. F. MAMMIANVS. RVFVS. IIVIR QVINQ. EATRO NUMISIVS. P. F. ARO HERCVLANEN There were two htfcriptions (as I (Jo all treat about in my Defcriptim) pretty much alike \ the fir Jl^ ^^'^^ fi- ver al Pieces ef a grand Architrave^ which I put to- gether thus. A .... MAMMI RVFVS. lIVlR. QVk,TiEAR»- ORC DE. SVO On the fecond Cornifio^ or Architrave^ Fellow toth^ firjl^ was another Infcription in thefe JVords : L. ANNIVS. L. F. MAMMIANVS. RVFVS. lITiR, QUINQ, Tj£Alk. O . . . P. NVMISIVS. p. F. AR .*. .TEC. ... And as the Workmen broke and fpoiled every Things and pulled the Architraves in Pieces^ (tho* they were entire when under the Ground) it might happen^ that they put two different Things together^ and fo confufed every Thing. It zvas, indeed^ propofed^ thai every Thing Jhould be preferved, but it could not be obtained ; only the mofl precious Things were placed, as Ornaments in the Royal Villa of Portici^ where the following In- fcription is put upy which I propofed ; in which is ^ Plainnefs^ which I take great Pleafure in. I Pionyf. Halicarn. Antiq. Rom. lib. i. pag. 15. ^ ^. KAROLVS, xii The Author's Preface. KAROLVS. REX PHILIPPI. V. HISPANIAR. REGIS. F. LVDOVJCI. GALLORVM. DELPHINI. N, LVDOVICL MAGNl. PRONEPOS THEATRVM. SPLENDIDISSIMVM OLIM. TITO. IMPERANTE. A. VESEVO CBRVTVM. ET. TEMPORVM. INIQyiTATE DIRVTVM IN. APRICVAl. RES TITVIT SIGNA. ET. STATVAS. AD. VILLAE ELEGANTIAM. ACCEDERE IVSSIT ANNO. MDCCXXXIX. Every one is fenfthle^ that from the fortunate Sticcefs cf'thefefurpriftng Difcoveries^ is derived a great Part of the immortal Renown due. to the Name of his Ma- jeJiyCnARl^¥.S Vill. King of Naples, . fe- citque ejus per hoc notabilem fortunam ; ftantem e- nim praenavigabamus: nunc caufa dirutas qu^eritur ; there remaining ft ill a grander Idea of the Roman Magnificence •, and a more glorious Remembrance of cur invincible King. » De Ira lib. 3. cap. 23, A Table of CONTENTS. PARTI. Of the Foundation of Heraclea; CHAP. I. Who Hercules was, and why fo called Page I CHAP. II. Of the Coming of Hercules Fhcenkius into Italy 9 CHAP. III. Of the City Heraclea and Places adjacent 1 7 CHAP. IV. Of the fir fl Eruption ofVefiivius, and of that which deftroyed the Cities He- raclea and Pompeia 3 3 PART II. Of the Ajitiqiiities of Heraclea. CHAP. I. An Account cf the fir fi Difcoveries made in 1689 '^^^^ 11 ^\ 46 CHAP. II. An Account of the Bifcovsry of the an- tient theatre of H^ r a c l e a 51 C H A P. III. Ohfervations on the faid Theatre 56 CHAP. IV. Account of the AntiqjAities found in the Theatre 73 CHAP. V. Account cf Antiquities yj CHAP. VI. Ohfervations en the Infcriptions yS CHAP. VII. Of the Temples and Paint irtgs, found near the Theatre 90, CHAP, VIII. Other Ohfervations on, andDefcripti- ons of ths fald Painti?jgs 98 C H A P, xvi CONTENT S. CHAP. IX. Defcriptions of other Buildings in He-' R A CLE A, and of the Antiquities found therein io8 CHAP. X. A Diary of the Difcoveries made in the Summer ^/ 1739 115 CHAP. XL Of later Difcoveries^ with other Ob- fervations and Remarks 123 Plaufus Orhis Literati^ &c. 12& A fhort Account of the Difcoveries^ in a Letter from Card, ^irini to Signor Gefner^ Profeffor at Got- tenhurg 135 m-^'^B^ E R ,R A T A. PAG. 2. line 4. for Atamante read Athamas; P. 9, 1. %.for as it is, r. as is. P. 18. 1. 7. for Heraclea, r. Heraclese. P. 25. I. %Q. fsr Magiftrate, r. Magiftrates. P. z8. 1. 3. for near was f»und, r. was found near. J*. 65. 1. 1?. for connot, r, cannot. P. 65. 1. 26. for pofuit, perfecit, r. pofuit, fecit, perfesit P. 8S. 1. i./»r Suetorius, r. Suetonius. P. 104. I. 2. for Giant, r. Giants, P. 106. 1. S./ar eleven, r. ten. DESCRIPTION O F T H E DISCOVERY O F T H E Antient City of Heraclea. PART L Of the Foundation ^Heraclea. CHAP. I. Who Hercules was^ and why fo called, T will not be' foreign from our Pur- pofe, to treat a little in this Place about the Name of Hercules^ the Founder of this City of Heraclea. And without examining into every Particular that may have been wrote concerning it, by Bocharty and Huezio^ and others, who derive it from the ori- ental Languages ; and being in particular to fpeak B of 2 A Description of the Q^ Hercules Phcenicius^ or him, who is reported to have brought the Oxen of Gerion, out oi Spain; it is certain, (according to Sanchoniathon and Fhilo Bihlicus^) that he was the Son of Atamante^ or Jw piter Bemeroon^ King of Phcenicia. If we feek for the Origin of his Name among the Grecians 5 they will tell you that Eliano ' being well inform 'd of the Tradition of the Hiftory of Belphos^ has left it in Writing, that Hercules was firft called HeraclideSy but afterwards on confultingthe Oracle, he was named Hercules by Apollo, Heraclem te alio Phcehus cognomine dicit ; Gratificando eienim dec us immortale tenehis. Hercules was however his Name, the Etymology of which, is the Glory of the Goddefs Juno. For the Greek word *^H^)] fignifies Juno^ and kXioi; Glory. But as it is not our Defign to difcourfe upon the great Variety of Names of Hercules^ or rather of the Hercules' s^ and having pitched upon the moft anticnt of them, namely, Hercules Phcenicius^ we Ihall only take Notice of the Sentiments of the modern Hiftorians. M. Fourmont^ belonging to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Faris^ is of Opinion, that the Greek Name 'H^anA??, derived from'^H^T] Juno^ and xXeo? Glory, is only a corrupt and counterfeit Name. The old Eolick Name of him, is Hercle \ and the old Latin Name, Hercules. And Heracles is only a Dulcifm or Softening of the Pronounciation. The Letters V and O, were the fame Thing a- mong the antient Latins,, and confequently in the Eolick and Borick Dialeds, from which they de- rived their Language ; fo Hercules and Hercoles was the fame Word.- Further, in former Days, the R and the S were ufed without any Difference, as Fu^us Indead of Furius^ and Valefius inftead of » Var. Hift. lib. 2. I Valerius^ Antient City of HERACLEA. 3 Valerius^ and hence we may conclude, that they pronounced it Hefcules ; and perhaps it may not be difagreeable to the Reader, to hear the following Reafons for imagining this to be the antienteft De- nomination, which {Reafons) are founded, both on Hiftory, and on divers Matters of Fad ; not only attributed to our Fhcenician Hercules^ but alfo to all the others. In the firR: Place ; it is recorded, that Hercules afiifted the Gods againft the Giants, called ^itani *. He was a great Friend to Mercury ^, as Ariftides relates ; he made War againft Anteus^ with the Children of Abraham ^ He fuccoured Atlas^ and commanded the Troops of Oftris ^, He carried the War into the Indies and Ethiopia^ : He was at the fame Time called, Egyptian^ and Phcenician ; and Herodotus adds, that he was reckoned among the XII Gods of the Egyptians •, i. e, that he was as antient as Jupiter or Saturn ^ From all v/hich we may gather, that the Hercules or Hefcules of the Antients is abfolutely the Elefcol fpoken of in Scrip- ture s, with whom Abraham entred into League, againft Amraphel^ Ariok^ Codorlaomor^ and 'Thadal ; all this is very probable from this Suppofuion, that as Hercol or Hefhcol fought againft- the Titanic they became a People of Mefopotamia^ the Sons of Nachor and Thare^ and that Amraphel, King of Sennaar^ was a Prince of the 7itaniy which is con- firmed by Abidenus \ who fays, that the War, which was between Saturn and the Titanic that is to fay, between Abraham^ and the Defcendants of Nachor^ was not waged till after the Difperfion of Babel: And Artapanus mentions the fame Thing*. » Diodor. Sicul. lib. i. ^ Orat. in Hercul. & Leon. An- thologia. « Eufeb. prsep. lib. 9. cap. lo. Jofeph Antiq. lib. i. cap. 16. '^ Diodor. lib. i. & lib. 5. Huet. pr^p. Evang. pag. 80. e Idem. prop. 4. pag. 190. A. col. 2. ^ Lib 2, cap. 43. k 44. £ GtnQ^. xiv. 24. ^ Eufcb. lib. 9. cap. J4. "- Ibid. cap. 8. B 2 And 4 ^Description^/^/^^ And 2i? Abraham is found to be theK^ovoj or Saturn^ and- IJaac the Zeu? or Jupiter^ of the Antients, it follows of courfe, that Hercules fhould be the fame HejhcoU which has hitherto remained un- known. The Poet Ckodemus, called alfo Malchas^ who •wrote the Hiftory of the Hebrews, numbers him among the Children, which Abraham had by Ce- tura, Afer, Aftir, and Afra, and tells you he v/ent with him into Africa to combat Aniens *. Where- fore by this fabulous Story of Malchas, we may infer, that he has not copied it from Mofes^ but has taken it from fome Phoenician Hiftory, relating to the Story of Atlas, mentioned by Horner^ He/tod^ Virgil^ and Ovid, who calls him Japetoniades \ Hie hominum cunSlis ingenti corpore prafians Japetoniades Atlas fuit^ ultima tellus Rege fub hoc, & pontus fuit vjhomHercules affifted to fupport the Skies : He was called by Nonnus Tiwio? ; which agrees with Hefiod^ who makes him to be the Son or Climene^ and of Japet, the fifth of the Titani. Now without en- tering into any Argument in Defence of Sancho- niathon, and pafTing by all other fabulous Stories ; we fhall only fay, that Atlas was the Father of Maja ", and that, of Jupiter and Maja^ Mercury was born d. If by Mercury is meant Eliezer « ; then he is not the Son of Aio? or Ifaac, but lived in his Time, or a little before. On the other hand, Hercules afllfted Atlas : Who would not imagine it to be Lot, or in the Phoenician Language Lota, and corruptly Oihlah? Such Tranfpofitions are very common, and in the Time of the Ammonites^ which were the Defcendants of Lot ^ ; the Name * Eufeb. praep. lib, 9. cap 20. ^ Metamor. lib. 4. ^ Efiodi Theog. "^ Ibid. pag. 129. 13. *= Vid. Fourmont Reflexions Critiq. lib. 2. fee. 3. cap. 29. ^ ]^^%- x« i- of Antient C/(y ^ H E R ACL E A. 5 of Jhola^ which is the fame as Jtlas^ was much ia \]^t. But Atlas was attacked by the Titanic be- caule he was of the Party of Jupiter and Kronos : In this you may difcern the Hiftory of Lot or Lota ; Abraham is Kronos^ and his Enemies are the Titani* It is faid, that Atlas was well verfed in Aftronomy, and here we muil not omit telling you J that Lot^ or as the Ammonites call him, '^fola^ Otla^ was a Chaldean : But have not all the Antients mentioned that Abraham^ being a great Traveller, brought the Ufe of Aftronomy out of Chaldea into Egypt ^ ? Therefore it was Lot^ or Lota^ or Othlah^ that cultivated that Science. It may pofTibly be objeded, that Atlas v/as King of that Part of Mauritania^ which is near the Mountain of that Name ; and that Abidems takes Atlas'to be the Enoch mentioned in Scripture, namely, the Father of Methufalem ". But it is very likely the Ammonites may have given it that Name, among their Conquefts in the Time of the Judges ^ The Manner in which Naas^ the King of the Ammonites fpcaks ^^ The War which David waged againft them % The Alliances \ and their Forces g ; fhew them to have been a very formida- ble Nation. But, not to fay any thing of the other Reafons, by which we might prove the Coherence that is between Atlas ^ and the Carthaginian Names ^ ; the Story goes, that the Tyrant Buftris ordered his People to ravifh the Neices of Atlas^ viz. the Hefperides, and that this was done without the Affiftance of Hercules ; but with refpedt to^this Fadl, there are two Stories confounded together, " Vid. Polyhiftor. ex Artapano. apud Eufeb. lib. 9. cap. 18. & idem ex Eupolemo apud eundem Eufeb. lib. 9, cap. 16. Nico- laus Damafcenus apud eundem Eufeb. cap. 16. ^ Genef. iv. *^ Judg. xi. 32, '^ I Reg. xi. 11. ■= 2 Reg. xiii. ^ Pfalm Ixxw. 6, 7, g, B Jerem. xlix. 4. ^ Vid. Fourmont loco citato. fc, pf 6 u4 DESCRlTTlOfJ of thg fc. of BufiriSy and of Oftris^ and which feem to mean the Difpatching of Efcol againft Amrafhely who {EJhcol) joined himfelf with Abraham^ to de- liver the Daughters of Lot or Othlah^ from Servi- tude. The Greek word jtxrjAou denoting the Efperian Ap- ples, fi gni lies a I fo C<^///(f. Melom Hebrew^ fignines Plenty^ and Melon in the Phcsnician Language, Riches ; and from thefe Equivocations Biodorus affirms % that Atlas gave Hercules fome Cattle with golden Fleeces. Bochart\ Opinion is, that, by Melon^ according to the Thcenician Language, is underftood Riches in general. Others will have it to be. Oranges, and Cedars, in particular. And Clark avers, that this happened in Mauritania ^in- giiana near ^ingi Tanger •, in which Spot, Pltny places the Hefperian Gardens ^, All vv^hich is taken from the fame Story of Lot^ or Otlas^ m the Scripture, with Additions and Enlargements. Lot parted ^i:om Abraham and recejpj ah Oriente % and confequently went towards the Weft -, hence comes the Hefperus of the Hefperides: The Hefperian Avenues are guarded by Serpents. Signor Clcrc^ in his Comment upon Hefiod^ P^g^ 630, obferves, that both o^K and ^^cck^ fignify to fee and infpe£f. Hence the Phoenician word Nachafh^ or Nahhas^ may be interpreted, a Serpent, and a Keeper, or In- fpedtor. With refpe6t to Hercules being General of the Troops of Ofiris^ this anfwers to Efhcol commanding the Troops of Efau. EfJxol^ a Man experienced in War, under Abraham \ joined him- felf with EfaUy and accompanied him in Arabia^ Ethiopia^ and the Indies^ after the Death of JfhniaeL Let us fuppofe, for Inflance, according to P. Suciefs Chronology, that HefcoU or Hercules^ was born A. M. 2080, and that he was 30 or 40 Years » Diodor. Bibl. lib. 4. ^ Plin. Hiftor. Nat. lib. 5. cap. 5. ^ Genef. xiii. 14. ^ Gcnef, xiv. 13. of Antienf City ^/ H E R A C L E A. 7 of Age when he went to War againil Codorlaomor \ in 2240, when Jcicoh returned out of Mefopotamia^ he was about 160 Years of Age ; which in thofe Days was not accounted a decrepit old Age ; Ifaac Jived above 180 Years -, according to which, v/e muft allow, that the War of Efau was during the Sojournment of Jacob with Laban^ from the Birth of Ruben in 2247, to the Birth of Jofepb in 2258. The lad Charader of this Heroe, viz. That he waged War in the Indies and Ethio-pia^ may be conftrued thus •, that Ofiris ordered that Expediti- on, and that Hercules undertook to be his General ; now all Authors agree, that Hercules conquered Anteus^ only Strabo contradidls it ; wherefore it is very likely, that the Grecians may have confound- ed one Hercules with another, and thereby, not reprefented the Story wrong, but applied it to the wrong Perfon. By all which we fee, that Ercoks might very well be, at the fame time, call'd, both Fhxnician and Egyptian. The Conquefts of Ofiris or Efau^ might be celebrated throughout all Egypt^ for the fame Reafon as Eliezer was there adored under the Name of BovS-o? or Mercury^ and jEfculapius or JJIs. So He?rules might be deified, as he was the right Hand of OJiris^ or the beft General that was in thofe Days j and very pofTibly, all the antient Eaftern Stories came to the Knowledge of the Gre- cians by thefe tv/o Channels, fc. one by Cadmus an Idumean or Fhcenician ; the other, Banaus an Egyp- tian^ who might both of them reprefent thefe Stories of the Hercules's, as they were believed in their refpedlive Countries. The Grecians were like the Inhabitants of Iflands, who kept feparate from one another^ and affedled having different Gods ; which being al- lowed, the four principal Hercules' s^ befides Oufous before the Flood, may be reduced to thefe two, viz. 8 -^DESCRlPTlON^f//^^ viz» the Egyptian^ and the Phcenician^ which an- fwers to the ^heban and the Indian \ the Egyptian^ which is the fame as the Pbcenician^ whom we have agreed to be Ejhcol^ accompanied Ofiris in his Ethi- opian Expedition. With regard to Da5iyhts Ideus^ probably he was one of the Hercules' s^ according to iJ'SCT, Hattfehai^ as he was of the Family of Heueen ^^Oi* Tfebon % becaufe Da^ylus is only a Tranflation. I pafs by the fundry other Surnames, which were given to Hercules, by the Egyptians^ viz. Gigon, Gignon, and Savdes -, the firft of which is mentioned by Efichius ; and Agatia derives the fecond from the Perfians : Tiyccv is the fame as Gigas ', and Sandes was probably a God worfhipped in I^D Sand^ or in the Province of Sind. This is the Opinion of the Learned of our Time, concerning the Name and Hifbory of the true Her- cules ; having, with a great deal of Pains, clear'd it from the dark Clouds of the moft obfcure Fables, which, by the Expounders or Moralizers, have al- ways had fomething counterfeit and falfe added to them. But I am perfuaded, that before the Introdu- cing the Pelafgian Charadlers into Italy ^ i. e. when the antient Etrurian or Tufcan Language and Sa- crifices were in Ufe, this was never called any otherwife than Hercules., as we now call him. There are ftill extant fas Demfterus fays) two an- tient Tufcan facrificing Cups ^, on which may be read his Name, thus 3^If 039 Herkle ; which ferved as a Help for the Tufcan Academy at Cor- tona., and Signori Pajferi and Cm, to form the ^ufcan Alphabet. Vv^herefore there is no Room to doubt, that Hercules was always call'd Hercle in Italy •, which is evident alfo, from the antient Ex- clamation Mebercule^ and afterwards by the Latins > Gen. xxxvi. 3. ^ Dc Etruria Regali, Tab. U. & VI. changed ^Antient C/// ?^ H ER A CL E A. 9 changed into Hercules ; the Tufcans frequently •iifing the Letter R : Tho' many Authors deny them the Ufe of it. And as we have derived the Name of Hercules from the Goddefs Ju?:o, it wiii not be improper to mention, that there is in being, another facrificing Cup, on which ^;^7^ is call'd SIQH • ^^^> reading it from the Right to the Left, as it is the Cuftom in the Eaftern Countries. I add further, that it is a very difficult, and next to impoflible Undertaking, clearly to reconcile the Identity of Perfons, the Hiftories of whom are obfcured by fo m.any different Interpretations, in- fomuch as, on a great Number of Wild Beads be- ing gathered together, or when any noted Villain armed himfclf to difturb the Peace of the People, it was neceflTary that fome expert Warrior fhould be fent to tame, and root out fuch Plagues -, in the like Cafe, this Hero, who by the Antients was called Horus^ being armed with a Club, one Day overcame the moft diftinguilhed Warriors, and thence was called Heracles or HerccUj, t. e. a Man expert or famous in War ; for in the Hehew Tongue Horim ^ fignines iiluftrious Perfons, and Kelt, fignifies a Club, or any Kind of Arms \ I fhall conclude this Chapter (for the Confolation of the Learned,) with this Paflage out of Cicero: Magnam raoieftiam fufcepit^ t^ minime necejjariam primus Zeno^ foft Cleanthes^ deinde ChryfippuSy com- mentitiarum fahularurrt redder e rationem \ CHAP. II. Of the Coming of Hercules Phoenicius into Italy. AN Y one who underftands but a little of the Hiftory of the fabulous Age, call'd 'A which mani- fcftiy appears to (land for ]^, or K, which has never till now been taken notice of by any one. There is no Reafon to doubt, that the fourth Letter is the Ttifcan V. The laft Letter, A is found by the Members of the Cortonian Academy» to be the very Lamda of the Greeks. All which being a- greed upon, together with the infinite Number of Tufcan Monuments daily found about Nola and Capita^ fully prove the Dominion of that Nation in thofe Parts : In particular, there are fome extream- iy curious large Veffels finely painted with Figures > » Mufeo Ecrufco Tab, 198. num. 22. 