The portico in front of the first of the four buildings referred to,
that of Eumachia, contained a double series of columns, one above the
other, corresponding in style and dimensions with those of the
colonnade; but there was no upper floor running back from the
intervening entablature. The arrangement in front of the fourth
building, the Macellum, was similar; as the remains of the porticos in
front of the two intervening buildings have wholly disappeared, it is
impossible to determine their character.
The area of the Forum was paved with rectangular flags of whitish
limestone. In front of the colonnade, the pavement of which was about
twenty inches above that of the open space, a broad step or ledge
projected, covering a gutter for rain water; the water found its way
into the gutter through semicircular openings in the outer edge of the
step.
Of the many statues that once adorned the Forum not one has been
found. As may be seen from the pedestals still in place, they were of
three kinds, and varied greatly in size.
First, statues of citizens who had rendered distinguished services
were placed in front of the colonnade on the ledge over the gutter.
Four pedestals that once supported statues of this sort may be seen on
the west side.
Then equestrian statues of life size were set up in front of the
ledge, these also in honor of dignitaries of the city (Fig. 17). On
one of the pedestals the veneering of colored marble is still
preserved, with an inscription showing that the person represented was
Quintus Sallustius, "Duumvir, Quinquennial Duumvir, Patron of the
Colony."
Finally, on the south side, the life size equestrian statues, which
seem at the outset to have been arranged symmetrically, were almost
all removed in order to make room for four much larger statues, the
pedestals of which still remain (Fig. 53, p. 122). These must have
represented emperors, or members of the imperial families. The
pedestal in the middle, which is in the form of an arch almost square
at the base, is much the oldest. Upon it was probably placed a
colossal statue of Augustus. It is incredible that during the long and
successful reign of the first emperor no statue in his honor should
have been erected in Pompeii; and this is the most suitable place. The
other three pedestals are similar in construction, and clearly belong
together. The one at the right (2 on the plan) supported a colossal
equestrian statue; that at the left (3) a colossal standing figure; on
the third, further forward (4), was a smaller equestrian statue. Here
stood, then, emperor, empress, and crown prince--Claudius, Agrippina,
Nero.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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