It served, too, as the favorite promenade and lounging place, where men met to discuss matters of mutual interest, or to indulge in gossip. Here idlers loitered and plied busier men with questions regarding public affairs, makers and dealers came together to talk over and settle points of difference, and young people pursued their romantic adventures. He can best form an idea of this bustling, ceaseless, varied activity who knows what the piazza means in the life of a modern Italian city, and stops to consider how much has been taken from the life of the piazza by the cafés and similar places of resort; modern squares, moreover, are usually not provided, as were the ancient, with inviting colonnades, affording protection against both sun and rain. The life of the Forum seemed so interesting to one of the citizens of Pompeii that he devoted to the portrayal of it a series of paintings on the walls of a room. The pictures are light and sketchy, but they give a vivid representation of ancient life in a small city. First, in front of the equestrian statues near the colonnade we see dealers of every kind and description. There sits a seller of copper vessels and iron utensils (Fig. 16), so lost in thought that a friend is calling his attention to a possible purchaser who is just coming up. Next come two shoemakers, one waiting on women, another on men; then two cloth dealers. Further on a man is selling portions of warm food from a kettle; then we see a woman with fruit and vegetables, and a man selling bread. Another dealer in utensils is engaged in eager bargaining, while his son, squatting on the ground, mends a pot. [Illustration: Fig. 16.--Scene in the Forum. In the foreground, at the left, dealer in utensils; at the right, shoemaker waiting on four ladies. Wall painting.] The scenes now change. A man sitting with a writing tablet and stylus listens closely to the words of another who stands near by; he reminds us of the scribes who, under the portico of the theatre of San Carlo, at Naples, write letters for those that have been denied the privilege of an education. Then come men wearing tunics, engaged in some transaction, in the course of which they seem to pass judgment on the contents of bottles which they hold in their hands; their business perhaps involves the testing of wine. Beyond these, some men are taking a walk; a woman is giving alms to a beggar; and two children play hide and seek around a column. The following scene is not easy to understand, but apparently has reference to some legal process; a woman leads a little girl with a small tablet before her breast into the presence of two seated men who wear the toga. [Illustration: Fig. 17.--Scene in the Forum. Citizens reading a public notice. Wall painting.]