23. 24, 25. Mazzocch. Differc. di Core, t, 3. p. 43, ^ Signor Gori loco citato. " De rc^a pronunciazione La^ L\r% cap. VH. 4 which 24 'j4 De SCRIPT I oij of the which were prefented to his Majefly on his firft Entrance into this Kingdom : Of which I intended to have pubhfhed an Account, had my domeftic Affairs permitted mc to flay longer in that King- dom. But my very good Friend, Mr. William Hammond^ made a great Colle6lion about Nola^ and fent all that was new and curious to England. It follows, therefore, from what we have been faying, that thtSamnites extended themfelves, for fome Time, throughout our Neapolitan Crateis •, C Semprenio Aratino, ^ ^ Fabio. Vibulano Cofs. Pere- grina res^ fed memoria digna traditur^ eo anno faSla : Vulturnum Hetrufcorum urhem^ qua nunc Capua eft.y nh Samnitihus captam, Capuamque ah Duce eorum Ca- pys^ (^c. * Therefore Capua was the only Place at that Time inhabited by the Grecians, and from that Nation they derived their Cufloms and Magiflrates, as wi^l be fliewn hereafter. Forafmuch as Strabo writes ^, that Naples was a Colony of the Cumaans^ the ChalcidenfeSy the Pithacufans and the Atheni-ans t Neapolis Chalcidenfium, ^ ipfa Parthenope d tumulo Sirenis appellata. Thence 1 conclude, that thofe People were all one Nation ; for Livy tells us, that the Cumaans had their Origin from Chalcis Euboica or NegropontuSy anantient Colony oitht Athenians^: Athenienfes Rege Erichthonio in Eubceam hifulam de- duxerant : Athenienfes in Euboica Cbalcida Erethiam Colonis occupavere. The Grecians polTefiing it till the Romans became Mailers of it, whofe Wars as I do not intend to give an Account of, I fhall only mention, that in former Days, they reduced that Country into Prefc6lorrnips, in quibus ^ jus dice- hatur, y, nmidina agebantur, ^ erat qu^dam caruyn Refpublica, neque tamen Magifiratus fuos habebant ;, in quas legibus prafecli mittebantur quotannis, qui jus dicer ent : quarum genera fuere duo : Alterwu, in quas folebant ire Prafeki quatuor, populi fuffragio creati^ » Livius, lib. 4. \ Lib. 3. ch. 5. ^ Paufanias in Auicis. in AntientCityofUEV.KChEA, 2$ in hac oppida^ Capiiam^ Ciimas^ Cafillnum^ Vultur- num^ Liternum^ Piiteolos^ Acerras^ Suejfulam^ Atel- lam^ Calatlam \ Altermn^ in quas Pr^tor Urhanus quotannis in quaqiie loca miferat legihus : ut Fundos, Formias^ Caere, Fenafrum, Alicas, Privernum^ A- nagniam, Frufinonem^ Reate^ Saiurniam^ Nurjiam^ Arpinum, aliaqiie compliiria. And this was in the primitive Times, as Pauliis Manutius obferves % whence one may infer, that Heradea had the like Prerogative ; and for the fame Reafon, as Capua under the Confullhip of Cefar, became a Colony ^\ as did afterwards, Fondi^ Formic ^ Arpinum, &c. So Heradea became a Roman Colony, without be- ing fuppofed to be under the Roman Laws ; in the fame Manner as Cicero calls the Neapolitans^ Citi- zens of Rome, and invefted by the Julian Law, with the Freedom of Rome, and at the fame Time having the Liberty to live under their own former Laws : Whence the Heradeans gave their chief Ma- giftrate the Names of Dejnarcbi, which pofTibly was the fame as ^inqennial Duumzirs. Which Suppofition, fome learned Perfons have attempted to prove from the follov/ing Infcription, in the Court-yard of St. Antonio (without the Gate of G?- pua) over the Gate which unites the two Terraces ; which Gruterus fays, was once in the Village of Pietra Bianca, belonging to Sig. Bernardo Marti^ rano *" ; whence it was carried to Naples ^, but fome- thing different fi'om the Original, which is takea from Fabriciiis. » De Civitate P>.cmana. ^ JL'"vy, lib. 2S. ^ Gruten CCCC. XXIX. 6. ^ Capaccio L. 2. c. 9. L. MVNATIO. £6 A Description of the L. MVNATIO. CONCESSIANO. V. P. PATRONO COLONIAE. PRO. MERITIS. ElVS. ERGA. GIVES MVNIFICA. LARGITATE. OLIM. HONOREM DEVITVM. PRESTANTISSIMO. VIRO. PRAE SENS. TEMPVS. EXEGIT. QVO. ETIAM. MVNA TJ. CONCESSTANI. FILII. SVI, DEMARCHIA CVMV^LATIORE. SVMPTV^ LIBERALITATIS ABVNDANTIAM. VNIVERSIS. EXIBVIT. CIVJBVS OB. QVAE. TESTIMONIA. AMORIS. SINCERISSl MI. REG. PRIMARIA, SPLENDIDISSIMA HERCVLANENSIVM. PATRONO. MIRABILI iJTATVAM. PONENDAM. DECREVIT. * Which was ere6]:ed by the People of the Colony of Heraclea^ in Memory of Lucius Munatius Concejfm^ nus a Patrician^ as a Token of their Gratitude •, for in the Time of Scarcity, he lived at his own Ex- pence : He was made one of the Demarchi of the Colony of Heracka, which was a great Magi (Irate at Naples^, and as Straho fays, Argumentum rei funt nc'tnina Magifiratuum Prlncipis Gr^ca^ fofleriorihus temporihus Campana Gr^ecis permixta •, and Spatzia- nus in Adrlano^ fays tlius : Apud Neapolim Demar- chus in Pairia fua ^dnquemtalis . On examining the Stile and Manner of the abovefaid Infcription, I imagine it not to be fo antient as before the Em- peror Titus^ but of a later Date, and fome Time after the Eruption of Vefuvius^ and the Deflru6lion of Heracka^ wherefore it could not appertain to that City : Otherwife, one mull allov/, that the E- ruption of Vefuvius did not entirely deffroy the City, but left Part (landing, which is contrary to the Tedimony of the Authors :.Wherefore 'tis moft natural to think that it belonged to Naples^ whither part of the People which were faved from the De- ftrudion, might eafily have efcaped, bearing the » V. P. Vir Patriduf. Vid. Sertor. Urfatiun poll Marm. Oxo- nien. Prideaux uag. 66- Ger.tili, de Patriciorum Origine lib. II. cap. X.n.Vir.' Name Antient C//y o/* H E R A C L E A. 27 Name of Regio Herculanenfium^ which was retained a long Time. Therefore Heraclea was a Roman Corporation, and Reinefius adds this Infcription, which I have copied as hereunder, '^ viz, PRIDIE. K. MARTIAS. IN. CVR. SCRIBENDO. ADFVERE CVNCTI. QJOD. VERBA. FACTA. SVNT. M. M. MEMM103 RVFOS. PAT. ET. FIL. ET. VIRI.... ITER. PEQ\'NIA. PONDE RALI. ET. CHALCIDICVM. ET. SCHOLAM. SECVNDVM MVNICIP. SPLENDOREM. FECI5SE. QJAE. TUERI. PVBLICE DECRETO. D. E. R. I. C. PLACERE. HVIC. ORDINI. CVM M. M. RVFI. PAT. ET. FIL. II. VIR. ITER IN. EDENDIS. MV NERIBVS. ADEO. LIBERALES. FVERINT. VT. EORVM. MO NVMENTA. DECORI. MVNICIPIO. SINT. ADEO. DILIGEM TES. VT. VITIEIS. PONDERTM. GCCVRRERINT. IDC^ IN PERPETVVM. PROVEDERINT. PLACERE. DECVRIONIB. M.M. MEMMIOS. RVFOS. PAT. ET. FIL. DVM. II. VIVERENT EORVM. POS M. ET. SCHOLA. ET. CHALCIDI. QJAE IPSI. FECISSENT. PROG VRAT lONEM. DARI. VTIQVE. SER VOS. EIVS . . . . MPI VS EST NEGOTIO. PRAEPONE RENT. NEQJ^E. INDE. ABDVCI. SINE. DECVRIONVM. DE CRETO. ET. M.M. MEMMIIS. RVFIS. PAT. ET. FIL. PVBLICE GRATIAS. AGEI. QJ'OD. ITERATIONI. HONORI. EORVM NON. AMBITIONEI. NEQJ'E. lACTATIONl. SVAE. DEDE RINT, SED. IN. CVLTVM. MVNICIPI. ET. DECOREM CONTVLERINT. The great Building lately difcovered in the Ca- verns of Heraclea^ which is thought by the Anti- quarians, to be a Kind of Bafilica, as is mentioned towards the End of this Work •, might more pro- bably be imagined to have been a Chalcidicumy did we not remain. in the greateft Obfcurity, concern- ing that Kind of Building, which the Antients call by that Name. I fliould conclude, from the Etymology of the Word, that it was a Mint, or l^Iace where they coined the Money ; but others, ailerting that it was a Hall belonging to the Forim^ a Rcinef. Clafs. 7. n. XV. E 2 for 2S A T>%%cKivr ion of the for the Ufe of the Pleaders and Orators ; one cannot for certain know by the above Infcription, (which near was found P^r/zVi, about the Beginning of the laft Age -,) whether there ever was any Chal- cidicum^ (which is reprefented to us as a Building with a large Hall, but without telling either the Ufe or Conilru6lion) belonging to Heradea. It feems, fays Vitruvius, that the Chakidicmf ■was commonly placed at the Extremity of the Ba-: Jllica: Which how well it may correfpond with the Idea we form, I know not, as we have never yet been able to find any Model, or Plan of thofe Kini" of Buildings. But to return to our City of Heradea. We have already proved, that it was a Colony, which ap- pears from the Infcription of C^«f^^«?/j : And the Infcriptions which I have placed among the new Difcoverics, jfhew that it was afcribed to the Mene- nian Tribe : By what I can gather from the feveral Things lately found about xht Theatre, it is evi- dent, that there were fine Springs in the City Hera- dea : On a Piece of Marble, fome Time ago dug up, is the following Infcription *. ET. PATER. ET. FILI M. SALIEK DAMQVE ..J. * TERTVLLA. RESTITVIT. Reinefius is of Opinion, that this Infcription re- lates to the two Marci Memmii, above mentioned ■ But as we have feen two Equejlrian Statues of the Balbi, which I fhall treat of, in their proper Place, why may not it as well be dedicated to them ? be- caufe it ought not to be doubted in the leaft, that they built fome grand and ufeful Stru6lures. To the Aquedudls there were doubtlefs annexed. Baths and Conduits •, P if ana ant em inter appendices Bal- » Reinef. Clafs. 2. XXIX. ^ nearum. Antient C/(y ^ H E R A C L E A. 29 nearum, in qua calentes a Thermis natare folehant^ fri- gidaria eft^ £ff uti vocat Sidonius Apollinaris ^ Bap- iifteritim. Moreover, the above mentioned Reine- fius goes on faying, '' (as I told you before,) that Heracka and Pompeia were overthrown by an Earthquake, and no one has ever mentioned their being rebuilt again. It is remarkable, that (as the fame Author re- lates} there were found fixed to the Walls of Hera- cka^ two Ed ids of the Senate, which were after- wards, carried to the Houfe of Matteo di Capua^ Prince of Conca^ Graved on a Plate of Brafs twenty- eight Inches long, and twenty Inches broad : The firfl contained an Order, that no antique Buildings fhould be demolifjied for the fake of fel Hng the Materials, during the Confuliliip of HOSIDIVS GETA. & L. VAGELLIVS, who were Stiffetti \ in the fourth Confuliliip of Claudius^ a?6out the Year of Rome 800. And the fccond was decreed, while Volufms and Cornelius were Confuls, which was nine Years after the firft. Concerning its Government both Municipal and Colonick, we fhall fpeak at large thereof, under the Head of ^linquennial Duumvirs and Demarchi : In this Place, 1 fhall only add, that they were not without proper Minifters, belonging to their holy Buildings, as you will find by the Infcriptians, which mention the Epuloni and Augujlali^ both in Honour of Cefar and of Auguftus. The aforecited Reinefius ^ refers to another Infcription, pertaining £0 the City Heracka, viz. . . . . O. D. LOCVM. AB. INCHOATO VM. TECTORIS AVGVSTALIB. DATVM. a Lib. 1 1 . ep. 2. ^ Reinef. loc. cit. ^ Ce nom eft de- rive d'un mot qui, chez les Hebreux et les Pheniciens, fignifie ]aocs,,s/j^pbfJid. i Reiner, Clafs. 2, XXXIII. Capac. Hift. Neapoi. lib. 2. c. 9, After 30 -^Description of the After the College of Brfliops * ; the AuguflaVt fpriing up, with new Ceremonies A. Roma 767. among whom was reckoned 'Tiberius Cefar^ whofe Example was followed by the Colonies, out of Flattery and Ambition : Thefe Men were fix in Number, and called thcmfelves ' SEVIRI AV- GVSTALES ; and they were alfo in Cortona^ as appears from t\\t following Infcription, which was difcovered a fhort Time aso. o C. 7 ITIO. CL. CELERI DOMO. CORTONA VIVIP..AVGV. LIBEP.TI. ElVS. But to return to my Purpofe. This antient City m^as fituated near the Sea, about four Miles from Naples, and remained buried under Ground by the Eruption of Vefuvius, in the Space between the royal Palace of Portici, and the Cottage of Refina-, had a Harbour, a little Diitance from Mount Ve- fuvius, and we ihall obferve, that St. Gregory, writing to Fortunatus, Bifhop of Naples, makes mention Legionis Hercuknfts Neapolis : And the latl Thing we fhall take Notice of, is, that Francefco Balfano wrote a Book, in which he fays, that he imagines the Impoftures of the Friar Annio da Vitarbo, to be true, and the Report goes, that St. Peter landed there. Laftly, according to the Ac- count given by Pontanus: AtRefina, or fomewhere thereabouts, was the Seat of Antonio Panormita, who wrote about Alfonfus the Firll, King of Na- ples : And Falcus relates, that Portici, now a royal Palace, belonging to his Majefty, which was near Heraclea •, was the Seat of Quintus Pontius Aqui- la, a Roman Citizen ; called by Cicero, Neapoli- ianum Sluintt : It is near the Promontory Leucope- » Tacitus lib. I. Annal. chap. 54. ^ Noris Coenotaph. Pifan. chap, 6. tra^ Antienf City of HERACLEA. 31 tra, which retains the antient Name of Pietra- hianca^ an excieamly pleafant Seat of the Duke of Matalona, with Refpecl to which, it will not be difagreeable to the Reader, if I mention the fol- lowing antient Infcriptions, which I copied there. The lirfl of them, you will find in Gruttrus * but with a great Number of Errors and Omiffions. D. M. M. MARIO. PROCVLO VIX. ANN. III. MENS. IIII. D. VIIU. M. MARIVS. FRONTO. ET. COSCONIA YGIA. PARENT. INFELICISS, FILIO. PIISSIMO. FECERVNT. SIBI LIB. LIBERTABVSQ^POSTERISQ^EORVM SI, NON. FATORVM. PRECEPS. HIC. MORTIS OBISSET. MATER. QVAE. HOC. TITVLO. DEBVIT ANTE. VEHI. EI. TV. PRETERIENS. DICAS SIT. TIBI. TERRA. LEVIS. On another Piece of Marble, MYNICIO. P. F. POST. MORTEM MVNICIPES. SVI. AERE. CONLATO. PIETATIS CAVSSA. POSVERVNT. The follov/ing, which is the lad, may ferve to- wards a Hiflory of the later Ages. HOSPES. ET. SI. PROPERAS. NE. SIS. IMPIVS PRETERIENS. HOC. AEDIFICIVM, VENERATOR HIC. ENIM. CAROLVS. V. RO. IMP. DEBELLATA. APHRICA. VENIENS. TRIDVVM. IN. LIBERALI LEVCOPETRAE. GREMIO. CONSVMSIT FLOREM. SPARGITO. ET. VALE. M. D. XXXV. Finally, four Miles towards the Ead, we find by the Foot of the Mountain, a Village called ^orre iel Greco^ where I believe, in the fame Man- * Gruterus, pige 69^. 9, ner. 32 ^ Description g/'//?^ ner, the City Pompeia lies buried ' ; fo named from the Pomp and Triumphs of Hercules, which Seneca calls, Pompeias Celebrern Campania urhem. Vide Summcnte, Pliny, Florus, Seneca and Vel- leius, who writes thus of his Great Grandfather. Tantum hoc (fociali) hello Romanis fidem pr^flitijfe^ ut . , . Herculaneiim fimul cum T. Bidio caper et^ Pomfe- ios cum L. Sylla oppugnaret \ and Seneca ^ defcribes it thus, Celebrem Campania urbem^ in qua ah altera parte Surrentum^ Stahianumque littus^ ah altera Her- culanenfe convenitmt^ mareque ex aperto rediiSlmn ame- 710 fitu cingunt^ decidijfe terramotu^ vexatis quacunqiie adjacent regionihtis, Strabo calls it Uo^ttociocv^ Pom- peiam ; and Servius adds a Story, founded on iEneid 7. and Verfe 662, viz. Hercules in quadam Campania (urhe) pompam triumphis fuis exhihuit, tin- de Pompeii dicitur Civitas, And Strabo % Pompeiam quam Sarnus praterjiuit. This has in modern Ages, been called, ^orre Ottava^ or Cajirum Turris o5favi lapidis^ becaufe it is eight Miles from Naples, and becaufe the Kings of Angia caufed a Tower to be built there : Till in the Year 1345, a Greek Her- mit came there and planted a Vineyard, with Slips brought from his own Country. This Wine pleafed King John the Firft, fo well, that he grant- ed him the fole Privilege of fixing the Price of the Greek Wines. But the Hermit dying inteftate, the Society belonging to the Cathedral of Naples, claimed a Right to fucceed him, as he died with- out Will, and to that Purpofe, they fent Annually two Agents from Naples, to fettle the Price of the Greek Wine. So from the Hermit, and the Ma- nagers of the Wine, it took the Name of Torre del Greco. But Antonio Sanfeiice is of Opinion, » Solin. cap. 8. Columella lib. 3. cap. 2. ^ Lib. 6. Quasfl. Natural, cap. i. *= Vid. Cellarium, qui citat verfus Statii, Siiii, Paulini Nolani, &:c. 4 that \Antient C/Vj g/^ HER A CLE A. 33 that the Situation of Pompeia was, where npvv^ Hands 'Torre della Nunztata, To conclude j if this Country (notwithftanding its having been deftroyed by frequent Thunders and Lightnings, and laid wade by the terrible E- ruptions of Vefuvius, and covered with Ruft and Drofs,) appears fuch a pleafant Place in our Time, What muft it have been in former Ages ; in the Time of Auguftus, when the Roman Triumphers, without any Fear of the Flames, ufed v/ith Pleafure to frequent it ? Wherefore 'tis not to be wondered at, that they lliould have embellifhed the City of Heracka with Statues, Temples, and the grand and magnificent Theatre, which (to the Amazement of the whole World) is now to be feen, in the Caves that have been dug in our Days. On which Sub- ject, I cannot refrain inferting in this Place, an E- pigram, which I litt upon iii Martial, viz. Hie eft Fampineis viridis modo Vefevus umhriSj Prejferat bic madidos nobilis Uva lacus, Hac juga^ qtiam Nyjce colles plus Bacchus anmvii 5 Hoc nuper Satyri Monte dedere choros. ^ Hie Veneris fedes -, Lacedamone gratior illi % Hie locus Herculeo nomine clarus erat, Cunufa jaceni fldmfmSy (^ trifti merfa favilla^ Necftipen vellent^ hoc licuijfefibi, CHAP. IV. Of the firft Eruption of Vefuviusy and alfo of that which defiroyed the Cities of Heraclea and Potnpeia. IT has been a Matter of great Debate among the Learned, whether Mount Vefuvius did, for the tirft Time, caft forth its inteftine Flames, (and therewith cover the Country round about) under F ' '" ±t 34 -^Description of the tht Reign of the Emperor Titus Auguftus, of whether it had not before, in remoter Ages, thrown up Flames ; of which (byReafon of the Number of Years it had lain quiet) we had no certain Account left. The fabulous Story of the Giants of Phlegra, plainly manifefls the great Vulcanos which had been raifed up round Puzzuoli, among which, the mod wonderful is, Vulcanos Hole^ or the Sulphur Pit^ where the internal Fire may be feen thro' great Cavities ; alfo in the Baths, in the Sands of the Idand of Ifcia ; where I have obferved Iron Drofs, and burnt Pumice, lie in Strata; and an old Poet in the Time of Julius Cefar, fays concerning Etna, Dicitur in/tdiis flagrans JSnaria quondam^ Nunc extin5ia fuper : tutifqiie Neapolim inter Et Cumas locus eft multis jam frigidus annis^ Sluamvis aiernum pingtiefcat ah ubere fulphur, A Paflage out of a Book of Natural Philofophy, entitled The Natural Hiftory of the Unherfe^ gave Occafion for the Royal Academy of Infcriptions, at Paris, to debate on that Head ^ It will not be amifs to give you a brief Account thereof The Abbot Bannier, fearched the antient Au- thors, and found that Mount Vefuvius was fup- pofed to have made an Eruption before the Reign of TituS, but did not find any particular Account of it : On the contrary, that neither the Italians themfelves, nor even Recupitus in his Treatife orl that burning Volcano, make any mention thereof '». Strabo fays % that the Places about Vefuvius arc tery fertile, except thofe near the Opening, which are quite barren, and look covered with Allies ; where they perceived Caverns of Stone of the fame Colour, as tho' they had been burnt and calcined 3 Memoires de Litterature, torn. icj. Des Embrafemens du Mont. Vefuve. ^ De lucendiU Montis Vefuvii, « Strabone lib, s. pag. 247. by A?itient city of ¥L^K kChE ^. 35 jby Fire, from which one may imagine that they were ibmetimes fired by a Volcano, which defilled, when all the combuftible Matter was jpent. So Strabo, who was an excellent Writer a long Time before the Reign of Titus, pofitively aflerts, that there was a Volcano on the Top of Vefuvius, but did not know when it was made •, Diodorus Sicu- lus ^ nightly mentions a former Eruption, but does not give any particular Account of it. Pltny, to whom this EruptioA was fo fatal, men- tions in two Places the Mountain Vefuvius : Of its Situation ^ ; and in L. 14. treating about the Wines, he fays, ex Us minor Aiijiro l^editur^ ceteris ventis alitur^ ut in Vefwvio Monte^ Surrentinifque col- lihtis : Which fhews, that he knew nothing, either of the Volcano, in this Mountain, or of the ful- phureous Quality of the Earth, otherwife he would (as Strabo does,} have attributed the Fruitfulnefs of the Vines to thofe Caufes ; for in the fame Book he mentions Mount Etna, No5fiirnis mirus incendi/s. JNor can aiiy Thing be gathered from Cornelius Tacitus % who lived in the Time of Tiberius, and fays, that this was a moft delightful Place : J^iie- qiLvm Mons Vefuvius ardejcens faciem loci verteret ; Whence one may conclude, that one Eruption of Vefuvius was after the Retirement of Tiberius into the liland of Capri^ and that the Hiflorian only al- ludes to that great one in which Pliny peri (lied j for the Detail, and Circumflarices of vvhich, 1 refer you 10 Pliny junior. Even the Letter that contains the moil: exact Account thereof 'J, makes no Mention of any former Eruption. In lik'if Manner Euiebius "" fpeaks only of x\nt^ in the I'ime of Htus, and Scaliger, in his Notes, fays nothing of any other Eruption of 'Vefuvius, * Diod. Sic. lib. 4. ^ Plin. lib. 3. pag. 154. ediz, in fog. ^ Annal lib. 4, cap. C;. ^ Plin. jun. lib. 6. ep. 16. <"Eufeb, Hiii Eccl i'^' Seal, ad Not. 2095. E 2 than 36 1/^ Description ^/y6^ than that in the Year 472, when the Aihes were driven as far as Conftantinople, and there, caufed a great Aftonifhment, which they celebrated Annu- ally on the 8th Ides (that is, the 6th Day) of No- vember, which is recorded by Count MarcelHnus, under the Confulfhip of Marclanus * and Feftus ; but the Account of this Feftival is not to be found in any Greek Menologium. The Abbot Bannier adjoins the Authority of the Poets, and quotes 'the very Verfes in Lucretius, which Iproduced before, and which have been al- tered ten different Times in order to bring in the v/ord Vefuvius ^. ^alis apud Cumas locus eft^ Montemque Vef^vum Oppleti calidis^ ubi fumant fontibus au5ius. Hence it appears, that the Poet was at leafl: in- formed of the Quality of the Earth, round Vefu- vius, and of the hot Springs in the Places there- abouts. The Authority of Valerius Flaccus is more pre- cife : He dedicated his Poem on the Argonauts, to Vefpafian the Father of Titus^ therefore he wrote before the great Eruption. Sic ubi prariipti tonuit cum forte Vef^itnefs of the Eruption, which cccafioned the Death of his Uncle ; (at the fame Time as Hera- clea was demoliilied) pofitively declares, that the Sea feemed to iwallow itfelf up, and to be again drove back by the Convulfions of the Earth. Among the Drofs and fpungy Stones (in which are Metals mixt with diverfe Sorts of Minerals) cad up by the Eruption in 1737, there was found a Stone, which was at firft thought to be an Eme- rald, and being put into the Hands of Count Bar- tholomew Edward Pigetti, Secretary to his Maje- ily ; (a Gentleman, in whom all the good Quali- ties imaginable were met together :) It was re- folved upon, to engrave the Mount Vefuvius on one Side ; and on the other, in fmall Charadlers, the following Words of my compofing : EVefuvio m^uSy parent em ignhomum exhiheo. But as the Stone had a great many Flaws, and was but very * Parrino pag. 11. & 13. little Antient City of WE^ KCh'E k. 45 little harder than thofe Chryfolites, that arc called Granatelli, of which there are Numbers to be found in this Country, it was found impradicable. Wherefore it was repolifhed, and wrought to the Size of a fmall Bean, of a faded green i ill Colour. This is what I was willing to relate, in order to inform thofe who have read thefe Things, pub- lifhed by different Authors ^ of the true State of iht Cafe. DESCRIPTION O F T H E DISCOVERY O F T H E Antient City of Heraclea. PART II. Of the Antiquities ^Heraclea. C H A P, I. An Account of the firfi Bifcoveries made in 1689 and 1711. % T will be neceflary, for the Satisfadion ^ of the Curious (Enquirers into fuch new and unexpefted Things, brought to light after fo long a Courle of Time) that we ihould begin this Difcourfe with the firfl Tra6is, i. e. from the End of the laft Age. 1 fhaU therefore recount all that is mentioned in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy at Paris % and * Mem. deLiterat. torn. ic. Des embrafemens duM. Vefuve, like- Lff Description, Qfr. 47 likewife, give you the whole Relation out of the celebrated M. Bianchini's Book of Univerfal Hif- tory *. Firfl, from the Memoirs of the French Aca- demy. . As fome Workmen were digging at the Foot of this Mountain (Vefuvius,) ahout two Miles from the Sea ; having come to a pretty great Depths they ohferved fome Strata of Earthy which appeared to he regularly difpofedy as tho* they were Floorings or Pavements^ horizontally placed^ one above the other. The Owner of the Ground^ being thereby invited to fearch farther^ continued the Digging, and under the fourth Layer, finding fome Stones with Infcriptions on them, he ordered them to continue their Search, till the Water coming in fhould prevent them. Whereupon th^y dug till they came to above a hundred Palms depth, and found various Floorings, alternatively one under an- other ; one of cultivable Earth, another of black vi- trified Stone^ of which, (fcr the greater Certainty) I Jhall give you an Account in the very Words, which Francis Piccheti, (a famous Architect in Naples^ much celebrated for his curious Muf^um, or ColleSiion of Antiquities, of his own compiling) communicated to fever al Perfons, and particularly Sig. Adrian Avianus^ Profeffor of Mathematicks at Rome, and much efieemed for his great Experience in the Study of Philjfophy^ (^c, viz. " In the Year 1689, in a Hole dug in the Side ** of Mount Vefuvius, about a Mile from the Sea ; *' in that Spot, where formerly was the Villa of '** Pompey ^, I obfervcd that the clodded Earth, and " vitrified Stone were laid in a kind of pleafmg Re- " gularity •, and that the Earth, which is continu- *^ ally falling from the Mountain unto the plain • Iftoria Univerfal. di M. Bianchini. Rom. 1699. P^S- ^^^' * Ivi. J74S. ^ Or rather Cit/ cf Pompeia, as will be feea afterwards, " Ground, 48 ji 'Desct^ivtio^ of tBe ** Ground, and into the Sea ; together with the •' Streams of melted and vitrified Stone, that " flowed from the fundry Eruptions, had difpofed ** Things in the following Manner, viz, jlmong ivhichy what they found firft^ was twelve Palms of cultivated Earthy viz. 1 2 Palms of cultivated Earth ; then 4 Palms of black vitrified Stone^ that the City is paved with ; then 3 Palms of folidjliff Earth ; then 6 Palms and a half of vitrified Stone, under which they found * fome Coals, then Iron Boor-locks, end two Infcriptions, /hewing that in that Place^ had been the Villa of Porapey ; then, about 10 Pahjis of f olid Earth ; then 2 Palms and a half of vitrified Stone, as above \ then % Palms of Jliffer Earth ; then 4 Palms of vitrified Stone, moreflaty '», and tight e? than the former ; then 25 Palms of muchfiiffer Earth, like a Kind of Stone. 16 Palms of vitrified Stone as ahove^ very heavy "" % then 12 Palms of a foftifh Stone, below which ihey found fweet frefh Water in great Quantities, which flopped their Search. '' The Infcriptions {fays M. Bianchini) founds '^ together v/ith the Tools and Iron-work, twenty- *' five Palms deep in the Ground, carry with them '' fuch Signs of the Age, in which that Plain was *^ inhabited, and of the Romans having erected " them j as would pcrfuade any one to believe, " that the fix Palms and a half of vitrified Stone " was depoficed there, by the Eruption which oc- « Strati 4. dalla fuperfizie della Campagna alle Ifcrittioni, due de' quaii di pietra fufa. •* Strati 4. dalle Ifcrizioni. piis fotto, due delle quali di pietra fufa, '^ Aitri 2 Strati piu fotto, ano de'quali di pietra fufa. 4 " cafionrd Jntient City i?/ H E R A C L E A. 49 " cafioned the Death of Pliny, in the firfl Year of " the Reign of Titus, and by which the Pom- *' pcian Infcriptions were buried, which are faid ** to have been afterwards, laid up in the Muf^uni *' of Francis Picchetti mentioned above, whofe " Death rendered it very difficult to obtain a Copy " of the Infcriptions ; but I hope to be able to *' fubjoin them at the End of the Book, when they " liiall be tranfmitted me, which I fhall be very " defirous of, in order to refolve a Doubt, which " I have concerning this, i. e. whether they relate " to the City of Pompeia, or to a Villa of Pompey *' the Great, and his Children. For the Villa be- " longing to that Family, and the great Captain " da Loffredo, is thought not to have been fitu- " ated near Vefuvius^ but nearer to Pozzuoli^ and ." not far diftant from the Lacus Avernus : On " the contrary, Sig. Baudrand, in his Lex. Geo- ** graph, infers from both antient and modern Au- ** thors, and the Stones dug up a little before the " Year i6;:>4, that the City of Pompeia was fitu* *' ated near Scafati in the Plain at the Foot of " Mount Vefuvius, and was much molefted with " the Matter that runs down from the Mountain, " in the Time of any Eruption." Thus far M. Bianchini. The Prince d'Elbeuf being at Naples, in the Year 1711, purpofedtobuildhimfelf, (near P(?r//a,) a pleafant Houfe, on the Sea-lhore, and joining to a Convent of Friars of the Order of St. Peter d' Alcantara, and was at the fame Time, thinking to floor fome Ground-rooms with a new Kind of Terras. He knew that fome Perfons at Refina, attempting to dig a Well, had found in that Place, fome Pieces of yellow Antique, and other coloured Grecian Marble. Whereupon he ordered that they ihould continue to dig, on a Level with the Water in the Well^ and fearch out for a fuflicienc Qiian- H tity 56 '^Description o/" the tity of that Marble, which he intended to powder, and therewith to finifli the Terras for his faid Coun- try Houfe, which at prefent belongs to the Dukes of Laviano, and the Princes of Cannalunga, my intimate Friends. Scarce had they begun to dig Tideways, before they found fome beautiful Statues, among which was a Marble one of Hercules, and another which was imagined to reprefent Cleopatra : Then pro- ceeding on towards the Farm of Don Antonio Brancaccio ; the Diggers met with feveral wrought Columns of Alabafler, which appeared to them to be a Temple of a round Form, ornamented on the Outfide with twenty-four of thofe Columns, the greateft Part of them Yellow •, many of which were carried to the Farm of Counfellor Salerno. The Infide of the faid Temple had been adorn- ed with the fame Number of Columns % between which were as many Statues of Grecian Marble, tho' broken -, it was alfo paved with yellow Antique. The Statues were fent by the abovefaid Prince d'Elbeuf, to Vienna, as a Prefent to Eugene, Prince of Savoy. They tell rne there was alfo dug up a great Block of Marble, with the following Letters of Metal inlaid in it. APPIVS PVLCHER. C. FILIVS ^ g D YIK. EPVLONVM. They alfo found a great Quantity of African Marble, which was wrought into Tables, by the ingenious ArchitedV, Jofeph Stendard % who went down into the Hole they had dug. After that, their a D. Giufeppe Stendardo, a Neapolitan Archited, died at Florence in the Year 173?, and was buried in the Church di Sanca Felicita, and his Executors erecled a Monument for him, uvth the foUowLng Infcription, compofed by the Author of this 'Tr^atiif ; who wa:^ a gredC Friend of his. joSEPHO Antienf City ?/^ H E R A C L E A. 51 their Search was ftopt, to avoid being called upon for fome Dues, claimed by the Minifters of the Government, who, [in all Kingdoms,) by their Way of Proceeding, are often the Occafion of the moft beautiful Monuments of Antiquity remaining buri- ed, to the great Prejudice of the learned Part of the Republick. CHAP. II. Jri Account of the Bifcovery of the antient Theatre at Heraclea. ^irtHESE remarkable Difcoveries were firfl: be- X g'-^^ ^o ^^ made, at the Time I was order- ing and difpofing the copious Library, and cele- brated Mufasum, (known thro' all Europe, by the Name of the Farnefian MufcEum,^ in the King's Palace at Naples, over which, by the King's Order, dated the 12 th of November, 1738, I had the Superintendency. The King of the Two Sicilies, being, in the Month of December at Portici, about four Miles diftant from Naples, there were found, in the a- bove mentioned Well, fome Pieces of Marble. W^hereupon the King gave Orders, that they fhould fearch at the Bottom of the Well ; fo entering the Cavern (whence the abovefaid Prince d'Elbeuf had, in the Year 171 1, dug out the Statues above de* lOSEPHO. STENDARDO MATHAEI. F. NEAPOLITANO GENERE. ATQ^ INGENIO. CLARISS. SVB. IMPERATORE. CAROLO. VI. KECn. DICASTERIT. SACRAR. RATION VM ET. SENATVS. SANCTAE. CI^ARAE ARCHITECTO EXECVTORES. EX. TESTAMENTO AMICO. OPTVMO. PP. y. A. PL. M. LX. OB. FLOR. MDCCXXXV. , H 2 fcribed,) 52 y^ D E S C R I P T I O N ^ ^^^ fcribed,) and going to the further End, with their Mattocks, they found two Fragments of Brafs E- queftrian Statues, larger than Life, and this, 4 fmall Matter above the Surface of the Water, which was about eighty-fix Palms deep in the Earth.. Proceeding to fearch laterally, or fide ways, as they were digging along, they brought out two gowned Statues of Marble, which alfo were larger than the Life : The Face of one looked like Au- guftus -, after that, they every now and then litt upon fome Filacers of Brick, very well made, and plaiflered over, and painted with various Colours, and among them another gov/ned Statue, entire, on a Marble PedeftaL Another Day, his Majefty went to fee the faid Statues, when I, who followed him, as was my Cu'flom ; was afked by him, the Meaning of fome Letters of a Cubit long, on Part of an Architrave, which being in different Pieces, feems to be as follows. . . A.. . MAMML..VS. nVL QVl/tTt^ And having in my Mind, the Paflfage of Dion % which gives an Account of Heraclea, being over- whelmed by the firft Eruption of Vefuvius, to- gether with its Theatre, where the People were entertaining themfelves -, upon feeing the Name of a Duumvir, and alfo a T joined to a Piece of an H, which appeared to me to have been Pare of the Word ^Z?^^/r/^w ; I ventured to afTerr, that it might be Part of the Theatre of Heraclea, which was ruined. I, was not miftaken in my Opinion ; for, caufing myfelf to be let down with a Rope about my Mid- dle, I went into the Cavern, and ordering them to a Xiphil. ad Dion, in Tit. pag. 251. Lugd. 1559. Duafque urbes Herculanum ac Pcmpeios populo fedente in Theatre peaitus ©bruit (Vefevus.) . worl^ ^dntient City of HER ^CLE A. 55 work further •, they obferved, as it were, fome Steps of a great Wooden-flaircafe -, but thefe feeming to me too high to ferve for going up and down, and the Edges tending not in a ftrait Line, but rather circular, I ordered them to try further on, whether they could difcover another Staircafe. Having fearched feveral Places, and turned up the Ground all about, I perceived it to be the Seats on which the Spedators fat to fee the Plays, as I had before (as it were) foretold. I went immediately, and acquainted the King with it: They then found fome more Pieces of the fame Architrave, which ferved to prove my Afier- tion. Thofe Fragments being by me put together, were as follows : A....MAMMI...RVFVS. II. VIR. QVIN. TEaIK® ORCH, DE SVO J.i-rx^^^ So that I could with more Certainty affert, that this was the theatre of the City Heracka with its Orcheftra, built at the Charge of Mammianus Ru- fus. And in Order, that all they who (bccaufe they had not been Eye-witnefTes) doubted the Ex- iftence of the Theatre, may be convinced of the Truth thereof, there is another Part of the fame Architrave found, with two Infcriptions in cubital Letters, which ferve to explain the: former, and I imagine had been placed over the two principal Doors of this beautiful Theatre. The fecond, bearing moreover, the Name of Puhlius Numi/iuf; the Architedl, of whom we fhalJ fpeak hereafter. L. ANNIVS MAMMIANVS. RVFVS. II. VIRi QviNQ, 'HEAIr* o. p. NVMISIVS. P. F. ARCH. EC ..... a g L'ho veduta riportata corrottamente cofi in una relazione. L. ANNIVS. L. F. MAMIANVS. RVFVS. II. VIR QVINQ^THEATRO , . . . NVMISIVS. P. F. ARO ..... HERCVLANEN Neaj; 54 ^DESCRlPTIONc/'/y^^ Near the faidlnfcrlption, which was dug up the nth of December 1738. they found fome Frag- ments of brafcn Horfes gilt, one of which in fall- ing, had one Side fo compleatly drove into the other, that it appeared to be only the Half of one : Afterwards they found fome Pieces of a Carr or Chariot belonging to the faid Horfes, with the Wheels whole, all of Brafs gilt ; wherefore I ima- gine that the two chief Doors of the Theatre were adorned, (above the Infcriptions) with thefe Cha- riots and Horfes, as is feen in Triumphal Arches on Medals. I don't doubt but v/e might find the Equeftrian Statues to reprefent fome of the Em- perors, were not the Heads wanting. Wherefore it was agreed, with one of thefe Trunks of Statues which was judged good for nothing, to make two great Medallions with the Mouldings of Brafs, a- bout two Yards high, v/ith the Pourtraits of the King and Qiieen. Going frequently to this Well, I caufed them to clear away the Earth all about the Theatre, the Outfide of which, I obferved to be raifed on fun- dry equidiflant Pilafters of Brick, adorned with Cornifhes of Marble, Plaifter'd with a kind of Ter- ras, variouQy coloured, in fome Parts like a Jafper, in other Parts black and glofiy, like the Glafing of China. Finally, I faw the infide Stairs, which led to their rcfpedive Vomitories % and to the Seats for the Ufe of the Spectators, fo that I conceived great Hopes of finding fome beautiful Marble Sta- tues, either ftanding on the Top, or fallen down. And my Hopes were not vain, for they dug up daily throughout that Year, many Pieces of Marble, fuch as beautiful Capitals of the Corinthian Order, and other fmaller ones of Rofle Antique, neatly wrought, and various Incruftations of African and * Doors from every Tier of Seats, to go out, under the vault- ed Galleries. Serpentine Anttent City / H E R A C L fi A. '55 Serpentine Marble, yellow Antique, and Egyptian Pebble, Fragments of Mouldings, Cornifhes, and Architraves, of a curious Tafte, and perfedt Work- manfhip. Having laid open the Seats in the Theatre for a confiderable Way, they were found to be eighteen in Number, among which were perceived fome rather lower, in a right Line, which ferved as Stairs to the {Vomitories^) and to the infide Stair- cafe of the Buildings : Having afcended the eigh- teen Seats, you come on a landing Place, running round the Edifice, which I knew to be the Precin- zione % above which, there are more of them Steps to afcend to the fecond. This Precmzione, being in a great Meafure, cleared from the loofe Earth, afforded me Room to calculate, that this Theatre, together v/ith its Orchejlra or Cavea^ was about fixty Palms in Diameter, being entirely inlaid with diverfe Sorts of African, Grecian and Egyptian Marble, red and yellow Antique, veined Agate, and other curious Marbles. In a Manufcript Ac- count, which I faw, the following Dimenfions of the Theatres are fet down, but I don't know how true, viz. That the outer Circumference of the A- rena was tv/o hundred and ninety Feet •, an hundred and fixty Feet the outer, and an hundred and fifty the inner Diameter ; the Stage or Place for a6ting was feventy five Feet in Breadth, and only thirty in Depth. This Theatre appears, from the Pieces of Mould- ings, Cornifhes, Brackets, and other Ornaments of Architedlure, and from the Quantity of Marble- ftones, and Fragments of Columns (which belong- ed, either to the Stage, or to the adjoining Temple, which was difcovered a great While before) to have been a mod beautiful Building •, whether we exa- mine the Strudure of the Caverns, and internal » Vid. ilpaffo di Calpurnio citato dal Sig. Marchefe MafFei, 3 Ccrridores 56 yf D E S C R I P T I N ^ //5^ Corrldores built with Bricks, ornamented with Cor- nifhes of Marble, on which are the Arches which fupported the Scats. Or if we look into the Dens, or the other Steps, by which the Spedlators went from one Range of Seats to the other. I fhould have been willing to have defcribed very diftindly, all its Parts, if my Defire of ha- ving it laid open, could have been effedled : But the great Quantity of Earth that had been laid over it, by the many and vaft Eruptions of Vefu- vius, together with the Houfes and other facred Edifices built thereon, prevented the putting it in Execution. CHAP. III. Ohfervations on the fat d Theatre, IT is very probable, that the Theatre had beeft built as long as the City Heraclea ; for, (as we have feen before ;) that Part of the Country was formerly inhabited by the Ofci, who, as is well known % were the Authors of obfcene Plays, and the ¥€rfus Fefcennini ; and the Tufcans were fup- pofed to have been the Inventors of the Hiftrioni- cal Reprefentaticns. And altho' Plutarch derives the word Hiftrio^ from a certain Philofopher of Cyrene or Macedonia, called Ifter j yet all agree with Efichius and Thomas Bempfierus^ that IJier is one, out of the fmall Number of antient Tufcan Words that are extant, Livy ^, fpeaking of the firft Introdu(rtion of the Fejli HiftrioniceSn into Rome, attributes it to the Tufcans, and fays, that the Word is derived from them. I am of Opinion, that Mention is made of that " Cic, nel lib, 7. deir Epift. fam. epift. i. fa menzione delle Comedie facte fare da Pompeo per la dedicazione del fao Teatro. ^ Lib: t. Theatre, Jnttent City ^/ HER ACLEA. 57 Theatre, in the following Infcripcion on a Stone, taken from the learned Canon Mazzocchi ; who called it, Pagifcito or the Pagan Law *. PAGVS. HERCVLANEVS. SCIVlH. A. O. X. TE^MINA . . . CONLEGIVM. SEIVE. MAGISTREI. lOVEI. COMPAGEI. S, « VTEI. IN, PORTICVM. PAGANAM. REFICIENDAM PEqVNIAM. CONSVMERENT. EX. LEGE. PAGANA ARBITr.ATV. CN LAETORI. CN. F. MAGIST1EI PAGEIEI. VTEIQJE. EI. C0N:EG10. SEIVE MAGISTRi SVNT. lOVEl. COMPA";EI, LOCV.^. IN. TEATRO ISSET. TAMQ^'ASElSEljuVOOS FECISSENT. &C. As this was in a ' ollege of Jefuits in the Vil- lage of Recale, near Capua, we may fuppofe that that Place was called formerly Herculaneum, and afterwards corruptly, R- cale, and be 'ides, they had the Temple of Jupiter near them ; and the Hera- cleans gave thole that belonged to the faid Temple^ the Privilege of fitting in the Theatre, they ha- ving built. a Part thereof at their own Expence. But, is not it poffible that this Infcription, may have formerly been brought from our Heraclea? We know very well it was done m the Year of Rome 659, a great while before the Settling of the Campanian Colony, and at a Time when Heraclea did not deferve the \ame of a City. Dionyfius Halicarnafleus calls Heraclea Oppididum^ or Pagus^ into which, when the Loloiiy entered, they aug- mented the Buildings, and embellifhed the 7 heatre with new Pillars, and the Statues of the Roman Knights, who either protedled or frequented thofe Parts. Falcus and Summons atteif, that Portici, which is now one of his Majedv's Pdiaces, was the Seat of Qiiintus Pontius Aquila, and that the Theatre was at firfl: built, in proportion to the Smallnefs of the i'lace, and very probably of Wood. * De Camp. Amphit. cap. 8. pag. 142. I But 58 -^Description of the Bot fcarching more narrowly into our Theatre, I was prefently ftruck with the Beauty of the Cha- raflers, Ibme of which w^re tied together, as may be feen in the Medals of Auguftus's Time ; the gowned Statues without Beards, with fhort Hair, and of perfect Workmanfhip, all which bear the Ap- pearance of being done in that Time. The For- mation of the infide Work gave no fmall Confir- mation, being of Brick?, on one of which I read thefe words, ABDAE LIVIAE Abda or Abdala was the Name of a Slave in Africa, who was fet over all the other Slaves that made Bricks ; and pertained to the Emprefs Livia, the Wife of Auguftus. If the Account of the Life of Appius Pulcher was extant, and the abovefaid Fragment entire, which makes mention of the Epuloni j frbm their Number, or from the Space of what is wanting, one might polTibly get fome Light into the Time of its Building ; for the Epuloni were at firfl, two ; then three in the Time of Pacuvius, and laftly were increafed by Silla and Auguftus to feven. I cannot tell how to explain the three Figures thereon, (which I have never feen on any Monu- ment) any other way than thus, Temphm Baccho dediidvit fue fumptu Septemvir Epulomim ^ : Which fignifies, that the Temple which the Prince d'Elbeuf found, was by Appius Claudius, dedicated to Bac- ciius, himfelf being one of the Epuloni. And a- mong the Fragments of Marble, I perceived the Trunk of a £ia:ne, which might poflibly be that of Bacchus ; and jcLning together the following Letters, which were on a Marble Cornifh, viz, * Simiii fpiegazloni da il Nicolai cV Sig/is FcUrumj e fre- quent ne hiiQ gli efempi in Roma. 4. .... LON 'Antient City of HER ACLE A. 59 LON VIR. EPV I imagine it to have run thus, Patrono Coloni^y Sepcjnviro Epilonum \ whence this alfo may pertain to Appius Claudius. Some doubt the Veracity of the former, which was fhewn me in Manufcript % but, as the Infcription of Annius Rufus was a double one, fo alfo might this of Appius Claudius Epulo. I have found two Appii Claudii Pulchri, Sons of Caius. The one Conful with P. Servilius Anno Romas 674 ; the other with Caius Norbanus Anno Rom^ 715. Thefe were, without doubt, fprung fi'om that noble Family of the Claudii, famous for giving Birth to that Decemvir, who brought in the Laws of the XII. Tables from Greece ; and was the Occafion ^ of the beautiful Virginia being killed by her Father in the Senate-houfe ; and alfo for having produced fo many great Confuls and Emperors of Rome. That Part of the Country, which v/e now call the Kingdom of Naples^ was at that Time much in-, debted to that Family, on Account of Appius Claudius Coccus making the famous Via Appia^ called by Strabo ^ Longarimivianimreginam^ which is not better defcribed by any one, than by Pro- copius, who fays it ends at Capua i but others tell you it goes as far as Brundufium. Brundiifium longa finis chart*eque^ vl^que, ^ a Vid. le controvert tra il Sig. Marchefe Tannucchi, e i\ fu P. Grandi, quando erano Profeffori in Pifa, dirette all' Acade- mia Etrufca di Cortona, ftampate in Pifa, e Lucca nel 172S. ^ Cic. in Orat. pro Ccelio : Appim Claudius C^cus facem Pyrrhi diremity aquam adduxit, 'viam muni^oit : Sopra tal paffo fu for- mata la falfa Ifcrizione di Arezzo, riportata dal Grutero, e da akri : APPIVS. CLAVDIV3. CENSOR &c. Vid. Staz. SyW. Carm. 2. Sanfelic. in Campania. Eutrop. 1. 2. Frontio. dc Aquse- duft. Lipfmm ad Tacit. Procop. de bello Got. lib. i. Nicolas Bergier. Hiftoiredes grands Cheminsl. a.ediz. di Brufelles 1736. pag. 221. Liv. 1. 9. c. 29. ilCanonico Pratilii della Via Appia in fogl. Napoli 1745. ^ Horat. lib. i. Sat. 5, I 2 I ob~ 6o -^ Descr-iption o/" //&^ I cbfervcd certain Remains of it, on the Mount Pofilipus, near one Part of my Territories ; which led f'^om Pozzuolo to Naples. But it did not run farther than L apua, till the Year 341. Galenus * attributes the txtencing of it, to Trajan, others to Cefar, and others to Auguftus ^ Suppofing the fecond Appius Claudius was Go- vernor of the Colony, when the Theatre was built, it will appear to have been about the Time of Auguftus. Bur from the Name of the Archited, I draw an- other Suppofition. - P. NVMISIVS P. F. ARCHITECTVS. In the firft Place I fay, 'tis very rarely that you find any Infcription, where the Names of the Ar- tificers are fet down, and efpecially Architedls, even tho' it were ereded at their own Hxpence ; for it was not allowed amopg either Greecians or Romans, to put their Names. Pliny tells us, that Batracus and Saurus, two Archite6ls, not being al- lowed to infcribe their Names on a Building, put up in lieu thereof, the Hieroglyphic k". Bathra" cum ^ Sauron Lac ones ^ Architedios in columnarum frivis infcidpta nomnum corum argumenta Rana^ i^ Lacerta *" ; the latter of which, is believed to have been the Maker of the Marble Vale (on which are wrought the Solemnities of Bacchus) in the Jufti- nian Garden at Ronie, becaufe there is the Repre- fentation of a Lizard, which has no Relation to the other Part of the Carving. M. Bianchini obferves, that there were only two Infcances, of the Names of Architedls being recorded, among the Latins ; fc. in Pozzuoli, and in Verona; and a Pourtrait of an =» Galen. 9. Therapeutlcse. ^ Vid. Adriano della Monica della Via Appia, Sc Lipf. ad Tacit. 1. 2. qui putat id fadum a Caio Gracco, vel Cefare, vel Augufto. Prat:l]. poc' anzi citato della Via Egnazia, Uc. ^ Vid. Moniignor del Torre Ifcriz. di M. Aquilio. cap. 8. Architecb, Antiefit City of HER ACLE A. 6r Archite(5t,in an old Painting; which is in the PofTef- fion of the Marquis Alexander Gregory Caponi, On the Imofcapo % or Fillet of the Colonna Antoni- nuy you'll find the Name of Nilus ^gyptius the Architecb ; which being To feldom found, confirms the Prohibition, chiefly in Places that are vifible and confpicuous ; and that it was permitted only in low and hidden Places, as the Pipes of an Aque- dudl ; Bricks, Lamps, and Tombftones ; whence, on feeing this Name in fo confpicuous a Place, as the great Architrave on which is the Name of a Qtiinquennial Duumvir, I conclude it muft have been done before the Prohibition (which, among the Romans, was in the Reign of Adrian) and a- bout the fame Time as this at Verona ^ where you read, ^ L. VITRVVIVS. L. CERDO. ARCHITECTVS. which v/as in the Reign of Auguilus. On the Houfe of Terracina, alfo you will find : C POSTVMIVS. C. F. POLLIO ARCHITECTVS. But as to Numifius the Architect, I fay, the Learned have never fo much as mentioned him in that Charadter. The Family of the Numifii is not unknown, for you may find a great many of that Name in Reinefius and others. Vitruvius, in the Preamble to his firfl Book, mentions one Puhlius Minidiiis^ who, together with Marcus Aurelius, and Gneus Cornelius, in the Reign of Auguflus, attended the faid Vitruvius in the preparing and managing the Catapulta's, Scor- pions, and other warlike Inflruments. I obferve ^ Vid Archit. di And. Pallad. Vicentino. Tom. 3. tab. VIII. pag. 15. '» Bianchini Comment. Lapid, Antiat. cap. i, Gruter. 186. 4. Maffei Verona illuHrata; e Tratt. del' Anfiteatri. further. 62 A Description of the further, that all the antient Volumes of Vitruvius do not agree about this Name -, for feme call him Fuhlius Mmidius, fome Puhlius Numidicus^ and others again, Fuhlius Numidius^ which Name is like to that of Numiftus in the Infcription in the Theatre, which muft be the right Name of the Companion of the famous Vitruvius, the mod com- pleat Architect that ever was ; and thereby we may find out the Time of the Building of the Theatre of Heraclea, which is what we want to know. We have before proved, that this Theatre was built by Lucius Annius Mammianus Rufus, Quin^ quennial Duumvir, the Son of another Lucius, un- der the Diredlion of Publius Numiftus the Archite6t. As to the Family of the Annii, we have feveral Records of them, both in Hiftory, and in the Infcriptions, mentioned in the Books of Antiqua- rians, among which, I fhall only fet down this, T. ANNIVS. ITALICVS. HONORATVS quoted by Robortello % and another Q^ Annius, one of the Senators, who were in Catiline*s Con- fpiracy \ and Marcus Annius Verus Pollio, who, according to Petavius, was Conful together with M. Plautius Sylvanus, Anno Rom. 824. and A. D. 81. which was a fhort Time after the Eruption of Vefuvius. From all which I imagine, that the two Marci Memmii Rufi, Father and Son, menti- oned by Reinefius % in an Infcription, which he copied from Capaccius '', and which he afferts was in the City of Heraclea, ought to be read Mammi or Mammiani, as they were Duumvirs of this City, and raifed publick Buildings at their own Expence, * Vid. Middleton's Life of Cicero, tom. i. p. 279. ^ Saluft. p. 17. EP. AnnioRufo III. Vir. A. A. A. ¥.¥. Gokz. Infer, p. 155. ^ Reinef. Infer, claff. 7. n. 15, f ^^P^^- ^^^- 2- Hii. Neap. c. 9. viz. AntUnt City 0/ H E R A C L E A. 63 visz, PONDERALE. ET. CHALCIDICVM. ET SCHOLAM. Alfo for the publick Games and Shews, prefented to the Publick, at the Dedicati- on. I am alfo induced to believe it, from other Miftakes, which the above Reinefius has taken no- tice of, in the faid Infcription ; whence I conclude that L. Annius Mammianus, who did this great Performance, was either one of the Duumviri of the Colony of Heraclea, or a Defcendant of him. Therefore L. Annius was ^ibiquennial Duumvir y or chief Magiftrate of the Colony, which ought not to leffen his Efteem, as the principal Romans coveted to be eledled Duumvirs in the Colonies. Pompey the Great was Duumvir of Capua, along with one of the Antonian Family, and the Names of the Decuriones were engraven in Brafs. And this ferves to prove that Heraclea was a Roman Colony. I fhall draw Proofs of the Quinquennial Duum- virate of Heracjea, not only from this Infcription, but from other Authorities. Tho' the Cities of Campania Foelix, being originally Grecian, and governed by the Athenian Laws, they had the Li- berty (whilft under the Roman Empire) to obfervc their own former Cuftoms, and to live according to their own Laws, and yet had the Privileges that belonged to the Citizens of Rome ; which is a Thing uncommon. What Cicero fays of the He- racleans and Neapolitans, puts it beyond all Doubt ; for he, fpeaking of the Julian Law % adds, that there were great Difputes between thefe two Cities, becaufe many preferred the Liberty of their Laws, before the Privilege of being accounted Citizens of Rome : ^um magna pars in iis civitatibus fcsderis fui (quo nempe leges lis reli^ia) libertatem Civitati art" teferrent \ and this was the Reafon that thofe who became Citizens of Rome, were no longer among » Fro Balbo. the 64 ji 'Desckiptioi^ of fbe the Number of the Confederates. Hence it comes, that the Duumvirs of Naples and hozzuoli called themfelves Arconti *. Further, Reinefius affirms, that guos vocant Duumviros^ (IIVIRI) Archontes j-paTf}'o», reprafentahant Colonize Confides, They Itiled themfelves Demarchi for the fame Reafon, for the Magiftracy of Naples was called Demarchia, as Strabo fays, Argumento ret funt nomina Magiftra- iuum Principis gr^eca^ pojlerioribtts temporihus Cainpa^ 7ia Gr^cis permixta-y and Spartianus fays pofitively, they were Sluinquennali. Apud Neapolim Dcmarchus in patria fua quinquennalis . It was the very fame in Heraclea, as may be feen in the Infcription of Concejftanus^ of whom we fpoke before. It is certain, that the other Grecian Colonies had Quinquennial Duumvirs. On a Medal of Nero, in the Royal Mufasum, you may fee one Tiberius Claudius, in that Pod at Corinth, who pofTibly was of the Imperial Family, with the Kead bea- tified ; (i. e. with a Glory round his Head) NERO CAESAR. GERM. AVG. And on the Reverfe, COR. TI. CLAVDIO. ITVIR. Q, ADV. AVG. Corinthus. Tiherio ClaudiOy Duumviro ^iinqitenndi : Adventus Augufti. In order to know, whether there were Quinquen- nial Duumvirs any where Mq^ fee Vaillant ^ and Gruterus, whofe Examples are fet down, by Da- madenus, in the 'Tabula Canufina^ which is at pre- fcnt in the PofTefTion of the Marquis Riccardi at a Vid. la Differt. del Slg. Abbate Guafco Piernont. Acad. Etrufco. fcpra I'Autonomia de* Greci che fi Hampa nel torn. V. delle Differt. dell' Academia di Cortona. ^ V. Valliant. Co- loniar. t. i. Vid. Lettere critiche d'un Academ. Etrufco. ad un Academ. Fiorent. & Jo. Lamii in Anti(j, Tabul. .<£neum obfer- vat. Flor. 1747. Florence jintient City of UEKhChlS^A. 65 Florence ; Bulengerus calls this Space of Time Lujiro Municipale. I have read in Manutius as follows *• nvIR. QVIN. COL. IVL, HISPELL. And thus, BIS. DVOMVIRO. QVINQ, II. VJR. ITER. QQ. 1 Cardinal Noris ^ was in a Doubt, with refped to the Time of the Duumvirate -, wherefore I fhall leave it, to be decided by Sig. Gori, and Dodlor Lami, who have difcourfed very learnedly on that Head \ It remains now to fay fomething concerning the other Fart of the Infcription in the Front. DE SVO. Wc know that Lucius Annius Mammianus Ru- fus built the Theatre with its Orcheftra, at his own Expence, but connot tell what Letters follow- ed the words Be fuo, becaufe the Stone was broke: In Gruterus '^ we have it thus : DE. SVO : D. D. that is, Dedicaverunt, But whether it is a D, or an F, dedicavity or fecit^ *tis the Mark of a generous and great Soul : The Marquis MafFei, and the Canon Mazzocchi ^ imagine dedicavit to be the fame, as pofuit^ perfecit^ as Signor Muratori ob- ferves \ who alfo declares, that he will not decide this Point. Reinefius ^ has it thus : THEATRUM. ET. PROSCENIVM REFECERE. LVDIS. SCENICIS BIDVO. DEDICAR. D. S. P. « Manut, Ortograph. ^ Coenotaph. Pifan.' Corfini. Fafti. Attici. t. 2. ^ Lettere ad un Academico di Cortona, p. 69^ Pag. 307. n. 8. c Deir Anfiteatr. e Mazoch. de Amphi- deatr. Campano. <" Acad, di Cortona, torn. 2. pag. 140. Infcript. Clafs. 4. ~ i^ ^ '*^ K Hence 66 \A Description of the Hence arifes a Curiofity to know what the Or- cheflra was. Juflus Lipfius fays, it was the firft five Rows of Benches, on which the Senators and Decu- riones fat; above thefe were fourteen more Benches, for the Ufe of the Knights, called Equeflria^ and all that went higher, was for the common People, thence called Pcpulcria. Grevius, Signor Mazzocchi, Spanemius, Bu- lengerus, Arduin, and other renowned Perfons think alfo, that the firft Seats v/ere the Orcheftra^ called by Martial, Linca dives. Marquis Maftei is of a contrary Opinion, affirming that. the Orchefira of the Theatres, was nothing but the Area^ by us called P&//^,. which was ufed by the Grecians, for the Dancers •, wjience it had its Name alfo among the Romans, who continued the Ufe of Dancing on the Stage. In another Place, he fays, that he never found any antient Author, that mentioned any Part of an Amphitheatre to be called Orche- ftra ; and reje6ls the Word, together with its Sig- nification. This Opinion was firfl publiihed, by a modern imaginary Difplayer of the Magnificence of the Antients, treating of the Theatre at Athens, by him called the Theatre of Bacchus, which Pol- lux makes mention of-, but becaufe I do not love Difputes, I would fain make up this Difierence, by putting in my Opinion, when I am allowed to introduce 'myfelf among thefe great Men. It is a very difficult Thing, to know when the Authors fpeak of a Theatre or of an Amphithea- tre ; as they often confound one with the other. The Grecians were very unwilling to make ufe of this Word, for it is only to be found in Herodia- nus. The Theatres of Caius Scribonius and Curio, were Amphitheatres ^ Thus Spartianus fays, that the Theatre, which Trajan caufed to be built in the Campus Martius, was deftroyed^ which Paufanias » Cic.l. 8. Ep. 3. Theatrum Curionis. Plin. 1. 36. cap. 15:. afiTcrts Aniient OVj' g/' H E R A C L E A. ^ aflerts to be an Amphitheatre ; and Dion, in the Jike Manner, defcribes the Amphitheatre of Julius Cefar, but will not call it by that Name. Whence^ it is a hard Matter, to know whether the Writers fpeak of a Theatre, or an Amphitheatre, when they mention the Orcheftra. I ihall only fay, that as a Theatre is of a longer Date than an Amphi- theatre, which is only a round {or double) Theatre, the fame Names and Divifions are retained in the Amphitheatre, as were made ufe of in the Thea- tres. And as among the Grecians, the Orcheftra, or Platea, was ufed fometimes for Shews, and fometimes for Dancing •, they who fat on the Benches that were neareft the Platea, were faid to fit on the Orcheftra. And the very fame might be among the Romans in their Amphitheatres, whofe Platea, tho' it ferved for cruel Exercifes, retained the antient Name of Orcheftra, whence thofe that fat in the Orcheftra of the Amphitheatres and Theatres, were to be underftood to fit in the Rows next the Platea, and the fame Explanation may be applied to the linea Dives of Martial •, wherefore, I imagine Signer Maffei to be much in the Right, when he fays, that the Orcheftra is that Part which we call the Platea. And I am of Opinion, that the other Gentlemen are not in the wrong, in fay- ing, that what they call fitting in the Orcheftra, meant fitting on thofe Seats which were neareft the Platea ; which is the fame as to fay, on the Podium* I am of Opinion, that altho' in Capua and other Places, there was a Theatre and an Amphitheatre : That, for Shews ; and this, for Wiid-beafts : Yet where there happened not to be an Amphitheatre, the Gladiators fought in the Orcheftra; and this has happened among the Tufcans, and efpecially the Inhabitants of Campania, who took great De- light in thofe Sort of Diverfions. Inafmuch as, if the Tufcans ; and in particular, thofe that dwelt in K 2 Campania i 68 y? Description ^^^(? Campania % firft inftituted the Gladiators, at their Weddings and Feafts, much more in their Thea- tres *. And, upon confidering, that their firit Time of Fighting at Rome ^ was when Appius Claudius Pulcher was JEdile % it is very proba^ ble that he exhibited fuch Shews at Heraclea, (where the Tufcans had before introduced them,) where he was much efteemed for his famous Via Appia, and where the faid Infcription of him was found, in the Theatre. Alfo, as the Cities that were near one another, generally had the fame Cuftoms \ I am of Opinion, that the Ludi Gymnici were made ufe of, in the Theatre of Hercules ; as they were wont to be in Naples and Sarentum, where Pollio exhibited them ^^ and named them gentile Sacrum. They were common to the City of Naples % where there were two Sorts ; and as one of them was called 6"^- crum ^linquennaky it is fuppofed, that Lucius Annius Rufus, who built the Theatre at Heraclea, was Quinquennial Duumvir over thefe Wreftlers and other Sports ; if we will not believe him to be Conful of the Colony, as is faid above ; for it has been fhewed, that they calTd themfelves Archonti and Demarchi. It is certain, that at Athens they ufed to chufe a Prciident of the Theatre, who had the Keeping and Maaagement of the Treafury be- longing to the Theatre, and was called S"twptHiov » Ateneo 1, 4. Nicolo Damafceno prelio il medefimo. ^ Plin. I. 8. c. 6.. ^ The Office of an ^dile was to fee that Temples, Houfes, Conduits, Streets and Highways, fhould be kept dean, iafe, and in good Repair ,• to make Provifion for folemn PJays, Games and Funerals ; and to take Care of Weights ai.d Mea- fures» the Price of Corn and Wholfomenefs of Victuals. ° Stat. J. 3. in Here. Surrent. ^ Vid. Lafena de Gymnaf Ncapol, ^ Vide Demofth. in Oratione de pag. 46, edit. Hervagians Cor- fmi Faft. Attic. Florentise 1748^ Jf Ant lent C//y 5/* H E R A C L E A . 69 If my Propofal had been put in Execution ; which was, that they fhould begin again to dig from that Fart which was toward the Sea, (where the Ground Jay on a Slope) and throw the Earth up, on each fide : Then they might eafily have laid open to the Air, the Theatre and the Orchedra : But they were content with making a lateral Aper- ture, in the Manour of Refma, and making Steps to go down, they came by Degrees to the Precin- zione % leading direc^lly to the Orcheftra, which I had before difcovered; thence, by fo many covered Ways, made with Pick-axes in a very irregular Manner, it is rather rendered difficulter than eafier to take a View, or Plan, of this beautiful Fabrick. I would not have had them pare, or take up the Marble, with which the faid Frecinzione was en- tirely covered, tho' without Columns, or other Ornaments, except fome Corniflies, up on high : But they did not regard what I faid, and now they are ufed for embelliihing the little Garden, belong- ing to the King's Country Palace at Portici. Then it might have been eafily feen, whether In this, they had retained the antient Form, which was ufed in the Time of the Ofci, who built Nola b. We fhould then have found what Vitru- vius tell us, concerning the Form of the Greek Theatres, and we fliould have been able to have underftood the Method of Balancing the Scenes. The Grecians had, as he fays, a large Orcheftra, and a fmall Stage ; on the contrary, the Romans had a fmall Orcheftra, and a large Stage ^ But as during the Time I ftayed at Naples, 1 could not * Diviflons or Partitions between the upper Seats and the lower ; Pr^cinSiiones ad altitudines theatrorum . . . neque altiores quam quanta pracinSiionis it inert s fit latitudo. Vitruv. de Archit. lib. 5. c. 3. '> Polyb. & Demfter. de Etrur. Regal. lib. i. c. 9. F^g- 37- J^' Lucius in Cluver. de Regno. Dalmat. lib. 4. cap. n. pag. 191. « Vitruv. lib. 5. cap. 8. make JO A DESCtiiVTtou of the make the leafl Difcoverles, either concerning the Stage, the Podium or the Pulpitum^ I am apt to believe, that the Top of the highcfl Seats, above the lall Precinzione, or Divifion, were bounded by a pretty high Wall, ornamented with large Cor- nifhes, fuch as Alberti, (mentioned by Sig. Bocchi, of the Tufcan Academy) is faid to have made Ufc of*. And as I obferved, that over the two great Doors, were placed the Brazen Chariot and Horfes : So I fuppofe, that above this Cornifh, flood the feveral Statues of Marble and Brafs, which fell down and were broke ; and that the Orcheftra was paved with thofe Stones, of which fo many were dug up. As to the Ufe of paving the Theatres, you find an Account in Giuflus Lipfius, who brought thefc Infcriptions from Salernum t. INSTAVRATVM. PODIVM. PAVIMENTA MARMOREA And the other, THEATRVM. STRAVIT. PAVIMENTO PODIO. CIRCVMSCRIPSIT. I fhall conclude this Chapter, with referring you to Vitruvius % for whatever you want to know a- bout the Proportion, either of the Seats or the Precinzioni j which gives a Kind of Hint of the Remainder of the Podium and its Ornaments, which is not yet difcovered. I fhall here fubjoin, the Tranflation of an Ac- count which was publillied in France and England; * Lib. 3. de re aedific. Bocchi Teatr. d'Adria. '' Lipf. de Amphiteatr. cap. u. ^ Vitruv. lib. 5. cap. 6. Gradm Jpeda^ culorunij ubi fubjellia componantur y ve minus alti Jlnt palmopede^ nefluspede, ^ digitis ffx, Vid. Lipf. cap. 13. 2 the Antknt City ^ HER ACLEA. 71 the Truth of which, you'll fee by comparing it with the Account I have given, as an Eye^ witnefs. The Tranflation runs thus : fhe "Theatre* is huiU in Form of a Horfejhoe, as all Theatres are^ in the Injide of which are twenty-one Rows of Seats, pro- ceeding from the fame Center, whofe Diameter increafes in Proportion to the Height, This Circle terminates in an Oblong Square^ which is divided into three Farts. The middlemofi occupies the whole Widths €Xtendi7ig from the third Step below, to that which is oppofite to it on the other Side, and had a Front (at the End) of the Borick Order, in which were three Doors ; and here^ was the Pulpitum and Profcenium for the Ufe of the Actors, who generally had their Fro- fcenium behind the Front ; the other two Farts of this Obkiig Square^ extended from the third Step below to the Circumference of the Walls or Sides of the Theatre. The Space which is between the Fulpitum (Stage) and the Seats, was the Orcheflra ; they found under the Stage, a Quantity of Wood reduced to a Coal, which Jhewed that this Theatre was built by the Grecians ; for, the Orcheflra, being defigned by the Romans, for the Ufe of the Vefials and Senators, it was not necef- fary to put up Benches and Seats, which were invented by the Athenians, to give more Room for the Dancers, All the upper Fart of the Stage was adorned with a greatDeal of Wood-work, which (burnt as they were) retained their Form very well, whereby one may con- je^ure, that this Theatre had Machines which were common^ both to the Grecians and Romans. The for- mer ufed Flying, Changing of Scenes, and Decorati- ons, as are in ours -, and among the Romans, we have an Account, that an A5ior, in reprefenting the Flight of Icarus, fucceeded too well, for he did it fo natural- « Vid. Archit. di Leon Battifla Alberti, torn, 2. lib, 8. cap. 7. in foL Londini 1726. 72 ^Description of the ly^ that he aBiially fell down clofe to the Feet of Nero ^ and f pattered him with his Blood. The three Galleries were raifed one ahove another^ not perpendicularly^ but fo that the lower Wall leaning ngainfi the Seats ^ ferved for a Portico to enter the Theatre. The upper Part alone was covered^ being for the Ufe of the Ladies. Finally., the Infide of this Building was incrufied or lined^ with the fineji antique Marble., enriched with Columns and Statues., the mofi of which., remain fiill in their Places^ and jo well pre- ferved^ that it would be very eajy to reftore thera to their former Perfeofion. Whatever Precaution is taken., in order to obfervt the Dimepfions, we cannot affure you that they are in- fallibly true. The Theatre cannot be feen all together ^ but Part at a Ti?ne^ becaufe in emptying one Part they fill another., fo that one can but fee Half at once. And this may fuffice for the Frefent, as it is not my Defign to defcribe all the anticnt Theatres, %vhen fo many illuflrious Men have already hand- led that Matter. Wherefore, I Ihall only add, that the little Statues and Columns which are found, appear to have been the Ornaments of the Podium, as defcribed by the faid Vitruvius \ Fi- nally, I bev/ail the Lofs of the Books, wrote by the learned Juba, King of Mauritania ; who, (as Atheneus reports) had compiled aHillory of Thea- tres ^ He lived in the Time of Auguftus, and therefore, 'tis very probable, that he made menti- on of this Theatre in HtracJea. * Vedl del Teatro Olimpico de Palladio, Difcorfo di Gio : Montanari in Vinccnza 1733. Bocchi Teatro di Adria. Guaz- xefi AFifiteatro Aretino ; neli' Opere delT Academia di Cortona. *» Athcn. lib. 4. pag. 175. in voce jcAa'-sict, eve difcorre del balli, C€gli Strumenti muficali, e loio inventor!. Efichio ne cita il libra nuario, VedirEtimoIogicoMagno. Cent, 7, p?.g. 14. CHAP. "^Afitient City ?f HER ACLEA. 7^ CHAP. IV. Account of other Antiquities found in the Theatre. 1 SHALL now recount the feveral other curious Things, which were found in the faid Theatre,, in all the Month of January, 1739, viz. Two beautiful Statues of Bronze, a little more than a Roman Palm in Height, reprefenting Au- guftus and Livia, the former gowned and bare- headed, and the latter with her Head veiled, ha- ving on, a Head-drefs, with fmall Points or Tri» angles, as it were a radiated Crown. Two Cornucopia's above a Yard long, hand- fomely defigned, in Brafs gilt, termmating in the Form of an Eagle's Head, with a Hole bored thro* the Neck : They appeared to have been fixed to the Wall, and to have had a Lamp hanging down from that Hole. More Pieces of the abovementioned Horfes, of Brafs gilr, larger than Life. A large Statue of Bronze of a Woman gowned, and on Foot, having only half the Head. Two more Statues of Women in Bronze, of curious Workmanfliip, but very much disfigured. Five Marble Statues, Fellows to the three Bronze ones above-mentioned, larger than Life, four of which were gowned and on their Pcdeftals j fome of them, being not broken, thereon were the fol- lowing Infcriptions, viz. Under the Statue of a Conful gowned, (>.) M. NONIO. M. F. BALBo PR. PRO. COS. D. D. L Under 74 ^Description of the Under that of an old Man. (2.) M. NONIO. M. F. BALBO PATRI. D.. D. An old Woman, veiled and gowned, exaflly to the Life. (3-) VICIRIAE. A. F. ARCHAD * MATRI. BALBI * Archadi D. D, (4.) CYM. MON . . . M. HONOR. KA (5) n. VIR. ITER, qwm. Two other Statues of Bronze larger than the Life, with the following Infcriptions. (6.) L. ANNIO. L. F. MEN, BV L F (7.) M. CALATORIO. L MEN. RVFO. FRAT On other Fragments. (8.) . . . ADO la ,^VN...;::1 •-••••vir.epvlon. Antienf City of HERACLE A. f$ in Letters of a Cubit Length. IMP. T. VESPA CAESARI. AV. TRIE. P. COS. I .T. M , . , . . , . . . , M . . ^ . . . , , , (10.) CARDi SEXTILI (II.) DOMITIAE. CN. R DOMITIANI. CAESARIS. D, D. (12.) DIVO. IVLIO. I AVGVSTO. DIVI. F, AVGVSTALES ] AVGVSTALES. A Statue of Mammius Maximus, was knov/n b^ the Infcription on the Pedeflal, (13.) L. MAMMIO. MAXIMO AVGVSTALI MVNICIPES. ET. INCOLAE AERE. CONLATO From all which Infcriptions^ (which I Ihall ex- plain hereafter) is to be imagined what curious Things might be found in this Theatre, (if they dug the Ground regularly,) where was difcovered the entire Equeftrian Statue of Balbus, mentioned before, and of which I fhall treat in its proper Piacej together v/ith its Infcription, in which th^ L 2 Mrcolanejp ^6 A DzscRiTTioiJ of the Ercolanefi mention their own Names ; which puts it beyond all Doubt that, there, was the antient City of Hercolanum. Afterwards they found three beautiful Marble Buds, one of which I per- ceived to be the Emgy of Domitia, whofe Infcrip- tion I have before let down : The other, being of the fame Size, with the Countenance and Features of a Man advanced in Years; I imagine to be Gneus, the Father of the faid Emprels. I afterwards examined the Brazen Horfe, by me above defcribed, and perceived that it had been faftend to a triumphal Car of the fame Metal, and had his Harnefs and Trappings, ornamented with fmall BafTo Rilievos. Then they dug up feveral Fragments of Brafs, and three other Marble gown- ed Statues ; which, the' they were very curious throughout, yet their Heads and Arms were made of a finer Sort of Marble. I imagine, they ufed to have in Readinefs, gowned Statues without Heads, that when they had Occafion for the Statue of any dcferving Perfon, they had no further Trouble, than to make the Head and put it on ». They often made Things fo for Beauty, and fome- times for w^ant of Marble. I have feen an old Thigh, which was made of three different Sorts of Marble. Moft of their Statues have at their Feet, a round Block, which many think to be a fmall Altar, to denote the Reverence due to llich Ferlbns. Others fuppofe it to be a Box to put the Supplica- tions in, which are offered up to them, by the Po- pulace. They found a fine Baffo Riiievo, whereon was wrought feveral Barbarians running away \ which I judged to be the Defeat of the Hebrews, by the Emperor *, of which there was feen before, a grand Infcription. Among thefe Fragments, they found * Notifi, die \o ftelTo accadeva ne farcofagi, ed urne feli* tro- vandokiie snolte cciia cartelia ienz-^ ircri^ione, a Antient City of HER ACL E A. 77 a fmall Statue about half a Yard high, reprefent- ing a naked Venus, which appeared like Venus de Medicis, leaning on a bearded Priapus. After which they difcovered three fine fluted Columns, made of a Kind of Compofition, in a curious Manner, but broken ; and among the Inter- columns were two large Tables of white Marble, containing the Names of above four hundred Free- men. The Title is wanting. After having heard various incredible Reports concerning thefe Things, I obtained the Sight of them, thro' the unfpeaka- able Clemency of the Qiieen's Majefty, whofe Fraifes I cannot find Words fufliciently to exprefs. I perceived that they related to the two Tribes of this Place, viz. VENERIA and CONCORDIA; and a little lower, I obferved in fomewhat larger Charaders, the word ADLEGERVNT ; under which were the Names of feveral renowned Per- fons, with a DiftiniSlion of the different Tiibes of the Romans ; but I fliall referve this to foeak of in another Place. CHAP. V. yf« Account of other Antiquities. IN other Accounts which I have feen, I find Mention made of more Statues and Bulls, which were either found after my Departure from thence, or may only be other Names given to thofe which were found before; but be that as it wiil, I will not beguile the Reader, of a Catalogue of them ac lead ; which is all follows. The Statues of Nero, Germanicus, Claudius, and two Women unknown : A Marble Statue of Vefpa- fian, and an Atalanta, in which is obferved the Grecian yS ^Description of the Grecian Method. Two other Images, fitting in a State-chair, well preferved. Several fmali Statues of Bronze, fome of which appear to have been the Houfehold Gods, or Lares of the Heracleans. An Image, fuppofed to be Mercury -, holding in his right Hand a full Purfe, and in his hh a Tortoife on a Difh ; which pofTibly is only an Allegory, to fhew that this God was the Inventor of Mufick, as is very learnedly laid down by P. Paciaudi a Thea- tine, in a Differtation, which he dedicated to the Marquis dell Hofpital^ French EmbaiTador at Na- ples, to whom his Majefty had prelcnted that Sta^ tue. They found alfo [feveral Marble Bufls ; the moft remarkable among which, were thofe of Ju- piter Ammon, Juno, Pallas, Ceres, Neptune, Mer- cury, Janus Bifrons, a little Infant, and a Youth with a Drop of Gold of an oval Form, hanging from his Neck unto his Bread. The few BafTi Relievi which are found, are fo trifling that they are not worth fpeaking of, there being only one of any Value, which is the Reprefentation of a Sacri- fice. This is what I have feen handed about for an Account of the Things found in Heraclea, after" my Departure thence ; the Truth of which, I leave the Reader to judge, and fhall proceed to make Obfeivations on what I faw with my own Eyes. C H A P. VI. Ohfervations on the ahovemen'/ioc-d Infer htions. HAVING taken notice of the Time when the Foundations of the Theatre were laid, and having found fo many curious Ornaments therein ; it feems impoflible that they fhould have been all put there at the Beginning. And as there have been Antlenf City c/ H E R A C L E A; jg been difcovered, Fragments of Things of later Date, efpecially the grand Infcription of the Em- peror Titus, and that of Domitia, and other Im- perial Statues, as of Nero, and Claudius, ^c. it neceffarily occurs to think, that from the Time of ■ its Building to its Overthrow, there were continu- ally new Ornaments adding to it : So that, if the City Keraclea was dellroyed, together with its Theatre, in the Reign of tlie fame Titus, and yet there remains that Infcription ; one fhould imagine it was repaired, or at leafthad fome new Embellifh- ments in that very Year, or a little before the total Deilrucftion -, not doubting that the Infcription be- longed to the triumphal Chariot, fuppofed to have been put up over one of the two great Doors. It is moft certain from the Authority of Seneca '*-, that the total Demolition of the City, by an Erup- tion of Vefuvius, was preceded by an Earthquake during the Confullliip of Regulus and Virginius ; which threw down great Part thereof, and, as fome will have it, the Theatre, together with the Peo- ple in it, was fwallowed up about the Year of Chrift 63. Eufcbius, Zonara and Agricola, ttW us, that the Eruption of Vefuvius was in iht firfl Year of the Reign of Titus ; but Cedrenus and Baronius fay, it v/as in the third. Suetonius relates, that Titus on this Occafion, fhewed not only the Ten- dernefs of a Father by the Succours he gave them ; but alfo the Circumfpedlnefs of a wife Emperor, by the Meafures he took, having appointed the Goods of thofe who died without Heirs, to go towards the rebuilding the City. Dionyfius and Zonara add, that when this ter- rible Eruption happened, Titus fent feveral Pre- fents into Campania, and went himfelf tofee what Damages the People had fuilained. « Senec. Nat. Quell. 1. 6. c. i. He So ^ DeSCHJVT ION of fh He gave the Neapolitans magnificent Sports, and caufed their Gymnafium to be rebuilt at his own Expence : Which is proved by an antient Gr^k Infcriprion, mentioned by Gruterus and Muratori : How is it polTible that Titus fhould make fuch Jarge Reparations, if the Eruption, which was the Occafion of it, had happened in the Jafl Year of his Reign ? Could he pofTibly have had Time to think of it ? For at that rate there were but eighteen Days from the Eruption, which began NON. KAL. SEPTEMBRIS % to the Death of the Emperor, which happened the thirteenth of September. However, all doubt is cleared up by George Agricola ^, who fixes the Time of the E- ruption in the eighth Year of the Confullhip of Titus, which was about the firflYear of his Reign: Eufebius and Zonara are of Opinion, that Titus might have Time in the Year following, to take' all necefiary Meafures for repairing the Damages in Campania, as Suetonius and Dion alfo fay. By the Neapolitan Infcription, it may be feen, that Titus repaired the Gymnafium in the fecond Year of his Reign. Whence, it is beyond all Doubt, that the Eruption happened on the 24th of Augufl, A. D. 79, in the firft Year of his Reign ; and ad- mitting that the Siege of Troy was fixty Years after the Building of Heraclea, according to the Alexandrian Chronicle, it follows, that this City -was 1420 Years old. If on this Stone, the Year of the Confullhip of Titus had remained entire, we fhould have been at a Certainty about it : But I perfuade myfelf that my Opinion is right, fcil. that after the Earth- quake, Titus rebuilt and embellifhed our Theatre; as hf alfo did feveral publick Strudures which had been dcftroyed by Earthquakes, in diverfe Parts of a Plin. lib. 6. Epil^. 1 6, ^ Geor. Agricol de natur. eorum, qir«e eiHuunt in naiura Jib. 5, 4 the AntientCity sfHERACLEA. 8i the World, and fo much the more in a Place fo near Rome, he might have ordered the Repairing thereof, and the chief Senators who had Country Seats about thofe Parts, might have contributed ; one of which might be the Nonius Balbus, of whom we fhall fpeak hereafter. In fine, the Theatre, as Xiphilinus reports, perifhed with the People in it, but we have found neither their Corpfes nor Skeletons, therefore it mufl have been thrown down firft by the Earthquake, and their Bodies taken away, and the Theatre after- wards rebuilt in the Time of Titus, to whofe Me- mory, was put up the above mentioned Infcription on a gilt ColofTus, which was then the T3.fl:e of the Time ; for the gilt Equeflrian ColofTus of Domi- tian * ftood in the Midfl of the Roman Forum, which was afterwards abolilhed by the Senate : Likewife the Statues of the Forum of Trajan, de- fcribed by Gellius. This I take to be the Occafion of thofe two large Marble Tables, containing fo many Names of the Liberti or Freedmen : It fignified nothing rebuild- ing the City and the Theatre, if the Lofs of Citi- zens was not made up : Thence it comes that you fee on the above Tables, the Names of fo many Liberti adfcripti of the two Tribes VENERIA, and CONCORDIA, and the Names of the furviving Decuriones who pafTed the folemn Decree, AD- LEGERVNT. Certain it is, that feveral Colo- nies being made defolate by this Calamity, fought for new Inhabitants, which being fent them, were called Adle^i and Adjun5fi, Livy " gives it us thus: Pojlulantibus Aquilej enfimn Legatis^ ut numerum Co- lonorum Senatus augeret^ mille ^ingentce farnilia ex S. C. fcriptce^ 'Trium'virique, qui eas deducerent mijji funt jT. Anniiis Lufcus^ P. Decius Suhulo^ M, Come- » Stazio. Nardin. Rom. Antic. Reg, 8, del Foro R.cmano. * Lib. 34. c. 17, M Uus 82 A Description of the lilts Cethegus. But as I neither have Time, nor is it convenient for me to re-copy this Infcription, I hope that thofe, who at prefent have the Superin- tendency there, will obtain Leave from hisMajefty to participate it to the Learned, that are defirous of it. As to the other brafs Statues, whether of Men; or Women (which by ignorant Interpreters have been thought to be Veftals, not to mention the many other Abfurdities which have been publifli- ed) : They reprefent the Gods Confenti^ which, ac- cording to Panvinius's Opinion, were put up in the Place where the Shews were prefented. Don Matteo Egizio, who was then at Paris, wrote to me to defire I would feek for the Statue of the fa- mous Veftal Claudia ,1 made a diligent Search, fup- pofing, that, as we had found Memorials of Clau- dius, and of Nero, there might alio be a Statue of her, out of Refpedl to the Family •, but I could not find the lead Sign of any fuch Thing having been. Therefore I conclude thefe brafs Statues, to be the Dei Confenti, or Houfehold Gods: Hos (Penates) Confentes, ^ Complices Etrufci aiunty i£ nominani quod una oriantur^ (if una occidant^ fex mares^ Cff to- tidem fceminas nominibus tgnotis^ ^ miferalionis par- cijfim^^ fed eos fummi Jovis confiUarios^ ac principes exiftimari \ Monf. Redi thinks that the Dei A(^t' renti Calatini, were the Dei Confenti (fo called by Antonomafia,) whofe Statues were put up in the public k Forum in Rome, in Athens, and in al- molt all the Grecian and Latin Cities that were of any Repute ^, and were called, • = Girald, Syntagm. 15. pag. 422. ^ Accad. di Cortona t. 2. fopra Dei Aderent. Vid. M. Arnaud. fopra i Dei Parediscap. 20. Struvio lib. i. Rycq. de Capitol, cap. 39, Voflio lib, 1. 14* SalniafiO, ^V. The Antient City ^/^ HER ACLEA. 83 The Twelve The Great The Confiliary ^Gods. The Genial Proceeding to confider the other Statues and Infcriptions found in the Theatre, I recolleft, that befides thofe of the Emperors ; (in Honour of whom 'tis no wonder that there fhould be Statues put up :) There is particular Mention made of the two private Famihes, viz. the Annian, and the Nonian. One of the Annian Family, i. e. Lucius Annius Mammianus Rufus, built the Theatre, at his own Expence, as we mentioned in the 4th Chapter. I fhall only add> that poillbly, one of the gowned Statues that were found might belong to him. \t is obfervable that the Annian Family, tho' but a private one, was as much preferred to Honours as the hundred Families that were chofen out by Ro- mulus, for Patricians *. It produced Confuls, and High Prieds, and at laft arrived at the Empire, in the Perfons of M. Aurclius Verus, Lucius Verus, Lucius Elius Cefar, Pefcennius, Tacitus, and Flo- rianus ; but Petavius fays, that about the Time we are treating of, which is the Year after the De- flru. Idibus Septembris^ hiennio^ ^ menfihus duobus Csf diebus viginti foftquam in Lnperio patri fuccefferat. In which Year the Eruption happened, which was the firft Year of the Reign of Titus. Neither is in probable, that the Heracleans fhould ere6l a Statue and Infcription to Domitia, unlefs at the Time when Domitian, together with his Brother Titus, Were Confuls •, and on Account, that fhe was big with Child of an Heir Apparent to the Family of the Flavii ^ Thus much will fuffice, with refpedt to the Theatre of Heraclea \ I fhall only fay, that the cu- rious and antique Columns which were found there, (part of which are to be feen at the King's Villa at Portici, and part of them v/ere carried to the Cathedral at Naples) belonged to the Porch behind the Stage ^ : Poft fcenam (fays Vitruvius) porticus funt €07ifiituend.^^ uti cum imbres 7'epentini hidos inter- pellaverint^ habeat populus quo fe redpiat ex Theatre^ Cboragiaque laxamentum haheant ad cborum parandum *. Now 1 fhall return to the Defcription of the remain- ing Curiofities that were found in my Time. 3 Tacit. Annal. 1. 3. Sueton. in Domitian. c. i. & 3. Xiphi- Imo 66. p. 746. ^ Ridolfino Venuti mio fratello ne'Meuag^ Iloni Vatican], ^ Vid. Eutrop. in Vita Titi. '^ Vitruv. Hb. 5. cap, 9. e Gallutiusde Tragcedia cap, 7. N CHAP. go '^Description of the CHAR VII. Of the temples and Paintings found near the Theatre of Heraclea. IT Is a Thing not doubted among the Learned, that the Antients had Temples near the Thea- tres, efpecially thofe that were raifed to Hercules, or Bacchus -, and it is alfo certain that in the very- Theatres themfelves, they had Altars and little Temples. The Sacrifices preceded the Games, and the Games had a Correfpondence with the fce- nical Reprefentations, efpecially in the Country of the Ofci, where the Ofcian Games, and the Fa- bulse Atellana^ were invented, and whofe Language always remained on the Roman Stage *. Cicero mentions thefe Fabul^ Atellanas to have been ufcd by Pompey, at the Dedication of his Theatre. The abovefaid little Statues of Venus, Auguflus, and Livia, intimate the Truth of the Exiflence of fuch Temples in the Theatre. Neither is it in the lead to be wondered at, that there Ihould be none of the Fragments of thefe Temples remaining, as they were made of a Compofition \ with the Imiage of that God or Emperor ^ in Honour of whom the Plays were given. As to the above Statue of Venus, (he feems to have prefided over the Ofcian Comedies -, and not defcrving the Name of Anadiomene, given her by Father Paciaudi "" a Theatine. For Anadiomene, was the Pidure done by Apelles **, which repre- fented Venus that fprung from the Froth of the Sea, as Homer fays of Thetis * r^y avff^uVaTo xujwa ^Q(,K(i^v^I^^«JfgRsl^\i il30%Yan-hRH!>!VGTilH3TNTv\3a Which Characters certainly denote fom.e folemn myfterious Eorm among the Sacrifices, inflituted by Hercules himfelf; firil found out by the Ofci^ * An additional Month which happened every fecond Year. and Antient City of HER ACLB A. 93 and afterwards religioufly preferved by the Romans in this Place, both for the Theatre and the Temple confecrated to Bacchus and to Hercules. As Bac- chus * was the Inventor of Stages and Theatres, at whofe Altar they ufed to hang up Mafks, of which we have found a great many made of Marble •, the Comedies were reckoned facred among the Tuf- cans •, for, in the Year 389, the Adtors were fent for from Tufcany to Rome, to appeafe the Gods pn Account of a great Plague which then raged : And Polybius, (an antient Writer who lived at the Time of the fecond Carthaginian War) treating of Campania Foelix where the Tufcan Colonies were, frequently mentions the Theatre. There are not wanting. Accounts of the Theatres of Capua, MinT turnum, Atella, Pozzuoli and Naples, and feveral others in the Country round about ; wherefore 'tis not to be wondered that there fhould be found in this Place, a folemn Tufcan Infcription. In that Infcription, I obferve the Charadcrs arc like thofe in the Medals of Capua : I took notice of the 3, which is taken for a V confonant in the Table of Gubbius, which begins PVRTVVITV, the Letter p is to be found in Rudbetius's Celtan Alphabet ; and by Bourguett 'tis taken for a T» and finally, the Marquis Maffei thinks the Letter N to be an A, alfo the fl, which fignifies a Latin P in thofe Medals, and all the others, agreeable to the Alphabet publifhed by the Tufcan Academy at Cortona. But let us proceed to the famous Paintings, This Temple confided of one large Room, (the Top being demolifned) and being now filled up with Earth, whofe Walls were painted in feveral Places, with Light and Shade, Red and Yellow^ and I alfo obferved the Minium fpoken of by Vi- A Accad, Etrufc, torn, 2. Dffiert. 4, truvlus: 94 \A Description of f/jg truvius : In the Midll of which there were painted feveral Squares, with fighting Wild Beads -, fome Tygers drefied up in Vine-branches ; fome Medufse, and fome Heads of Fauns. In the Middle was a winged Mercury with an Infant in his Arms, and a Woman fitting, and holding the faid Mercury by the Pland ; which appears to be Bacchus carried to Nurfe. Moreover, there were Paintings of Land* fcapes, fi(5litious and real Animals, fand particu- iariy, beautiful Peacocks,) Archite6lure, Statues, Sacrifices, Houfes, and other Buildings, very well done in Profpecftive, which Art was believed by our modern Artifls, to have been unknown to the Antients. But I am certain, that Profpedive, tho' not extreamly well underftood, (as Buonarotti * is of Opinion ; who, in his Rules, gives the Glory of the Invention to Peter della Francefca, a Tufcan, from the Town of the Holy Sepulchre) yet was knov/n and alfo pra6lifed by them. That Science is called Optica, but it had not that Name in Latin, for Vitruvius called it menfure ^ and Pliny " fpeak- ing of Apelles ^ Non cedebat ^mphiom de difpojittone^ Afckpodoro de mrdfurisy hoc efi, quantum quid a quo dtftare deheret. Plutarch, Vitruvius, and Suidas aflure us, that Agatarcus of Samos, who flourifhed at Athens about the feventy-fifth Olympiad, had, fto oblige Efchiles) defigned the Decorations of the Theatre, entirely after the Rules of ProfpetTtive, of which he alfo compofed a Treatife. There was a City in Lydia, famous for the Temple of Vi6lory, and the pretended Prodigies, which were faid to have happened before theBattle of Pharfalia -, whofc Theatre had been embellifl^ied by the Painter Apa- turius, after the fame Rules \ Leonard de Vn^.cl, who has treated upon it, has not better explained its Effect, than Piato, in his Dialogue on Sophifiry, a Buonsrrot. Medaglion. pag. 255. 256. '^ Vitruv. lib. i. cap. i.& lib. 6.C2p. 2. <^ Din. lib. 35. cap. 10. 5; lib 34. cr.p. 3. and Anuent C//y ^ H E R A C L E A. 95 and Socrates in his tenth Book on the Common- wealth. But what afliially exceeded all Expectation v/as two large Hiftory Pieces, which I imagine were round the Bottom of the Temple. For having gone over all the Paintings on the Wall, and found Ibme Pieces of broken Columns, they obferved the Wall to flope in, as it were two N itches, where they found beautiful Figures of the natural Size, with the Colours frefh and lively, and marveloufly difpofed. In the firft was Thefeus naked, with a Club in his Hand, a Ring on his Finger, and a red Mantle hanging over one of his Shoulders. Be- tween his Legs lay the Minotaur naked, with a human Body and a Bull's Head, fo that you fee his Head entire, and the Remainder of his Body lies, as it were backwards, very prettily defigned. Near this Heroe, fland, three Grecian Children, one of which embraces his left Knee, one kiffes his right Hand, and the other embraces, gently, his left Arm ; and one of the Virgins (which I take to be Ariadne) modeftly touches his Club. There isaifo to be feen another Figure in the Air, denoting a Victory ; likewife there appears the Winding of the Walls of the Labyrinth. The fecond, like the firfl, is compofed of fevc- ral Figures, of the fame Size as the Life, which fcemcd as though lately painted. There is a Woman crowned with Flowers and Herbs, fitting, and holding in her Hand an Iron-coloured Staff. On the left Side is a large Baiket of Grapes, Pome- granates, and other Fruits. Near thereto, is a young Faun playing on a Pipe made of {tv^n Reeds -, facing the W^oman, fits a naked old Man, with a Hiort black Beard, having a Bow, a Quiver full of Arrows, and a Club ♦, behind him is an- other Woman crowned with Ears of Corn, at whofe Feet is a Hind fuckling a littl-j Boy. In 5 t^c 96 A Description of the the Middle of the Piflure is an Eagle faintly ex- prefTed, and in the fame Line a Lyon very lively^ in a pacifick Pofture *. The Figures of the Man, and the other Deities^ together with the Infant fuckled by the Hind, made me im.agine it to reprefent, the Hillory of the finding of Telefus, who was born of Auge, the Daughter of King Aleus, being deflowered by Hercules in Tegea. This Auge, being brought to Bed of a Boy, hid it in the Temple of Minerva, but it was found by Aleus, who caufed it to be expofed on the Mount Parthenius, where it was miraculoudy fuckled by a Hind, and being found by Coritus and his Hufbandmen, was by them named Telefus, and was brought up among them, till having an Inclination to find out his Father, he went into Myfia where being adopted by King Teutansj him felf afterwards became King of My- fla^ Such was my Conjecture, thinking it fmpofTible to be done for the Repofe of Hercules, as the Man herein painted, with his Club, and Arrows, be- fides having a black Beard, is not fo robuft as Hercules is generally reprefented ; whofe Statues throughout all Greece and Rome, are always alike: And from the Quiver I imagine it to be Coritus, and that thofe Women are only the Nymphs of Mount Parthenius, and the wild Beads are making their Court to the new-born Babe. If I am mifla- ken herein, let the Learned judge. To return to the Picture of Thefeus, The Pofture of the Minotaur brings into my- Head the Inven- tion of Paufias Sicionius, of whom Pliny fays thus, * Le Tiotizic deilo fcoprlmcnto di tali Pitture furono da me date al Signor abate Ridolfino mio fratello, ed egli le commnni- co al celebre Signor Gori in Firenze, il quale le fece inferire nelle Novelle Letterarie alle colonne 42. e 128. nel. 1740. ** Apollod. Biblioth. lib. 2. cap. 7. §. 4. & lib. 3. cap. 9. U Antmit City (?/ H E R A C L E A. 97 h earn pi5luram primus invenit^ quam pojiea imitati flint multi^ aquavit nemo. Ante omnia cum longitu- dinem hovis ojtendere vellet^ adverfum eiim pinxit^ non tranfuerfum^ unde & abiinde intelligitur amplitudo. This Monfter has a Head like an Ox, and the reft of his Body human, as Apollodorus fays % H^c autem fPafiphae) peperit Afterium^ qui Minotaurus di^ius eft : hie habebat faciem taurinam^ reliqua hu- mana. Which agrees with a Sardonian Stone in the Mufseum of the Emprefs Queen of Hungary, men- tioned by Baron Stofch in his curious Book upon antique Jewels, which have the Names of the Ar- tificers cut in them ^ j where you fee a Rock, with Part of a Building of fquare Stones upon it v thro*^ the Gate of which, you fee the Monfter with a Bull's Head, lying dead ; the Building reprefents the Labyrinth, in which the Minotaur was ftiutup by King Minos. There is alfo a Youth full of Wonder, with his Face in Profile, holding in his Hand a Club, and reprefents Thefeus the Son of Egeus and Oetra. Which Explication the Baron afterts, that he received from Signor- D. Emanuel Martin, a Spaniard, Dean of the Church of Aii- cant, and a very great Antiquary. From all which I gather, either, that the Figures with Oxes Bodies and Human Faces, (which are on all the Medals of Naples and Cuma) are not Minotaurs as the Antiquarys have hitherto ima* gined ; but reprefent the God Ebone, or ^\{q the Reprefentations of the Antiquities do not always agree with the Accounts of the Mythologifts. Our Thefeus is painted very robuft, with his Face to- wards the Beholders \ and he is without a Beard, a ApoUod. Biblioth. lib. 3. cap, i. §. 4. ^ Tab. 51. Car- dinal Alexander Albani has a Piece of Marble five Palms high, on which is wrought, young Thefeus holding the Minotaur (who has a Bull's Head and iluman Body) by one Kiorn, and beating him wich his Club. O contrary 98 j1 De scRiVT I ON of the contrary to the Opinion of Lucian % who fays, that Thefeus, the Son of Neptune, tho' King of Athens, went with a long Beard, and his Feet bare ; he has his Club ihouldered on his left Side, of an Iron- colour, which is different from Hercules's, which was made of an Olive Branch, being what he took from Ferifeta, the Son of Vulcan and Anticlea ; of whom Plutarch ^, At Primum in finihus Epidauri Periphetem^ qui pro armis clava utebatur^ apprehen- dentem ipfiim, 6? vetaniem progredi^ congre^us cum CO interfecit^ ohle5latus clava^ cepit earn pro anms, gua deinde efl ufus. And ApolloGorus above-cited % Primum quidem Periphetem Vulcanic i^ Anticlea fi- lium^ qui clavam geftaret^ Coryneta dkehatur^ ad Epidaurum occidit, qui cum imbecillibus pedihus ejfet^ ferrea clava munitus^ viatores interficiebat : quam ex illo prareptam Ihefeus ipfe ferre confuevit. CHAP. VIII. Other Obfervations on^ and Befcriptions of^ the /aid Paintings, AS foon aseverthefe Paintings were difcovered, his Majefty ordered that they fhould be care- fully peeled off from the Walls, and carried to his Country Palace. For he takes a great Delight in Defigning, and having wrought himfelf, feveral well intended Figures in Wax, he has not only Ihewn his Protedlion of the Belles Arts, and the Study of venerable Antiquity -, but I may fay with- out Flattery, that he has a better Tafte than any Perfon elfe, in his great Court. Then was put in Execution, what Varro mentions to have been done with the Works of Damophilus and Gorgafus the celebrated Painters, who embellilhed the Temple * Jn Cynic ^ In Thefeo. torn. i. * Apollod«r. lib. 3. cap. 15. of Antient City 5/^ H E R A C L E A. 99 of Ceres, near the Circus Maximus at Rome % Ex hac cum reficerentur crujlas parietum excifas tahulis marginatis inclufas ejfe. Which was eafily perform- ed, for the Stoccoe on which thefe Paintings were done, was very thick -, and befides other fmaJl Pic- tures which I fhall fpeak of hereafter, they got out entire, the two large ones : They were feven Palms eight Inches high, and fix Palms fix Inches wide. They were ftrengthened behind with Slate, on which the painted Parget was laid, and the Whole inclofed in Frames of Wood, which occafioned much Difficulty, and required a great Deal of Care in the taking them out. The Reader may conceive the Amazement of the Spectators, and efpecially the learned Ones ; for they were judged by the Painters themfelves, to be extreamly curious, both on Account of their fine Draught, after the Manner of Raphael, and aifo as they had lain fo many Ages, upwards of thirty-two Palms deep in the Earth, without lofing the Freflmefs of their Colours, I caufed them to be fhewn to the great Solymena, wtio is the fined Painter of our Age -, and he faid, he never faw any Pieces of that Size, fo well performed. Neither the Paintings about the Sepulchre of Nafo (whofe Colours have been faded and walked off by Time,) nor the fmall Pidure of antient Architecture, which Marquis Alexander Gregory Caponi made fuch a Work about ; are any Thing to be compared to thefe belonging to the King of the Two Sicilies, which are. the only Pieces, that have had the Ad- vantage of being well preferved. The Reader will pardon me, if 1 boaft myfelf a little, on having contributed to their perpetual Prefervation, by the following Means. * Vid. Demontiofam de Pidura Veteri, Junius de Piftura Veterum. 02 I 100 A Description of the I perceived that the Pieces of Parget, which were carried up into the open Air, being wiped clean from the Dampnefs, occafioned by lying fo long under Ground, began to lofe their Colour, fo that if they went to clean the Face, it mouldered away by little and little, and at lad underwent the common Fate. By good Luck, I happened to be intimate with one Sig. Alfiere Moriconi, a Sicilian, Officer in the King's Artillery, who had the Art of glazing like China, which he had pradifed many Years, and had invented feveral Kinds of Glazing and Vernifh, and was much admired, efpecially at the Court of the King of Sardinia. I enquired of him, if he had (or could make) a Vernifh proper to lay over Paintings done upon Stoccoe ; to which he anfwered, he was the only one poffefTed of that Secret, and had had great rLxperience therein. I, thinking it my Duty, went and acquainted the King with it, begging him to \ti the laid Moriconi make a Trial on fome Fragment of Painting, found in Heraclea \ to which his Majeily, with his ufual Benignity, confented, and ordered that I fhould go, with this Officer, to have a Trial made, which had a mofl furprifmg Fffed. Then, having acquainted his Majefly of the Succefs ; he was inclined to go and fee this Officer at work, and was pleafed to order what Colours he fhould make a Trial upon, which (when the Ver- nifh was laid on) not only recovered their former Gloffincfs, but alfo became quite refrefhed, and as it were imprifoned within the Vernifh, there to re- fnain for many Ages to come, as an Ornament to the Royal Palace, and a Mark of the Benignity and Clemency of this truly amiable King. I was flruck with Amazement, at the Body of Thefeus, which was more lively than ever : At his Members, and his heroick and nervous Arms ; and could not help obferving to Don Ciccio Solymena, that Antienf City c/ H E R A C L E A. i o i that his Thighs feemcd rather of the longed ; but I « find it was the ufual Manner of painting the Heroes formerly ; for Sig. John Baptift Porta * is of Opinion^ that when (the Arms being ftretched out) the Hands can touch the Knees, it is a Sign of Boldnefs and Liberality, quoting Ariftotle and Alexander, Polemonesand Adamanzius. We read that Ariftotle had very long Arms ; and the fame of Alexander the Great : Artaxerxes was furnamed Longimanus, becaufe his right Hand was longer than his left : And Strabo fays the fame of Darius Longimanus, who, as Pollux fays, was the hand- fomeft Man he ever faw. Thefe Paintings are done in Variety of Colours, among which are the Green and the Blue, which fome People imagined the Antients were not pof- fefTed of, grounding their Suppofition on a Pa(Ikge in Pliny ^ where he feems to intimate, that they knew no other Colour than the White, the Black, the Yellow, and the Attic Red of Sinopolis •, but thefe PafTages feem to be interpreted in too ftrid a Senfe. Pliny does a<5lually fay, that the Painters in his Time, ufed four Colours, but at the fame Time does not deny, that they ufed any more : And fpcaking of Polignotus and Micon (who ufed the Attick Site <= in Painting '*,) he diftinguifhes three Sorts of Colours, the two firil of Egypt and Soria, and the third of Spain. In another Place, he praifes the Purple Colour * ufed in a City of Grece, which he prefers to that of Getulia and Laconia. One cannot allow them the Blue and the Yellow, without allowing at the fame Time that they had the Cjreen, which is compofed of thofe two, and is an Experiment fo eafily made, that one * De Phifionomia. ^ Lib. 35, c. 7. Vid. G. Philandri annotat. in Vitruv. lib. 7. cap. 7. <= \ Kind of Yellow Earth, which being burnt maketh Vermillion for Painters. ^ Lib. 23, c. 13. f Lib, 34. c. 7. cannot io2 ^Description of the cannot Imagine it to have been unknown to them. There is an admirable Paflage in Petronius Arbiter' on this Subjedl •, for he, defcribing a Gallery, fays* In Finacothecam perveni^ vario genere tabularum mi- rahilem : 7jam, ^ Zeuxidos manus vidi nondum ve- tufiatis injuria vi5fas^ & Pretogenis rudimenta^ cum ipftus nature veritate certantia^ non fine quodam hor- ror e traclavi. Jam vero Apellis^ quam Gr^ci Mono- chromon appellant^ ettam adoravi. Tanta enim fub- tilitate extremitates imaginum erant ad fimilitudinem fr^ecif^^ ut crederes etiam animorum ejfe piElurara. Hinc Aquila ferebat ccelo fublimis Deum -, illinc candi- dus Hylas repellebat improbam Naiada. Daninabat Apollo noxias manus^ lyramque refolutam viodo nato flore honorabat. Inter quos etiam piBorum amantium vultus^ tanquam in folitudine exclamavi : ergo amor etiam Deos iangit ? But to return to our Purpofe, thefe Paintings confirm to us, that in the Temples of their Gods, they were wont to paint the Hif- tories of their Heroes "^ •, among which, Thefeus was picked out as properefl for this Place, he be- ing as it were, a fecond Hercules ; both of them having pafTed their whole Lives in travelling, and clearing the Earth of Monfters. Another Reafon may be, that Hercules and Thefeus were both of them, the Inventors of the Games and Sports that were ufed among the Tufcans and Ofcians, in thofe Parts ; and which Vv'ere performed with great So- lemnity in the abovementioned Theatre. Thefeus is believed to have been the Inventor of the Stro- phe and Antiilrophe ^ in Memory of the in- tricate Turnings of the Tabyrinth ■*. Strophas illas^ atque antijlropbas inventas a nefeo fuijfe ad comme- « Satyr, cap. 43. ^ Luciano in Toxarls. ^ The Strophe was the firft Turns of the Singers, to the one ; and the An- tijirophe was the Counter-turn, to the other Hand ; this an- fwering that, in the fame Meafures and Number of Verfes. * Fauilus Vi6torinus lib. de Comoedia. morandas Anttent C//y ?/^ H E R A C L E A. 103 pjorandas flexuofi Lahyrinthi vias^ ex quibus evaferat fofpes : igitur oportuit eas non fohm cydicas ejfe, flexuofas pr^terea^ intricatas^ varias. Singing, Dancing and Mufick, were the Deco- rations of the Stage, which in England are called Country- dances^ as tho' they were invented by the Englifh Country People. One of thefe Dancing Bouts was performed at Naples in the Year 1621, with univerfal Applaufe, at the Time when the Tragedy ^ of Crifpus, compofed by Stefonius, was a6ted. And in the Year 1743, ^^ ^^^ Celebration of the antient Ofcoforian Feafts, by the Tufcan Academicks in Cortona ; feven Ladies and feven young Gentlemen danced Country Dances, as is mentioned by the Canon Reginaldo Sellari, and Don Emanuel Count de Richecourt \ the Mec^nas or Patron of the Learned -, and thus much may fuffice on the Subjed of Thefeus. As to the above mentioned Story of Telefus, I imagine it was placed there, in Allufion to the an- tient Pelafgians and Tyrrhenians, who wereDefcen- dants of that Heroe. For Tirrenus and Tarcqn, » Vid. Tarqum. Callutium de Tragoedia. ^ In tale occafi- one fu propofto per tema della Poefia, che non baita agli Eroi I'efercitar la virtu, fe non perfeguitano il vizio : e fu publi- cato un Sonetto dall' Autore di quefto Libro, e dedicate ai mc- deiimo Signer Conte di Richecourt, ed e il feguente. ^aJora io col penjier rimiro un Regno, O^ve taccion le leggi^ o^ve r'ltorna La sfrenata licenza, e le fue coma Antiche innalza il temerario fdegno ; /w e deprejfo ogni fuhlime ivgegno La njirtu feminuda, e d^Jadorna, J'vi r empio inter ejfe ; i'vi foggioma Sete di Jangue, e V tradimento indegno. Ma DiOf che agP innocenti al fin compart c Soccorfo inafpcttato in mille guije, Manda un Eroe da remota parte : Shiefii e Te/eo : con ejjo Jfirea dinjife Amor, pieta, fenno, fvalore, ed arte : Pot ruppe il Laberinfa, t i mofiri icccife. I * ' two 104 -^Description of the two Brothers, Sons of Telefias and Hiera % coming into Italy, and having overcome the Giant Sitoni, made themfelves Matters of yf^///^ and Fifa^ as Li- cofron relates, who adds, that they joined with ^neas in Italy. Simul quoque {fcedus inihunt) gemini filit Mijforum Regis (cujus aliquando latitans hafiam Curvahit viri Deus, crura viticihus coUigans) ^archon ^ Tyrrhenus lupi fervidi^ Herculeo frognati fanguine, ^ "Which agrees with the Opinion of Dionyfius HalicarnaiTeus, concerning the Origin of the Tuf- cans, who writes. Alii T^irenum Telephi malum filiumy vemjfeque pofi Trcjam Captatn in Italiam. 'Tis very well known, that the Tyrrhenians mingled themfelves with the Aborigines ; and Tyrrhenus with his Navy, fettling in the maritime Parts, gave his Name to the Sea, which is to this Day called Mare Tyrrhenum \ and Tarcon fet- tling in the Centre of Italy, became Mafter of Tufcany, fixing his Court at Cortona, which Silius calls thus ^ Cortona fuperbi "Tarchontis domus Then he proceeds to fay, that he led the Tuf- cans to the Afliftance of iEneas, who aflerted, that the Trojans had their Rife in Tufcany ; for Dar- danus, the Founder of Troy, was the Son of Coritus, King of Cortona. Let us now leave this long DigrefTion, and re- turn to the Enumeration of other ancient Paintings which were found under Ground, befides what were mentioned before. Which follows, viz. 3 The Giants of Flegra & Pellene. Vid. Mariano Valguar- nera. ^ Vid. Virgil. lib. X. v. 153. lib. XI. v. 72^ £512. ^ Vid. la Differtaz. fopra I'Antiquita di Cortona del Signer Ab- bate Ridoliino Venuti nel torn. 4, dell' Acidemia Eirufca. A ^Antmit City of H ER ACLE A. loj A Pidlure of Mercury above-mentioned, with a little Bacchus, two Palms eight Inches, by two Palms and one Inch. Two Pidures one Palm eight Inches, by one Palm four Inches, both reprefenting a Vidlory. Another, one Palm fix Inches, by four Palms two Inches, reprefenting a Chace of Stags and Boars. Another of the fame Size, containing a VelTel of Flowers, with a Kid on each Side. Another, two Palms three Inches, by one Palm one Inch, reprefenting a Temple. Another, one Palm five Inches, by two Palms one Inch, reprefenting a Temple adorned with fe- veral Columns. A pretty Frieze or Grotefquc, eight Inches by four Palms, which had run entirely round the Wall. Two others, four Palms by two Palms, with fe- veral Views, Buildings, and Architedlure, A perfect Square, being one Palm ten Inches, in which are two Mufes •, the one playing on a Harp, the other maflced. Another Piece, one Palm five Inches, by two Palms, reprefenting a Lion, fome Cattle, and Landfcape, Another of the fame Size, containing feveral Centaurs, Buildings, Houfes and Viev/s ; and two others ten Inches, by one Palm nine Inches, with the fame Figures. Three fquare Ones Fellows, one Palm by eleven Inches, reprefenting a Medufa's Head. Another, eleven Inches by feven Inches, with Heads of fiditious Animals. Another, nine Inches by one Palm, containing a Stag, with a Bird flying to peck at him. Another, four Inches and an half by nine Inches, reprefenting a Peacock. - P Another io6 A Description of the Another of the fame Size, reprefenting alfo 2 Bird. Another, two Palms two Inches, by one Palm, reprefenting a Bacchanalian playing on the Cymbals. Another, one Palm four Inches, by one Palm five Inches, with a naked Bacchanalian fitting on a Tyger. Another, one Palm four Inches by eleven Inches, with a Bacchanalian. Two Pieces Fellows, each fix Inches by eight Inches, containing two Dolphins. A Jupiter embracing Ganymede, five Palms by four Palms and an half. If it were pofilble to fee this magnificent Tem- ple entire : Who knows but in fome Corner or other, I might find an Infcription of this Artificer, whofe Work has now (after fo many Ages that it has lain hid under the terrible Ruinsj been dif- covered extremely well preferved ? Pliny afiures us % that the ancient Painters were wont to put their Names in the Pidlures ; and as a Proof, quotes thefe Verfes, which were feen in the Tem-. pie of Juno Ardeatina. IDignis digna loca pi^uris condecoravit Regina Junonis fwprema conjugis Templum^ M. Ludius Elotas Mtolia oriundus, ^em nuncy ^ poji femper oh artem banc Ardea laudat. But could he have guefled at the Name of the famous Painter of thefe Pi6lures in Heraclea ? Who knows ? I have fnewn that the Building of the Theatre and the neighbouring Parts, was about the Time of Auguitus. But I know, that the an- cient Painters were wont to paint on Tables ; and that Ludius, the celebrated Painter in Auguftus's =» Plinio, lib. 35. cap, io» Time, Antient C//y ^/^ H E R A C L E A. 107 Time, was the firfl (as Pliny relates) that intro- duced painting on the Walls as before defcribed *. Hk primus inftituit amcsniffimam parietum pi^w^ ram. Villas^ i^ porticus^ ac topi art a opera^ lucos^ nemoray colks^ pifcinas^ euripos^ amnes^ littora qua^ lia quis optarat^ varias ibi ohamhulantium fpecies^ cut navigantium^ terraque Villas adeuntium afelliSy aut vehiculis. Jam pifcantes^ aucupantefque^ aut venantes, aut etiam vindemiantes. Sunt in ejus ex» emplaribus nohiles palufiris accejj'u^ VilLe fiiccolantium fpecie^ mulieres lahentes^ trepid deque feruntur, Plu^ rinice pr^terea tales argutice^ facet iffimi f ales. Idem-' que fuhdialibus maritimas urbes pingere iriftituit^ blan-^ dijfimo afpectu, minimoque impendio. Could thofe be the Works of Ludius ? Let the Reader judge whether I am miftaken or not. However, this is certain, that his Majedy the King of the Two Si- cilies is the only Perfon in the whole World, that can boafl of having fuch antique Pidures fo well ^preferved ; all other Paintings on Walls being faded by Length of Time. The mod beautiful were thofe found in the Efquiline Palace of Titus, which periilied almoft as foon as they were difcovered : But they v/ere immediately copied and engraved by Pietro Santo Bartoli ; and (if it had been pof- fible to preferve them) would have raifcd the Ad- miration of the whole World. Who knows but thefe Paintings in Heraclea were done by the fame Hand } And what imports this PafTage of Pliny ? Sed nulla gloria Artificum (/?, nifi eorum^ qui tabulas pifixere, eoque venerabilior apparet antiquitas ; when there is not fuch a Thing in the World as an an- tique Pidture, excepting a painted Slate found fome Years ago in a. fubterraneous Cavity in the Territories of Cortona, which is now in the PofTef- fion of Signor Nicolo Vagnucci, Knight, at Cor- tona, who is one of the principal Supporters of ,* Vid. Demontiofum de Pidura Veterum, P 2 our io8 -4 Description of the our Tufcan Academy. This Piece reprefents a Mule crowned with Laurel, with a mufical Inflru- ment hanging on her Shoulders, and will be de- fcribed in the Hiftory of the Antiquities of Cor- tona, which will foon be publifhed by Order of the faid Academy, where the Colours have been examined, and appear to be covered with a certain hard Sort of Bitumen, or at leaft with fome un- known Kind of Varnifh ; in which Art Apelles excelled ; of whom Pliny fpeaks thus : Unum imi- tari nemo poiuit^ quod ahfoluta opera illinihat atra- mento ita tenuis ut id ipfum repercujfu claritatis colo- rumvim excitaret^ cujiodiretque a pulvere^ i^ fordihus^ ad maniim intuenti demum appareret : Which fome of the Learned think, ought to be read tid numejty I fhould rather take it to be lumen. And thus much may fuffice about the Varnifh, which, at my Defire, was made Ufe of to the above-mentioned Pidures. CHAP. IX. >f Defcripiion of ether Buildings in Heraclea, and of the Antiquities found in them. THAT the above Theatre was near fand even joined) to the City Heraclea, is proved by the other Buildings andHoufes which were im- mediately afterwards difcovered : Among which was one that had a pretty Appearance, with a handfome Door, and an Iron Gate, which prefently broke in Pieces. Entering at the Top, and clear- ing away the Earth, I perceived a fmall Gallery leading to a Ground Chamber, plaiftered, and painted red, in which v/ere found fome Vefiels and Bottles of thick Cryflal, full of Water ; a Brafs Tweefer Cafe, containing three or four Stiles or Graves, which are the Initruments they for- a merly Antient City 0/ H E R A C L E A. 10^ merly ufed in writing on the waxed Tables : But what was moft valuable, was another Inftrument- Cafe of the fame Metal, which being opened, was found to contain a fmali thin Roll of Silver, wrote full of Greek Charadlers ; and as in the un- rolling, it happened to break j his Majefty thought it advifeable to put it up in his Cabinet for the prefent, left by any Body's indifcreet Curiofity it might be deftroyed. At the other End was a commodious Stair-cafe to go to the upper Apartments, where I went into a Room, the Cieling of which was entirely demo- lifhed, and which had probably been the Kitchin, by reafon of the great Qiiantity of Brafs and Earthen Veffels found therein, fuch as Difhes, Trivets, and other Things too numerous to de- fcribe here, and which 1 did not examine minutely. There I faw Eggs miraculoufly preferved •, and Al- monds and Nuts that retained their natural Colour, but being opened, the Infide was like powdered Coal. In fome other Ruins near thereto, was found a Brafs Ink-ftand, which retained the black Colour of the Ink fo well as to be capable of tinging any Thing. I fhall not give a particular Account of the Frag- ments of Earthen Veffels, burnt Wood, Locks, Keys, Latches, Bolts, Door Rings, Hinges, Spears, cut Stones, and Medals, of which the greateft Part that were found, were of Nero, with the Temple of Janus on the Reverfe. There were found Mo- faic Pavements, but very ordinary, being com- pofed of what Vitruvius calls Pavimentum fertile ; thefe are in Imitation of Scrolls, and the like. It is furprifing how they could bring the Stones into fuch beautiful Order, and difpofe the different Co- lours fo exadlly ; of which a wonderful Example, is a Square which was found in the Middle of a Pavement in the Adrian Villa, which was pub- lifhed, engraved on a Copper Plate. In iio A Description of the In another Part were the Ruins of a Bath, paved with little Squares, in which were feveral Sorts of Veflels and ilavers of Brafs gilt. In another Part was found a Cellar or Vault, which for its Singu- larity, deferves to be made particular mention of. Thro' a Door of white Marble, we came into a Room thought to be about fourteen Yards or more in Length (becaufe they had not quite cleared the Ground away) and eight Yards broad. In the Middle of one of the Sides was a Door which led into another Place of the fame Length, but almoft fquare. Round the Infides of both thefe Rooms, there ran along, ciofc to the Wall, about half a Yard high, a Kind of Bench covered with Marble Pavement, which feemed, at lirft Sight, to have been ufed for a Seat, having along the Bottom a pretty Moulding : But on coming to examine it nearer, I perceived on the Top, fome round Stones or Stopples of Marble, which being removed, I found were the Covers of fome great Earthen Jars fet in with Mortar, the Necks of v/hich were in- clofed juft within the Bench. On one Side there was (as it were) a great Window formed in a Sort of an Oblong Square, and flopped up with Earth, which appeared at firft Sight to be the Mouth of an Oven or Furnace, the W^all being all black within, but it was found at laft to be a Kind of Clofet, that reached a Cane's Length into the Wall •, in v/hich was difcovered untouched, and very well preferved, a fmall Sett of Steps of diffe- rent coloured Marble, not unlike what are put upon Altars to fet the Candles and Flower-pots on. But I imagine the Ufe of thefe was to fet the fmall Veflels or Bottles of Cryftal, or other Kinds (for the keeping the Samples of W^ine or other Drink) upon. The great Veflels were of a roundifli Form, excepting that the Mouth came up above the Le- vel of the Pavement, and was inclofed in that Marble Antieni City ?/" H E R A C L E A. lit Marble Bench, or Scat : I believe they would hold ten Barrels Tufcan Meafure each. This was (to my great Difpleafure) entirely ruined by taking the Marble and putting it to other Ufes, before I could find any Remedy ; and the great Wine Jars were broke, in taking out -, but two of them being bound with Iron, were {tt in the King's Garden ; and, if I am not miftaken, I have feen in the Garden of the Villa Borghefe, one of thefe VefTels -, others in the Villa Mattel, or Mount Celio, and in other Places at Rome. In the Year 1732, in the Space between the Chapel of Corfini in the Lateran Bafilica, and the Wall of Rome, were found fo great a Number of large Earthen VefTels for keeping of Wine, that after they had dug up one Hundred, they left a prodi- gious Quantity buried under the Earth. Thefe VefTels had narrow Necks and large Bodies, being two Foot in Diameter. Mofl of them were marked near the Neck, and fome were wrote upon with Ink ; one of which was purchafed by my Brother at the Mufeum of Signer Francefco Vettori, men- tioned by P. Lupi of the Society of Jefus, in his fine Treatife on the Infcription of St. Severa the Martyr *. On one of thefe VefTels was this In- fcription : OPUS. DOLIARE. VINARIUM. The Names which were on the Handles and Necks of thefe VefTels, were the Names of the Makers. Thofe wrote with Ink were the Names of the Owners of the Liquor contained within •, and by Reafon of the Multiplicity of Names, it is ima- gined to have been a Cellar for the Ufe of the Soldiers who were flationed there to guard the Walls ; and that whofefoever Name was wrote on the VefTel, to him belonged the Wine contained therein, whether he bought it, or it was his Al- lowance. But 112 '^Description of tie But returning to where we left off: In order X.6 preferve the famed and ftrong Wine of the Anti- ents, it was necefiary to have thefe fubterraneous VefTels, which, in feme other Places, have been found one upon another : All which is agreeable to the Law Inftrumenta 8. and the Law cum fundus 21. ff. de ftindo Inftr. where it fays, Dolia defojfa^ in- jixa : So that Pancirolus thinks, the Antients had no Wine Vaults or Cellars, for this Reafon, quia dolia, qu^ erant imbecilk^ fub terram dimittebant. See Pliny «, where he fpeaks of Wine Vaults : But as the Wine Veffels ought to be a Cart Load, and to contain one hundred and twenty Bottles, which according to fome Calculations is one thoufand fix hundred, and according to others one thoufand nine hundred and twenty Pounds weight, tho' Columella calls them fefquiculeare triginta amphorartm dolium, I cannot be certain, nor could I be in Time to meafure the Quantity that each Jarr contained ; it is certain, that they were of that Form, being by the fame Author called ventrofe-, and there remains no Room to doubt that they were not the Butts or Bolia of the Latins, of which Nonius thus : Bolia funt vafa grandia, quibus vinum recondttur. Neither could they be very fmall, i^ one of them ferved the great Diogenes for an Habitation, of whom Laerzius fpeaks thus ^^ Bolium, quod in Metroo erat, pro do- mo habuit^ ficut ipfe teftatur in epiftolis^ and you find this Paffage in Juvenal ^ Dolia nudi Non ardent Cynici : Ji fregeris, altera fie t Cras domuSy aut eadem plumbo comrrdffa manebit, » Plin. I. 14. c. 21. Apuin. Lexic. Agricult. male explfcat omnia. ^ Diog. Laerz. lib. 6. fegm. 23.6 nota, che Metroo fu il Tempio della Madre dei Dei in Atene, Gve fi confervano le Les^i, le Donazioni, e. i. Contratti. Vid. Valefio ad Har- pocrauoncm, pag. 272. Gregor. Niizianz. in Jambicis. <^ Ju- venal. Sat. XIV, V. 308. Senftt ^Anfwit C//y qy^HERACLEA. 113 Senfit Alexander^ tejla cum vidit in ilia Magnum habitatorem^ i^c. Which Verfes are a Contradidion, to thofe who will not beheve that Diogenes's Butt, was made of baked Earth, but of Wood, and the Reafon they aj- ledge is, becaufe that Philofopher oftentimes rolled it about ' : As if thofe VelTels mighc not be rolled about without breaking ; either upon the Ground, upon Marl, upon Skins, or upon Straw, or even on the hard Pavement, as we fee they are made of fuch a monftrous Thicknefs. Nor did the Antients manage their Wine other- wife, than we do now-a-days. They firft trod the Grapes with great Dexterity, and then put them in a great VefTel, called Lago : Afterwards, they prefled the trodden Grapes with the Stalks, in a Prefs, and mixt it with the Liquor in the Lago ; which is {tx. forth by Ulpianus in the Law Sifirvus 27. §. ult ff. ad L. Aq^ialam^ and by Varro ^. Others cutting the Bunches, and pred- ing out the Juice from the heft of the Grapes, mixed the Remainder with Water, and gave it to their Labourers inftead of Wine, in the Winter Time •=. Whence Father Carlo d'Aquino de- fcribes the Harveft thus ^ with the Teftimony of Cato, Varro and Pliny : Vindemia dicitur a demendoy quoniam uva a vile de?mtur. Colle5lio eft iivamm^ ad vinum exprimendtim ^ ajfervandmn. Argumentum u- beris futur^e vindemi, Vir Clarijjime^ Programmafn^ quo in primis plaufus Hit continentur^ difertijffimum Aut?Jor€m adeat^ oportet^ Tihique infuper infcrihatur^ excava^. tionis illius Defer iptio meas admanus jam jam ptrlata, Hocce igitur grato animo accipias^ precor^ munufcu- lum^ etfi omnino impar iis gratihus refer endis^ quas ^ihi a me deheri profeffus fiim piihlico documentor Ute- ris fciUcet ad Feverlinum Collegam tuum doEliffimum nuperrime exaratis. Singularis etenim heneficii loc9 accepiffem^ me uniim in Italia ah hurmnitati veftra fe- leStim fuiffe^ cui copia fieret ejufdan Programmatis, legendi primoy ac perfruendi ; deinde vera illius com- municandi cum eruditis Viris^ quihus certe hac etiam tenipefiate regio 7wjlra ahundat, §uid vero? quum Tihi prater ea vifum fuerit^ injeSfa ibidem met nominis mentione^ tanto me honore dignari^ ut^ dmn legerem, in gems meas e purpura^ quam gero^ rubor em illabi Jfatim perfenferim, Freti§ 134 -^Description tf the Preiio aiitem DefcriptioniSy quam confejim profe- ram^ nihil decedere arhitrahor^ fi ^ibi candide expo- nam kvem aliqiiam offen^onem^ quam mihi ejufdem ex- iprdium progigniL Memoratur in eo AL Nonius Bal~ huSy indigitaturque ahfque ulla h^fitatione Proconful, Infcriptio autem^ unde nomen illud hauritur^ hujuf- modi eft : M. NONIO M,F, BALBO P. R. PROC. HERCULANENSES, P, hacque recitata Author Defcriptionis fuhdit^ fighs il~ las P. R. a nemine adhuc intelle5las fuiffe. Etji ver& fnultum ego ahfim^ ut Antiquarii perfonam induam^ haud dijfimulaho mihi videri^ lit eras quoque PROC. ejufdem Author is, aliorumque, qui iifdem Proconfnlis interpretationem indiderint, intelle5fura fugijfe, Illas namque, potius quam Proconful, interpretarer ego Procurator ; ftglafque P, R, qu